Setting The Tone For 6 Hours of Andy C

On Friday, one of drum & bass’ most stalwart of DJs, Andy C, is playing for 6 hours. It’s a pretty important spectacle and one that the scene’s been clamouring to witness since it was announced a few weeks back. It’s probably not just the notion of Andy playing for that length of time that’s got everyone hot under the collar, it’s the possibilities of what someone as methodical as him will come up with and sew together over the six hour period. We heard reports that he felt spent after performing a 3 hour set earlier this year but, all credit to him, he's taking the challenge on the chin and doubling it, going this time for a full 360 minutes. As excited as the ticket buyers, we shot Andy some questions which he answered in between rifling through his record collection, trying to make some sense of the kind of preparation that goes into a performance of this magnitude. So… a 6 hour set eh? How did you even go about preparing for that? Are you putting tracks into sections/segments or just picking a load of tracks for the whole set? I've been going thru 100's of tracks. It’s been quite a trip down memory lane! There’s so much music to choose from. I always like to know what I'm playing so it'll all be there ready to go but I'll feel my way into the set on the night and go with the vibe. Is this something you’ve always wanted to do? Like what’s the longest set you’ve done before? What makes you wanna go for longer? I've always wanted to do this. Whenever I play normally there are so many tunes I don't have time to play but with this it’s a chance to go on a real journey of the music I love… You’re celebrating 20 years of RAM with this set. What does that number of years mean to you? I feel incredibly proud that RAM is 20 years old; we have been blessed by having an amazing pool of artists and a great team behind the scenes to help them fly. For me it’s about celebrating that and the future of the label....Let’s not forget though that the real RAM 20 party is coming, we’ll be back at fabric in December! What’s coming in the future for you, and for RAM? Ram has got a busy autumn lined up: we're currently touring around the UK & Europe which culminates in the big RAM 20 party with you guys in December. We have the Calyx & Teebee LP, singles from Loadstar, Wilkinson and Rene LaVice as well as our 2012 Ram Annual LP and personally I'm gonna be going in the studio to work on new material. Yes, we're busy, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Catch Andy C at RAM on Friday in Room One. Photo: Sarah Ginn