Well and truly in a league of his own, UK drum & bass stalwart LTJ Bukem has managed to impress Australian audiences on quite a few consecutive occasions. After first experimenting behind the decks 17 years ago, LTJ has grown to become one of the leading lights of the drum & bass movement around the world, thanks in equal portions to his remarkable technical ability, impressive production work and role as founder of influential UK drum & bass label The Good Looking Organisation. Currently on his third trip down under in just over a year with MC Conrad in tow, ITM’s i_have_ADD had the chance to get the low down on what makes LTJ tick.

In your bio it states that your first big party was in front of 10,000 people, when was that and what style of music were you into then?

That was in 1990, it was when I realised ‘this is me, and this is what I want to do’! I was into soul, jazz, stuff like The Jam, I love the whole mod movement. Within dance music guys like Derrick May and Juan Atkins influenced me, definitely the early American techno boys.

What was it about drum & bass that initially grabbed your attention?

For me it was all about the beat, I’m very much a breakbeat man. I collect breakbeats and I have done for years. I played piano, drums and the trumpet, doing band stuff and just mucking about as a kid. DJing was definitely my first love on a serious music level.

Considering your love of breakbeat drumming, what is your opinion on the nu-skool breaks explosion of late?

Play it for me and I’ll tell you if I like it! I don’t consider it a whole new movement, because I hear a lot of sounds that were being used 12 years ago. So I don’t see it as a nu-skool movement, but there is some music in there that I totally love, for instance the Ils track Music. I don’t really tag music by genre, if I like it I like it.

More than other genres, fans of drum & bass seem to be a very devoted bunch. Why do you think that is?

I think because it hasn’t become as formulated as many other genres of dance music it means kids aren’t as frightened to put in so many different ideas and sounds from diverse styles of music. It’s such a freeform style of music, and that is what’s so attractive about drum & bass. It makes it very hard to promote and go and sell, but at the same time it is the freedom that is the immediate attraction.

Do you have a set process when producing your own material, or is it different every time?

I have no process whatsoever! People always say to me, “C’mon Danny, you must have an idea of what you want to do before you sit down”, but I haven’t got a clue! I sit down and I’m inspired by what I’m listening to at that moment, be it a breakbeat that I’ve found and want to use, or a little sound that you can turn into another sound, there will always be something that will trigger it off.

How have you seen the industry as a whole change its attitude towards drum & bass over your years involved in the scene?

I think the attitude hasn’t changed, although it has progressively gotten better. I guess I can only take it from our label (GLO) and how it’s progressing. I’m doing more gigs now than ever before, playing to more people in more parts of the world. I think people got the wrong impression about drum & bass and where it went due to the interest of major labels.

What was your primary reason for starting up your own record label, The Good Looking Organisation.

Early on I realised that I wanted to do something on a record label vibe. I wanted to have a home that I could release the stuff that I was into, and that no one else had a say on.

You’ve had success with your production work and DJing, how do you balance the two with your record label role?

I think that there’s no choice, you have to do it all. First of all, if you are a guy like me, someone who has a very big opinion on what music they like, then you’ll want to produce it, play it and A & R it, I think that you basically have to sacrifice your life to see if it will work! You have to give everything within your powers to promote the music, be it in DJing, in producing, in press, the more you become involved with your subject, the better the chance you have of moving forward.

Remaining LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad tour dates:

Tue 31/12, Melbourne, 33 & 1/3 NYE
Wed 01/01, Sydney, Fuzzy Field Day
Sat 04/01, Gold Coast, Summafieldayze