Kosheen have made massive waves in the drum and bass scene over the last two years. It was a project born some two-and-a-half years ago when Bristol drum & bass faces Markee Substance and Darren Decoder hooked up with singer San Evans after hearing her sing on a tune a friend had recorded. But the Kosheen story had already begun long before that fateful meeting.

Sian had her first encounter with drum & bass courtesy of the seminal Roughneck Ting parties. The brainchild of promoter Markee Substance and a group of like-minded ravers, Roughneck Ting was Bristol's first full-on drum & bass rave, establishing a serious reputation around the city with a series of firing parties between 1993

and 1998. It also played a major part in bringing the three Kosheen players together .

By the time Roughneck Ting was up-and running, Glaswegian born-and-bred Mark(ee) 'Substance' Morrison had already been enthusiastically following the prototype jungle/breakbeat hardcore sound for several years. The move into drum & bass was as logical as his decision to abandon his love affair with the guitar in favour of the delights of electronic production.

After a short spell releasing hardcore records as Orca, Darren hooked up with Markee at Roughneck Ting and was soon an integral part of the crew. With the parties as a focus, Markee and Darren soon established themselves as stalwarts of the Bristol drum & bass scene; they were founding partners in Breakbeat Culture, the record shop that remains the city's premiere drum & bass outlet to this day. However, their hearts really lay in the studio and by the mid-90s they were making serious noise with cuts like Substance's 'Downright' and 'Homeboys' and Decoder's 'Circuit Breaker' on their own Breakbeat Culture and Tech Itch labels.

But despite their love of the dancefloor-oriented tunes they were listening to, spinning and creating, both producers soon felt the nagging urge to try something different, spread their wings and take their music into new territories.

'Hide U' scooped the Best Single prize at the recent Drum & Bass Awards. where Kosheen were also voted Best Newcomers, and John Digweed was recently heard playing out with the cut at Bedrock. The follow-up single Catch, a classy slice of mid-tempo breaks, served to enhance Kosheen's reputation further, winning support from breakbeat and drum & bass jocks alike. All of which makes the imminent arrival of a new Kosheen single and album a hotly anticipated event.

Kosheen's debut 'Resist' LP is likely to emerge sometime in the summer. On the strength of the sampler, it should indeed present yet more dimensions of the Kosheen musical oeuvre, with sparkling electronic breakbeat, deep chilled drum & bass torch songs and archingly beautiful downbeat melancholia allowing Sian's emotive voice full range. Expect it to make major waves.

With all this talk of songs, live performance and pushing musical

boundaries, it might look like Kosheen are keen to distance themselves from their drum & bass roots, but they emphasise that nothing could be further from the truth. They regard their success at the Drum & Bass Awards as one of their biggest achievements and stress that the drum & bass underground is still a major source of inspiration, and always will be. The most exciting thing about drum & bass, argues Sian, is that it's

constantly mutating and moving forward and Kosheen's music is simply another example of that.

Decoder and Substance are now taking bookings for the summer and autumn. They can play alone or together. If you are interested in booking them, or would like more information, please feel free to give me a call…

Catch them at Renaissance Summer Picnic - Sunday 26 November 2006 @ Belvoir Ampitheatre