Saint Petersburg. DS Jubilee. The World of Drum & Bass.

For the first time in Russia, the legendary British label Formation is organizing a drum & bass rave on March 5, 2004 - supported by the companies "Контрфорс" and "Корпорации Счастья". Similar events have been successfully held in many cities around the world, including London and Miami, and now The World of Drum & Bass will take place in St. Petersburg.

The English side is handling the development of the musical concept, bookings, technical arrangements, and design of the event. This means that the rave will differ fundamentally from all similar events held in our city.

The annual d'n'b music festival promises to become one of the main musical events of the upcoming year, as this direction is in demand and popular in our city more than anywhere else in Russia: there are several DJ collectives, musicians creating such music, and dancefloors playing broken rhythms are always crowded.

Formation Records
Formation is currently a flagship and one of the pioneers among British companies involved in promoting broken rhythms as a whole and drum & bass in particular. For over 10 years, underground dance music has remained the main focus of Formation.

The company was founded in 1989 by partners Eidris and Leroy. The first release was the Psycho E.P., followed by Tango, Oasis, Megadrive, and Jungle House Crew, among others. At a time when electronic music was still in its formative period, musicians recorded their tracks at home or in the small studio that Formation operated at the time, which was a small apartment on the outskirts of the city. Business was going so well that by 1993, the label's office moved to a building housing a music and clothing store, 5HQ.

Today, the label has three studios of its own. Much has changed over the decade. The only thing that remains the same is the unique style of underground drum'n'bass music, which is characteristic of Formation and recognized worldwide. By the way, in 2003, the label released its anniversary 100th release — the Formation All Stars Collection, which featured tracks from artists like Distorted Minds, DJ Hazard, Bassline Smith & Drumsound, Generation Dub, Twisted Individual, Zen, Influx UK, DJ SS, and others.
‹WORLD OF DRUM & BASS TOUR ... This tour has long been recognized worldwide, primarily due to its annual peak event - the party at the Winter Music Conference in Miami. Today, this is the most famous and successful drum and bass rave in the world. Artists from all countries, not just England, are invited to the "World of Drum & Bass" raves. One of the main tasks of this event is to make fans and representatives of the drum'n'bass culture feel that they are all part of a united global scene.
WoDnb events have already been held in Japan, Australia, America, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and, of course, the UK. In 2004, Russia will join this list!
The first "World Of Drum & Bass *SPb 1" in Russia will take place on March 5 at SK Jubilee. The festival will kick off in London on February 21, and after St. Petersburg, all artists and organizers will head to America, where they will be awaited in Miami, New York, Chicago, and Toronto. The organizers also plan to continue this year's tour during the summer months across Europe.
At the "World Of Drum & Bass *SPb 1," several live teams will perform - Killa Kela, Influx Datum, several MCs, MC SkibaDee, and MC Trip, along with various DJs, regulars of all Formation - Grooverider, Shy FX, Skeletrik. There will be three dancefloors in Jubilee - the Drum & Bass Arena on the main stage of Jubilee, a Hip-hop dancefloor in the foyer of the main arena, and a Breakbeat dancefloor in another foyer of the main arena.
‹DJ SS ... The unchanging head and ideologist of Formation Records and the World of Drum & Bass tour. This person has had a hand in everything that happens in the global drum & bass music scene. He manages to do it all - create hits for dancefloors, discover new talents, engage in promotion, and advance his own labels. In short, he is a living legend!
After SS first came to St. Petersburg to play at "Eastern Strike" and saw the thousands-strong audience of enthusiasts for this style, realizing the success that drum and bass music has achieved in Russia, he had the idea to promote the "World Of Drum & Bass" project in our country. SS is definitely one of those people who know what they want; he understands how to achieve success. He says: "To stand out from others, you need to do something that no one else can do, or that very few can do" - and if you look back, you will see: this person knows how to achieve his goals.

‹GROOVERIDER ... He has been the number one figure on the global dnb scene for a long time. Ask any famous musician who inspired them to start making music, and among others, Grooverider's name will surely come up. This person is the founder of this genre, both in the UK and around the world. And the legendary radio shows of Grooverider with his unchanging partner Fabio (initially on Kiss FM, now on Radio One) have had a direct impact on the development of drum&bass music for many years. By the way, Grooverider is the person who introduced the world to Goldie's name. He is also behind the series of Goldie's Metalheadz parties.
Grooverider, also known as the "godfather of drum&bass," has been honing his DJ skills since the age of 18, performing at both semi-legal parties and major international open-air events. As a resident of the legendary Rage party, he played for 4 years at the Heaven club (one of the most famous in London) and personally witnessed the evolution of music styles from acid house to techno and finally DnB. "Everyone who's currently prominent in the world, played there at some point," he recalls, "it was a kind of school for a huge number of people. For several years, I would go there, watching great DJs play, such as Paul Oakenfold, and always dreamed of being in their place."
His debut album "Mysteries of Funk" was released in 1998 on Higher Ground (a label owned by Sony). Then he decided to go solo and founded his own label, Prototype.
"Naturally, as I became a musician, I was influenced by the music of the time and went through jazz, hip hop, and techno. Even punk rock influenced me to some extent..."
But Grooverider has not abandoned his DJ work and maintains a very busy performance schedule. He has long been recognized as a master of remixes. "I have my own queue of tracks that I want to remix. I love remixing music from different styles and genres. As long as there is at least one composition left in that queue, I won't be able to sleep peacefully and will try to do my best. I do this not for others, for myself. I am very self-critical, I always try to monitor myself, to self-improve." Today, after 17 years, Grooverider is still on top and doesn't intend to give up his positions.

‹KILLA KELA, DJ SKELETRIK, MC TRIP ... For the first time in Russia, there will be an unforgettable performance of this live project, which includes Spit Kingdom aka Killa Kela, DJ Skeletrik, MC Trip, and their sound engineer Mike Parker. Together they create an unforgettable show, taking the audience into the world of hip-hop, ragga, breaks, and drum 'n bass. The London magazine TimeOut named them the best stage show of 2003. Throughout the past year, they have performed constantly, completed two of their own European tours, and toured with stars such as Busta Rhymes, The Neptunes & N*E*R*D, Redman, The Streets, and Public Enemy.
The heart and soul of the team is Kela himself. He is 24 years old, in the show he serves as a beatboxer (although he prefers to call himself a multi-vocalist). Beatboxing has long been an integral part of hip hop; it is the art of creating special sounds using one's mouth. Kela started doing this at the age of 16, but believes that the ability to produce more than 25 sounds in a single breath is not the most important thing in the profession. It's much more important to sense the mood and desire of the audience! For the sake of his beloved cause, he makes huge sacrifices: he doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, is terrified of catching a cold, but couldn't miss the opportunity to come to Russia in our cold winter. And in his future plans is the spreading of beatboxing beyond hip hop music.
MC Trip is the inspirer of the project. He is the main workaholic in the team. Trip's main asset is that he knows when to be silent and give way to the music. This is, believe me, a rarity for an MC!!!
Many of the successes of their show Kela owes to Mike Parker, his sound engineer.
And the DJ functions in the show are assigned to DJ Skeletrik, who becomes the headliner of the hip hop dancefloor in Jubilee.

‹SHY FX ... His real name is Andr? Williams. Shy FX has long been a key figure in the jungle music era of recent years. Starting with his early works "Original Nuttah," "This Style," and "Funkin' Em Up," as well as the more recent "Number One," "Murderation," and "Ra," his name hasn't left the lips of music lovers.
He was born and raised in London. As a teenager, he attended sound engineering courses, after which he was sent to intern at one of the most influential British labels, Sound Of Underground Records (S.O.U.R.). Shy seized the opportunity, and it was at this label that his first releases, "Gangsta Kid" and "Sound of the Beast," subsequently emerged. He gained mainstream popularity with his third single "Original Nuttah," which hit the UK Top 40 in mid-1994 and became a true ragga/jungle anthem of the time. After releasing his debut album "Just An Example" on S.O.U.R., Shy FX ventured out on his own and started his own labels, Ebony and Ivory. There, his well-known works "The Message" and "Bambaata" were released. In 2002, together with T-Power, Shy FX released the single 'Shake Ur Body,' which reached number 7 in the UK Top 40, followed by "Don't Wanna Know" and "Feeling You". In March last year, Shy FX came to Moscow, and he will visit St. Petersburg for the first time.

‹MC SKIBADEE ... He is rightly considered the best MC in jungle and dnb music. His real name is Alphonso Bondzie. While still young, MC Skibadee stormed the music scene, starting his work at Kool FM several years ago. Since then, he has rewritten all the established rules in the MC profession.
His life has always been connected to music, starting with piano lessons at the age of seven. The MC activity attracted SkibaDee while he was in college in '93, and he started doing it just for fun. This attitude radically changed after one party, which SkibaDee himself considers the beginning of his new life. Many still can't understand how he, with no connections in the DJ scene, managed to achieve everything so quickly. Since '95, he has been regularly performing in the UK at events like Kool FM & Fever, T & J, Malachite, Electrybe, NJC, Telepathy, One nation, Stush, Exposure, Roast, Jungle mania, and since 1997 abroad - in Germany, Switzerland, America, Israel, and Canada. Today, SkibaDee himself has lost count of the titles and awards he has received as Best MC. He decided to take production seriously, with collaborations ahead with Can-I-Bus, Lil Kim, and Romeo and many new interesting works ahead.

‹Influx Datum… Gavin Price and Marco Fabian, better known as Influx Datum, met back in 1998 when Gavin came to Miami. Gavin lives in London, while Miami is Marco's hometown.
"I came to Miami for a vacation, if I'm not mistaken, in March '98. Since I had brought records with me, I was looking for a place to perform. I was told that Marco had recently started hosting weekly drum and bass parties, so I went straight to him and arranged for a performance."
Marco was just starting what is now a legendary party series called Beatcamp, which remains Miami's main drum and bass party to this day.
"Beatcamp happened, you could say, by itself; I got into DJing, started playing music, and soon the desire to organize club events came."
The next logical desire for Marco was to create music. This is where friendship with Gavin became very timely - "For almost 4 years, I regularly traveled to Miami, and eventually, we decided to reunite professionally and began working on tracks together."
The opportunity to perform before the titans of dnb music soon arose.
"Marco invited DJ SS several times to perform at Beatcamp, and after parties, we would often gather at Marco's home, where we played him our latest tracks (which were terrible, to be honest). Once he brought Shy FX with him, who sat and listened with such a discontented look! (Sorry, Shy). But nevertheless, DJ SS saw some potential in us and suggested that we create several tracks for the 'Jazz & Bass 3' compilation."
The track titled 'Back for More' made the entire music scene talk about ID. The vocal "Back for more, back for more" alone... As soon as it surfaced, this track was immediately picked up by Grooverider, Fabio, and DJ SS. They had incredible fun with it in their sets, which constantly horrified both Gavin and Marco.
"There were also surprising versions from Hype, Andy C, and Bryan Gee. We were even told that Ed Rush played our works at Movement!"
So with their debut album brewing, remixes made, several excellent 12-inch singles, and a massive potential, Influx Datum is undoubtedly a name to remember. Because these guys are only just getting started!
Due to the considerable distance between Miami and London, the guys usually perform solo and only come together for studio work. Therefore, in St. Petersburg, Influx Datum will be represented by Gavin Price.

FORMATION Records (UK) presents:
The World of Drum & Bass
March 5, 2004 - DS "Jubilee". Start at 22:00

DJ's: Grooverider, SS, Shy FX, Influx Datum/ London
MC: Skibadee/ London
Live: Kella Kalla/ London
DJ's: Грув, Бумер, Настя, Гвоздь, Зимине, Бес, Топер, 07