‘l’m feeling good so I make feelgood music'
RONI SIZE HAS BEEN AWAY BUT IT'S GOOD TO HAVE HIM back. “I‘ve been away from Bristol and I’ve been missing my studio. man.‘ he cries from his technological base in Bristol. ‘I’m just in the mode right now. mixing some tunes. you know. I make music to bring out certain emotions in me and right now I‘m feeling good. so I make feelgood music.‘
We capture Roni Size at his most energised and contented: in the studio.
‘Howyadoing bro.‘
he cries into the phone. struggling to turn down the speakers pounding out wild breakbeats. The promotional
schedule for his new album has taken its toll on him. But in
spite of rumours that he’s suffering from exhaustion. he appears as buoyant as ever. Size is a rare creature in a music world dominated by overwrought introspective types and livin' large ballers. He‘s an energised. optimistic man on a mission.
That mission is straightforward: to prove that the oft- dissed but resilient music form that is drum & bass is still as vital as ever.
You might remember jungle. It was really big about four years ago. filling dance floors. style mags and. in the end. adverts for cleaning products (touch ‘n' fresh anyone?) But the media stopped talking. the London daaahlings turned on their kitten heels and made a beeline for the garage clubs. only to laud the finer points of The Dreem Team and Artful Dodger. people who ironically. had worked in the underground like Size for years. Jungle and drum & bass just stopped being fashionable.
What Size and his crew have successfully managed. however. is a full-blown musical coup. It's what Goldie tinkered with in his collaboration with maverick hip-hop