Remember the days when you could go to a warehouse party and hear every form of music under one roof in one room. Cutting edge music from around the world played by people with a real passion and love for their art. That's the vibe that pervades through the work of Attica Blues Productions - funky innovative music with a twist of the past and a healthy dose of the future, quality black music- future classics. Formed in the winter of 1993, Tony Nwachukwu and Charlie Dark came together through a chance meeting in a London Music store. Part time journalist and bedroom DJ, Charlie had been approached by James Lavelle to produce tracks for his fledging Mo Wax label and needed an engineer with a knowledge of Hip Hop music to convert his ideas into tunes. Tony had been Dj'ing and programming for various artistes as well as releasing independent releases on his own label Destination X under the moniker of T plays It Cool. Their first session together resulted in the ground breaking 'Vibes, Scribes and Dusty 45's Ep', an innovative four track recording featuring the down tempo classic 'Contemplating Jazz'. Offbeat and edgy it featured the haunting vocals of third member Roba El-Essawy in a melancholic meeting of heavy beats, vox and atmos and it was this release and the follow up 'Blueprint' that became the basis of the Attica Sound.
With Dj's such as Gilles Peterson, Patrick Forge and Ross Allen championing their work the trio found themselves heavily in demand to lend their touch to other artistes and so the remix and production side was born. "People began to use us because they knew we respected the vocal element. Songs and good melodies have always been important for us, that's what makes the tune, we call it the ice cream on the cake!"
Artistes that caught the early Attica remix touch included Flora Purim, Courtney Pine and Tom Brown as well as underground stalwarts Galliano, Pressure Drop and Roachford. " We approached those early remixes with the concept of adapting them to our scene. What would you add to make it rock in a dance, were the drums rocking etc. Tony was the melody man making sure everything sounded tight and Roba brought the ears. Once everyone was happy you new you'd done a good job".
With attention coming from their remix/production work the next task was to take their sound around the world. Charlie embarked on an extensive Dj tour taking in countries as far afield as Australia, Iceland and America. Have record box will travel was the motto and many heads rocked to the basement sounds of Hip-Hop, House and all things nice. "I just tried to give people an insight into the music we grew up on, a snap shot of our influences played in a heavy sound system style. It was good to travel around the world hooking up with people through music and many of those original heads are still friends of ours now".
Apart from producing and releasing two full length albums 'Blueprint' (MoWax Records) and 'Test,Don't Test'(Sony Records) Attica Blues Productions have also worked on albums by Ultra Nate, Mandalay and Lucy Nation. Tony has also worked on albums by Cath Coffy and Akure Wall(Island Records). Recent remix work has included a deverstating rerub of 'Still' by Macy Gray and the heavyweight Nwachukwu reworking of 'Eve' by South London allies Spacek (Morgan Zarate of Spacek is also the live drummer for Attica Blues). Planned future projects include work with Jazzanova, Straight Ahead Records(Zurich) and King Britt on his forth comming album. There's also the long awaited Attica Blues Productions album to look forward to featuring the talents of various friends and associates.
" This year we've decided to return to our roots. Try and get back to doing music how we originally started, working with people we admire, putting out music without the pressures of major label involvement".
Surplus Records and Associated Labels aims to showcase the more eclectic dancefloor side of Attica Blues, music that maybe doesn't fit with the Attica sounds people have heard so far. It will feature individual work by the three members as well as projects under different guises taking in the full spectrum of influences that have influenced their work. There's also music to be released on labels such as Straight Ahead, Infra Com and Mind Horizon. Incidentally for the first time ever the crew have also been asked to complile a Dj mix album; entitled 'Drum Major Instinct Volume One' this mix showcases the music they've become renowned for dropping in their hetic Dj sets. To be released in Spring 2001on X Treme Records the crew will be supporting the album with with a host of Dj dates around the world.
Other exciting news is the opening of 'The Blueprint Sessions' at London's Plastic People. A regular Friday night throwdown hosted by Attica Blues along with special guests. Beginning on March 2nd for twelve weeks they'll be bringing their vibe to this intimate venue on the heaviest sound system in London , the bass line rocks if you think I'm joking come and hear it for yourself! " The Blueprint Sessions are a chance for us to experiment, drop new tracks, play new and old music we love, for music lovers the way it's supposed to be played. A place to come and sweat no wall flowers allowed".
Promising words indeed, roll on Attica Blues.
