DJ, Producer and Offkey Recording's owner Raiden very kindly took some time out of his ludicrously hectic schedule to answer a few of my questions.


1) What influenced you to start making music? Do you have any favorite artists? (any genre)
I have been playing musical instruments from a young age and I knew that music was something that I always was gonna do. I think the catalyst to make music a career was working in failing bands and doing a dead end job with a lot of time to listen to lots music and work out exactly what I wanted to make. After this I went on to study a Jazz and Music Production Degree for 4 years. Its no secret that techno is my biggest influence when producing dnb; especially the really hypnotic Detroit stuff. I love all music and pretty much every genre except mindless trend music, I'm influenced by so much and I'm an avid record collector.

2) Unlike many other dnb labels, Offkey doesn't seem to follow trends to sell records. What do you look (or listen) for when you are thinking of signing a track.
I don't necessarily sign individual tunes for OffKey, I sign artists that I believe can bring something fresh to the OffKey sound and that can influence the sound of the label. Usually I have a certain artist in mind and look at their progress before making a decision whether to bring them on board. I really want a family vibe on the label and for each artist to progress the Offkey sound in their own unique way. I got a lot of people contacting me saying they have made an 'OffKey' track what ever that is, but it doesn't work like that. I'm interested in tunes and more specifically artists that amaze me because they have an original concept. I want a roster of original artists that have something very unique that stands out on their own and keeps this music exiting for me.

3) The Offkey sound is very techno orientated at times, what made you decide to combine techno and drum and bass?
It was just natural progression really. I've always been a big fan of techno and I'm basically just a failed techno producer. I realise that some techno cross over existed before but no one was really dedicated to it, and almost all of the tunes were just resampled classic techno tracks, I wanted to take this further. When I started playing night after night I really got a good idea about where I wanted to take my music. I liked the the pure nature of techno in the sense that tunes are made as tools, designed to be played with other records so you can be creative. DnB can be too structured for me most of the time, I made OffKey to release this style as no other label understood what I was trying to do. Ever since I’ve been working with a lot of techno producers I’ve noticed DnB and techno are parallel universes in many ways.
There’s a long way to go with this sound and I'd like to see it get wider and more diverse. My aim over the coming year is to bring a form of rhythmic, minimal, hypnotic, funky sound and also this whole new deeper melodic sound over the next year as a lot of the tunes that are about right now have no groove at all. Time to break some habits before this techno influence thing becomes its own cliche.

4) Your records have a very distinctive sound, without giving too much away can you tell us what equipment you use and do you have any tips or advice for aspiring producers out there?
I'm flattered people think I have a distinctive sound, this is in no way intentional and just the way my records turn out. I'm a real perfectionist and always try and make every sound much crazier than it should be.
I've just gone over to an all laptop studio running Ableton Live, some VST's Synths with a bunch of firewire devices and some hi end midi controllers. I used to use a big hardware set up but I really like the freedom of being able to take my entire studio with me where ever I go as I'm not at home very much and that greatly effected my output. My main thing for me is Albleton Live. This programme has allowed me to use the same set up for both Performing and Producing. It has brought the 2 disciplines together which is a revelation for me. Ableton has given me a whole new freedom and a fresh outlook on producing and djing. Its also great to be djing with a studio set up of toys rather than just a bunch of copied Cd's to play in the club.
I would just make sure your tracks have a purpose. Whether its a story, or designed to do a particular thing on the dance floor to effect people in a certain way. I think too many tracks these days lack any kind of purpose, and this just makes the music boring. No purpose...No point. One. recent pro tip I discovered that works is drinking about 8 cups of strong coffee, you wont be able to leave the studio.

5) Drum and Bass seems to be crossing over in to the mainstream now, a lot of typically "non dnb" djs (for want of a better phrase) have been playing some of the more popular artists' records at mainstream club nights. What do you think of the scene in general at the moment?
I'm not so sure that dnb is getting commercial beyond a couple of artists. I think that’s happening more in the house and techno scene. I see that dnb is getting more underground right now and is having a bit of an identity crisis. The scene on the whole seems to be kinda in a low point at the moment with everyone unsure where to go next, as we are at a big changing point. I'm not worried about this, that’s life and everything goes in waves. I'd like to see the music get a bit more mature and less about if it works on the dance floor and start shocking ppl with great ideas just like it used to.
We are also at this weird cross roads in the scene right now where the traditions of dnb are in conflict with the new technology like the Internet and mp3's and dnb is suffering as a result. People fear change and at the same time want progression, its a big paradox. Personally, I would like to see us leave behind some traditions and move on as you cant strop progress or dnb will just fade away. DnB was always a music on the cutting edge of technology but these days I'm not so sure, its becoming more retro.

6) The internet now plays a huge part in music; on-line mixes, tracks as MP3s for download, Forums etc.
How do you think the internet has affected the drum and bass scene in particular?
At first the internet was all about aim and forums but I think the honeymoon period of it is over. Aim is full of weirdos, and most forums contain very little info about dnb and tend to follow trends, making the music a lot more disposable. Its great that you can download the lastest mixes and never need to go to the post office to send out your latest tracks. For me the internet has become a convenience rather than a revolution DnB wise. Once more people adopt the services the internet has to offer things will improve. We are just at that crossroads in technology atm. things like myspace are very interesting as its gives ppl the chance to communicate with artists. and I'm sure in the future more artist will sell there work through these sites. The mp3 thing needs alot of support in order for Dance music to survive in the long term.

7)You have played at parties all over the place, do you have any favorite locations/venues/countries to perform?
I love playing in Russia (especially Siberia) because the crowds are amazing and it gives me a real sense of adventure to be there, I'm in Russia so often these days it feels like home. Spain is really good for me, this is OffKey territory as many clubbers here are disillusioned with hard Shranz and bored of the same ol DnB so the Offkey sound has really carved out a niche there. I also like the Ukraine. I've never had a bad party there and the people are great. I went to Belarus recently and I've never seen a crowd go so crazy and they were totally drug free. Probably the best party vibe I have seen in all my years of djing.

8) Are there any artist(s) who you would like to work with in the future?
I'd really like to be getting some collabs made with more people outside of DnB. I'm definitely gonna be stepping up the work schedule with Dean Rodell and hopefully make an LP with him. For those that don't know, Dean Rodell is a techno pioneer and started out in the acid techno scene in the early 90's and pretty much paved the way for hard techno. He runs a successful techno label called Drums Works, and we are currently working on a lot of projects together including Subdivision. DnB wise I'd really like to do some collabs with Limewax and SPL, I think this is gonna happen soon as long as I have enough burgers.

9)When you're not producing/djing/running the label, what do you do in your spare time?
DnB takes up so much time of my life, what with my Production, running the label and managing my DJ Diary, I spend half my life touring and traveling. For relaxing I like fishing, Darts, drinking vodka and watching football. I love doing music and even if it wasn't my job Id still do it 24/7.

10)Whats next for you, can you tell us a bit about what’s next from Offkey and any other projects that you're working on?
OffKey wise we have Temper up next on OK8 with Minimal Blink and Sunrise at Sonar, Propaganda OK9 with Mercenary and Blu 82 and I'm currently making an EP for OK10. At the end of the year we are planning to release an OffKey LP and will be launching a new website. Right now I'm concentrating on a live set, where I'm remixing tunes and loops live using tracks and loops from all genres and mixing it up into DnB, its alot more than a standard live set. I'm working on my Chernobyl LP which is a lot deeper than my usual music and not really aimed at the dance floor. I'm also working on a lot of material with Dean Rodell. We have an EP coming out on subdivision in the Autumn and we have begun an LP collaboration project between OffKey and Subdivision. I think we are going to go under a new alias for this project.

For more information on Raiden and Offkey visit http://www.myspace.com/RaidenOffkey and http://www.offkeymp3.co.uk/ respectively.

Interview by Matruckuz.