Over the course of the last thirty years, Bristol’s music scene has continually reinvented itself and the music which has found a home in the city. Reggae, punk, soul, hip hop, jungle and more recently dubstep have all been adopted by the locals, gradually evolving and mutating into new and exciting sounds. Throughout this time Rob Smith has been right at the centre of things: an embodiment of the ‘Bristol Sound’.

His vast discography serves as a timeline of the city’s musical history: a history which he has been instrumental in forging. Beginning as a guitarist in local roots reggae band Restriction, he later teamed up with Ray Mighty to form the now legendary production duo Smith & Mighty. Their early work on their Three Stripe label helped to lay the foundations for both the trip hop and jungle scenes which the city would become so famous for. After a period of chart success and major label involvement in the early nineties, Smith and Mighty returned to the underground as uncompromising as ever in their musical vision. Joined by Peter D Rose they continued to release groundbreaking music, this time on their More Rockers imprint. Rob Smith also went on to collaborate with local roots reggae producers Henry & Louis. This fruitful relationship culminated in 2001 with the release of the fantastic, yet criminally overlooked ‘Time Will Tell’ LP.

2009 sees Rob Smith (now RSD) fully immersed in the dubstep scene: a sound which has quickly found a natural home in Bristol. When talking to him it is immediately apparent that his passion for music remains undimmed; he can’t enthuse enough about dubstep and is truly thankful for the opportunities that it has presented him with. Given that he has never really been one for press or publicity, it was an absolute privilege to be able to interview him and discuss both his own career and the musical environment within which he has operated. A huge thank you to him for taking the time out of his hectic schedule to entertain my curiosities…

Reggae and Dub have clearly had a huge influence on your sound. How did you first get into Reggae?

In school, when I was about 11, there was a kind of common room for older kids to use at break and lunchtime. Most of the boys would play football in the playground but I wasn't really into it so I'd hang around in this room. Some of the girls brought in piles of 7" records to play on the portable record player. I was really intrigued that on the ‘a’ sides were songs and the ’b’ sides were strange kind of spacey instrumental versions of the ‘a’ sides. One time I got up the courage to ask one of the girls if she would go and buy me a record as I didn't know the names of any. She bought me 'Festival Wise' by U Roy; I played it until it wore out. 

You have a history of playing in local bands; has this involvement in live music affected the way that you approach production?

The thing that I really wanted to do when I was younger was to be able to play around with a tune and have control over each separate musical element. I used to make band recordings on a Portastudio (4 track cassette recorder), mixing down the whole drum kit onto one track, bass guitar on the next, keyboard and guitar on the third, vocals on the forth and then patch in a space echo and a reverb unit and make dub mixes.

What equipment were you producing with during the early Smith & Mighty days and how does this compare to what you are using now?

He he! The first sampler we had was a Yamaha kind of toy thing with a plastic mic on a coily wire; it had 3 seconds sampling time which we thought was fkn marvellous!! Eventually we went for a 24 track mixing desk, 16 track tape recorder, Cubase sequencer on Atari, S1000 sampler, 808, 909, SH101 etc… Now I make everything mainly within Ableton. One of the main advantages for me of a computer based studio (apart from space saving) is that you get total recall, which means you can work on many tunes without losing the previous tune’s set-up. I do miss that tape ‘sound’ sometimes though.

The way in which Henry and Louis’ ‘Time Will Tell’ album was put together is very interesting, with Andy having taken the tracks over to Jamaica to record the vocals. How exactly did it all come together and what was it like to work on the project?

Andy Scholes (Louis) came round one day and said, 'I'm going to Jamaica.. got any dubs?' I gave him a batch and a few weeks later he came back with all these vocal recordings of Willie Williams and Johnny Clark etc. I thought it was my birthday! He’d hooked up with the guys from UB40 in Kingston and they let him use their studio to record and mix the vocalists - then I did post production and dub mixes back in Bristol.

Albums such as ‘Time Will Tell’, and earlier Carlton’s ‘Call Is Strong’ were of great importance to Bristol’s music scene but did not necessarily gain the widespread recognition which they deserved. In your opinion which tracks or albums have been the most important to the development of Bristol’s music scene?

Well it’s hard to name specific tracks, but the sounds from people like Mark Stewart and The Pop Group were early statements of how pioneering this city could be. Stuff from groups like the Cortinas, Chaos UK, Maximum Joy, Black Roots, Wild Bunch, Fresh Four, Andy Shepherd, (Smith & Mighty), as well as lesser known bands like Mouth and Fish Food. These definitely make up some of the deeper foundations of the Bristol music scene, as well as more obviously; Massive (Blue Lines), Tricky etc, and later on, Henry & Louis, More Rockers, Krust, Die, Ronni, Flynn & Flora, Suv... Bringing it up to date though, it's like there are too many people to list... Pinch, Pev, Blim, Joker, Headhunter, Gemmy, etc, etc, etc!

You have always seemed to shy away from unnecessary publicity, is this something that you feel strongly about?

I’ve never really been into that side of things; I just like making tunes. I think it's ok to choose what you want to do and what you don't want to do.

In the early 90’s you had some involvement with major labels; why didn’t things work out and what did you learn from the experience?

Mainly, I think us (Smith & Mighty) and major labels didn't work out because of a lack of understanding about each other's aims and roles (ours and theirs). It was a dark time which almost led to me completely giving up music and I’m glad it's now history - although we were very happy with the Steppers Delight EP!

I think there is something to be learned and gained from every experience - even the ones that seem bad at the time.

Looking back are you pleased that you ended up following an independent route?

Yeah I guess so. After 5 unproductive years with a major label it was quite a relief to get back to an independent status. Running a label is great but doing it properly does involve a lot of time and energy. Lately I’ve been really enjoying working with independent labels run by very cool people with vision! 

Much has been made of the importance of the Dug Out club to Bristol’s music scene. Which venues / places have been particularly important to you musically?

Yeah the Dug Out was pretty good although to be honest everyone used to complain at the time, 'Uuuh Dug Out again!' It was open every night and was a bit like a youth club with a bar, a dj and a sticky carpet. More than that though it was where a lot of people met and exchanged ideas about music and bands etc.

Other great places for me were Fosters/The Guildhall Tavern, The Bamboo Club, The Granary, The Western Star Domino Club, The Topcat Club, Green Rooms… mainly because these places had a healthy mix of people and sounds: kind of a mish mash of reggae, soul, funk, punk, arty guitar stuff and then later hip hop.

You have strong links with Japan, both playing over there regularly and releasing on Japanese labels. How did this first come about and why do you think you have such a strong following over there?

I first went there with Peter Rose as More Rockers in about 97. We went with Jah Shaka and played in Tokyo, Osaka and also went with Shaka when he played in Kyoto. I met Naoki E.Jima and his wife Miwako in Tokyo and we’ve been friends and worked together ever since. Naoki runs the excellent 'Disc Shop Zero' record store and also the 'Angel's Egg' record label. He has been totally nuts about Bristol music from time and knows everything there is to know about it, right up to the present day. I've been really fortunate to have made some great friends and contacts over there and have been able to go back once or twice a year to DJ and work with various labels.

When did you first become aware of the emerging Dubstep scene?

I was enjoying things like early Hyperdub and Horsepower and then people like Toasty, but it wasn't until I went to see Digital Mystikz play that I really 'got it'. After they played, Tayo introduced me to Mala who told me about Pinch!

I’m assuming that it was something which immediately appealed to you, seeing as you have been producing very similar stuff for years?

Yeah - to be honest I couldn't believe my luck!

Why did you decide to use the RSD alias when producing Dubstep?
 
DJ Flynn suggested it. He said, 'you ought to call yourself RS Dub!'

How would you say the Dubstep scene in Bristol at the moment compares to the other sounds that you have been involved with? Musically speaking which has been the most exciting period for you?

For me, Dubstep is maybe one of the most exciting things to happen musically - not just in Bristol, but in the UK and world wide. It's comparable to the excitement of the Jungle movement in the early 90's and it’s a bit like a musical ’conclusion’ in a similar way that Jungle was, but with a broader scope of styles, sounds and attitudes. It seems to be influenced in a kind of butterfly effect way by all the people who love it. Other periods that were exciting and important for me were the punk/reggae of the late 70's/early 80’s and the early rave/free party period.

You have worked with or alongside many of Bristol’s best musicians; has there been anybody that has stood out to you as being particularly talented?

Loads of people. It’s difficult to narrow it down but as for vocalists I'd have to mention Tammy Payne and Louise Decordova. Also a friend of mine who played piano on one of the albums that went out in Japan: Beni Williams… wicked!!

Which producers are you feeling at the moment?

Loads of people. In Bristol, I’m always loving Pinch, Pev, Appleblim, Joker, Gemmy, Hench and at the moment, Guido, Chasing Shadows, Phaeleh, Time… loads.

Outside of Bristol, always Mala and at the moment Synkro, Monkey, DJG, Widdler, Sparrow… loads. I’ve also recently heard some really impressive bits by Wrexile, Kalbata, Fragile and O-kapi.

If you could give new and up and coming artists one piece of advice what would it be?

One thing I would say is be honest with yourself. Are you passionate beyond the thought of making money? If not, then maybe do something else.

What do you have planned for the future release wise? Will there be an RSD album? Anymore Smith and Mighty stuff?

All things are possible.

What do you think you would be doing now if you’d never been involved with music?

That's a really difficult thing to think about… postman maybe?

Of late, Drum and Bass has received a lot of criticism from those outside of the scene for becoming increasingly stale and inward looking. Whilst this may be true for a large percentage of the genre's output it does not tell the full story. There is still a small group of producers and labels keen to push the increasingly rigid boundaries which define the genre. Cambridge based production duo Commix are part of this group.

2007 saw them release their debut album 'Call To Mind' on Metalheadz, a particular honour given that it was the first album to be released on the label by an artist other than Goldie. The duo is now back in the spotlight once again, having just mixed the latest CD in the Fabriclive series. We caught up with them to discuss the Drum & Bass scene and their explorations into other genres of music. We also quizzed them about the Fabriclive mix and their approach to production and the music making process in general.

One of the most striking things about the Fabriclive mix is how much space the tracks have in them; they are focused largely around the sub bass and carefully eq'd percussion. Was this a conscious decision?

We’ve always liked music with a lot of space in it, for us simple music is the way forward. To a certain extent we’ve always been into the simpler side of Drum & Bass. I guess over the last year or so the deeper end of Drum & Bass has been going more and more down the minimal route. For a long time though, especially 2003-2004, it was all about big soul samples and that kind of thing. Now it seems to be taking a lot of influence from the Detroit thing and the whole minimal thing and that’s something that we’re really in to. Certainly when we’re trying to put together DJ mixes that’s something we think about; we don’t like things to be too brash or full on. We like things that are a little bit slower, have a little bit more space in them and are a little bit deeper or more forward thinking.

In my opinion the mix has a very old school feel to it, with many tracks sounding like a new take on old ideas. Would you agree and if so was this a deliberate choice?

Yeah. We tried to put some tracks in there that pay homage to where we come from and what originally influenced us to make Drum & Bass, so I would say that was a definite theme. I’d like to also think that it’s quite forward thinking – like we were talking before about the more minimal sounding stuff. When it comes to that kind of music there’s a lot more room to experiment with the engineering and for more general experimentation with sounds. That’s one of the reasons we’re into Techno, because it’s very experimental. So I’d like to think it’s a bit of both really, we wanted to pay homage to the old school whilst bringing everything up to date at the same time.

You talk of wanting to be experimental; do you think that this is made harder given the length of time that Drum & Bass has been around for and how much has already been done?

I think that perhaps it is becoming more difficult, but I think that it's more to do with the landscape of music in general as it is now. When Drum & Bass first started becoming popular and getting all the press attention it got in the early 90’s, the landscape musically was very different to how it is now. In the charts you had people like Massive Attack and Bjork who were quite experimental and left of centre. If you look at things now though it’s all quite watered down and mediocre if you’re looking at music in a wider sense. I think from that perspective it’s becoming slightly more difficult to be experimental within Drum & Bass as well. At the same time, there’s a little group of producers, like ourselves, D Bridge, Marcus Intalex and Calibre that are kind of sticking to that early 90’s ethos of trying to push things forward a little bit, trying to experiment a little bit and do something that’s more valid as a work of art rather than just a seven minute DJ tool.

On ‘Call To Mind’ you experimented with other genres as well; is this something that you are continuing to do?

All the time. The more we make music, the more we want to break the boundaries of being genre specific. We’ve never gone into the studio as Drum & Bass producers, just like we’ve never gone into the studio as House producers or Hip Hop producers. When we get into the studio, depending on how we feel or what we’ve got in our sample banks, we just make music. One of our big things for this year is to try and break down those boundaries even more. Hopefully our next album will be even more like that; it won’t be so directed towards Drum & Bass or anything really. Music to us is just music and hopefully we’ve got enough of a signature sound to be able to play across any format.

Which other genres do you listen to and draw influence from?

House and Techno as we spoke about earlier; the more tech house side of House and Techno I’d say. Also a lot of instrumental Hip Hop, we really like a lot of the Warp stuff . A recent example would be the stuff that Flying Lotus is doing at the moment, Harmonic 313 as well. It’s very hard to pinpoint our influences as it were; it’s a pretty broad spectrum of stuff.

Am I right in thinking that there are some remixes of your stuff floating around at the moment?

They’re on their way. We’ve got a big project called ‘Re-Call To Mind’ which is going to be a remix package taken from our first album ‘Call To Mind’. We’ve chosen some of our favourite artists across various genres to do remixes for us. Konrad Black’s doing one, Matthew Johnson, Burial’s done one, Mark Pritchard, Harmonic 313 is going to be doing one and there’s the possibility of Carl Craig…

We’ve always loved the remix idea; people taking a different angle on producers that are already out there and are already well known. We loved it when Jazzanova did their remix package. I think it’s been missing in Drum & Bass recently. The last thing I can really remember that was properly like that was when the Represent album came out. It’s much more interesting to see a completely different take on the music rather than just seeing what another Drum & Bass producer has done with it. For us, Drum & Bass seems to have pulled away from the grander scheme of dance music. You don’t get things like Skunk Anansie remixes by Optical and Bjork remixes by Photek anymore. We want to try and stretch what we do a bit more – make the electronic music world a bit closer to home, a bit more part of our family.

Do you have a set way of working when making music?

We try to be as diverse as possible, to keep ourselves as interested as we can. Sometimes we’ll go and borrow some old synthesisers and I might sit on them whilst Guy scoots around on the mixing desk. There are no specific working methods – we like that because it helps to keep our music more varied and interesting.

You mentioned borrowing synthesisers, what equipment do you use to make music?

We’re pretty much software based as far as the arranging and processing of things goes. We were using Reason for a long time. We’ve recently got a copy of Logic that we’re hoping to delve into more and more this year, but our album was put together entirely within Reason. We’re very sample based artists, be it a sample that we’ve taken from a record or like we said, borrowing synths off of other people and just pummelling the shit out of them for a few days and seeing what we get out of it. The sound sources that we use are all over the place really.

The more time goes by, the less we’re borrowing from old music and other people’s records and trying to forge our own, completely original sound. It’s an ongoing process though that takes a long, long time to get right. We’ve got various synthesisers in our studio that we’re constantly trying to learn and master. It’s quite a shortcut to just get old electronic music and sample synthesisers from it and rehash them into something else – that’s becoming less and less of a challenge for us. For us it’s more about forging our own sounds and working our own synthesisers into stuff. In that way, if you get the combination right, you’re going to get something completely unique. An example of that would be someone like Matthew Johnson who is completely original with every track he writes – you could never reproduce his sound.

Tracklisting for Fabriclive 44 - mixed by Commix:

01. Commix - Life We Live - Soul:R
02. Rufige Crew - Sometime Sad Day - Metalheadz
03. dBridge - Creatures Of Habit - Exit
04. Alix Perez - The Reckoning - Alix Perez
05. Data - The Causeway - Influence
06. Logistics - Murderation - Hospital Records
07. Commix - Justified - Metalheadz
08. SpectraSoul - Buried - 31 Records
09. Calibre - Can't Get Over You
10. Lynx & Alix Perez Ft. Kemo - Dangerous
11. Commix - Belleview [dBridge's Belle-reviewed Mix] - Metalheadz
12. SpectraSoul & Ben-E - Suppression - SpectraSoul
13. Calibre - In Denial - Soul:r
14. Commix - Bear Music - Hospital Records
15. OAK - Nu Sunrise - Brand Nu
16. Jonny L - Common Origin - XL
17. Breakage - Old School Ting - Breakage
18. Instra:mental - No Future - NonPlus+
19. Photek - Yendi - Virgin
20. Instra:mental - Photograph - Darkestral