Roni Size

Interviewed june 1997 at Nighttown in Rotterdam

A few weeks before the English election "middageditie" (a news program in Holland - JV) did an item on Bristol and how the people from there looked at the coming election. One of the people they asked to comment was no other than Roni Size. He felt strongly about the situation Bristol is in, speaking out for the whole of the Bristol community.

Roni: 'I'm not that involved with politics, they just approached me and I gave my views. I do feel strongly about them, but that doesn't mean I want to be politically involved. It's just the way I react on the situation around me.' Roni feels responsible and tries to stimulate the community, helping to get the peoples hope up. Roni: 'When people see people like me from our community in magazines or see me spin records or hear my records play on radio. They start to get hope and they think: "if he can do it, I can do it". It gives these people some kind of trust, they call our music their music. In that way we have started our own movement, act like our own government. Because that's what a government is supposed to do, get peoples hope up.'

Music has always played a major role in the community of Bristol. Roni: 'Definitely! I have been involved in numerous projects as far as I can remember. Music always brings out the positive in people.' Roni grew up in Bristol surrounded and influenced by the music around. Roni: 'We used to have sound systems in schools. Think about it, a normal school with all the windows shaking because of the sound. That was a normal thing back then and things like that are still happening. I always wanted to be involved with music, but at first there was no way I could do that. I had no money to buy a Technics or a sampler, the only thing I could make music with was by human beatboxing into a microphone. But I had to find something I could relate to and that's why I went to do youth work stuff.'

Roni never dreamed of becoming what he is now. Roni: 'My brother bought some equipment and I started to make music with it, but only for myself. Then people around me started to make false promises and that got my hope up so I could be able to release my music. I got involved with all kinds of music and met up with DJ Die, Suv and Krust who already had a record label and I found I do really want to put music out.' That group of friends stimulated each other. Roni: 'It took some time before we realized our potential. At first we just hung around, having a laugh making music for fun. But then we started to realize, "we're good at this, let's make something more of it".' The first records on V made enough money to buy equipment and being able to make more music profesionally. Roni: 'First we bought a sampler, build our studio, bought more equipment, started our own label, bought more stuff, eventually Full Cycle was up and running. Before we knew it we were offered enough work deejaying and in the end we even had majors on our backs.' And now the first record of the project Reprazent and Roni Size called Newforms is being released on a major label. Roni: 'I had experiences with a major label before, but this time I had no problem with it at all. I met some guys who are probably the best A&R people in the world and they are Paul Martin and James Lavelle and they are guys like us. So there was no way we could ever have said no. We trust Talkin' Loud and they support us in a big way. They do expect a lot from us, but they bring out the best in us. They gave us the opportunity to do this project.'

Roni is very happy with the way this project has turned out, but already he's looking forward to the next one. Roni: 'We've learned so much from the project that I know that the next one will be even better. I've haven't been into the studio with Die for ages and I know that as soon as we do, we're going to make some amazing things.' But Roni Size and DJ Die have to do a promotional tour and spin some records at Nighttown in Rotterdam. Roni: 'Between you and me, I enjoy this, but I would rather play live here with our band. We've got an act together of eight people, four people programming live, a bassplayer, a drummer, MC Dynamite and a vocalist. It isn't only musical, it's vibes and the fun of it is it creates a response, people feel involved. At one show we played on the dancefloor and people danced all around and inbetween us and it was so intimate. One of the advantages being with a major is, that they can make this happen. They take care of all the logistics while you can just concentrate on the music.'

Roni Size is a busy person, he's doing all kinds of things at the same time, deejay, producer, live artist, label boss. Roni: 'Yeah I've been doing this for the past five six years and it starts to take it's toll. I'm still enthousiastic, but I and my friends haven't got much energy left. DJ Krust is at home with a broken knee, you could call it deejay leg. People don't realize how much work it is, you sometimes don't sleep for two days, you have to travel all around the world, buy records, carry them around, talk to people. It's harder than you think.' Isn't it hard to do, doing all those things together? Roni answers with a big grin on his face: 'Yeah, but is fun though init? People ask me what I do in my spare time. I go to the studio in my spare time. The thing is realizing what it is not to work. If you have been in that position, you are glad you are able to work. Because when there is no work around and you can't, that drains you. Work is fun to do. But as soon as your work starts to feel like work, you better stop. That's why I don't deejay no more, it felt too much like work in the end. The things I do now I enjoy more. But they are hard work as well.' Are you ever satisfied? Roni: 'I am never satisfied. After a good session or gig, maybe. But I always focus on filling in the gaps, fixing mistakes.' So do you call yourself a perfectionist? Roni: 'Never. I never strive for perfection, you'll never get there, you only drive yourself mad. There is a time that you have to leave a track and say leave it, it sounds alright get used to it.'

The music Roni and his friends are making seems different from the stuff coming from London. The music on Reprazent Newforms is more organic, loose. Roni: 'We have been influeced by everything we have ever listened to, rock, popmusic, jazz, hiphop, soul, techno, ska, chip shop music, muzak. If I listen to certain music from the eighties by Beastie Boys, Erik B. and Rakim, and it's so ruggid it almosts sounds like a demo. We want to recreate that sound, don't make it so polished. The biggest tunes were those that had nothing going on in them. Like the track with just a break by Public Enemy. Or take for instance James Brown, he influenced me in a big way. He was making these rare grooves and he has done stuff that people still haven't followed up. We're trying to recreate that, but without sampling, by doing it ourselves with the group.' Is Drum'n'Bass a good platform to do that? Roni: 'You can do it with any music. This isn't about the kind of music, this is about the idea. The idea to draw from your influences and create something new from that, but not by taking those influences directly by sampling but by doing it yourself and getting people involved. What we do it's hard to put in words. The only way to understand is by listening. If you really want to know, listen to the music, rather than listen to me telling you what it is.'