Beatportal Interviews Blame

Beatportal Interviews Blame

13 July, 2008 | 12.33PM

• Written by: Caleb Rakes
• Filed under: Music News: 720 degrees music, blame

Blame has been one of the most instrumental figures within drum & bass for over 15 years.

Initially releasing on seminal labels Moving Shadow and Good Looking, he now runs his own 720 Degrees and Blame Music labels as well as produces for the likes of Hospital and Charge.

Blame, aka Conrad Shafie, recently scored a massive club hit with ‘Stay Forever’, plugged massively by Fabio and released on Mampi Swift’s Charge imprint.

Not content with just producing club-focused material, Blame recently changed the agenda and started up a new label, Blame Music to push a more a experimental sound.

Recently finishing a tour of China, Beatportal managed to catch up with the ever-busy Blame and inquire about the ins and outs of Blame’s 720 degree world.

You’ve been in the drum & bass game now for what seems like forever. At some point do you feel you should get a lifetime achievement dedication award to the scene?

Ha, yeah that might be nice…. Maybe one day, who knows!

When you’re not running two labels, producing tunes for your own and other labels, including Charge and Hospital Records, touring the world etc – what is it you like doing in your spare time?

I love hitting the gym and generally escaping from the four walls of my studio.

I think that’s the only thing that keeps me relatively sane in this music business.

You recently produced a stunning covermount CD for the notorious Knowledge Magazine. Do you have any plans of releasing or producing a mix for general sale?

Hopefully I will get a project like that lined up next year. I’m currently working on a new album to follow up the success I recently had with the ‘Stay Forever’ single, so I will need to complete that first. Multitasking isn’t my thing!

Your previous four releases were released on Mampi Swift’s ‘Charge’ label. What’s your relationship with Mampi, and what made Mampi’s label more appealing than your own?

Me and Swift are great friends, and Charge is a perfect platform for my dancefloor-style tracks.

Swift really gets behind the tracks and for some reason the d&b fans really pick up and support my tracks on Charge.

Blame Music is an interesting concept, and sounds different to the music being produced by your contemporaries. What reactions have you had to it so far, and to what extent do you think you’ll take the label to?

Ive had some great reactions, and people seem glad that I’ve taken a look into the past of d&b, and combined it with current production skills to capture that vintage sound.

It’s a lot of fun for me working on these kinda tracks, exactly what I love about d&b, so I’ll always keep pushing this label.

Outside of d&b what else are you listening to? Are there other fields you feel you’d like to explore?

Im a big fan of old skool hip hop & electro, and I still listen to my old vinyl a lot.

Film soundtracks and movie scores are a field I’m aiming to explore in the near future, as my sound really seems to lend itself to that medium.

I recently checked out an interview you did five years ago, in which you said you’ve been toying around with the idea of learning to play the piano now for 10 years. Have you managed to get round to doing this yet?

Omg. Yeah that’s still at the top of the ‘to-do’ list! I guess I have improved on keys, but sadly I haven’t achieved that goal yet… you’ve exposed me there!

Fabio’s shown you a lot of love recently on his Radio 1 show. You guys must go way back?

Ive known Fabio for many years, and listened & raved to him and Grooverider for even longer!

I will always be a big fan, and it’s still a massive buzz to hear Fabio smashing the tracks on the radio and at Swerve.

And finally, if you had one tune at the moment, to beat all tunes – what would it be?

At the moment for me it would be my latest track ‘Stay Forever’. This track has re-invented my sound again, and inspired me to keep going and pushing on for the future!

Beatportal extends it’s thanks to Conrad for the interview.

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