  Back2Basics Questionnaire
Updated 4 Oct 2001
Jason Ball, drum & bass producer, DJ and curry fiend, tells us what he's up to, how he started out in music and gives his recommendations for a good night out in Brum. Name:
Jason Ball
Occupation:
Record producer and owner of drum and bass label Back2Basics Recordings
Interests, hobbies & specialist skills:
I love to eat, we always go out eating, curry, chinese, italian, you name it, I've tried it. I have an interest in music equipment, mainly computer based stuff and I always try to keep up to date with the newest equipment. As far as specialist skills go I can only count running the label as well as producing and a heavy DJ'ing schedule. My hobbies (when I get the time) is more eating out ;-)
Life & Times
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a town about 12 miles north of Birmingham called Tipton. I still live in Tipton as all my family are here and I do like it...
What was it like?
I grew up like any normal kid did. I came from a family with one brother & myself, my mother is italian, from the south of Italy a place called Salerno, and my dad was born and bred in Tipton. My childhood was always around music, cuz my dad was a hi fi freak so tunes were always pumping out the back room with my mum bangin the wall shouting him to turn it down.. I had the usual amount of friends and we got up to the usual delinquent things you would expect us to get up to, like starting little camp fires on waste ground and cooking toast, stealing apples from apple trees and trying to sell them to neighbours. I turned into a bit of a bum at high school and ended up bunking off most of the time.
What do you think is your greatest achievement?
I think running your own buisness is a great achievment, but I must say that DJ'ing all over the world and seeing all those different places and cultures is a great achievment too. I always get excited when one of my new test presses comes through the door as well. I never seem to lose that passion for hearing my tunes on Vinyl or CD.
What's your aim for this year?
To keep pushing the drum and bass vibe and Back2Basics all over the globe, it's a big world out there and drum and bass is only hitting a minute part of it. It would be really great to see a full on drum and bass track hit the national charts and actually stay at a high position. Keep up the DJ'ing work all around the world and spreading the great d&b energy to far out places, remote places that you would never think of...
Tell us something interesting about Birmingham...
Well, the Birmingham drum and bass scene is on fire at the moment, with a good rave going on almost every week, but apart from that the great Birmingham curry takes a lot of beating. My regular haunt for curry is a place on Broad Street called 'Regards', proper quality shmuka as we say! Birmingham has got loads going on, festivals, arts, nightlife, bars, restaurants, you name it Birmingham has got it, it's also got one of the best record shops around in 'Music First'.
Music
How did you get started in music?
Well, it's all down to my parents and grand parents, my grandfather was quite a well known singer in his day and I suppose that transferred to my father, but instead of him singing he was well into his hi fi gear, buying the best amps, speakers etc.
It wasn't long before I started fiddling around with my fathers hi fi equipment. I started scratching on his £500 deck (you dont know how many needles I had to replace!) I would use one deck and a tape recorder and what I would do was record part of a tune then pause the tape deck at a particular point, pull the deck back to the same part on the record, let the deck go and start recording again. I would do this about 5 or 6 times before bringing in a brand new tune, this would give a mix a sampled / sequenced sound to it a bit like Jive Bunny used to do - but it sounded worse!
Then I went out a bought a Commodore Amiga. This had the ability to sample sounds and play four sounds at a time. That was ok, but as things started getting a bit more complex it wasn't long before I ran out of available space on the amiga. The next step was to buy a sampler, mixing desk and so I got a loan and haven't looked back since.
Tell us about what you're up to right now...
We are really busy in the studio at the moment working on a project called '3 Dimensions' this consists of myself JB, DJ Spice, Dark Angel & MC Biggie... All the stuff we are making under this name is on a vocal tip but still keeping that raw dancefloor drum and bass vibe. I get really excited with this project because the chance to work with amazing vocalists pushes you that bit more as a producer and I think the way forward is to do proper
good quality vocal tracks.
We are still constantly touring all over as much as we can, we just came back from Bangkok and that was on fire...
Who would you most like to work with?
I would love to work with Busta Rhymes and Dre. Dre has got to be one of the best producers and I love Busta's vocal delivery and style. I think Madonna could do some amazing vocals over drum and bass and I would also like to work with Missy Elliott... oh and I would love to work with Mariah Carey just so I could have a good stare!
What's your favourite venue in Birmingham?
I would probably say the Institute, its been there since day one and seen all the musical genres as they grow...
What's your favourite pub in Birmingham?
I don't really go out drinking but I will substitute it with a comedy club called 'The Glee Club'. I saw Jack Dee there and they have some really great comedians there, it's a good night out.
|
