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ne of dance music’s most enduring genres, drum & bass has a history and evolutionary path that’s fascinating to reflect on. From the London-only rudeboy swagger of jungle, through the dark cinematic styles of the late 90s, to the Millennial Brazillian invasion and the chart-troubling vocal anthems of recent years, this once uniquely British sound and its dedicated fans have spent the last 20 years proving its doubters wrong at every turn. D&B’s longevity is down to many factors, but the genre’s growth far beyond the shores of the UK and its ability to reinvent itself over and over, are the two obvious key drivers of its success. And while the gradual globalisation of the scene was always inevitable, the emergence several years ago of a movement in the unlikely location of Russia had many scratching their heads. First came the tales of 25,000-capacity raves; then came the producers and their music... Hailing from St Petersburg, Enei was already a huge-name DJ in his native Russia when he released his debut production for Dutch label Fokuz in 2007. Mood heavy, stripped-back and beautifully constructed, Enei’s music instantly turned heads and he began on a path that would see him sign tracks for a string of D&B’s most credible imprints. Releases for Metalheadz, Med School and CIA led to the Russian signing for Kasra’s Critical Music, with the enormous ‘Cracker ’ instantly establishing Enei among the sound’s elite and helping him earn ‘Best Newcomer ’ at 2011’s DNBA Awards. 2012 has seen things go from big to huge for Enei in anticipation of the release of his debut album ‘Machines’. With the album now out and receiving rapturous acclaim, Trap grabbed a few words with the St Petersburg-based producer to find out more about Russia, D&B and the future... TRAP_For those who don’t know you, please introduce yourself... Hello! My name is Alexey, aka Enei, and I’m from St. Petersburg , Russia. I’ve been making drum & bass music for about 10 years now. TRAP_Living in Russia, how did you first discover drum & bass? It was a long time ago! Years back, I discovered some old rave cassette packs, you know the ones... Loads of old-school jump-up vibes, all that sort of stuff. That was it for me, I loved it! I could see how big this music was and I wanted to get involved, so I got myself some gear and started to make my own beats.
TRAP_What were the records and the artists that inspired you to begin producing D&B? It was guys like Kemal, Ed Rush & Optical and Ram Trilogy that really turned me on. Now I’m trying to put a few of those older vibes in my music and make it have more of that flavour; more jungly and more warmth. TRAP_What’s the scene like in Russia? Where would you say is the ‘capital’ for D&B there? Everyone from Moscow and St. Petersburg thinks their own city is the capital, so in my opinion, the D&B capital of Russia is St. Petersburg! To be honest, there are so many proper parties here and lots of promoters who are doing it primarily to make people happy, money comes second, I think. In contrast, Moscow is totally about money and the raves there are massive, but there are some big parties in St. Petersburg, too. TRAP_We have seen the HUGE Pirate Station raves on the internet – have you ever attended or played at one? What are they like? Yeah those parties are really huge - about 15,000 people at least! There are huge sound systems, fire shows, girls on stilts, you know, just the usual! TRAP_You, and many other Russian D&B producers, make darker, more serious D&B – is there a jump-up scene in Russia too? You’re right, in the past more Russians have loved the harder stuff like Noisia, the neurofunk and techy D&B sound, as well as some more mainstream tunes. But actually, now it’s all changing a little bit. New producers are starting to make more intelligent and underground music and people seem to be really into it. TRAP_Do you like other styles of D&B? Or do you strictly prefer the darker, more thoughtful sound that you produce? I like all sorts, as long as it’s fresh and well made. I can go from the really hard stuff in my sets right through to a little more of the mainstream stuff. You always have to be prepared for where you’re playing and the crowd. TRAP_So you still live in Russia ? What do you love most and hate most about living there? Yeah I still live in Russia and I really love my country; it’s hard to explain why! I love our traditions, like our food for example. But there’s a also lot of annoying things here; there are some strange people around and some weird politics. I don’t understand anything about politics and don’t want to. Overall though, the good definitely outstrips the bad! TRAP_Do you have any plans to move to the UK ? Or anywhere else? I’m thinking that maybe I’ll move to the UK for a couple of months with my girlfriend when my new tour begins, but I wouldn’t want to live there forever. Much as I love