Stanton Warriors Interview

United Kingdom | by Wayne Hoyle | 22 November 2002

An interesting inclusion on the bill, their 'Stanton Session' mix CD showcases a bass heavy, eclectic clash of urban breakbeat, garage and jungle sounds. We started by asking them them how they thought the set had gone down...

Dominic: It was good. There were a lot of people there. Quite nostalgic in a sense. It was reminiscent of Fantazia and those old, big-time raves. It's not often you get such big rooms like that going crazy.

Virtual Festivals: How do you think the crowd took to the Stanton sound? It's a bit different from what they're used to...

D: Yeah. But they seemed to warm into it. As the set progressed we turned up the steam. And we saw people getting down and getting off on it at the end.

VF: Which other big event have you enjoyed this year?

D: Glastonbury was cool. We had impromptu performances by various singers who jumped up onto the stage, off their heads. There was this whole karaoke thing going on. Creamfields was a really good vibe. We've enjoyed a lot of foreign festivals this year as well.

VF: Do you have to change the sets a lot - from playing small clubs to huge festivals?

D: Yeah. Obviously playing here is different from playing a deep house club like Fabric. You try and adapt yourself as much as you can. Because we're the Stanton Warriors we play in such different types of clubs. It's not like we're jungle boys, playing to jungle crowds all the time. You think, 'Tonight, It's gonna be Gatecrasher kids.' It's gonna be very different from a night we've just done in London, where it was a lot of older people in a trendy club. As long as it goes off in the end, then you know you've done your job right,

VF: How's your work on the new album going?

D: It feels like we've been working on our artist album for the last 10 years, but it was in our hearts to do an album where it was our own tracks, not just remixes and re-edits but tracks we've written ourselves. Also, we've been working with some new, fresh talent. People we think are up and coming and different, who have got something new to offer. But we're keeping a lid on who's who in case anyone nicks them and signs them up!

VF: On the Stanton Sessions mix album you used an acapella of The Streets. That was well over a year ago. How did you find out about them?

D: No-one even knew who they were. Just one CD was sent to Gilles Peterson on Radio One. I thought, 'What is this? It sounds kinda fresh.' Living in London you hear pirate radio chatting the same stuff and the same rhetoric. Here was a kid - I didn't even know it was a white kid - coming across with such a fresh perspective on things. Not like your average garage, hip-hop or jungle MC. We wanted the album to be as fresh and different as possible. So he fitted the mould.

VF: Do you think that this helped The Street gain recognition?

Mark: I don't think he needed any help to be honest!