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“By 1994 I was concentrating on jungle. I thought I was over the old school and wanted to move forward. But I always loved the piano’s from the past, so I wanted to try something different with my jungle. I didn’t want to make something dark. I did it under Norty But Nice as I didn’t want anyone to know it was me” Roy AKA Ellis Dee AKA Norty But Nice tells me over the phone as we catch up to discuss this release in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Roy is always upbeat, and every time we chat its always a laugh. He is such a wealth of knowledge and for me, he is the daddy of the rave culture. He had the coolest name and played the coolest sets. A rave wasn’t a rave unless Ellis Dee was on the bill!

So it was a sunny evening in April 2020 when we chatted on the phone. With us all stuck at home on lockdown, it has been quite a productive time for music in the UK, though the unpredictability during these times has made me slow down my release schedule, which is a shame as I have many more Ellis Dee releases to share with you all. But lets for now focus on this release and why a new production name? “The name Norty But Nice came from my love of the Naughty Naughty label run by Wishdokta around the same time” he tells me. “It was a label that did unofficial remixes using bits and bobs of other tunes. What I was doing at that time was very similar as I was sampling bits and bobs off other tunes, so Norty But Nice just fitted. The label design was by some guy, I cant remember who it was now. I had an idea of what I wanted and he knocked it up, but no idea if it was done by hand or on computer, its so long ago now!”

So how come you didnt move over to jungle when so many others were doing so? “When jungle first came out I didn’t like it to start with, it was just too dark and the beats were too experimental. To me it seemed like people just wanted to show off their technical skills rather than make a tune for people to dance to. I started to get into it when they started using reggae samples and the beats were more rolling. I thought ‘you know what, this is a sound that I like’. If it wasn’t danceable at the end of the day, it wasn’t for me. As a DJ I played the more uplifting stuff and that’s what I wanted to make” Roy explains. “I wanted to try something out myself but didn’t want anyone to know it was me, and they didn’t! It did pretty well sales wise as it crossed over nicely with the jungly uplifting vibes that Krome & Time were making as Higher Level. I was torn between jungle and the happier vibes but I always loved a good piano riff. I had the tune knocking about in the studio for a while unfinished, so when the time felt right, I got it finished off and released it”.

By this point in Roy’s career he had settled in Bethnal Green and had the Underground Studios which was a basement studio where all the Rhythm Section tunes were recorded. It was filled with producers and many famous names swinging by and catching the vibe; Krome and Time, Kenny Ken, Darren Jay, Mark and Everson from Ratpack, DJ Rap, Randall, MC Fats, MC Fearless and MC MC as well as a load of others Roy has long forgotten about. The studio consisted of an Ensoniq ASR10, which was basically the workhorse for Roy’s productions during this period. He was running Steinberg’s Notator via an Atari 1040ST and had a Novation Bass Station keyboard which was an incredible synth that was an instant success when it was released. It was great at recreating 303 riffs and fat Moog sounds and had a wealth of effects that were midi controlled. It was basically one of the first new analogue synths to hit the markets since the 1980’s. There was also the Roland JD800 on site but this got little use by this point in time and was a castaway from the Rhythm Section era. And of course a trusty pair of Technic’s 1210 which helped supply some of this releases samples!"

Norty But Nice - 'Give It To Me Baby' - VFS019 - 192mp3 clip

The label was established in 2018 as a means to release the back catalogue of renowned Jungle Techno label Underdog Recordings, which ran from 1993-1995. It quickly expanded from beyond the original goal and now reissues sought after, rare and classic records from the Jungle, Rave, Bleep House, Techno and Jungle Techno genres.

The Vinyl Fanatiks aim is to track down and work with the original artists from the early 1990’s, to reissue their music on vinyl only, and to support the record hunters and vinyl diggers from around the world with quality pressings and superb mastering; a way to show respect and share the story of those that created these incredible records.

The vision is not to focus on the obvious artists of that time but to dig a little deeper and find those that came and went but their legacy still holds true to this day. Some of these producers only released one record and vanished soon after but their music still resonates into the 21st century, accumulating new audiences across the globe, far beyond the catchment of the UK pirate radios and muddy fields of 25 years ago. What happened to these artists? Its Vinyl Fanatik’s mission to find out!

Each record captures a moment in time, a vibe that was true and innocent from a period when music was far more synonymous with rebellion and anarchy than today’s finely polished productions and conformist club pop. This music itself bred on the outskirts of society, fuelled by the passion of the rave, its lineage stemming from the Acid House era of 1988. Often produced on minimal equipment, with minimal skills and knowledge, its audio blueprint transcends to new generations, a rawness that no expensive audio plug in could ever create in this present day.

Vinyl Fanatiks wants to pay homage to these young producers who forged the foundations of the multi-million pound EDM scene we have now. Each of these artists has their own tale to tell, their own memories to share. Limited by their own geographical status within the UK, they somehow still all managed to connect and influence each other, years before the internet, mobile phones and social media that we have today. But the music knew no limits and had no boundaries, transcending generations to this day.

Bringing The Experience Back To Music

I Am An Oldskool influenced DJ and Producer!
Brought up in the 90s pirate radio scene.