Roni Size
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| Roni Size | |
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 Roni Size DJing at the Savoy, Cork City 07/10/05
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ryan Williams |
| Born | 29 October 1969 Bristol, England |
| Genres | Drum and Bass |
| Occupations | DJ Producer |
| Years active | 1988-present |
| Labels | Full Cycle Records Thrive Records |
| Associated acts | Reprazent Breakbeat Era |
Roni Size (born Ryan Williams, 29 October 1969 in Bristol) is a British music producer and DJ who came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and leader of Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. That year they won the Mercury Prize for their album New Forms.
He resurrected Reprazent in 2008 with the release of a deluxe edition of´New Forms on Universal.
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[edit] Early life
Williams, son of Jamaican immigrants,[1] grew up in the Bristol suburb of St. Andrews. He cites reggae as one of his early influences. He was expelled from school[1] at the age of 16 and started attending house parties run by Bristol soundsystem The Wild Bunch (a predecessor of Massive Attack). He learned the basics about music production at his local youth club,[1] the Sefton Park basement project, which provided record players, a mixing desk, drum machines and samplers.[2] He worked with his brother's comprehensive collection of Studio One records and later set up a home studio, buying a sampler.[2]
His future musical partner, Krust, had been a member of the Fresh 4, whose "Wishing On A Star" reached the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart in late 1989. Williams, Krust, Suv and DJ Die founded Full Cycle Records.
Aided by Chris Lewis, Roni Size founded the record label WTP ("Where's The Party At?") as part of Circus Warp, and in 1993 Full Cycle and Dope Dragon were established in 1993 from that.[2] RCA Records employee Bryan Gee was an early admirer.[2] When in 1994 he set up V Recordings, the first releases were Krust's Deceivers EP as catalogue number V001 and Agility, the debut release of Roni Size and DJ Die, as V002.
[edit] Musical style
Williams describes the mélange of influences as intuitive: "If Krust walks into the studio and his head is nodding, that's enough. I know I've got a result there. He doesn't need to touch a button or tell us what he thinks, 'cos we already know what he's thinking."[citation needed]
Much of the acclaim centred around Size's melding of the propulsive jungle beats accompanied by live drums and double bass. The band consists of Williams (compositions/programming), DJ Krust, Onallee (vocals), Dynamite MC and rapper Bahamadia (a former protégé of Gang Starr). As a result, Reprazent drum 'n' bass is equally informed by hip-hop, funk, soul and house.
[edit] Career
In consolidation of their mainstream breakthrough, Reprazent had a series of festival appearances in summer of 1997 (including Tribal Gathering). Their New Forms LP won the Mercury Music Prize. The singles from the album all featured singer Onallee, whose call for the music in "Brown Paper Bag" is a signal ravers still respond to.[2] The album went platinum, and Roni Size and his collaborators returned to the studio.
Williams subsequently teamed up with DJ Die and Leonie Laws in Breakbeat Era, before returning to Reprazent to record the second album, October 2000's In The Mode, which included guest vocals from Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan. In 2001, he returned to the studio and started working with Tali, who had recently arrived from [[New Zealand on her album Lyric On My Lip. In this time he also produced Touching Down - released in October 2002. This, his first truly solo album, included 16 tracks mixed into one hour's set. He came back to 'V' in 2005 with the release of Return To V, which included vocal collaborations with artists such as Beverly Knight, Jocelyn Brown, Vikter Duplaix and Rodney P.
Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008 with the release of a deluxe edition of New Forms on Universal. The reformed band included original members Dynamite MC, Onallee and bass player Si John alongside Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughing), D Product, Jay Wilcox and Pete Josef. Roni Size and Reprazent toured some of the biggest festivals in Europe, including Bestival, Glastonbury, Lovebox, EXIT and Rock Herk. As a result, they were among the nominees for Best Dance Act from the UK Festival Awards.
The band started 2009 with a tour of Australia as part of the Good Vibrations Festival.[3] Following on from this, Roni Size and Reprazent returned to North America for the first time in seven years as one of the headliners at the 2009 Ultra Music Festival in Miami. They then went on to perform at Coachella,[4] appearing as the final act of the Festival.
In September 2009, Roni Size and Reprazent played a gig with an orchestra and choir to mark the re-opening of Bristol’s Colston Hall, collaborating with the BBC’s Nature’s Great Events composer, William Goodchild.[5]
Wiliams is currently[when?] in the studio producing his next Roni Size album, while also working with the band on a new Roni Size and Reprazent album, expected to be released sometime during 2010.[5]
[edit] Discography
- Music Box (1995)
- New Forms (1997)
- Ultra-Obscene (1999) with DJ Die under the alias "Breakbeat Era"
- Through the Eyes (2000)
- In the Mode (2000)
- Touching Down (2002)
- Touching Down, Vol. 2 (2005)
- Return to V (2005)
- New Forms² (2008)
- Dirty Beats
- Share The Fall
- Triphop Drum and Bass
- Circles Remix
- Sing
- Switchblade
[edit] Selected Remixes
- Basement Jaxx - Good Luck
- Janet Jackson - Go Deep
- Nuyorican Soul featuring Jocelyn Brown - It's Alright, I Feel It
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Mac Randall: Reprazenting Bristol. Yahoo! Music, 01/02/2001 (Interview with Roni Size and DJ Krust)
- ^ a b c d e Roni Size Biography. Resident Advisor 21/01/2009
- ^ Good Vibrations Festival 2009 line-up
- ^ Evelyn McDonnell: Coachella: Roni Size and Reprazent bring back their beat Los Angeles Times Music Blog, April 16, 2009
- ^ a b Roni Size Live @ Colston Hall Review Kmag 2009
