As you might have guessed I love doing an interview, so here is another one and this time we have Meloki who is deserving of praise for his DJing and production levels and also an all round genuine fella. Lets see what he has to say.
Introduce yourself and tell us a bit of the history behind Meloki
Hi I’m Meloki and I’ve been dj’ing for 30 years this year, growing up in South London in the early 90s and experiencing the birth of jungle music first hand is where my addiction to this scene began.
I have been releasing music for nearly ten, covering the wide range of sub genre’s from Ragga Jungle to dark techy Drums, my ethos as a Dj and producer is good music is good music so that’s what iI’ about.
Where did you get your name from?Â
I’ve worked under three aliases in my career, First I was Dj Ride, (taken from my surname) that lasted about 5 years till i noticed two more Dj Rides, so i switched to The Virtue, I kept that alias for about 13 years, I was aware of a DJ Virtue in Gloucester and it was when he released an LP on John B’s Beta Recordings label that I decided it was time for a rethink, I didn’t want to make the mistake of the past and use something that someone else might use.
So, I was watching a music tutorial about writing in key and how certain keys are good for certain vibes, happy keys, dark keys and mellow keys for example .. I kinda liked the sound of mellow keys as i was writing lots of deep music at the time, it was about a week later watching marvel films and seeing the name Loki that the name Meloki was born.
Who is your favorite non-dnb artist?
Ocean Wisdom all day
What was your first experience with Drum and Bass like?
I was 18, it was NYE and i was about 8 stone in the tinniest t-shirt waiting in the queue on Margate pier for seduction.. I nearly died of hyperthermia I swear.
Once we got in i heard a proper sound system for the first time and saw 2 Bad Mice, Dj Rap and Slipmatt & Lime that i can remember, but that was it, i was in love and never turned back from there to be honest.
Talk about your recent release
My last release was an old school jungle type track, It was released by Jungle Revolution Records and it was called Boss Song.
I was blessed to have support from the likes of Aphrodite, Ray Keith and Simon Bassline Smith on it, so i was more than happy about that.
Next up I have a track on my pal Spookasonics album, with a ft from Navigator so that’s exciting obviously and im just wrapping up my next release with Totally Dubwise Recordings that i expect will be out the end of the year. (ish)
What is you’re biggest break / thing you are most thankful for to date in your music career?
Probably getting Nosia and Rene le Vice radio plays and support on a track i collaborated on with Stenchman, that lead to a Joe Ford remix of the same track on Shadow Net Recordings, my spottily numbers went over 250’000 after that so i guess that was a big one, but i need to give a nod to Scoundrel @ Rough Tempo, I’ve played internationally multiple times and have played in some of the biggest venues in the UK as part of the Rough Tempo family so I’m eternally grateful to them
Who are your top 5 current Drum and Bass artists?
Break
Bou
Exile
T}I
Harley D
but i know ill read this back and change it 1000x as the scene is so blessed right now so im gonna go with those three this week 🙂
If you could collab with any artist, of any genre / style, who would it be and why?
Ocean Wisdom gets two mentions in one interview… I just think he’s such an amazing vocalist and has a versatility to him and i need more tracks like P Moneys Buss a Red on my USB
Describe your favorite bassline of all time, preferably by just describing the sound (no technical terms- this is supposed to just be a fun answer).
I’m going to have to take it old School on this one and pick XLR8 – Wots my Code…Dubplate, that straight 808 sub that formed the foundations of pretty much the scene we have now, so many amazing bass synths you could pick from but that ones still being used even in modern tunes 30 years later so for me its still no 1
Tell us about the strangest / most embarrassing experience you’ve had before, during or after a show.
That was definitely when i was playing a Squat Rave in Islington about ten years ago, I was due on and it was a packed out room, so i strolled up to the decks and tripped over the extension lead powering the desks etc… the place was in silence for a good ten mins while they tried to figure it out till they spotted the power unplugged .. it was not my honest hour. the poor engineer was running round looking for replacement fuses .. DOH
Where do you see / hope to see the sound of Drum and Bass evolving too in the next few years.Â
TBH its hard to say which direction it will head.. trends just seem to repeat and rotate but get updated with new sounds and ideas.
To be honest, the most exciting part about drum and bass is not knowing whats going to happing next till you hear it, no music in the world changes and progress like DnB IMO.
What is one tip you would like to give to aspiring Drum and Bass artists?
Be you and do it because you love this music, If your in it for fame or money or just to look cool you not doing it because you actually about the music and your just one of 1000s of throw away djs and not and individual.
For about 7 years I tried to make music that sounded like Hazard or Noisia etc, and of course i never achieved it because I’m not them, it was when i gave up and just made music for me, and made music that reflected my emotions at the time, be it happy jungle or depressing dark tech, i was making music for the heart and at that point its real and its true art, that’s when my production career took off anyway, so back to my point, do you, and love what you do, and it will happen its that simple but no-one will hand it too you on a plate you gotta do the leg work.
Very wise words mate I can relate to that. Thanks Meloki and below you can find some links to his music and socials.
https://www.facebook.com/melokidj
https://www.instagram.com/melokidj/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuxY9vOUWLqW9y67FgOeikQ
