Ramadanman (UK)

With an epic collection of massive releases across many of the world's most respected dubstep & bass music labels Ramadanman has established himself as one of the world's foremost dubstep & future bass music producers.

It's four years since dubstep passed its tipping point and went from tight knit London community to global scene. It is now as accepted by LA ravers as London jazz heads, vocalled by pop stars as diverse as La Roux and Snoop Dogg. And if the first wave of dubsteppers (El-B, Zed Bias, Horsepower) took the swing of garage and made it darker and the second (Hatcha, Skream, Benga, Digital Mystikz & Loefah) re-engineered its DNA into a genre with its own identity, then in many ways Ramadanman is representative of many key ‘third wave’ players.

Brought up in the rural south west of England, far from dubstep’s south London birthplace, he learnt to mix at 13 but first encountered dubstep when his grime-inspired productions were compared online to a genre he’d yet to hear of. After investigating, he attended dubstep’s foundational club, Forward>>, and had, as many people do, a life-changing experience. “I first went in April 2006 when Mala was playing alongside N Type and maybe Geeneus I think. Definitely changed my life!” he enthuses. “Really exciting vibe, the heaviest soundsystem I had ever heard and just really changed my outlook on music. I don't think I realised sub bass existed before then.”

True to the community spirit of the genre, he left Forward>> not just with a new found musical direction but people to share the enthusiasm for it with: when he subsequently arrived at Leeds University to study languages, he found some of those friends he’d made in the cold, east London queue were also there too. It would be from Leeds University that he and his friends, Ben UFO and Pangaea, would begin a label (Hessle Audio) that would see them take their sound all over the globe.

“Hessle is becoming more and more a group of mates really,” says Ramadanman. “We've all known each other a good few years now… We all play a part in choosing tunes and discussing release plans. Sometimes one of us can become excited about a particular tune, and then the other two hear it and are like 'nah this isn't actually very good' which keeps us all in check I feel. Quite a democratic approach really. We played in Berlin last week, all of us, and it was just really nice having a laugh with mates.”

Ramadanman represents the maturing dubstep sound emotionally contained and controlled, the diametric opposite of the explosive adolescent wobble tantrums that now dominate parts of the scene. As the distance from drop-culture widens you can see how its global appeal has expanded beyond the genre, as it cosies up to groove-lead scenes like techno and house. “I think there's a danger of some technoey dubstep stuff just sounding like techno at 140bpm and not really differentiating itself from the years of techno that have preceded it. I'm not so much influenced by techno these days really,” he admits. Yet you can’t help but feel that, perhaps, it has left part of its DNA behind.

Rama has racked up scene defining releases on labels including Soul Jazz, Tempa, Aus, Critical Music and Hessle Audio, the imprint he co-runs with Pangaea and Ben UFO, as well as remixing the likes of Ragga Twins, Scuba and many more. He is also heavily involved in organizing the Leeds night Ruffage as well as co-hosting the now infamous Ruffage Sessions weekly internet radio show on Sub FM.

With fans spanning the dance music divide – including Ricardo Villalobos, Skream, Francois K, Kode9, Bok Bok, Gilles Peterson and Rob da Bank – Ramadanman’s bright future is all but assured.

Support:

Presha - [Samurai Music]
P-Vans - [DPR / Aquatic Lab]
GRL (Aus) - [Kiss & Tell]
Tremor (Ak)
Dischord
Midian - [Grounded]
Dirty Red - [Acetate / Bassweight]
Thief - [Bassweight]
Spinsta - [RBG]
Synapse ft. Blac Sax
Kyren
Shrink

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