We chat to the grime and dubstep maestro about Rinse FM
On the 10th September Rinse FM turns sixteen and is throwing a huge bash down at Fabric. This is a celebration of sixteen years of groundbreaking programming without which UK music would look very different indeed. The station championed both dubstep and grime, two genres which have gone on to define the UK's music scene and change the course of popular music. Grime superstars such as Wiley and Dizzee Rascal started here and any dubstep DJ worth their salt has spun these legendary decks at some point. To give the Rinse crew another reason to celebrate, the station has recently been awarded an FM licence after three years of fighting – finally creating a legitimate platform for showcasing London's underground talent.
One DJ who's been involved with Rinse for the best part of a decade is Plastician. Know to his mother as Chris Read, he is a highly respected South London DJ whose style connects grime to dubstep. He was there at the beginning of both genres and has held prime-time slots on Rinse as well as a residency at BBC Radio One. We meet the mighty Plastician.
Could you tell me a bit about your involvement in Rinse over the years?
My initial involvement was just doing the odd guest slot with Oris Jay and Mark One on their Saturday slot in 2002 / 2003. I had to cover them on my own when they couldn't make the trip down from up north and that ended up with me getting my own slot as I was hosting the show – something that was quite rare on the station back then, as it was predominantly MC-led grime shows. Over the years I've switched through various time slots and even spent some time broadcasting under an alias so not to upset anyone at the BBC when I had my show there at the same time.
Did you listen to the station a lot before you started to produce?
Yeah, I used to sit next to my radio and hold the aerial on Sunday afternoons to hear the latest grime instrumentals on Slimzee's show. It definitely had an influence on my productions back then. This was around 2001 / 2002.
How did it then feel to get your own slot?
It was wicked 'cos I'd enjoyed doing the cover shows for Oris and Mark One. Management happened to be locked in one day and they thought it was something they needed – to have a grime / dubstep show without an MC on it on Saturday nights. My first slot was Saturday night 7-9pm.
How have your sets on Rinse changed over the years?
In the first year it was almost entirely grime and the breakier side of dubstep such as Oris Jay, Skream, Benga, Chase & Status, Zinc etc. I've always been more into the less deep stuff myself so in the early days there wasn't a massive amount of dubstep that I'd play. I recently found a set from 2005 though and it's predominantly dubstep. I think this was when grime became more about artists' tracks with vocals on – and I was always more into the instrumentals. As grime instrumentals became watered down and more scarce, I had much less of it to play. I still play a lot of grime, but it's rare that I'm sent any instrumentals that really live up to the high standard of production I look for now. I don't think sonically I've changed much though, if you listen to the mixes I recorded in 2003 / 2004 you'll hear a 50/50 split of grime and dubstep – the grime is bass-driven and the dubstep is pretty mid-rangey. Pretty much the same as my sets now.
The station seems to feature less MCs than previously. Do you enjoy having a MC or do you prefer to let the music do the talking?
I enjoy having MCs on but I wouldn't like it if I had MCs on my show every week. I've made my name pretty much doing my own thing with various MCs having different levels of involvement over the years, but I've never been a selector for a grime crew. I like the fact that my DJ sets make me an artist in my own right and I think when you become a straight up selector for a grime crew you're accepting that you're just there to supply the backing track for the MCs – that's cool, but not something I want to be known for. When you see my name on a line up alongside MCs I expect it to be an equal performance from both me and the lyricists. As for radio, having Nomad host and spit on my set works perfectly as we've been mates since way before any of us were involved in music – so you get a good mix of us having a chat and Nomad spitting some quality lyrics. It's perfect for me really.
In your opinion, would dubstep be recognisable now if Rinse hadn't existed?
I think it would definitely not be anywhere near as big as it is now. It helped spoon-feed the people driving in their cars and chilling indoors listening to the radio who would otherwise have never heard it before.
Do you think that the UK funky scene that Rinse is now focusing on is ever going to get to the dizzying heights that dubstep has?
No. It reminds me of the garage crowd. I think 90% of the people who attend the nights are there on the pull, not because they really like the music.
Were you ever involved in any of the rooftop antics placing the radio transmitters or any of that side of the station?
I never had to do it with Rinse! I did have to walk across a rooftop to get into one of the old studios though. I've experienced this with another pirate station I played on before Rinse, I had to get up in a lift shaft to unhook an old transmitter horn.
There seems to be some worry that the recent gaining of a licence will somehow muddy the quality of the music – what would you say to these sceptics?
Listen and see for yourself. Nothing is changing – we're just coming of age.
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