Notes From the Underground: Ray Keith
Curating and releasing “the finest d&b and jungle since 1994,” Ray Keith is a pioneer and legend among legends in the long and storied history of the jungle and drum & bass scene. Earning his stripes in the underground music scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s in Essex, Ray quickly made a name for himself as both a DJ and remixer, dropping his remixes of Moby, Shades of Rhythm, St. Etienne, and Orbital on seminal imprints like Labello Blanco and Moving Shadow.
“I don’t think we’ve ever really looked back as we’ve always been forever focused on moving forward as pioneers.”
It wasn’t until Ray decided to launch his now infamous Dread Recordings imprint in 1994 that it all seemed to come together proper as a flurry of classic cuts like “The Chopper,” “You Got Me Burning Up” and “Terrorist” transported Ray to the forefront of the burgeoning drum & bass and jungle scenes.
Since then Ray and his Dread Recordings imprint have remained at the forefront of the scene, holding down the dark and heavy side of things consistently throughout all the varied trends that have come and gone over the years. With a nod to the old-school but always with his sights set on pushing into the future as well, Ray has managed to bring together an impressive crew under the Dread family umbrella, stretching way back to early contributions from the likes of Photek and Shy FX on through to new-school hitters like Serum, The Pedge, and DJ Vapour.
With his raging “Deeper Love” anthem causing a serious stir only a few years back, Ray and the Dread crew return with a two-part remix series that features top-notch names from across the spectrum of the genre. From Ray’s own VIP of the original on through to revisions from Bladerunner, Mystic Trip, Deply, Jinx, Margaman, Mr. Explicit, The Green Man, Blame, and so many more, the EP series offers up the perfect opportunity to check in with Ray and reflect on just how far the imprint and the genre have travelled in the decades since he first got into the game.
Have you ever taken time to reflect on how far you, the label and the scene in general have come since those early days?
I don’t think we’ve ever really looked back as we’ve always been forever focused on moving forward as pioneers, pushing our original blueprint sound and finding new artists. Looking back however we have had a huge selection of successful artists including Lemon D, Dillinja, Twisted Anger, Danny C, Nookie, Blade Runner, Mr. Explicit, Jinx, Serum, Bad Company, Titan, Digital, myself and so many more! Have a look at our Dub Dread series as there’s too many to list!
So much of that early work was linked to dub and sound system culture—how has that evolved over the years?
I never knew about dub until I reached Music House in 1989 to cut my first acetate dubplate. I think it was a revolution at the time and this was kind of a natural choice and a representation of ghetto concrete London. When I did Renegade on Moving Shadow this was my version of dub, but at the same time I think we have taken techno, soul, and jazz and that’s why I love it. Drum & bass is what you want it to be.
It’s amazing that those influences are still what kind of form the core of drum & bass 25 years later! Your 2012 anthem “Deeper Love” is a great example of bridging the old and new school.
The story behind that one was nuts as I made the tune in just five hours. Lots of DJs were playing it, Fabio, Grooverider, Frost, and Bryan G, but when Annie Mac jumped on it…the rest is history, thank you Annie Mac.
Three years later you’re rolling out this massive remix project of the tune. Talk a bit about how this project developed and what made this tune pop back up on your radar as a perfect one to get the remix treatment.
This project came about as I wanted to give artists a chance to remix my track and let them try and push the boundaries as well themselves as producers and remixers. It started with just a few and then kept growing from there.
How difficult was it to pull together all of the crew that you did on this project? Was it a challenge to keep the remixes secret until now? Did you give them any guidelines going in?
I always lock off the tunes straight away so no leaks and once everyone had done their mix we started to pick the strongest for vinyl release. That was hard as Section and The Green Man just missed out on the vinyl press. With all the remixes I talked on the phone with each artist and gave them a rough guideline that played to each artists individual strengths on the remixes to bring the best out in them all.
There’s so much diversity on here as well—was that a conscious effort on your part to pull from different aspects/vibes of the scene for a wide snapshot of all that the genre is capable of?
We have a very diverse range of artists on the label and we always want to showcase their talent. Everyone came at it from a different angle with Mystic Trip/Nautilus transforming into a roller with a laidback soulful vibe. I think our genre of music is very underestimated in general, hence why I made the original have a wider appeal but still have a club and underground feel to it that reflects our blueprint stamp on music. I am proud of all the remixes for that reason as they represent all the styles of jungle / drum and bass. That’s how we roll, setting standards, raising the bar and pushing the boundaries.
Did any of the remixes coming in take you by surprise? Any that stand out as a favorite that you’ve been throwing down in your sets more than others?
The ones by The Green Man, Mystic Trip, Jinx and Deploy stand out in particular for the way they gave it a completely different spin on their versions. My favorites would be the ones from Bladerunner, Mr. Explicit, Margaman and Nautilus/ Mystic Trip. I have played all of them out and they really do cause damage depending on the venue and style of the night.
What’s the key to a great remix in general?
Firstly, stay true to the original. Make sure it shuts the dance down when you play it and people go crazy. Make it timeless so it stands up in a few decades’ time. Easy peasy, really. (laughs)
Should we be looking out for similar remix projects like this one in the future? Any chance of revisiting “Chopper,” “Terrorist,” or “I Am Renegade” in a similar way soon?
Never say never. We have few remix projects coming up but they are top secret at the moment.
Where do you see yourself and the label headed in the future?
We will keep pushing the Dread sound and showcasing new artists. We have been going a long time—since 1994—and we aim to be here for a long time still. Thanks to all our artists and producers on the label Dread come to conquer! Also have to give thanks for all the love and support around the world.
Speaking of the future, there’s lots of references to aliens and UFOs in your work—do you believe there are other life forms out there and if so, what would they think of jungle / dnb? Is it a universal language?
My friend says if they came down they would leave me behind as I know too much (laughs). I would probably end up asking them about what kind of sampler or sequencer they use. Music has always been a universal language without a doubt so let’s see what happens.
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