It's the biggest DnB rave this side of Easter and it's got one hell of a huge line-up! Son Of Dance takes over the SeOne Complex on March 15th for a big sweaty brockout, with Essence Of Chi co-hosting the 2 main arenas. But who are they? What do they want? What do they sound like? We spoke with promoter Keira to find out what their vibe is, and what to expect on March 15th...

How and why did Essence of Chi start in the first place?

Myself and MC LowQui were about to start two different nights, mine called "Essence" and his called "Chi"! We came to realise that the concepts for both our nights were almost identical so decided to pool our ideas together. We went to check out Plan B in Brixton at the end of 2003 as a potential venue, and the rest as they say, is history!

So what’s the whole ethos behind Essence of Chi?

A party with an electric atmosphere that combines all angles of drum ‘n’ bass from deep to dancefloor whilst keeping that soulful edge to the music policy . We also pay special attention to sound, light, space, and of course the all-important quality DJ and MC line up, fused together to try achieve the perfect balance between all these elements.

Tell us about your resident DJs and MCs – strengths, weaknesses, special powers...

Our original trio of resident artists are DJ Kane, DJ T1 and of course the founding father MC LowQui who are all key players in the foundations of Essence of Chi, but the crew has grown to include more artists over the four years such as the legendary Nookie, V Recording's Artificial Intelligence, Zero Tolerance who is really starting to come through right now alongside the likes of Sabre and DJ Subterra, On the MC side of things we have our soldiers Five Alive, Miss Trouble, Bassline and MC Ken Mac who is huge in the breaks scene but EOC is his one and only chosen DnB residency ! Not forgetting our up and coming trio the Healing Crew (Dozer, Mel De'Vil & JRS) and our live sax player Stu.

I don't know about special special powers but what I do know is that Essence of Chi crew run on vibes and vibes alone, and if having too many good vibes could be a weakness then that would be it!

Can you single out one guest who blew you away more than any other?

We have had a wealth of guests appear at Essence of Chi over the years including Zinc, Shy FX, Fabio, Storm, Goldie, Marcus Intalex, Friction and many many more, but the set that will never leave my memory is Calibre and Zero Tolerance back to back at our first birthday with London Zu at the Scala. It was several months before his "Second Sun" album dropped and the tunes were all 100% fresh. I think the roof nearly came off the building that night!

What would you say are the 3 biggest anthems from your nights over the years? Ones that hold really special memories for you and your crowd?

Its very difficult to narrow it down but if I was to pick 3 EOC Anthems they would be "Drop it Down" (Calibre & MC Fats) , "Desperado" (Artificial Intelligence) and "Shine" (Influx UK) because I remember hearing each of these tunes played out for the first time at EOC nights and when they dropped they were moments in time!

What are your views on the state of the drum ‘n’ bass scene as a whole currently? Is it in rude health or does it need a kick up the arse?

What people have to remember is that we are talking about a scene that started over 15 years ago - 20 if you include the acid & hardcore rave scene. Of course it is going to go through changes over time, like any scene. People complain about the fact that we don't have thousands of people at every drum ‘n’ bass event anymore (although they can't say that about Moondance events!). I started raving properly in 1995 and yes there were thousands of people at the raves, but there was a very limited amount of events you could actually go to. Look at the amount of events there are now; they range in all different sizes and cater for all different tastes because of the diversity of the music nowadays. Drum n Bass also now has a worldwide following in every corner of the globe, and to me that is very healthy. We have just always been spoilt in the UK and that has made the scene a bit saturated to a certain extent. I think if some of the key promoters in the UK scene came together the potential is there to put on something enormous!

You are co-hosting the 2 main rooms at Son Of Dance at SeOne in London on Saturday 15th March, with a rather large line-up in tow. Who are you particularly looking forward to seeing playing on the night?

Andy C always delivers and Shy FX standardly brings the vibes so I am definitely looking forward to seeing those two in the main arena, plus some of the guys representing from the more soulful end of the spectrum such as Zero Tolerance and Commix. I have to say that the Jungle arena is also looking pretty sick and I will certainly be jumping around at the front during Randall's set especially.

Why do you think SeOne is such a good venue for a rave-up?

To me SeOne is the only true multi-arena rave venue we have in London now, and we are lucky to have somewhere that is so vast in such a central location that is easy to get to for ravers. Each arena in SeOne also feels like its own individual club within a club as well which is wicked, plus you're never too far away from a bar!

What other plans do EOC have for 2008?

Well I can't say too much right now but Essence of Chi will be coming back in the next couple of months with our regular club residency so keep your eyes peeled for that! We are also looking forward to representing at Moondance Summer Festival once again in June, and following that we are doing a weekend at Innovation in the Sun alongside Rotation.

And finally, what was the last track that gave you goosebumps?

"Stray" (Alix Perez)

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