ANDY C
Known for his breakneck mixing and use of up to three turntables, Andy C has been one of the most distinguished DJs and producers on the D&B/jungle scene for decades. Not only has he received the Drum and Bass Arena Awards 'Best DJ' title two years in a row, he is also ranked #61 on DJ Magazine’s Top 100 list. We got a chance to chat with the busy DJ at Ultra in Miami. Read on to get a peek into his world!
Amanda Mesa: Why drum and bass?
Andy C: When I started out, there wasn’t drum and bass. I started out back in the days when it was kind of all mixed—pretty much like it is today. Acid house, then house was coming through…it was all one genre. The first tunes I was doing had house tempos. And then jungle and drum and bass kind of just spawned naturally and I veered that way…I’ve always been more break-beat orientated than four-four kick drums. And so it kind of organically grew over a number of years; it became drum and bass. And now we find ourselves in 2012 and it's kind of come full circle. All the genres are mixed up again, and everybody’s just enjoying music because they enjoy music. Everyone just enjoys having a party, and that’s good. It's not as tribal as it used to be, it used to be very tribal—‘I like one sound, I don’t want to hear anything else,’ whereas now everybody’s a bit more open-minded.
After discovering house music in 2010, I dabbled in the different sects of electronica and found myself in love. In March of 2011, I made my official crossover from rap-enthusiast to househead when I attended Ultra Music Festival. Nearly a year later, I cannot wait to return to my stomping grounds and once again bask in the harmonious music and beating sunshine.
Last year’s festival was an incredible experience, but as a newbie, I had a lot to learn. The low-point of my weekend was when my ticket was ripped off of the lanyard strewn around my neck by a drunken fool. The maniac grabbed the ticket that was hanging above my chest, and ran. Luckily, my mother had always instilled within me the importance of self-defense, so I lunged at the crazy kid who attempted to steal the $275 ticket and returned the item to its rightful owner... me.
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