Words by Canon

Photos by John Griffin

Over the past couple years, Bristol has proven to be a hot-bed of drum & bass talent. The small city has produced such luminaries as Roni Size, Krust, Die, Tech Itch, and Bill Riley. Roni Size and Reprazent have achieved world-wide fame with the release of their LP “New Forms” back in ‘97 and with the momentum he’s been building up for himself, it seems as though Bill Riley could very well end up traveling on the same trail blazed by his  colleagues. Bill has just completed his first solo tour of the US, but this was his second time playing in the states. He had been here before as the opening act for, believe it or not, Soul Coughing and was faced with the task of playing Drum & Bass for rock audiences who aren’t always very receptive to electronic music. It went well, and he returned to play some true-blue Drum & Bass events this time around including LowerWorld’s Rewind 14 in Denver where I was able to catch him and talk with him about the scene in Bristol, Protocol, and his tunes.

The vibe/scene in Bristol is different from London in that the scene is much more intimate and close-knit. Mr. Riley attended the same school as Dj Die growing up, and they could often be found spending their time on skateboards together.  Before the initial acid house explosion, Bill’s music of choice was hip-hop and found himself fascinated by early break beat culture. Once the rave scene began it’s evolution toward Jungle, Bill knew he had found something he had to be a part of. He scraped enough money together to buy himself a pair of turntables and a mixer and taught himself how to mix records. “Mixing records is something everyone can learn.” Bill explains, “I don’t find it difficult to mix. What’s important to me, as a DJ,  is what tunes I’ve got in my box. I like to keep it rollin’ in long mixes. Drum & Bass is a vibe thing, not so much a skill on the turntables thing like Hip-Hop.”  He is quick to acknowledge the connection between the two break beat cultures, though. “Drum & Bass is our bad boy music, our b-boy music”, thereby helping to reinforce the view that Drum & Bass is the UK’s answer to Hip-Hop.

Bill knew it was important for him to learn how to mix records before he could get into producing. “It was a natural progression from mixing records to producing tunes,” he says, “I’m the sort of person who likes to be constantly learning new things”. His first excursion into the world of production was alongside his old school chum, DJ Die, under the name DNA. His first solo outing was a couple of tunes called “The Chill” and “Future Funk” which were released on the highly influential Bristol label Full Cycle. “I feel privileged to have tunes out on that label”. Before too long, Bill moved to London which proved to be a wise move for him because it gave him the opportunity to do his own thing outside of Bristol and the opportunity to develop his own sound. “Full Cycle gets the pick, but not all the tunes I was making really captured what Full Cycle was about as a label in terms of the sound,” he explains, “So I had tunes kicking around that were still good that would do it in the clubs. So I started my own label”. That label was Protocol, and the tunes he’s put out have a much harder, techier edge than anything that would be released on Full Cycle, but they still maintain an organic, funky feel to them. Bill met up with V Recordings’ Brian G and Jumping Jack Frost through Die and Roni Size. “He (Brian G) loved my tunes, and wanted to include me on their ‘V Classic’ lp”. This gave Bill even more exposure since “V Classic” proved to be one of the best-selling Drum & Bass lps ever, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to be associated with one of the most prestigious labels on the planet either.  Bill returned to the V roster again this year with his track, “Fat Man”, and another collaboration with DJ Die under the name “Biomechanics” on the massive “Planet V” lp which will no doubt prove to be even more significant than it’s predecessor.

1999 is going to be a busy year for Bill Riley with several more tracks planned for release on Full Cycle. Protocol will no doubt be a label to watch this year as well. There will be a new double pack released on Protocol following the success of “Closing In” Which was released on Full Cycle last winter, and he has an LP in the works for the label too. Look for that to drop in autumn ‘99. Bill’s massive “Closing In” remix has recently been featured on a compilation by XLR8R Magazine which was a domestic release. With all this and more and more Dj gigs all around the planet, Bill Riley is going to be the one to watch this year.