Friday - June 3rd , 2005
Club Triangle, Osaka, Japan

Club Triangle is a nightclub located in the heart of downtown Osaka, Japan. Being one of the hottest clubs in Osaka, with its prime location and amazing interior design, it attracts artists and DJs of all musical genres from around the world. At the beginning of June, Club Triangle celebrated its third year anniversary by inviting two of the world’s most respected and beloved DJs, Ram Records’ own Andy C and Red One, making the evening unforgettable. What makes having Andy C and Red One such a treat is that they are two of the three people who not only started the famous Ram Records label, but through Andy C’s amazing skill and Red One’s business wizardry, they made the label respected worldwide.

For those unaware, the most prevalent music style to come from Ram Records is Jungle/Drum and Bass (JDB). JDB has been around for over 15 years and has a history so deep and colorful that it could illuminate the darkest part of any ocean. The scene surrounding this music does not discriminate against race, gender, or age, and leaves everyone with the same look on their faces: a sweaty smile. It is no wonder that Club Triangle’s event coordinator, Mr. Toyo, chose Andy C and Red One for this special event. The real question that remains is how the Japanese public feels about Jungle/Drum and Bass. Although JDB pioneers, Grooverider and Fabio, first made landfall in Japan in 1993, JDB remains a mystery to most Japanese music patrons.

Club Triangle had many musical genres to choose from for their party. In Japan, hip-hop is the genre which holds most influence over today’s youth. Groups like Orange Range, Dragon Ash, Soul’d Out, and B-Dash all crowd the popular NHK program, “Music Station.” But if you were to play any track from Andy C’s critically acclaimed, Nightlife: A Drum and Bass Odyssey, you would probably receive the same look of confusion most Japanese students give when learning English. Despite this lack of exposure amongst the Japanese youth, Mr. Toyo believed in JDB enough to take that chance, and there is nobody with more charisma and experience to educate the untrained Japanese ear than Andy C.

Andy C, born Andrew Clarke, comes from the land where JDB originated, the United Kingdom. Before spreading their sound internationally, DJs and producers worked tirelessly around the clock to cultivate the home audience. Through pirate radio, raves and parties, and of course, records and mixtapes, JDB has seen a steady growth in popularity over the years. Regardless of the media’s negative misrepresentation of the hardworking scene, JDB continues to produce artists who consistently push new boundaries within the world of music.

In the early 90’s, the media blamed the JDB scene for bringing drugs into the London club scene, and were not shy to comment how JDB DJs looked like muggers, because of their urban fashion sense. Most JDB DJ’s did not flaunt the overpriced flashy attire worn by their trance counterparts like Sasha or Paul Oakenfold. Due to the media’s lack of knowledge and erroneous reporting, most people believed that JDB was merely just a “black male phenomenon”, despite people like DJ Rap, who is neither black nor male and has astonished audiences worldwide with her “wicked” beats. This brings us back to Andy C, who, going against the media’s stereotype, is a white male with short brownish-black hair, often performing in the height of fashion. Andy C, and his curly, red-haired associate/friend, Red One, have been knee-deep in the scene since its infant stages. Through their dedication they have been able to not only witness the evolution of JDB, but contribute to it first hand.

In the ultimate Jungle/Drum and Bass book, All Crews, written by Brian Belle-Fortune (a.k.a. Rude FM’s DJ Zy:on), Andy C reminisces how he was initially introduced to the world of raves and electronic music: “when I was 13 my sister took me to my first illegal rave in a barn in Essex.” The party was in 1989, before the scene had taken off, and Andy C’s sister, Sarah, was already on the frontlines of a musical revolution. It was songs like A Guy Called Gerald’s “Voodoo Ray” that got young Andy listening to old pirate stations, ‘Centre Force’ and ‘Sunrise’ every morning, before school. At age 15, Andy’s father bought Andy his first small sampler, which he and family friend, co-founder of Ram Records, Ant Miles, started to use in the studio to produce tunes.

Although Andy and Ant Miles were producing music in the studio, it was not until Andy met Red One that he witnessed the true power of the DJ. Red One describes in an interview with Flight MC of earwaks.com how he and Andy’s relationship began, “I was promoting parties at the time, Andy basically came out one night and he liked it. He got into the music, bought some decks, and then I gave him his first gig.” That first party Red One took Andy to was called ‘Imagination.’ Andy reveals to The DJ List how “just seeing the guys play, controlling the crowd, smashing the big tunes, seeing the atmosphere when it went off in all that really inspired me.” From that moment on Andy’s future career as a DJ was decided. Then after he got his decks, he started to make mixtapes. While Andy was passing his mixtapes to friends at school, Red One was sending them to promoters.

Back in the early 90’s, it was often the promoter’s name that generated a party’s audience (unlike today when a DJ’s name alone has the power to create that audience). The crowd trusted promoters’ talents in recruiting the best DJs for the parties; so, when big time promoter, Elevation, contacted Red One, Andy got his first chance to play in front of a huge audience with a proper MC. Andy describes in All Crews the anxiety that came during his earliest moments playing in front of large crowds: “I’d be shaking, and my hand would be shaking trying to get the needle on the record, but now it’s more about anticipation and excitement. That’s what kind of buzz you get.” By the time Andy turned 16, that excitement buzz had already begun to take shape in his music, and with some help from Red One, Andy’s audience kept growing. Burning the candle at both ends, Andy would practice DJing until six in the morning, sleep for an hour, and be ready for school by 7:30. To follow his passion for music, Andy left school and started a record company with Ant Miles and Red One. Utilizing his sister’s artistic talent to design and draw the first logo, Ram Records was born.

Since its inception in 1992, Ram Records has been synonymous with high quality and technically innovative sounds that can bring any club to its peak of the night. People go to hear Andy C live, and when his collaboration with Ant Miles, “Valley of the Shadows” (also known as “31 Seconds”), hits the needle the crowd goes wild. During its 15 year life, Ram Records has had some of the world’s best DJs add tracks to its large and eclectic catalog. Tracks like Bad Company’s “Space Hopper/Tonight,” Andy C and Shimon’s always popular “Body Rock,” Ant Miles and Red One’s “Bring It On/Musica,” and Ram Trilogy’s chapter series have appeared. Ram Trilogy is actually a super crew consisting of Andy C, Shimon, and Ant Miles. Some famous mixes to come from Andy C outside of Ram are his Drum and Bass Arena (w/bonus DVD) mix and Fabriclive 18 mix, featuring Andy with DJ Hype, which can be found at most music shops around The U.K. and America.

In Japan, however, it can be tough to find a music store that carries albums from the Ram Records label. DJs have an easy time finding records in stores like Manhattan Records, King Kong Records, or Tower, but the average customer buying cds usually has the best luck finding this genre on the internet. This poses one of the largest problems in exposing Japan’s youth to Jungle/Drum and Bass. One way to get records or cds into the stores is to tour, which extends your fan base, and increases demand. Andy C and Red One, both being smart business men, understand the importance of a good show, so when the clock struck 11:30 on that hot summer night in June, our heroes entered Club Triangle, ready to give Japan a reason to stock their shelves with more Ram Records albums.

To get to the DJ booth, Andy C and company were forced to walk through a dance floor completely filled with sweat-covered JDB enthusiasts, all ready for his vivacious set. Once the headphones hit Andy’s ears, the crowd began to close-in on the stage. Andy’s set began slowly, getting the crowd to bounce a bit, but after a few minutes, and some quick finger maneuvering, Club Triangle instantly turned into a madhouse. As the beats per minute increased, so did the power and intensity. It was as if Andy had poured some sort of mystery chemical into his mixer because the instant his sound reached the crowd’s ears he controlled their bodies, and resistance was futile. By the time the needle hit the wax of his fourth record, everyone in the club had been drawn in to Andy’s magnetic field, like a spaceship being pulled into a black hole. People were dancing with such passion and vehemence that the heat from their bodies caused the people on the second and third floors to become drenched by their own sweat. The green-like acid rain effects turned Club Triangle into the “Matrix,” and Andy C into “Neo.” He had complete control over everyone on the floor, and with Red One standing behind him, Andy seemed to be right at home. This was the view from the DJ booth, but the vibe from the middle of the dance floor was the center of the storm. Mosh Pits broke out, sweat was flying, and the green, red, and blue lights stimulated every sensor in the body.

It was truly astonishing to see how deeply the Japanese audience got into the music. One could hear the word, “yabai!!” being shouted in 10 minute intervals (the word, “yabai,” is Japanese slang for, in this case, “awesome!”) Knowing how reserved most Japanese people are it was fascinating to see so many people cut loose during Andy C’s set. Once Andy finished his set there was only one person talented enough to keep the vibe going, and that was Red One. Red One did not miss a beat as everyone in the audience dug deep within themselves to keep up with the music. The energy kept rising, and even Andy C could not stop himself from bouncing up and down. As the lasers and flashing lights continued to add to Red One’s mystical journey through the core parts of inner space, Andy C looked at the animated audience, then at me and said, “This is the real shit!”
By the time Red One finished his set the audience was like “Jello.” Despite being drenched with sweat and having a dazed look on their faces, everyone was smiling. Both Andy C and Red One could not have gotten a better reaction from the crowd. So how do the Japanese view JDB? The Japanese people who live away from the city and mostly listen to J-Pop have a hard time understanding JDB. They think it sounds like “a bunch of noise” despite it often being heard in shopping centers and supermarkets as background music. The people in the city, however, who are more exposed to foreign styles of music, tend to have a more open-mindedness approach towards the JDB scene. When Japanese people listen to foreign music they often do not understand the lyrics, so their attention is drawn towards the vibe and energy of the song. JDB does not often focus its sound on lyrics, but rather on the energy, so Japanese people who are into music pick up on that instantly. This was proven during Andy C and Red One’s set when everyone in the club, mostly Japanese residents, rode the wave of music like a professional surfer dominating the gigantic waves on Hawaii’s “Pipeline.” They loved what they were hearing and by the time Red One played his last record of the night the dance floor was still packed with people dancing. Andy C considers the Japanese audience a great one, and this being his eighth time to Japan he has witnessed its growth over the years. Andy C and Red One are proof the scene’s positivity. They travel across oceans to spread their unique sound to people who are desperately eager to hear it. As a child in school we are taught to never give up and follow our dreams. Through pirate radio, raves and parties, and true perseverance, JDB entrepreneurs, including Andy C and Red One, had their dreams of creating something special come true. Such are the kind of inspirational stories we should be telling our children at bedtime.