Two A&R Guys responsible for signing some of the biggest UK Garage Artists & Tracks from back in the day & crossing it over it from the street to the mainstream.
HeY guys your looking good, how are we today ?
Fee (RUSSELL) Not bad & yourself ?
Baron (PAUL) Yes all good thanks
Q : Going back to your roots, where did you grow up?
Baron (PAUL) East London - Hackney
Fee (RUSSELL) North London - Enfield
Q : ok so You boys first met on pirate radio is this When you started taking music seriously?
Fee (RUSSELL) Yep on RUSH FM but were already busy previously with other projects & i was producing tracks on the gold seal label in the early 90s
Baron (PAUL) Erm that's right it was a long time ago in the mid 90's during the booyaka days of the Jungle/Hardcore revolution .
Q : What inspires you both?
Baron (PAUL) Musically we take inspiration from so many different styles of music, from Jazz, hip hop and beyond but From an A&R perspective selling units
Fee (RUSSELL) Paul inspires me lol
Q : When you were discovering new talent, what qualities did you look for?
Fee(RUSSELL) I don’t like to chase current trends I want to sign artists that I believe will have longevity and a strong impact.
Baron (PAUL) I liked working with artists that pushed the envelope in music & had a long term vision of building a solid foundation.
Q : With the current industry trend towards streaming, has that had an impact on your A&R strategy and what type of artists you want to sign?
Baron(PAUL) What streaming has done, is that it emphasizes how important the Single is rather than the depth of an album.
Fee(RUSSELL) We recognize this moving forward but it’s still important for A&R peeps to sign and build album artists who can create a good body of work. Hit singles will help propel album sales most definitely , but it’s still important for an artist to create a good solid back catalogue of work & albums.
Q : OK SO What are your current thoughts about the role of an A&R person in this fast-changing music industry?
Fee(RUSSELL) Well how i see it is that the A&R role hasn’t really changed too much, I mean the basics to keep discovering and nurturing new talent is still very relevant.
Baron (PAUL) There always an undiscovered talent out there & it's good to work with such great artists from the beginning & get to craft & to create incredible music that not only inspires us, but inspires people all over.
Q : How did you start working in the record industry itself ?
Baron (PAUL) We had already been Dj partners for a few years on Various pirate radio stations playing UK Garage, i was given the opportunity to work for a small vinyl record distribution company based in East London as an A&R man & things just kind of developed from there.
Fee (RUSSELL) I started working at a record shop in North London & whilst I was busy selling vinyl, Paul was bringing it in & signing artists. I then went on to develop this into a full time A&R role also.
Q : What artists have you worked with & what tracks were you involved in helping gain chart success ?
Fee (RUSSELL) Well we were signing artists and singles from the underground Garage scene which were seeing good sales through distribution and a number of them fortunately had chart success , tracks like Monsta Boy "Sorry", Edcase & Shelly Nelson "Something in your Eyes" & Jhay Palmer & David Howard's "Hello" Scott & Leon's "Shine On" amongst others that charted with at least a Top 30 chart positions
Baron (PAUL) Some of the even more well known successful artists such as Dj Luck & Mc Neat "A Little Bit of Luck" and The Architect's Body Groove" plus Wiley's Phase One Nicoles Groove come to mind & they all charted in the Top Ten.
Q : What are you up to at present & what are your plans for the future ?
Baron (PAUL) We are Currently working on promoting MUUSIC.DIGITAL & MUUSIC MEDIA with music promotion & digital distribution capabilities but which is essentially a DJ Digital Network incorporating MUUSIC.FM a 24/7 radio station & MUUSIC.TV where we live streaming events from clubs around the globe.
We are in the process of launching a whitepaper for the MUUSIC COIN a cryptocurrency which we already have support from big name DJ’s such as Roger Sanchez & Todd Terry who are ready to endorse the cryptocurrency. It has been very challenging navigating the new Technology such as the Blockchain etc.
Fee (RUSSELL) Tune in to MUUSIC.FM AVAILABLE ON TUNEIN RADIO .!
Q : Lastly Who would survive longest on a desert island?
Baron (PAUL) Drop us off on the island then & we will find out .!
Fee (RUSSELL) Paul watches a lot of Bear Grylls and i reckon hes picked up a few tips, I'm sure he was a scout when he was a kid.
Guys it's most definitely been good to speak with you again & thanks for your time, we wish you the all the best for the future.
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