D.A.V.E the Drummer is one of the unsung heroes of the underground scene. Alongside being a frontline player in the Acid-Techno scene, he’s shockingly talented-a sought after DJ, producer and collaborator with many artists including the Liberator DJ’s, Laurie Immersion, Guy (Geezer) Mcaffer-most of the crew that are responsible for delivering the futuristic and alternative sounds of music within the underground. Last year D.A.V.E the Drummer made even bigger waves with the Ha-Lo project with Chris Liberator and the birth of his own label- Hydraulix. DAVE the Drummer has, and continues to be instrumental in the proliferation of techno music. 

"I guess the sound came around as Acid Techno", explains the ever-relaxed D.A.V.E the Drummer. "All of us- the Liberator DJ’s, Laurie Immersion, Guy (geezer) Mcaffer, Paul Harding started playing harder acid-trance from Germany in 94 & 95. We were all really into it but wanted to take it a step further kind of thing. So it kind of became acid-techno through all the techno records that we’ve been into which is a real mixture of the harder end of techno mixed with hard trance arrangements from Germany. The thing that was really good about the German music was that it was arranged really well- it built up and actually took you somewhere. A lot of techno concentrated on the groove, which kind of roll along and does its thing and sounds great but doesn’t necessarily go anywhere. So we mixed the techno sounds and grooves with the arrangements from hard trance cause the arrangements were so tight-they build up and have break downs and come flying back in. We got into mixing the two sounds and it became Acid-Techno. This is the kind of description of my sound cause it’s a bit of both".

So how does the co-pioneer of the British techno sound describe the sound known as Acid techno? "Acid-Techno can be anything really. It’s a difficult one- I mean the sound we have created can be anything- fluffy Acid-Trance or heads down Techno. Acid-Techno is just a tag, a pigeonhole cause it really can be anything. It has got up my nose in the past the way the scene has fragmented with music. But I guess we had to describe our sound so we have really only got ourselves to blame for the Acid-Techno tag. The tag ruins things cause most Acid-Techno is associated with squat parties, which means it is hard to broaden out and get the sound accepted. I mean you look at Guy and Laurie- they make fabulous techno tracks and have a really forward thinking spirit, but still their music is easily accessible. But same again we all get pigeonholed.

D.A.V.E the Drummer career kicked off in the early 90's when British dance music was still in its infancy. He recalls "I was playing in a band about 8 years ago called "Back to the Planet". We were playing at heaps of squat parties and playing live music when the scene was really exploding. The biggest event we played at was Castlemorten; this is where I really decided to get into production cause I was really into the dance music. I remember we were playing dance music crossed with rock, punk- slightly baggy with conscious lyrics. We were playing it live to. Back then dance music was dance music you know everything- Acid House, Happy Mondays- just all dance music. I was really into breaks and samples then so I got a sampler and a drum machine and that was it. I quit the band and started working in the studio.

Since then D.A.V.E the Drummer has worked and collaborated with a wide array of artists and  Labels. "I’ve worked with a lot of different producers under different labels. I mean loads of side projects through the years. I sort of stick with mates cause the friendship factor is important, but have different relationships with all of them. I mean Chris Liberator and I have been making music together for ages together, he’s been a real guiding light to me. Working with the Liberator DJ’s (Stay up Forever) is great. Guy Mcaffer (Cluster) and I have known each other for years- he used to be the keyboard player in the band with me. We really click on a level- we use to listen to Bob Marley together and he’d be like listen to that bass player and I’d be like listen to that drummer- and we just get on that kind of level. Same with Laurie Immersion (Routemaster & Technoslut)- we just get together and have a right laugh and we are real good mates to. At the moment I am also working with 4 x 4 Records -Julian Liberator and DJ Bruiser (Mara Branco). Also have just done some projects with Chris Needs and Irvine Welsh, which are coming along really well on Eukatech. There's also Chris Liberator and me doing our Ha-lo projects. I am mainly concentrating on the Ha-Lo Album and vinyl and my own new label Hydraulix (True Love) which I have just started. I’ll concentrate on my own projects with Hydraulix rather than having to find homes for them all. This is my first label that I am actually doing myself, Stay up forever are helping me so I want to put everything into this now. Hydraulix 1 has had really good responses, which is great".

D.A.V.E the Drummer has always been revered for constantly pushing music further, in different directions and styles. He explains, "Generally you do change your sound for different labels. I mean some people don’t cause they have one of those sounds that people really want and their sound turns up on various labels- they’ll go a little softer or a little harder but you’ll still hear their sound. I do tend to change my sound cause the labels I work with are all different. Eukotech is techno, Cluster is still techno but a slightly ravier harder edge, Stay up Forever is Acid Techno- it’s uplifting, memorable and exciting. Ha-Lo is totally different to it’s a far cry away from Acid techno. Hydraulix is more on a absolute Techno tip-not as pounding as S.U.F and Cluster though. I mean I do taper my sound for different Labels cause if I gave Eukotech Acid-Trance they’d say what’s this!

D.A.V.E the Drummer remains one of the scene's greatest aficionados. He asserts, "At the moment I’m really in to it. At the end of the day for me what matters the most is the free party scene in London- the ones we are involved in. If the vibe is good there then I’m not to worried. You just get this vibe you walk in and its like "woah"- dingy warehouse, massive pile of speakers, it will be some DJ that no one in the world has ever heard of playing the most fucking fantastic set in the world and people will be completely havin it. It just strips all the bullshit away and that is what’s so great about. And nobody knows about it and you kind of feel like you are a member of this exclusive club that anyone in the world can join. It’s fucking great the best atmosphere in the world. Overall the scene is great it also really picking up in the states. At the end of the day the underground ain’t ever going to go over ground- it won’t go commercial".

DAVE the Drummer's Kit List

Mackie 48 Channel Desk, 2 Roland TR909’s, a couple of TB- 303’s, SB1000 200 and S1100 Samplers, Roland Jupiter 8, 101, SH101, Sequential Circuits Pro 1, Korg Mono Poly, NS20, loads of effects, Dat Machines, a couple of computers and other bits and pieces.