swan-e

Today, in some circles Swan-E is still regarded as an old school deejay. This is despite the fact his diary is bulging with bookings for contemporary drum and bass slots around the world and his increased studio activity of late. So how does this strange myth surround him? Since the early nineties Swan-E has been one of the most illustrious deejays. When the re-routing of the rave scene into hardcore, jungle and techno happened some decided to totally devote themselves to one path whilst others decided to keep their sets versatile by throwing in a little something for everyone. Swan-E happened to be just one of a number of these latter dexterous deck technicians.

It would soon become apparent that the latter of these DJs would suffer as the divide between the different strains of rave music would grow great and a once united scene was about to brutally splinter. The resulting effect was that the vast majority of party goers would now swear allegiance to one particular sub-genre and those deejays who remained versatile received a narrow minded response. That doesn’t sound fair I hear you say?

One thing that is evident about Simon Swan is that he definitely follows his heart. Just take the record label that he co-owns with (musician and bass player for UB40) Earl Falconer into consideration for a minute. Maximum Boost, founded a couple of years back has been releasing a steady stream of vocal orientated material that has included drum and bass, house, garage and breakbeat. As well as Earl and Swan-E, consummate diva Ruby Turner who has performed with Boy George’s Culture Club and UB40 amongst many others, DJ Hazard from Kool FM Midlands/Radius Records and producer/deejay Undacut make up the talented clique.

"My first love is drum & bass, that's the side I push on Maximum Boost and Earl pushes the other side which is the garage. B-15 Project have enjoyed quite a bit of success and have done very well on the label. If there's a hip hop track, that will go out, if there's an R&B track that will go out. If I like it, it warrants me putting it out." Swan-E mentions Mo Wax and Talkin' Loud as already established examples of record labels that are not shy to flex their versatility. "People play by the rules too much. When I go back to my history of music I've got thousands upon thousands of records. They start back from like disco and rare groove then it goes into the acid house era, early rap, the Italian stuff, then to rave. I've got every type of music and I still buy every type of music."

As we converse back to the nineties I re-dredged an interview I had seen with Swan-E where he stated that he went through a very disheartening time back when the scene fragmented. He confessed he was torn between the uplifting breakbeat sound and the jungle scene starting to emerge. In different parts of the country crowds would pledge allegiance to one style over the over and so to keep everyone happy he would often play to suit that vibe. But unfortunately this would soon work against him as the different factions would grow stronger along with the associated cultures. This was unfair especially considering that Swan-E and Ellis Dee produced a very poignant tune in 1991 entitled 'Roughneck Business' and also the fact that numerous other limelight jocks were still playing piano anthems until quite late on. After a little while it was evident that we had resurrected an at one time very sore subject - so with that we moved on…

"When you got major players out there like Grooverider they're not going to change because they're firm believers". Swan-E insists at this point that the scene is very strong at present and sees great longevity in it. "There's a lot of garage people coming back to drum & bass, you know, chopping and changing. I remember once you'd get a deejay line up with like Grooverider, Frankie Bones, Frankie Knuckles, myself, Paul 'Trouble' Anderson, something like that you know. Everyone who are in different areas of the scene right now were playing altogether. Back then you could express yourself more, you could drop NWA in between say 'Voodoo Ray' and 'The Morning After', again there was no rules." Swan-E has a wide range of musical tastes from Quincy Jones and Lonnie Liston Smith to hip hop like Doctor Dre, and from current drum & bass material coming out on RAM and Hospital to soulful garage pioneer MJ Cole.

Getting back to Maximum Boost Swan-E and Undacut released their first CD called ‘Lockdown’ in May. “We just want to capture the whole audience, instead of capturing just the dancefloor or wherever we’re playing. We want to try and attract people of all ages. In the drum & bass department we’ll do a main floor filler, then we’ll go all out for something musical, which might not be played at a rave over here. On the other hand we’ve done a track between 165 and 170 bpm and it’s gone on an American house CD compilation. You’ve got Roger Sanchez, Masters At Work and then ‘bang’ all of a sudden you’ve got a Maximum Boost drum & bass track. That’s what we are trying to capture at the other end of the market.

The thing about Maximum Boost is to make something different, it was never about making loads of money. Let’s just go forward, smash some barriers down, do something that goes against the grain and is completely different and if it sells, it sells, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Fortunately it’s done alright but there’s always been a different outlook, it was never let’s start a mainstream label, do jump up smashers and cain loads of money because loads of people are doing that.

While it’s not altogether uncommon for stories to circulate of deejays not rising before four o’clock in the afternoon Swan-E is equally as busy during the week. He owns a record store called Street Sounds in the town of Dunstable, near to Luton, and also teaches the youth how to deejay at youth houses and various colleges around the country. “I like teaching the kids to deejay because we’ve taught some rough neck kids and now they’ve got something to live for. There’s one kid, his mum’s a heroin addict, his dad’s an alcoholic, the kid’s got no life. He’s been in and out of foster care all his life and all of a sudden it seems like he’s a changed person.

He's now coming up to 17, he loves deejaying, he loves the production side of things and these care workers can't believe what he's like, it's just turned him around. Music is the international language isn't it? It's the biggest remedy on the planet in my eyes. They just got so much respect for you, you just get on with them so well. Where as before they would have people shouting at them and blokes in suits giving them a story of what you've got to do with your life. It just makes them rebel even more. But with this it's down to earth, you talk to them on a level and if you show them love they give you love back. It's good when you see a kid turn around, it's a good feeling.

I’m constantly in the studio as well, so it’s a killer! It gets to the point where I come in, see my missus, see my kids and then its back down the studio and of course come the weekend I’m playing out all over the place. It’s flat out, I’m really busy at the moment, I need a holiday!”

Future projects look a dead cert with new artist Rage from Bedford, breakbeat works from DJ Era from Unstable label, possibly Danny C and a dynamite singer yet to be unveiled too. On the 2-step side of things expect to see B-15 Project again, Star Company (a Midlands outfit comprising of talented musicians and other members of UB40) and some of Earl’s gifted siblings all taking part. Expect to see Maximum Boost take to the road touring next year with some live business.