Catching up with TC1 (and his FABRICLIVE Promo Mix)

With just three sleeps having passed since the last Playaz party within our walls, we are already looking forward to the next drum & bass loaded event at the end of the month. Friday 27th May sees LTJ Bukem return to Room Two to mirror the excitement loaded by DJ Hype and co. in Room One and accompanying Bukem, the oft heralded leader of liquid funk, will be guests TC1, A Sides and Furney. TC1 is the label boss behind Dispatch Recordings and he’s also the man behind the superbly dark and deep bass infused compilation album ‘Transit One’ which most definitely set the standard for this year’s d&b long player releases. Interested to find out more about the Leeds based label and what else they have brewing, we sent a signal to TC1’s HQ, grabbed a promo mix and caught up with the man himself... Download: TC1 – FABRICLIVE Promo Mix (tracklist after the jump) Can you introduce Dispatch Recordings, how did the label begin? It was started in 2001 by Jason (Nos) from Hidden Agenda with me helping out. He finally grew up and decided to start a family with his girlfriend (something I'm still completely scared of) so he saw the sensible option would be for me to take it over fully and here I am now 10 years later still running it with more wrinkles and less hair follicles. I love doing it though, now more than ever... Would you say the Dispatch sound is closely linked to the kind of beats you like to make and play out? Massively yeah, the label is a little bit of a selfish reflection of the music I love and artists I really feel have a great amount of talent and luckily for me a lot of people who support the label seem to have similar tastes. I can safely say now that I would never intend to put a tune out just because it might be 'big' or sell loads; every track by every artist I have released I do because I just think it’s excellent. I’m proud to be putting it out. How do you divide your time between running the label, DJing and producing? I don't, producing is the one that suffers the most really, I still have a career as well (which I'm pretty much only just clinging on to!) so my time is just so so limited. With residencies at Sub Dub, Central Beatz and your own night Momentum, you’ve become a figurehead for the d&b scene in Leeds, and it is most definitely one of the ever-bubbling hubs for new talent. Why do you think the scene is so big there? Its got a good student scene which does help but saying that, we historically - in our 8 years - have had some of our busiest dates over the summer months so you never can tell on that front... The promoters all get on and are all very experienced, they all seem to work well together and all do a good job in both giving people what they want as well as offering something new at the same time. None of the promoters who are still here, through thick and thin, ever got into it for the wrong reasons so I think the real reason it works is because historically, each promoter has done it because they love it first and foremost. The people that we - Central Beatz and Subdub - book in particular are at the cutting edge in what they do. We bring in people before they become so well known for their tunes and DJing and that helps us to maintain a good relationship with our acts even when they go on to play bigger venues and clubs at your more typical student-led cross genre events. The club we do our night at has a pounding Funktion 1 system which does the trick as well. People do sometimes ask why we don't do bigger one off events on top of our monthly night and its quite simply because we just love it how it is and the venue is great for us, plus we don't feel the pressure to book a 'big' artist to sell tickets, so we are in a good position really. Can you tell us more about what‘s coming up from Dispatch in the next coming months...will there be a follow up to the superb ‘Transit One?’ Yeah... I'm gonna sound like a moaner here but I've gotta be honest and say that all the work that went into that album was so tiring, so I still feel like I need a rest from getting re-started on such a major project. I loved doing it though and I felt so proud to see it achieve the success it did (especially as I dedicated it to my mum who is no longer with us but was always really proud of the label, my DJing and seeing my hobby from school turn into something successful). I feel obliged to build on it of course but it takes a lot of planning and a lot of work to get right before you can progress it even into the early stages of production. I'm already looking at the tracks I'm getting sent and looking at stuff that could potentially work together as part of an album, but its early stages and I want the whole process to run as smoothly as possible so I'm guessing the next one will probably drop before the end of the year, all going to plan. Right now we have a heap of fresh material on the way stuff from Cern, Nymfo, Optiv & BTK, Dabs & Amoss, Survival, Silent Witness, Octane & DLR, MC Fokus, Skeptical & Dub Phizix, Bazil, Nickbee and Bal - these will all land on Dispatch and our new Dispatch LTD series 10 inch vinyl series respectively over the next 4 or 5 months. Catch TC1 in Room Two on 27th May. Tickets & info here. TC1 - FABRICLIVE Promo Mix Tracklist: 1. "Check out time" Ed Rush & Optical - Virus // "Structure" Skeptical & MC Fokus - Dispatch 'Transit One' album // "Back & Forth" Dabs & Safire - Dispatch Recordings 2. "Athos" - Dub Phizix - Ingredients // "The Helicopter Tune" - Deep Blue - Moving Shadow 3. "Carpe Diem" - Nickbee - Dispatch LTD 4. "Meltdown 2011" - Marcus Intalex & Calibre - Soul:R 5. "Get Ready" - Optiv & BTK - Dispatch Recordings 6. "Untitled" - Dispatch Recordings 7. "Lair" - Hybris - Revolution Records 8. "The Beckoning (Usual Suspects rmx)" - Konflict - Renegade Hardware // "Untitled" - Alix Perez & Jubei 9. "Last Chance Saloon" - Vicious Circle - Commercial Suicide 10. "Lime" - Kemal & Rob Data - Architecture 11. "Cash" - Survival - Dispatch LTD 12. "Paulista Dub" - Marcus Intalex & SPY - Soul:R // "The Bleeps" - Calibre - Signature 13. "Desert Heat" - Cern & Nymfo - Dispatch Recordings // "Ultraclean" - Commix & Icicle 14. "Codec" - Dub Phizix 15. "Submission" - Optiv & BTK ft. Dephzac - Dispatch Recordings // "Ringing Ears" - Break - Commercial Suicide 16. "Hot spot" - SPY - Innerground