Taking a Trip Down the River Swann-E
“I enjoy going out and playing every weekend, Nine times out
of ten it’s wicked…”
DJ Swan-E 1996
Swan-E is, undeniably one of the most respected DJ’s on the
circuit, whose profile has always remained as underground as
the scene in which he so splendidly works. One of my
earliest memories was in fact listening to DJ Swan-E’s set
at a packed World Dance at Llydd International Airport,
needless to, time has always been made to make sure I hear
his sets at any event I attend.
There isn’t an event in the country that hasn’t had the
pleasure of Swan-E’s presence, United Dance, One Nation,
World Dance, Dreamscape, Desire, you name it and he has
probably played there, such is the experience of the twenty
eight year old from Luton. Real name, Simon Swan, hence the
name Swan-E, “I’m not afraid to say my age either”, started
listening to music at an early age, “I was always buying
records, and decided one day to get a pair of turntables”.
At this time Swan-E was mixing varied styles, such as Soul
and Hip-Hop until the Acid House explosion in 1988, “that
was the dawn of a new era, wasn’t it?”
Inspired by the likes of Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Frankie
Valentine, Trouble Anderson, he quickly learned how to mix,
and soon found himself playing out live, “We were doing pubs
and locals clubs, private parties, anywhere where we could
get a decent sound. We did a car wash once, that was good
but it got moved on by the Old Bill”.
Swan-E found that in those days, the ‘elusive’ break which
up and coming DJ’s across the world desire was easier to
come across. “It was different then because it was a new
sound, it was still hard to break into it because you still
had your big DJ’s even then, Grooverider, Paul Trouble
Anderson, Carl Cox, Kid Batchelor, Eddie Richards. The
competition was strong, and it was hard but with persistence
you got there”. Swan-E say’s it was different in his day,
there was an apprenticeship for DJ’s. Some people nowadays
can make a tune and get to the top as well.
Swan-E’s first big break came at ‘Weekend World’ in Homerton
High Street at the back end of 1989. This event had four
thousand ravers attend, “that was serious do, absolutely
wicked”. Swan-E gained some recognition for this set, and
then played another ‘Weekend World’ at the Eclipse Club in
Coventry, now known was The Edge. “From then on, it sort of
broke from there, Perception, Raindance, Mythology, Energy,
they all started booking me, fucking excellent”.
“When you just break into the scene, it great you know?
There’s a lot to learn through it. The music was good as
well, it was all one then, at the foot of the tree, but it
all branched off into what we have today”.
Swan-E has always played Drum ‘n’ Bass, although he had a
short stint playing Happy Hardcore, “My6 sets have always
been Drum ‘n’ Bass orientated, always had a bit of it in
them. I wanted to be a versatile DJ, but people don’t book
you for being versatile. Everyone down South knew me for
playing Drum ‘n’ Bass, and people up North for playing
Happy. It wasn’t even Happy then, it was Breakbeat and then
that split into 4-Beat, which isn’t my favourite style so I
knocked it on the head and started playing Drum ‘n’ Bass
solely”.
Back in the early days, Swan-E loved playing for promoters
such as Weekend World, and Perception. As the scene moved
into 1992 he reminisces on the World Dance events,
particularly the first one at Llydd. “Today I loved playing
for everybody, just love playing out in general. My
favourites have got to be Dance World, Desire, Southern
Exposure in Bristol, Dreamscape and United Dance. Especially
Desire because it’s just good Drum ‘n’ Bass all night and a
wicked vibe”.
Swan-E mentioned the Tribal Gathering previous weeks ago,
where he thought the production was out of this world in
every tent. “It was unreal, spot on, so well organised and
it just took me away”. This led the conversation on to
playing abroad, the production and the atmosphere. Swan-E
plays out of the UK, probably more than any other DJ, such
is his popularity. This year alone, has seen him play in
Canada twice, Australia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway,
France and Germany three times:
“They have had the scene for quite a while in Australia, but
in Canada it’s fairly new to them. They have it in Canada,
honestly, they have meeting points like they used to in this
country, the sound systems, the production, it’s just
unbelievable. Never any trouble from the Police either, if
they break the sound levels then they pay an automatic fine
to the Police on the spot, all it is a bung to the Old Bill
– should you print that?”
In a recent trip with his good friend DJ Slam, Swan-E first
flew to Canada, then onto California, and then finishing
down under in Australia. The life of a DJ is a hard one,
isn’t it? “Australia is wicked parts of it, Perth was
wicked, they’re really up for their Drum ‘n’ Bass, Adelaide
was really good as well. Melbourne was OK, they’re into it
but not as much as Perth or Adelaide. Brisbane is more of a
commercial town, they’re up for it there, it’s a lovely
town. Sydney is a different story, we didn’t play Sydney
because all the promoters are moody and DJ’s are often
getting stitched up, so the person who organised the tour
didn’t organise anything there”.
Swan-E went on to comment on the scene in Germany which as
we all know is thriving, two or three years ago it was very
Techno orientated, but the German ravers are really getting
into their Drum ‘n’ Bass especially with Desire packing out
an event with four thousand people a month ago. “France is a
bit different, they’re more on the intelligent tip,
Switzerland was wicked. I went over there recently with
Ellis Dee, Randall, Dr S Gachet, Slipmatt, GQ and Sy with
fifteen thousand people in a load of different warehouses,
that was excellent”.
Swan-E has been spending the last two years learning the
ropes in a studio, writing music for other labels and his
own ‘Collusion Records’ which he co-owns with Ellis Dee. At
the beginning of this year he produced a remix for UB40, who
have strong links with the underground scene, especially
with Drum ‘n’ Bass. “I’ve got to grips with engineering, so
I can do it myself rather than getting someone else to do it
for me. I’ve been hiding for the past couple of years, but I
think I am ready for it now”.
Swan-E feels that there is a lot of good music coming out on
the Drum ‘n’ Bass tip at the moment. “There’s a hell of a
lot of it there that is really good, not all of it, but the
majority. I think Andy C and Ant Miles are the top boys at
the moment, the Valley Of The Shadows remix, being played on
Kiss FM in the daytime, which I think could chart actually.
LTJ Bukem, on the intelligent tip, Justice and Blame, Hype
is releasing some wicked stuff, some of SS’s. The Joker
stuff is good, Bizzi B and Pugwash, Marvellous Cain is also
another good one. The Shy FX stuff is rollin’ at the
moment”.
This is the eighth year that the scene has seen Swan-E
performing to large crowds across the world, but he feels
the atmosphere at some events is very poor. “Some places
have got a wicked vibe, some have got such a moody vibe. You
could go to a Desire at Club UN and the atmosphere is
wicked, but you go there a week after with the same line-up
almost and it’s terrible. The promoters pay the security,
and the security should keep the attitude out, they know who
they are. At the end of the day I don’t want to see these
people bringing out business down, it’s already brought the
end of Club UN which isn’t fair. At the major events it is
non-existent, mixed raves especially like World Dance,
United Dance, because the security do their jobs properly”.
Indeed it is a shame that such a good venue has fallen, once
again to the bad elements in the scene. Are they really in
our scene though? I don’t think so, they don’t belong there
and the sooner, Swan-E agrees, that it is eliminated then it
can thrive again, as it did in the early days.
Swan-E’s average week involves being in his studio just
outside Luton, until Wednesday where he finds himself at
Music House in Holloway Road cutting plates for the weekend.
“It’s a nightmare because they don’t open until about one
o’clock so when you get there, there’s always a massive
queue”. Thursday is split between the studio and practising
playing his new music. “A couple of years ago, I didn’t
practice that much. I think you have to practice, no matter
if you’ve been DJ’ing fifteen, twenty years”. Friday sees
Swan-E having a lie in in the morning, the he might drop
into Blackmarket to purchase some plastic, where he then
returns home to get ready to play out Friday night wherever
that might be. Sleeping heavily on a Saturday prepares him
for the busy Saturday night where he will be playing out at
up to four events. What about Sunday? “Sunday I do
absolutely sod all, I just chill out, and then back to the
same routine Monday. It doesn’t get boring, you just never
know what’s going to happen next, where you’re gonna be. On
a Friday I might be in London and Wales, and then on
Saturday I might be in Europe somewhere. As for the studio,
there’s just so much to learn, you can never get bored, it’s
always interesting”.
Swan-E feels that the progression of the Drum ‘n’ Bass music
has had a tremendous impact on the scene in general. With
major companies getting involved further, he feels that if
they treat it with the same respect that the DJ’s do then it
won’t bring it down. “All the Drum ‘n’ Bass is being
recognised by the major companies, all the media, the press,
they all love it. Alex Reece, Photek, they’re all breaking
the barriers down, and it’s here to stay, Drum ‘n’ Bass is
here for good. They’re only on the Intelligent tip at the
moment, but someone might pop up and say, we’ll be a bit
different and sign up DJ Hype for the jump-up stuff. It’s
all getting recognised and it’s going well”. He continues,
“I just hope that they don’t make the good producers water
down their music for sales increases. It’s all very well
signing a big contract, but if they start making you water
down what you have produced, that’s bollocks, it’s selling
out. It ain’t selling out if you sign the contract and going
to a major, but altering your style to suit them is”.
The scene can expect a lot of new releases coming from
Swan-E over the next few months, teamed up with Ellis Dee on
their label ‘Collusion Recordings’ they are concentrating
hard on producing some quality Drum ‘n’ Bass across the
board, jump-up, Intelligent and rollin’. “We’d been making
records and putting them out here, there and everywhere. We
(Ellis Dee) wanted to stick to one label and that was where
Collusion came in. We’re only on catalogue number 006, the
next one, 007, is my track called ‘Funk Da Fide/Picture Me
Rollin’, which will be out by the time you read this. The
next track should be me again, with a guy called Undercut
which is called ‘The Infamous’ which is a rollin’, rollin,
Drum ‘n’ Bass track. Roy (Ellis Dee) has got a few coming
out, ‘Siamese Minds’, they’re getting some respect out
there, and the sales are going well so we’re Happy with the
way it’s going”.
Swan-E’s plans for the future include developing his music
with the scene, concentrating on producing. Swan-E loves
working in the scene and enjoys playing out every weekend.
“I always want to be in music, I know that. I wouldn’t mind
owing a cutting plant one day, because all the DJ’s could
come to me and get their plates cut. I know that I would be
up at eight in the morning”, he says jokingly. He’s off to
Norway again soon and will be entertaining the Australian’s
again at Christmas, and being booked up to three or four
months in advance things are looking good for the DJ from
Luton. Swan-E believes that the Drum ‘n’ Bass scene won’t be
the same without the DJ Swan-E, so let us hope that both
continue in a similar vain.
DJs
