|
|
|
|
|
|||
| UK
Music News
Front
Page
|
Before the summer, the name Roll Deep would have meant little to most people; that is, unless you were familiar with the UK underground scene. Things have changed somewhat now though, as within the last four or five months, the boys from Roll Deep have made the transition from underground leaders to pop heavyweights with the release of their summery single ‘The Avenue’, and their latest chart hit, ‘Shake A Leg’. Despite what some may think, the 12-man crew known as Roll Deep have been around for much, much longer. Producer Target laid down the background details. “We’ve just all grown up together really, but we were always interested in music; we got into Djing, and some of the others got into emceeing and that. From there we were going into the studio making tracks, then moved onto pirate radio stations, and then it just progressed on,” he explained. “Flow Dan came up with the name Roll Deep, it was just something we said a lot at the time.”
Whether they were ‘rolling deep’ or ‘keeping it low key’ as their name suggests, the crew were always keeping the underground guessing, showcasing new music and new talent on pirate radio stations, particularly Rinse FM. The crew, led by Wiley (of the ‘Eski’ beat), benefited greatly from the exposure pirate radio gave them, and like most crossover artists, for that they are truly grateful. “That’s probably one of the most important things in our career,” said Danny Weed. “Without pirate radio, we wouldn’t have been heard because it’s not like we could give out our tracks to normal radio; they would never have played ‘em! We always do pirate, Wiley did it at, like, four in the morning! He’s crazy about that stuff!” Their experience on pirate radio has also had a more long-term impact on the way they approach the music industry, and their attitude towards it. “You understand what you got. We came to this label [Relentless] knowing a lot more than like, a manufactured band would know,” Target told The Situation. “We knew what we had, we’d been doing it for years, so that helps, especially ‘cos this industry’s so hard, you get doors slammed in your face, so it makes you stronger.” With most of the crew only in their early twenties, the boys must have started young, but when exactly did they decide to take music on as a career? “When I applied for a job in McDonald’s and they didn’t give me one!” laughed Target. “When I was about 15, and that’s a true story! I decided when I found out that from doing raves, you could get 300 quid in one night, that was easier! We started doing house parties, then little, tiny clubs, then not so tiny, then bigger and bigger to the biggest club!” Back in those days, when the Roll Deep crew was just making a name for themselves, there was another member of their crew who was making waves as a solo artist. His name? Dizzee Rascal. Considered by many to be one of the pioneers of the grime genre, Dizzee has experienced solo success in a way none of them could have imagined, winning numerous awards and critical acclaim for his 2003 debut album ‘Boy In Da Corner’. Things didn’t work out quite as well with his crew though, and somewhere along the line, the friendship between Dizzee and Wiley turned sour, with Wiley promptly kicking the Rascal out of the group. Target laughed before discussing their relationship with Dizzee now. “Yeah, he’s alright. He don’t work with us; he ain’t got time. And he fell out with people in the Roll Deep crew… That’s why he left in the first place. Once you fall out with Wiley, that’s it, you’re out! But if he’s round the corner, he’ll come round and say hello to us, so it’s kind of mixed feelings.” Since the release of their crossover hit ‘The Avenue’ this summer, which sampled The Maisonettes’ ‘Heartbreak Avenue’, Roll Deep have gone on to surprise a few more of their hardcore fans with their debut album, ‘In At The Deep End’. Describing what makes their album so different to everything else on the market, Target said, “It’s fresh, original, and £8.99 with a DVD! It just covers everything; it’s not just one sort of sound, that’s the strong point.” However, with more songs like the new ‘Shake A Leg’, are Roll Deep leaving their grime roots behind for the shiny lights of the pop world? “Well, first we done garage, and now they call us grime, whatever that is,” said Target. “I hate that name. I mean, how can it be grime? Listen to this tune [‘The Avenue’], how can it be grime? It’s pop! I think music is just music, people shouldn’t label it.” He continued, “We didn't make a conscious decision to go against everything everyone else was doing, we just went into the studio. This track got made, that track got made, and before we knew it the album was ready. No one said ‘this ain't grime’. It was only when we listened to the record all the way through that we realised there were a few pop tunes on there.” Danny Weed went on to explain how he came up with some of the more ‘pop-orientated’ beats. “We listen to all types of music, always have. When I was little, my mum and dad were always into their music, so I took inspiration from everywhere and that’s shown in our beats. We’re very open-minded about music, so that’s a good thing.” Target chipped in: “My mum and everyone around me were always listening to music. Music was in my head all the time; reggae, pop, old Sixties’ music… My Nan had old 1940’s seven inch records she used to play. Even just watching Top Of The Pops growing up, listening to Bobby Brown, Salt N’ Peppa, all them sort of things. We used to listen to jungle when we were younger as well. It was them emcees and them DJs that made me wanna make music. But by the time I started to properly make it, I weren’t really into jungle anymore…” he trailed off, shrugging his shoulders. “At the moment, I think we’re still developing our sound. We’ve just gotten more and more experimental; we wouldn’t have done nothin’ like this in the past, ‘cos we would have thought no one would take us seriously. But there’s no rules with music; you can come up with anything,” he said. With Flow Dan, Breeze, Riko, Trim, Brazen, Jet Le, and Scratchy leading the charge on the mic, Carnage and Maximum on the turntables, and beats by Danny Weed, Target and Wiley (who chips in with the odd vocal too) it would seem that their ‘no rules barred’ philosophy and ‘anything goes’ attitude has worked well for them. So where do Target and Danny see themselves in five years time? “Topshop!” shouts Danny. “No, erm… in a good, decent 9 to 5!” he laughs. Target is more optimistic. “Nah… We should be on our fourth album by then. Producing music for other people, just doing what we do now, just better!”
|
|
|
