Martyn Pepperell Interview (posted on (09/09/05)

Souljah Sensi aka Martyn Pepperell

Promotor / Journalist / DJ / Photographer / Ragga Jungle Enthusiast / Human Being

I was originally introduced to jungle/drum and bass in my second year of
high-school. If it wasn't for the Wellington all ages rave scene and dj's
such as Ruffstep and Goosebump I might have never found out about Jungle
music. Unfortunately even though I was introduced to the music so young
I didn't get serious about for another four years, it's ironic cause
initially I dived straight in, within weeks of starting to hear jungle
and raves and buying mix cd's I had my first drum machine and was writing
beats as well.

The problem is I was also a skateboarder at that time and definitely
rolling with the wrong crowd, so I veered from the path completely
for most of my high school education.

Around the middle of my last year at school I made a short trip to the
Nepalese Himalayas, we spent a few weeks trekking through the countryside,
visiting cities and temples, just vibing and soaking up the culture and
lifestyle. That trip was a big catalyst for change for me, upon return
I became serious about music once again, specifically jungle/drum and bass.

School finished up and I purchased a drum machine, and began actively
writing for local urban publications, street magazines and organizing
small scale events in my city. The culture for Reggae, Hip-Hop and
Jungle was very lush at that time in New Zealand and regular roadblocks
were occurring with up to 1000 people attending dances in the now
infamous Edward Street Precinct.

For a period of six months I produced a weekly street magazine entitled
"Underground" with a good friend Pablo Mason aka P.Revolution. This was
our introduction to the real underground culture of Wellington and lead
to numerous jobs for both of us, Pablo went on to become the main designer
for local street publication "The Package" and I focused on event promotion
and journalism, slowly but surely placing all the major magazines in the
country on my resume.

End of 2001 / Start of 2002 I moved to Melbourne, Australia for several
months to experience a large international music scene and cosmopolitan
city. I began writing for several Australian websites, visited plenty
of places and met plenty of people who planted the seed for a growing
love affair with Australia, a country I visit often now.

After returning to New Zealand from Melbourne I began actively buying
vinyl and started learning to DJ, despite loving all forms of urban music
I quickly focused on Ragga-Jungle, but yet must admit I always admired
the futuristic clean sound of Drum and Bass and have even been known to
enjoy some of the trancey and house like production of recent years.

In 2002 I linked up with Christchurch's DJ Taktik, a name you should all
know by now. Taktik has captured a unique vibe in his productions, he isn't
the most original producer and uses a lot of blatant samples, but his groove
just rolls out. When you deal with a Taktik production, you are dealing with
a producer who understands Hip-Hop, Reggae, Funk, Dancehall, Ska. A man who
cuts the breaks properly, and rolls out the half time like no one else.I have
seen so much improvement over the years, his production gets more and more
frightening as it progresses...

At that time Taktik was the only individual I had come across in the whole
country with a knowledge of the New American and Canadian Ragga Jungle sound.
We spent hours discussing the sound and ideas, at this point in time Taktik
was venturing into production and had just completed several of the tunes that
would become "The New Zealand EP" on Hotwax Recordings (US).

Eventually we decided to form a crew and a label, Ruffneck Souljah was born.
Ruffneck Souljah spawned regular club nights in Wellington and Christchurch,
a series of CD EP's and Street mixtapes, clothing and several tours around
New Zealand and Australia. It became our sound and our basis, a brand name
you could trust.

We were responsible for breaking in most of the new Ragga Jungle to ever be
aired in New Zealand, introducing the sound to people on a street level,
getting shops to stock records, radioplay. I began importing small quantities
of records and selling them to working club djs, you'd be surprised who has
played "Mi Sound Rule" by Debaser and "PDI" by Rhygin, oh and the places
I've heard RCola's "Just gimmie the light" remix, oh lawd!!!

In a short period of time we managed to assemble a "Congo Natty" of sorts,
a collective of reggae, hip-hop and jungle dj's producers and MC's who were
all happy to flow back and forth between styles, the pacific scene is no joke,
but sadly very little has ever been recorded from live shows. Some of you have
heard a few clips, some have seen photos, but not much has been revealed to the
world, all in due time.

At the same point I became actively involved with Ragga-Jungle.com, big up Rhygin,
through Ragga-Jungle.com I met or interviewed most of the main players in the new
school ragga sound. You all remember the Tester interview, Twinhooker, Debaser,
U-Ome and so forth, some maybe even remember my silly little articles on an earlier
incarnation on the site. One thing I do feel the need to remind everyone about is
the digitalbombing forum and the freeburning website, those cats really held shit
together for everyone back in the day, regardless of beef, drama or personal
disputes now. Audio1, if you are reading this... I acted immaturely, I'm sorry,
but I have the confidence to face the evidence for all the wrongs and rights that
I have done and face the consequence.

Early 2004 I ventured across to Australia to play a couple of shows with one
of my vocalists, the man like Mr T, we performed in Brisbane, rinsing a 100%
original Ruffneck Souljah dubplate sound off CD-Jay, big up De La Haye for the
hookup and connect, I haven't spoken to her for awhile now, but I hear that she
is throwing successful internationally respected events on the regular, a big
forward for the Brisbane Jungle/Drum and Bass scene.

Following the shows I departed to North America (mostly Canada) for a good
nine months to walk the streets of the cities that had inspired me musically
over the years and meet the artists whose music I loved so much.

In a whirlwind few weeks I had traveled through Montreal, New York, Ottawa,
Toronto and met Mayday (She came and picked me up from the airport when I
first arrived in Canada, I will always remember that, give thanks every
time Mayday), MC Ironnie, Krinjah, Maysr, Accomplice, RCola, Human?,
Bass Nacho, Lukie, Don Daka, Stada, Miztah Lex, Twinhooker, Pauly Walnuts,
Tykal, Amen Assassins, Leo, Cassien, Reid Speed, Epic, Rhygin, 16armedjack,
Thermadore, Clear, Frankie Gunnz, Saigon, Big Triggs, Friendlyman,
Mz. Revolution, Jazzy Jane, KgbKid, DJ K, Bellyfull Sound, Donna Dadda, Debaser...

Settling in Montreal for a while I ended up working closely with RCola on
JungleX, assisting with the label, the website and helping with a few other
projects. Montreal is definitely a hotspot, maybe not the hugest scene, but
a lot of people roll through the place. It was in Montreal where I had the
privilege of meeting a lot of North American Jungle Soliders and Old school
UK veterans such as Top Cat, Prento Youth, General, Demolition Man and
Million Dan.

Arriving in Canada really inspired me, I began attending a lot of real reggae
and dancehall dances, something I had never really seen before and began
actively voicing reggae singers for VIP dubplate jungle remixes and just
to build a reggae sound for Ruffneck Souljah. I actively wrote for a
variety of websites and magazines, went out to plenty of parties and just
chilled, living life in another country and culture, working on my bad
French and enjoying the European like scenery.

I really do have to give thanks for some of the people I met and was able
to spend time with in Canada. A huge amount of knowledge was passed onto
me by individuals like Big Triggs, RCola, 16Armedjack and Krinjah.Real cats
who don't pull no punches and have all had a huge impact on the scene on a
local and global scale, whether they realize it or not.

I will always admire RCola for his vision and dedication to jungle music,
the man never stops working and truly comes at things from a honest and
humble approach, I hope his works will always be blessed.

Big Triggs is a true legend as well, the man is such a down to earth and
real man, he is been involved in so many historic moments in jungle music,
yet never brags of any of it, in my opinion Trigger is the individual most
responsible for the popularity of ragga influenced jungle drum and bass
in Canada. I can't imagine he would ever accept this crown, but I feel
he deserves it none the less.

16armedjack is the wildcard, an artists artist in both life and music.
What he has accomplished with sound is something future generations
will wonder at, the intricacy of his sound and programming, his
versatility. Squarepusher look out, Aphex Twin be afraid, Luke Vibert,
Venetian Snares, be afra...The future is coming, straight out of T.O....

Now Krinjah, well, what can I say...

A musical genius who truly thinks of the people, the planet and our
future. I won't lie Tao, I think you make some pretty stupid decisions
sometimes and contradict yourself horribly at moments, but you have a
vision and a vibe that is so so refreshing. I can never take Krinjah's
achievements away from him, from Montreal, QC to Wellington, New Zealand,
people know and respect the name and the productions, those records are
precious gems to many, hard to find easy to love.

North America was a great experience for me, hard and easy, good and bad,
I learnt and grew, but eventually that all had to come to an end.

Late 2004 Ruffneck Souljah was offered the opportunity to conduct an
extensive tour of Australia, so I chose to return to the Pacific and
hit the road with the crew. We played a good 12 shows over three weeks,
covering the cities of Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney and even playing
support to UK DNB artist High Contrast.

At the completion of the tour I returned to New Zealand and slept.
I have been back and forth between New Zealand and Australia since,
actively pushing Ragga Jungle and Dancehall Reggae culture in both
countries, working with singers, hustling mixtapes and t-shirts,
throwing jams, just living the music a day at a time, yet always
looking forward to the future.

Early 2005 I was contacted by Terry T and began working for Knowledge
and Wisdom Recordings, assisting with bookings, press and promotions.
You hear a lot of rumors and the like about K&W, but I must say from
my experience, Terry T is a man of his world and delivers what he
promises, a true pioneer of jungle music and someone I must give my
full respect everytime.

April 2005 proved to be a current career highlight, taking the full
Ruffneck Souljah 4-piece show to Australia to headline a series of
sold out shows in Melbourne and Sydney, 400 to 500 in the dance at
every event. We live this shit, everyday is dubplates, everyday is
sound bizness, and we ain't fraid of nobody. I've seen a lot of
changes and developments in the global jungle scene the last few
years. I've made money, lost money, made friends, lost friends,
traveled, grown up and learnt many hard lessons.

I still feel confident about the music in general, people like +Liondub+,
RCola, Big Triggs and Psychofreud are pushing a great vibe that is
accessible to a wide range of people and may really help drag Jungle
out of the ghetto. N20 has done really well over the years in terms
of global exposure, hey Capital J even made it down here in 2003.
Malice is writing some on point music and gets larger and larger
over time. Bass Nacho and Human? are really pushing things forward
with the Junglevibes DVD series and the new Pandisc Intune Ragga
sessions CD, that steez is in my record store next to BOB MARLEY!!!,
whutt!!!. JungleX.ca is going strong as a distro and Inky@outerbound.co.uk
has changed a lot of European Junglists' lives.

Look out the new Knowledge and Wisdom and Congo Natty catalogues,
what is about to occur will be impressive to say the least.

It's been fantastic to see the number of new producers and labels
which have emerged over the last 2 years, and having proper business
minded heads like Miztah Lex @ Cause and Effect stepping into the game
can only lead to bigger and better things. The range of diversity in
new school jungle just grows and grows, there is a sound and style out
there for every man and women now, the music is so expansive, all from
the backbone of drums and bass!!!

All I can say is this, if you work hard, stay focused and don't give in you
will eventually make it, to what degree you will make it is hard to say,
but you will at least realize some of your ambitions and dreams. Producers,
make sure your tracks are properly mixed down and mastered, wear airplugs
in the club, trust me Tinitus is not pretty. Incorporate live vocalists
into your shows at clubs, be creative, use interesting venues, get the
girls coming along to jams also. Open up your sound to the general public,
keep your heart and mind open, listen to criticism, learn, grow, don't
make rash decisions and judgments, remember no matter who you are, we
all have bad habits.

Like Topcat says:
"Take your dreams from fantasy to fact,
if at first you fail just get back on track.
Yes my Kings and Queens, you know you can achieve..."

Interview by Myself



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