Photography: Low Tek and courtesy of System Recordings
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It’s past midnight on Friday, May 20, in Washington, DC, and The Great American Brock Out is in full effect at Buzzlife Productions’ notorious weekly, Cubik. From the DJ booth, MC Messinian aka James Messinian punctuates the drum and bass tempest emanating from the controls manned by Dieselboy, Dara and AK1200 with cries for the crowd to shout “F*ck, Yeah!” Out on the dance floor under super-club Nation’s crystal clear state-of-the-art sound system and on the catwalks that overlook the revelry below, hundreds and hundreds of junglists are thrashing and pumping their arms, twisting and jerking their bodies, stepping lively with abandon as far back as the eye can see beneath state-of-the-art multi-colored criss-crossing lasers and strobe lights, and screaming their brains out: “F*CK, YEAH!”
“You want the best. You got the best. You are now listening to the sounds of the original drum and bass champions!” -from Planet of the Drums Intro
There’s chaos in the booth as well: records and CD’s zing on and off three turntables and in and out of three CD players. “I feel like we’re chefs in a big kitchen in a big restaurant flying around,” shouts slim, broad-shouldered Dieselboy (aka Damian Higgins) above the din, rapidly thumbing through records in one of three bins against the back wall. Tall and built like a grizzly, AK1200 (aka Dave Minner) is rocking back and forth over the turntables at the helm, while even taller, lanky Dara (Darragh Guilfoyle) grooves to the music behind him, eyes closed in bliss, his arms and hips swinging in wide arcs. Whipping a record out of the bin and down onto the third turntable on the side, Dieselboy deftly cues up a wicked synth screech, gleefully inserts it with surgical precision a few times over AK’s track and sails the record back to the bin. He grabs a CD out of his CD book, loads it and drops a booming male voice that warns, "Get ready (get ready) (get ready) to touch down on the Planet of the Drums!" Later it’s Dieselboy doing a jerk and sway to a reggae-flavored tune that Dara’s playing while AK1200, at the third table, scratches over it. The Planet of the Drums, now on their sixth annual tour, have perfected X-treme tagteaming as an exhilarating art form that breeds synergistic fission.
The POTD alliance was born during the summer of 2000, when America’s toughest drum and bass warriors and fiercest competitors, Dieselboy, then based in Philadelphia, Dara, an Irish ex-pat then based in New York City, and AK1200 of Orlando, had an unlikely meeting of minds, considering the historically cantankerous nature of the underground drum and bass scene. What if America’s most popular drum and bass DJ's, traditionally rivals, joined forces to promote the music they loved? Their fans, used to arguing over which powerhouse DJ was the best, suddenly found themselves presented with a show of unity that changed the game. Since embarking on that auspicious first tour the three, with MC James Messinian, have evolved into a close band of brothers, seasoned veterans trusted by scores of faithful fans to take dance floor insanity to ever new heights. From the curious looks on the faces of next generation junglists drawn to their energy, the legend of the POTD seems to be continuing to spread.
An hour and 20 minutes into an already ridiculously rousing set, AK laughs, “You have NO idea what’s going to happen!” Together the POTD pummel their fans into happy hysteria, fans screaming and shouting, girls on the shoulders of guys waving their arms in the air, several guys and grrls inspired to scale the front of the booth barely able to hang on to the glass partition while trying to touch knuckles with one of the crew or handing over fliers and even money (including a few $20 bills) for autographs. Dara says to Dieselboy, "It's DC overload tonight!" Over and over the room explodes as one killer tune outdoes the last until the clock runs out at 4 am. Past closing time and not ready for the dream to end, Cubik’s main room is still full, poised to rock on, chanting, “One more song! One more song!” The POTD happily comply until finally AK1200 calls out, “No sound! They turned us off!” The fans, all smiles, give up and flock up to the booth to thank the POTD for an amazing experience.
Dieselboy takes the mic and yells, “Yo, thanks, DC! We had a great time tonight! See you next year! We fucking love you! Peace!”
JIVE Magazine caught up with America’s drum and bass immortals mid-tour via email. The Planet of the Drums break it down:
MESSINIAN
Q:What cities make the most noise?
A:DC, LA, Minneapolis, Seattle ... to name a few.
Q:What would you tell someone who's never experienced the POTD to expect?
A:There is always a diverse crowd that brings stellar energy. The Kru drops the big, brand new, up front tunes, and I deliver with the lyrics of fury.
Q:What are you communicating to the crowd from the POTD?
A:That we are all here to have a good time. Let's lose our inhibitions and be creative. My job is to make the crowd feel as close to the music as possible. I am Planet of the Drums PR!
Q:What are your favorite tunes being dropped on this tour?
Q:Any funny observations about this year's tour so far?
A:I always get a kick looking at the amount of alcohol in the ice tub before the show, then comparing that to what's left at the end - droplets.
Q:What's happening in your life, and what are you working on?
A:I am getting married October 7th to my beautiful fiance Joella. I am currently working on a video game concept with my friends Denise and Wes from Los Angeles. I am wrapping an original hip-hop album entitled "Rhymes Against Humanity" (check www.killmessinian.com for more info). Working on doing beat production for various MC's and soul artists.
Q:What are your plans for after the tour?
A:International dates with the DSL. A soul side project, a rock side project, and more hip-hop material. Working on getting children's books written and published.
DIESELBOY
Q:How did you come up with the script for the POTD Intro and other spoken word vocals you drop throughout the night?
A:There is a scene in the early '80s anime "GOLGO 13" that I sampled at one point and used as an intro. It's a monologue about a government experiment involving hitmen, jungle beasts and guerrilla commandos. When I started thinking about the tour for this year, I knew we needed something special for our intro, so I set about tweaking that script from the "GOLGO 13" monologue and then went about hiring the same voice actor who delivered the lines in the original! I added my own backing music and sound FX and voila - I think it's our best intro to date.
Q:Who is the anime voice?
A:Michael McConnohie, a very prolific voice actor who has done work on too many cartoon and anime titles to mention. Transformers, GI Joe, Cowboy Bebop, Vampire Hunter D, Samurai Champloo. The list goes on ....
Q:At Cubik in DC the POTD were operating on three turntables and three CD players - is that a normal set-up for the POTD?
A:That is our normal set-up. You have the main set-up composed of two decks and two CD players and a second set-up with one deck and one CD player. While one of us works the main set-up, another of us drops in beats and samples from the second set-up. Definitely adds another layer of texture and energy to the set.
Q:Favorite tunes you're dropping on this tour?
A:Pendulum - "Slam." Amerie - "One Thing" (TC's big bad bootleg). Fresh - "Funk Academy." Violence Kru - "California Scheming."
Q:Any funny or special moments so far on this tour?
A:Hitting up the Rib America Festival in St. Louis with AK, getting really drunk at POTD in DC and rocking the mic at the end of the show (WHAT!), the pre-tour show in Philadelphia at the old PLATINUM space was amazing.
Q:What's happening in your life and what are you working on?
A:Recently moved to Brooklyn to live with my girlfriend of eight years, wrapped some new video game music with Kaos and Karl K, working on re-developing HUMAN branding (logo, t-shirts, sleeves, etc.), planning forthcoming POTD mix-CD trilogy to be released in 2006.
Q:Plans for after the tour?
A:International bookings, some R&R with my girlfriend, SpongeBob SquarePants marathon viewings.
DARA
Q:At Cubik in DC there were three record bins in the booth. Was there any organization to them?
A:Each of us had a bin for our records but occasionally we may play one from someone else's pile. For example, if I only have something on CD and one of the other guys has it on vinyl, I prefer to play the vinyl and would use their copy. There is a certain amount of sharing of tunes, but also some tunes become exclusive to one of us on the tour. If I really like a tune and am playing it every night, then the others with leave it for me to play throughout the tour.
Q:What is the chemistry of the POTD, personality-wise?
A:We are all very different, personality-wise, which I think really adds to the overall performance. Damian is very much the perfectionist and very serious about the overall concept. Myself and Dave, although serious as well, tend to be a little more easygoing about things. Even though I do take things seriously, I am not willing to give myself an ulcer worrying about things I have no control over - technical problems, for example. James, perhaps because he is the youngest member, tends to question why things may have not gone so well on a particular night, when in fact often there is no specific reason. Sometimes no matter what you do a night won't have the energy you would like. Having done this for so many years, the rest of us have learned to accept that and just focus on the next show.I think the combo works well with occasional moments of friction, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Q:Any funny or special moments on this tour so far?
A:Can't think right now.
Q:What's happening in your life and what are you working on?
A:I am moving to Philly next month after eleven years in NYC. I am looking forward to a change of scenery and the space I am moving into is like nothing I could get in NY for the price. A change is as good as a rest, as my mother likes to say.
Q:What are your plans for after the tour?
A:After the tour I intend to go to Europe for a couple of weeks. I'll go to Dublin to see my family, spend a week or so in London, and just generally chill out before I come back to my new start in Philly. All of which I am looking forward to.
AK1200
Q:Does the POTD have a "game plan" for its three-hour sets?
A:Actually, the set times vary from two hours all the way up to six hours, which we did last year in DC. This year the average is about four hours. The only game plan is DSL starts with our intro, then does the first three mixes. Dara and I alternate on who goes second. It's safe to say that all three of us are more spontaneous than planned out, so we never know what tune we will be left with until our turn comes, and we just try to complement it and push the vibe further. But that would be the extent of our game plan.
Also, the second set-up is sort of a free-for-all type thing. Whoever gets up there first, I suppose. But yeah, all in all we try to stick to the three tunes then alternate method, and one of the other two not on the main set-up goes to the second set-up.
Q:Do you have a sense of there being a POTD "community" out there?
A:Hmmm, I haven't really looked at it that way. I think there is a dedicated drum and bass community, and a huge portion of those people are happy to come and see us play because they know it's more of a whole show than a standard set by an individual. Also, I think by now people see that we truly do bring out the competitive side in one another, so we strive to be at our best every night. We do notice people that have come to every show that their city has held and there are some very distinct fans of ours, but I think what they like most is the way we work together and the fact that we have the obligation and intention to come with the heaviest stuff.
Q:Favorite tunes you're dropping this tour?
A:Well, so far, and keep in mind the tour is not even halfway through yet, I would say the tunes I am playing every show would include:
Craggz and Parallel Forces - "Red Octopus." Total Science - "Trojan Horse." Chase and Status - "Duppy Man." Ed Rush/Optical - "Sick Note rmx." The Upbeats - "In and Out." Various things from the Violence album. And loads of other things I can't think of this moment.
Q:Any funny or special moments on this tour so far?
A:Hmmm, I think every night there are some sort of funny moments but I honestly can't single anything out. As for a special moment so far ... I literally got goose bumps when they opened the curtain in DC and let everyone into our room and it went from completely empty to completely full in less than a minute. I don't think there are many things that could ever top that kind of feeling.
Q:What's happening in your life and what are you working on?
A:Well, aside from the usual DJ schedule I have, I try to play a lot of golf every chance I can. I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend, and I read a lot. Professionally, I have been putting my all into the label I have been working for, Moving Shadow. I have been busy coordinating releases from Noisia, Counterstrike, Gein, Blame, and many more. And have been the one in charge of getting all of the remixes done for an upcoming EP. I have been very close with the label's owner, Rob, for 15 years now, and have been dedicating myself for over two years now to making sure Moving Shadow stays on top of the game, and this year it is definitely showing.
Q:What are your plans for after the tour?
A:Well, to be honest, I really want to go on a cruise. I have been on a few and loved it, and was amazed at how relaxing it truly was, so hopefully my girl and I can find the time to roll through the southern Caribbean for a week or so. If not that, I think I would really like to go through Italy for a week or two, especially Sorrento and Tuscany. Whatever it is, I am definitely taking at least a week off from music. Then after that, I am going to buy a new computer. My current studio computer crashed and the hard drive completely died, resulting in the loss of every single sound file, break, bass sound, sample, song session, everything. I lost it all. So now I think I may as well start all over again, and re-create myself as an artist and produce as much music as I can, and hopefully get to a point where I can find my way, and come out with some things that I can truly be proud of.
Editor's Note: JIVE Magazine kicked off Drum and Bass appreciation week on June 13th with three exclusive features about the people we think are really pushing the genre forward:
Drum and Bass may be an acquired taste, but once you have it under your skin, you’ll appreciate its innovation, its uniqueness, its complexity and the fury of emotion that only the sound of Drum and Bass can bring.
