DJ's Ramos & Marley Profile

It’s a Saturday night and Ramos and Marley are about to be thrust into the Dream hotseat. The location – Bowlers, Manchester; the subject – one of the most original and talented partnerships in the rave industry. First mission – locate the interviewees!

It wasn’t difficult to find Marley, who alongside DJ Sy, was giving it some on the stage, hyping up the crowd to the max, tracking down Ramos proved to be much trickier. I eventually found him propping up the bar in the VIP suite upstairs, deep in football conversation with DJ Vibes. Ramos’s love for the sport was so apparent that I thought it would be difficult to tear him away. A few beers later, Marley joined us and the tape began to roll….

Ramos (Paul) and Marley (Richard) both hail from sunny Southampton, both are 25, with Marley being the older of the two by one day. They’re part of a fairly tight knit group of South coast DJ’s. “Us, Supreme, Brisk, Vinylgroover, Hixxy and Druid – we’re all quite pally”, even though, according to Ramos, “they’re fucking scummers!” Paul and Richard used to hang about together in the days of hip-hop and electro and have been firm friends as well as partners ever since. Paul got into the scene first: “I was about 14 years old and I used to go to this place called ‘Top Rank’ in Southampton. It was a kids things on a Monday night – 1,000 people every week. I used to stand there and watch the DJ’s and one day one of them asked me if I fancied trying to do a bit. So he taught me about the decks and things like that. I stopped doing that because they closed down when they redeveloped the area. In about ’89 I got back into it”.

However, it wasn’t until ’91 that things really started to happen and Richard began covering the mic when Paul and was DJ’ing. It wasn’t difficult to decide what to call themselves. “Marley” is just Marley (no reason) and “Ramos” is a shorter version of the nickname ‘Ramos the Pirate’, given to him in his rowdy pissed up days of dancing on tables! The rest, as they say, is history.

“When I first started DJ’ing, I didn’t really look to anybody who as DJ’ing; I just started doing it. I suppose Carl Cox and Gachet…. Yeah, Dr S Gachet, he got me hooked really. I liked him before he started playing jungle, y’know, when everybody was playing the same. I like to listen to jungle; I’m not a great fan of it, but I do like to listen to it”.

So these two have been there pretty much from the start and have witnessed all the major changes within the scene. Of course, the biggest change was when happy and jungle went their separate ways. As Ramos says, “It had to happen really. You can’t play happy at a jungle do and you can’t play jungle at a happy do. Not being rude but the happy scene is a lot younger than the jungle scene. The jungle scene has got a sort of hard man image. It’s all to do with image”.

(Marley) “No matter what people say, there is an attitude in the jungle scene. They don’t like our music. But then you still get do’s like Helter Skelter which can get away with it. They’re the only one really”.

As clubs change their music policy to strictly hardcore or strictly jungle, the scene is becoming more and more segregated. Is this the shape or things to come? Is this what people want? Just where is the scene headed?

(Marley) “It needs to pick up on the club side. The big do’s are killing off the clubs. As time goes on, the amount of people going seems less and less”. Paul was in strong agreement with this. “There’s been a lot of big do’s , which seem to have killed off the club side a bit. But last year, there was a lot more clubs than there was big dos. You get 7,000 – 8,000 people turning up at dos like Helter Skelter, Dreamscape, so the scenes not dying at all”.

(Marley) “I think money’s got a lot to do with it as well, ‘cause it’s not cheap going out every weekend”.

How right he is! Ravers have had to become more selective about where and when they go out and as long as the set-ups all right, the DJ’s should deliver. (Ramos) “I don’t mind playing anywhere as long as the set ups good. At a lot of places the set-ups shit and you’re playing and people are thinking you’re shit”. Some promoters in the scene think that if a DJ’s good, they should be able to mix regardless of whether of not they’ve got a monitor and headphones, which really winds Paul up. As Richard put it, “that’s like a butcher going to work on a Monday morning and trying to cut the meat with blunt knives!” Paul goes on, “DJ’ing in the Hardcore scene is all about mixing. It’s about blending records together, this is where it all derived from. A club DJ doesn’t need a good monitor set-up ‘cause he stops and starts records and talks over the mic. Happy Hardcore DJ’s, we mix records, blend the beats together and make sure it flows properly. This is what winds me up, ‘cause they’re promoters, they’re not DJ’s – they haven’t got a clue. Let them try and DJ. They don’t know”. Marley says that it’s the same for MC’s. “There’s nothing worse than playing at a big do and there’s no monitor for the MC, so you’ve actually got to try and MC in time when the musics bouncing off four walls before you hear it. I don’t know why they don’t do it. It’s easy to set up another speaker. The amount of money they’re spending on the do, what’s another speaker?”

Indeed promoters spend thousands of pounds on making sure that the event looks good, which, don’t get me wrong, is greatly appreciated, but Ramos said, “at the end of the day, the most important thing of a do is the DJ and the MC. If that’s not set up properly, you’re going to have a shit do, it’s as simple as that”.

The promoters doing it right for the lads are Helter Skelter, Dance Paradise, Bowlers and Diehard, which quite surprised me as I found Diehard fairly dingy. Marley was quick to stick up for the Dielectric Club. “It’s the vibe. Yeah, it’s a bit seedy, but it’s got an Old Skool atmosphere”. Ramos reckons “the club needs a bit of a clean and a bit of sorting out, but it’s always been there and it always will be”. That certainly put me in my place!

At least we agreed on the DJ’s having it at the moment, with Slipmatt topping the bill. They also rate Force and Styles and any other people who are trying to take the scene further and make it stronger, including Sy, Hixxy, Billy Bunter and Supreme. But as Paul pointed out, although the DJ influences everything, it’s the engineer who makes the records and he rates Bradley Carter at Platform Twelve, UFO and D-Zyne in that department. With regards to production Ramos enjoys getting into the studio and doesn’t just restrict himself to Hardcore tunes. “I’ve made a couple of House tunes I’ve never put out and I’ve experimented a bit with Jungle. It’s just, like, new knowledge. I don’t think the Hardcore scene is ever going to end, but if it does, we’ll probably just progress into what is in and do more work in the studio”. Richard has begun to get involved in the production side in the past year or so and has put out a couple of tunes on RSR, the label run by Ramos, Supreme and UFO. You may be more familiar with Ramos, Supreme and Sunset Regime, but following a string of successful tunes, they decided to go their different ways. Sunset Regime has now set up another label and Ramos and co. have moved to a new studio, promising bigger and better things from RSR next year!

Bigger and better things include original sets, with that special Ramos and Marley touch! They’ve always stood out among the rest, even more so with the current attitude towards dub plates. (Ramos) “I think the dub plate situation got a bit out of hand for a while as everyone was cutting everyone else’s tunes, so no-one had any different tunes to play and everyone sounded the same. But not everyone’s just cutting their own stuff and playing their own music, which means different sets”.

So far, Ramos and Marley’s DJ/MC careers have taken them out of the confines of our sunny shores and they will just have returned from a three week trip to Australia by the time this issue hits the shelves. Supreme will have had his own party over there with DJ Herb, an Australian DJ, and the boys will also have been playing for other promoters alongside Clarkee, Force and Styles, and of course, Supreme.

It’s the second time they’ve played over there and they think it’s wicked. The scene in Oz is like it was here a few years ago. The crowds are generally older than they are here – early twenties and upwards, and because it’s a new thing for them, they’re really up for it. Paul and Richard are also well-impressed with the scene in Switzerland, Wales and Cornwall, which is where Ramos experienced his most memorable DJ’ing moment. “I done a set in Cornwall – the last hour and a half. This was about three or four years ago – the place was rammed. I played my last tune and everyone was going mental! I got about a twenty minute standing ovation. People wouldn’t let me leave – it was mental! The club only holds about five hundred people, but the atmosphere is fucking amazing. They’d scream ‘one more, one more!’ and there was this bloke standing on the speakers at the front of the DJ box going ‘giz one more!’ it was brilliant, just brilliant!”

As for bad moments, none really stand out. What really pisses them off though, is when a promoter tries to underpay them, or in Marley’s case, tries not to pay him at all, which does not happen. “A lot of places pay us together, some pay us separately. It depends, I do bits on my own, but at the end of the day, working with Paul is priority – it always has been. We decided to work together and it’s successful so why change it?” Ramos realises the huge recognition they get purely for their partnership. “Wherever I go, if Marley don’t come with me one night, it’s like, ‘where’s Marley?, where’s Marley?’ and if he goes somewhere without me, it’s like ‘where’s Ramos?, where’s Ramos?’. Everyone knows who we are and knows we’re a team”. Neither of them believe that their partnership has held them back in the slightest. The only thing that they think could have held them back is the fact that they are very headstrong and always say what they think: (Ramos) “I don’t like people taking the piss out of me. I don’t have it, it’s as simple as that. If they want to take the piss out of me, they can fuck off. Some people are probably too frightened to say anything. I’m quite strong minded though and I will say it”. This could be perceived by some as arrogance, but Paul has a point, particularly with money situation. If one person plays for cheap, the promoters will expect everyone to play for cheap. And while a lot of people think that DJ’s are overpaid, it is a fairly stressful job. “You don’t understand what it’s about. (Actually I do but carry on!). I know about three of four DJ’s who suffer from stress – we’ve all got our illnesses through being a DJ. It’s a twenty-four hour job. It’s not like we go to work 9-5, go home and that’s it, forget about work and relax and do whatever we want and have a good night’s sleep”. (Marley) “Our body clocks messed up. There’s a lot of hard work goes into it. It’s not physical, but your minds working overtime and your body’s working overtime. It’s a very hard job. People say you’re not worth the money, but you are. There’s 4,000 people in here tonight, right, and they’ve paid how much money to get in? If it wasn’t for the DJ’s on that flyer, they wouldn’t be coming here. They wouldn’t even bother turning up. The amount of work and the amount of miles we’ve put into this scene is unbelievable”.

Ramos and Marley have to be up there in the top ten DJ’s/Mc’s, and average four or five bookings every weekend. Along with studio work and “generally running around sorting shit out”, they leave themselves very little spare time. In the rare event that they do have a few hours free, they like to play Football and Golf, or “have a right good beer up and try to relax” – the pub’s certainly a good place to start! They put their all into their work and are responsible for classics like ‘Crowd Control’, ‘Can’t Believe’ and ‘Sunshine’ – tunes that launched the scene as we know it today. Nevertheless, I do think that they’re a bit underrated. Everyone knows Vibes and Livelee, Dougal and Magika, Vinylgroover and Freestyle, but what about Ramos and Marley? After nearly five years service to the scene, there are not many clubs or organisations that haven’t seen the talents of Ramos and Marley. There are some clubs which haven’t yet experienced the Ramos and Marley show, and as they tell us, not because they’re not wanted by the ravers, they are, it’s down to the promoter. “People come up to us and say, ‘how come you’ve never played here or there?’, and all we can say is that we don’t know. I think it’s a bit selfish of the promoters ‘cause there’ll be people there who want us to play there. There’s a lot of politics and bollocks that goes on in the rave industry. You wouldn’t believe some of the things that go on. There’s a few people that just don’t have respect for other DJ’s. At the end of the day, we’re all working in the same scene, so we should have respect for each other”. They both reckon people should stay out of the politics and focus their energy on pushing the scene forward, instead of wasting time stabbing people in the back. (Marley) “If the scenes going to get better and move forward, people have got to start working together again. The promoters and DJ’s have got to start working together again. The promoters and DJ’s have got to start working stop just being out for themselves. The scenes big enough for everyone to have a piece of the pie”.

Does moving forward mean commercialisation? There’s been a lot of talk recently about people, particularly Force and Styles, releasing stuff into the charts. There’s many different views – would it make or break the scene? (Ramos) “Force and Styles? They deserve to be earning a lot of money. They’re original and if that’s what they want to do, then fair play to them, they should go for it. I’d like to myself”. In Marley’s opinion, “the reason they’re going to get there is ‘cause they’re original. They’re on a path of their own. If they make it that way, then fair enough. I don’t think it’ll affect the scene if they go commercial. There’s only certain people who are going to chart. There’s only certain people who are going to get with the big labels. It’s not like everyone’s going to do it, ‘cause I don’t think everyone’s capable of doing”. Paul and Richard both reckon that all the talk about ‘keeping the scene underground’ is “bollocks”. Four years ago, the scene was underground, but times have changed, “no matter who you are, if you want to go out and have a good time”.

Pretty sound advice. Then maybe when people are out, they’ll realise just who they should’ve picked in the Dream Dance Magazine Hardcore Awards. Marley put me in the picture. “Those Dance Awards are the biggest load of bollocks I’ve ever read in my entire life. They had the ‘top eight DJs in there and who was there? No Ramos, no Hixxy, no Bunter, no Druid – and these all pioneers of the Hardcore scene! The MC Awards – for the best Happy Hardcore MC, they had people like GQ and Fearless – they’re not even Happy Hardcore MC’s!! I’m not saying I should’ve been in there, but what’s the point in having awards if you’ve got the wrong people in there?” And they didn’t leave it there! Ramos continued…. “I think it’s shit. People like Druid…. Hixxy! Think of the tunes he’s made! And Billy Bunter – he’s been resident at Labrynth for six years, he’s been on the scene since day one and he’s not even in. I feel gutted for him, ‘cause he should be getting things like that. I don’t know who wrote that poll out, but they shouldn’t have picked out these…”, it should say, ‘who are your favourite DJ’s? Favourite MC’s? Who’s this? Who’s that? It’s not giving people a choice then and people can think about who’s not there”. Things were starting, so I began racking my brain to find a safe subject to change to. But perfectly timed, Vibes’ mate appeared with a round of drinks, of which we three were unfortunately excluded. Still, it caused a diversion and although Ramos threatened to poke Vibes right in the eye, it was all in good humour, as was the rest of the interview! Phew!

Whenever I think of Ramos and Marley, I think of the Radio Dreamscape CD. Credited by many for having the best set on there, Paul and Richard don’t regard it as anything special. They just went out there and did their job, looking out at a sea of hands and playing/saying what the crowd wanted to hear. You have to keep the crowd happy, ‘cause without them behind you, you might as well not bother. Ramos and Marley don’t need to worry about that though. They always play for the crowd and must be two of the most level-headed, forward thinking people in the industry. They strive for perfection and progression with admirable determination and deserve to succeed in everything they set out to do.

Wrapping things up, Richard had this to say, “As long as people want to go out at the weekend and have a good time, there’s always going to be a dance scene. The UK’s got the best dance scene in the world. It’s as simple as that. We’ve got so many different kinds of music, not just Happy Hardcore, but Techno, Jungle, Drum ‘n’ Bass, House, New NRG – there’s loads. It’s just the best scene in the world. At the end of the day, everyone’s just got to work together and make sure it stays that way”.

Exactly.