By Killeye

Without any pretension whatsoever, Doc Scott is one of those few who can really say he’s  been there since the beginnings of this music we call drum and bass.

He co-founded the legendary Metalheadz label with Goldie and moved on to start his own influential label 31 Records.

As a producer his output has been innovative and is revered by many, just have a listen to ‘Here Come the Drumz’ - released under his alias Nasty Habits in 1992 - and ‘Shadow Boxing’ (1996), to hear the roots of his impact on the scene.

In 2003 31 Records released a very distinct sounding tune called Vault from an unknown ,at the time at least, Australian trio called Pendulum. He is renowned for seeking out the more distinct and original sounding tunes for his label and sets.

Quite often he’s referred to as ‘King of Rollers,’ and this has stemmed from the sound of his tunes as well as a reference to being natural and rollin’ with it!

Until recently, things had been a bit quiet from this patriarch of the scene, however he has now made somewhat of a come back to drum and bass with, amongst other involvements, an upcoming solo album release.

He cites personal reasons and a feeling of disillusion with some of the drum and bass being produced as contributing factors, “there were other things going on in my life that occupied a lot of my time and effort…but it was also, say the back end of 2003 going into 2004, I would get approximately 80-120 tracks a week. For example, last weekend I took out about 60-70, so over 50% of those made it into my record bag or CD wallet, a really good turn around. During that period, the end of 2003 and 2004, I was getting about 100 tracks a week and I was taking 6, 7, 8; I was getting so much stuff I didn’t like. It’s not for me to say if it’s rubbish or whatever, then you just get into a slanging match, I didn’t want to go there, you just kinda say, ‘that stuff’s not for me.’”

With such a large amount of the music he was hearing being so disagreeable he began to wonder about his loyalty to drum and bass, “this kinda went on for about a period of six to twelve months and it really began to affect me, and I thought, ‘Is it me? Am I loosing the plot?’ Cos I really don’t like a lot of this stuff and I began to question, ‘am I growing out of it?’ Is the scene moving in a direction  I don’t like? And it was moving in a direction I wasn’t comfortable with and you have to ask, ‘Why is that?’”

It was through some conversations with peers such as Goldie, Bukem, Klute, Fabio and Marcus Intalex that he realized he wasn’t alone. He noted that there seemed to be a gap emerging from within the scene, “It’s a generational thing, now you have, to put it bluntly, teenagers making music for teenagers. I’m 36 years old so it’s difficult to relate to that. So you have to make a decision, ‘do I go down that road and cater for that market or do I stick to my demographic and what I believe in?’”

When it comes to playing out these days, he affirms that the only music he plays is the music he wants to play, the music he genuinely likes. “I think personally from my point of view there’s a few DJs within our scene anyway, that have kind of lost their way a little bit and they’re playing tunes that I know in my heart, that they know they don’t particularly like them. They think they need to play them maybe particular people need to hear them or it’s a popular tune or whatever. Everything that I turn up to the club with in my bag or in my CD wallet or record bag, is everything that I like.”

On this visit to Australia he is joined by Marcus Intalex whom he has had a long association with. He has the utmost respect for Marcus as a friend and professionally, “I remember the first time I met Marcus, I knew he really loved his music on a very serious level. He making music for Renegade and stuff like that and I kinda knew the stuff he was doing wasn’t coming form his heart. And I remember having a conversation with him and saying, ‘Look man, just make what you believe in cos a, you’ll be a lot happier and b, you’ll end up where you wanna be. You’ll be on the lineups where you wanna be, you’ll DJ to the crowd you wanna DJ to if you make the music you believe in rather than trying to get on a certain label. And he went away and started wiring more soulful stuff-what’s he’s really knows for. And he wrote that ‘How You Make Me Feel’ for 31.”

He believes that Marcus’ work was incredibly important introducing some soul and funk into a scene that was, at the time incredibly harsh, aggressive and “filled with testosterone.”

Variation and lack of originality in drum and bass caused his temporary departure from  the scene, and it’s the return of these elements from younger as well as established acts that has renewed Doc Scott’s energy and interest in drum and bass. “I never forget that at the end of the day I’m here to make people dance, you can go too far left field and go up your own behind .At the end of the day I’m paid to make people dance and enjoy themselves, to fill dance floors not clear them!”

Catch Doc Scott & Marcus Intalex Saturday 21 July @ Rise