25 Years of FABIO & GROOVERIDER
25 Years of FABIO & GROOVERIDER
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Fabio and Grooverider, the Godfathers of Drum & Bass and legends of modern music who are idolised worldwide. Industry heavyweights, fans and artists regardless of genre will readily respect and praise the ongoing influence of the two.
May 8 2015 at The Forum London sees them uniting alongside an array of special guests to celebrate their 25 prolific years as a duo: in House, D&B & Jungle.
When the lights go up at 6am the next day those in attendance will have been part of something special, something delivered by two masters of the craft and delivered by an exceptional soundsystem. This will be a roadblock.
Since aligning professionally 25 years ago, Fabio & Grooverider have been at the forefront of a genre which just seems to get stronger and more ‘global’ year on year, with household names such as Chase & Status, Sigma and DJ Fresh smashing the top 40 to pieces. These are just a few names that received their initial exposure from the pair.
The scene in general owes much to Fabio & Grooverider’s dedication, focus and longevity. They were part of the very few UK DJs to first play House music, and to then fuse and formulate something entirely new which would eventually evolve into Jungle/Drum and Bass. It is no understatement to say that the respective streams and offshoots of D&B that Fabio & Grooverider both represent from those early times now stretch so wide - liquid, jump up, technical, minimal and half-time styles to name a few – that it’s effectively the fabric of D&B itself.
Fabio & Grooverider were voted in the top 25 of the greatest DJs of all time in a recent Mixmag poll, an achievement which is not easily won.
From their first venture into pirate radio on Phase 1 a simple template was established: fuel the energy of the streets, the illegal, massively-attended raves of the late 80s – legendary raves such as Fantasia, Biology and Sunrise – instantly back to the airwaves. The early days of ‘Jungle Techno’ gradually became the world’s first weekly Jungle night at Rage in London, where the boundaries were pushed into the red every week, so much so that the scene became notoriously hard, even intimidating.
As such, Fabio channeled the kinetic soul of the music to a new outlet, Speed, alongside comrade LTJ Bukem and, in conjunction with Groove Connection, eventually lead to Swerve in the late 90s as his ‘Liquid Funk’ vibe grabbed hold and took flight, and the vocal element successfully ignited with the unique musicality of D&B. This happened with Fabio’s firm encouragement. It resulted in major D&B chart hits such as ‘Midnite’ and ‘Shake Ur Body’, while tracks such as ‘Hide U’ by Kosheen set new standards within D&B, perhaps establishing style parameters which may have previously been seen as exclusive to House and Techno, and which are still in place today.
All the while, Grooverider remained active and driven: with the Prototype label, with work as a producer, as ‘Codename John’ and with his own Grace nights. On the release front, Fabio established his Creative Source label as an outlet for the burgeoning new forms of D&B emerging week after week, and also stepped up alongside Photek for ‘No Joke’ on Photek Productions. ‘The Prototype Years’ compilation was released by Grooverider, who followed it with his own artist album: ‘Mysteries of Funk’. Grooverider has released many 12s over time, including ‘The Warning’ as Codename John on Metalheadz. His remix of ‘Charade’ is simply a timeless D&B classic.
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