Juno Daily – In The Mix: David Double O

The man behind the long running futuristic d&b night Rupture…

David Double O is best known as the man behind long running club night (and now label) Rupture, which continues to fly the flag for the junglist, breakbeaty side of d&b.

But he’s also been a DJ and producer of note for many years. The wonderous grooves of his just-released album (and Juno Daily Album of The Week) Firm Meditation – and this equally accomplished hour long In The Mix session (see below) – prove it beyond doubt.

So we tracked down David – once he’d had a chance to sleep off the excesses of Glastonbury, obviously – and quizzed him on the album, the club night, his productions and anything else we could think of….

First of all, can you tell us where you are right now, and what kind of day you’re having…

I have just got home from work from Raw Material, a place which works with people with mental health problems through music from recording in the studio, bands, mixing etc. I have been there many years and I love it! 

And also, any good tales from your recent Glastonbury experience?!!

The solo mission from silver haze area (north of the festival ) to the madness that is Shangri-La  (South of the festival ) Plus had some wicked sets with my partner Dj Mantra on the firmly rooted sound system ,which sounded amazing since his new upgrade of his set , We took our 3 children and their cousin with us also in a massive Space home with toooooo many tales to mention haha Apparently we were parked next to Banksy who was with fat boy slim but I didn’t get to see him( who ever does) but we nicked their water hose for 30 mins though!

Tell us a bit about your early years – where you grew up and what your first memories of music are.  What persuaded you to cross the lines from being a music fan into making music? 

Born and raised in Doncaster to Caribbean parents and music was always played in the house my dad had a big collection of blue beat and early ska plus Rock and roll which was cut on slate. My late older brother had his own Reggae sound system. I was always fascinated with music and  would tape pirate radio all day long .I think one of the first records that blew my mind was Herbie Hancock’s Rockit. It had crazy sounds that I had never heard before . My mum bought me a Casio keyboard which had drum pads on the front and from that I was hooked trying to make early Detroit techno (terribly). I then managed to get hold of a Tb 303 for 50 pounds at a local 2nd hand store. I actually sold it back to them then re-bought it and then finally sold it like a mug to two producers from Sheffield for 70 pounds which I regretted to this day haha. 

When do you first remember hearing rave music?  Did you have an instant conversion or was it more gradual? 

For me it was more gradual first it was Reggae ,Soul, early electro stuff like Juan Atkins, Egyptian lover , the Pac man etc then Hip house, Acid uk hip hop and then rave music. I honestly can’t remember where but I know I was there from the start of it and cities like Sheffield , Leeds and Nottingham played a big part in it. 

Was there a moment for you when you realised what jungle specifically was and how it was becoming its own thing within the rave ‘umbrella’?

From being a lover of early reggae I always used to love the instrumental part which lead on to be called dub and for me Jungle was dub with breaks which I both loved. As it evolved with the technology as in more sample time , time stretch etc what I loved about jungle was the fact you could add any music to it and still be jungle (If done right) To be honest when jungle first came on the scene it was shunned a lot in certain venues but that’s another story in itself. It was more than an umbrella, it was the thunder, rain and lighting that you used the umbrella to shield yourself from .

Your production work stretches back a long way, if we’re not wrong.  Tell us about your first work making jungle/drum & bass… 

My first work was me playing with the machines at home in my bedroom, An Atari , Cubase and an Ensoniq sampling keyboard es16 which I loved , then later on my beloved mother bought me a sampler. I didn’t  go down the Akai route as it was so expensive back then so I bought the Yamaha A3000 which also came loaded with. An fx board with the aka being another paid add on. The only downside compared  to the Akai was the screen as it didn’t show a waveform view of the samples so most of the chopping and looping had to be done by ear. but it was still great though. Especially coming from  a couple of seconds and now having a whopping 1 minute sample time. I was known as 007 back then and had releases on Rouge recordings , lab logic and formation records which was one of my biggest releases back then. I also was a resident at the Doncaster warehouse which has many famous videos of it in action on youtube , one of the most popular clips which is about four hours long if you see the full video went viral when boiler rooms put the video on their site. If you check it , it’s actually a young me djing , also alongside djs, s like Easy d and Rush , Mzone and the late great Stu Allen.

You’re probably best associated with setting up and running the Rupture night.  When was that and what was the idea behind it?

Basically when I moved to London from Doncaster around 1998 I was quite busy playing up north but unknown in London and I also dropped the 7 from my name so it was now known as Double O. I met Indi (DJ Mantra) a few years later in the 2000 period. After a slight fall out of love with. Drum and bass around that time as it was musically a weird place for me and UK garage had taken over. I didn’t really hear the sounds that I liked out unless I went to places like Technicality, Hardware and Metal heads . The scene was very close knit and it was hard to get booked by any promoters. So myself and Indi (Dj Mantra) decided to start our own thing. We started in 2006.  Our approach  was to  be much more open in the way nights had been where we had visited in the past. Plus with Indi starting the Eq 50 project we wanted to book more women on our line ups. 

With both our youth work background and community work we wanted to bring in much more new and upcoming talent and use less of the bigger household names . It is said by many people that Rupture is a very welcoming place to be and with many people who travel near and far from  across the globe to come to our nights we have been very blessed . They really know the music and really appreciate the less anthem style of beats played from the artists we book at our nights.

For quite a long time, Rupture’s love for keeping the jungle flavour alive within drum & bass was a minority activity – you must be pleased that the world has caught up with you eventually and those sounds are now back in the scene with a vengeance…

Very pleased and very humbled!! My favourite presenter James O’Brien always says a saying I like and believe  ….if you build it they will come!

So, having made countless 12”s, how is the process and approach different with an album?

Hard and having to let go of your inner critic, with so much great music I hear it’s sometimes hard to let go and feel as if your music is on point enough.  Having Mantra by my side is amazing as I trust  her judgement and musical taste so much. so I can always bounce and play  ideas to her. Its very rare that if she says she doesn’t like an element in my music that it stays in …well sometimes it does haha Also getting the balance right and track order to make the album flow for the listener flow.

Firm Meditation is an interesting name also – why did you go for that?

Firm meditation is the mind state I get in when constantly in the musical loop for hours, making sure it takes me to the mind state and feel where I want my music to go in my mind, body and soul . I want it to be true to and honest, music not for sales but for me and to whoever takes the time to pick up my music. which I am always grateful for ……be humble before you stumble!!

Any future plans for yourself, the club or the label we should know about?

 Our new nights under the Rupture umbrella called Ferry to the underworld. This is where we have only 2 dj.s all night playing. Techno nights have been doing this for years with djs playing longer sets so we thought why not and we gave it a try last year. The first one was just me and Mantra. We were very worried the first time we did it but couldn’t  believe it when we sold out very quickly . The night was amazing and we loved it so much. Being able to go through all different styles of Electronic music, The next one is myself and the amazing dj that is Loxy on the 22nd of July at Corsica studios. Also plan wise more gear probably bought at the amazing shop you guys have down at Juno  You always have the synths and machines I want in stock and your prices always seem to be the cheapest!. Also watch out for a techno ep coming from me too which is long overdue. My last techno ep was in 1991. Peace!!!! 

TRACKLISTING:

DJ Trax – Back From Reality (Flame mix) 

Jack South Borders – Aranciata

DJ Trax – That Feeling

Modal Jaise  – Strangers 

DJ Ink – Rascal ( Cymatics remix ) 

Mad Vibes – Foundation 

Inja- Match Fit (instrumental) 

Fez the Kid – Explanation 

Mister Shifter -Reverie 

Icon Roller – Anytime 

Lemon D – Jah Love 

Tradecraft –  Musashi

Mad World – Nthng 

Nathalie – Sometimes I Feel (Bailey mix)

Shadow Child – Arlington So Hurt 

Double O Firm – Meditation 

Buy your triple vinyl copy of Firm Meditation by clicking here