Women Producers of the 90s (2021)

We’re starting off our series with Tamsin, a stalwart of the scene who has been DJing and producing since the dawn of rave. Tamsin’s first release was the breakbeat stomper ‘It’s Easy / Feelin Free’ in 1991. In 1993 she produced the huge jungle tune ‘A Better Place’ which featured The Monk on keys and was released on White House Records. It was remixed by Trace, DJ Crystl and Bay B Kane and is a prized record often selling for £100++ on Discogs. Tamsin went on to release on Juice Box, Breakbeat Science and London Breaks, and also formed the collective, ‘Breakneck’ alongside Peter Parsons (Voyager) and Vlad, producing breakbeat from 2000 - 2005. She was a resident at the legendary Roast from 91 and also held residencies at Orange at Rocket/ Camden Palace and Crazy Club at Astoria. She was one of the first women to DJ at the cusp of the emerging rave scene and is cited as one of DJ Rap’s influences. Tamsin is a veteran behind the decks and has held down a radio show on Kool FM since 1998. Check out her bi-weekly show, every other Thursday where she plays jungle, drum and bass, early 90s hardcore, breakbeat, soul and funk.

Xtreme co-produced 6 tracks with Harmony between 1992-1994. They had releases on Section 5, Lucky Spin and launched Harmony’s imprint, Deep Jungle with the absolutely heavyweight release ‘X-Amount/ Wicked & Bad’. They were just 18 years old at the time of their first release and their tunes were championed by Randall, Grooverider, Slipmatt and Jumping Jack Frost amongst many others.

Harmony & Xtreme DJ’d at Desire and Weekend World and also held down the weekly ‘Lucky Spin Show’ every Friday night on Don Fm.

Throughout the 90s, Wildchild was firmly rooted in the world of jungle through DJing, producing, running a record label and working at SRD distribution. She first started DJing in 1991 and got her first break in ’95 when she became a resident on the infamous KOOL FM at the peak of jungle. She was the first woman to secure a residency on the legendary pirate radio station. This led to her playing at revered events such as One Nation, Telepathy, Desire and Jungle Fever.

She is cited in the preface to ‘All Crews’ where Brian Belle Fortune recommended her to star in a documentary. The producer instantly dismissed her when he realised she was a woman. It makes you wonder how many of these instances happened in the late 90s when drum and bass was creeping into mainstream media. How many opportunities shut down and achievements disregarded because women didn’t play into the stereotype of what a DJ ‘should’ be?

Nevertheless she persisted and in 2000 she had her first of three releases on Redmaster Records, co-produced with Floyd Dyce. She collaborated with Damage, Audio, Klone and Skitty and released music on Invader Recordings and Zombie. In 2004 she started her own record label ‘Wildstyle Recordings’ which led to 12 releases including her own productions.

Although she’s moved on from drum and bass Wildchild continues to make house under the name Emma Wild.

Dj Fallout's love of rave music began when she was 16 years old. Hugely inspired by Amnesia House in her hometown Coventry, she soon decided to take her love of raving to the next level and started DJing. Her talent behind the decks was quickly noticed and in a short space of time she was playing regularly in the Midlands at seminal nights such as Eclipse, Quest, Shellys, and also at international events events including Dreamscape & Obsession.

She managed and worked in Fibre Optic Records where she met Tango (RIP). She went on to co-produce numerous tracks with him between 1993-1994 that helped define the ‘Darkside’ sub genre, spearheaded by DJs Tango, Ratty, Easygroove & Jojo Rock. In 94 she had her first solo release, ‘Love Me / Ripper’ on the legendary Rough Tone Records, a label run by Earl Falconer from UB40. She had 2 further releases in 95 & 96 on Bitch Records and the much respected Quayside Records.

DJ Fallout’s signature sound is raw to the core: lush pads, big basslines and amens…AMENS GALORE!!

If you love that sweet spot where hardcore meets jungle you’ll love DJ Fallout.

Kemistry and Storm are widely known for their spellbinding DJ sets and for founding the pioneering Metalheadz label alongside Goldie. However in 1994 they partnered up with Dego from Reinforced and produced the brilliant ‘Signature’. Signature is fairly slow for 1994 and sits around the 145bpm mark. It’s full of layered vocal snippets, euphoric pads, rolling breakbeats and plenty of Reinforced jungle techno energy!

It was released on Enforcers 6/7 picture disc but due to the duos increasingly busy DJ schedule it was the only track they ever produced.

In the words of Storm, ‘We had 3 days to make the tune so got the DAT machine out and gathered 64 samples from tunes we loved. Goldie kept trying to come in the studio but Dego wouldn’t let him, he was saying ‘no! This is your tune!!’ It was the best fun - we wanted to make the perfect tune. When we played it out for the first time Kemi and me ducked behind the decks - we were too scared to look up at the dancefloor but when we did everyone was dancing’.

Eternal love to Kemistry (RIP) and Storm for the endless inspiration!

Eternal Bass started raving in 1991 at the tender age of 16. She was captivated by the original hardcore sounds of artists such as Foul Play and labels like Suburban Base so decided to take her passion further and enroll in sound engineering college. She was the only woman on the course and although there were constant references reinforcing the notion that this course was for men, she persisted and was not deterred.

She was taken under the wings of her friends Grant Nelson (Wishdokta) and Errol Gordon (Remo Don) and began an engineering apprenticeship at their studio. She quickly progressed to collaborate with them and just before her 18th birthday made her first track with Wishdokta, ‘Reach Out / Eternal Expression’. It wasn’t long before she had mastered the Atari, Cubase, Akai Sampler and 303, and a year later she was working on solo projects.

Her tunes received a huge amount of support from Jungle’s finest DJ - Andy C, Micky Finn, Kenny Ken & Randall regularly played her tracks at iconic venues such as Roller Express and Paradise Club.

One of Eternal Bass’s proudest moments was hearing her track, ‘A Piece of Drum & Bass’ played by the best DJ at the best club night in the world at the time - Grooverider at Blue Note. She had over 7 releases between 93-96 before moving on to work for PRS.

Get to know Eternal Bass!!

Helen T was a producer, DJ, and record label boss who released over 15 jungle and drum and bass records between 94 – 98, before journeying into other areas of electronic music. She’s predominantly known for her jazz influenced atmospheric tunes but also hit hard with tunes such as ‘Ganga Feel’ and ‘Hold Me’. She released music on her own labels I.D.M, Diverse Beats & Zulu from 94-97 and later had releases on Deejay Recordings & Diverse Beats.

‘Oh La La Jungle’ did particularly well in Canada, a country with a thriving D&B scene in the mid 90s. Her versatility as a producer meant she could take you far away to blissed out plains or just straight up kill the dance with hard beats and killer baselines. Although her tunes received a fair amount of support from Fabio, Ratty, Dara & Kenny Ken, she didn’t get the full recognition she deserved.

She was a brilliant producer with a huge talent both technically and musically and we at EQ50 are huge fans!

Throughout the 90s Sherry Morrison worked as a producer, promoter, record shop owner, vinyl distributer and seasoned raver. She grew up in America but in 1991 at 19 years old immigrated to the UK. She became a regular at her local record shop, De Underground where she found herself surrounded by like-minded people, right in the heart of the booming London Jungle scene. In 1993 she got the urge to start producing and after meeting Bay B Kane the friends decided to make music under the alias, The Rood Project.

Sherry would spend hours hunting for samples in record shops then head down to the studio with Bay B Kane and set to work. In 1993 they had their first release, The Crack of Dawn EP on Symphony Sounds and shortly after released Come Again EP on the legendary Whitehouse Records. The following year The Rood Project released the single Thunder, a tune that has stood the test of time and remains an absolute classic. It was heavily supported by top DJs such as Bukem, Randall, Micky Finn & Peshay.

Sherry went on to start a club night, ‘The Morning After’ for the hardcore ravers on Sunday mornings, where booking women was a top priority. She distributed records all over the UK and in 1997 opened Unique Muzik record shop in Battersea, where our very own DJ Flight worked.

We were going to keep this series UK focused but we couldn’t biggup women jungle producers of the 90s without including Jordana LeSesne. She is a transgender DJ, producer and singer based in Seattle, originally from Pittsburgh, PA. Her musical legacy has earned her a place as a key figure in the US history of drum and bass.Her talent for producing saw her become one of the first American artists to gain success within the (predominantly UK centered) drum and bass industry.

In 1997 she released ‘When Worlds Collide’ on Jungle Sky - an experimental concept album about extraterrestrial life encountering humankind. It was followed up with a further two albums, Quality Rolls’ LP in 1998 and The Cities Collection in 2000. She has released over 50 tracks, including four albums, several EPs, and many remixes.In 2014 she scored the soundtrack to the crucial documentary “Free Cece” produced by Laverne Cox, which tells the story of a wrongfully jailed hate crime survivor. She is currently working on a new Drum and Bass album along with multiple other projects within music and outside of Drum and Bass.

Jordana has faced persistent systemic discrimination from all angles, yet pushes back, rises high and continues to make amazing futuristic music.

Hailing from Ipswich, Jo and her friend Kelly were the original dancers for SL2. In the early 90s she was a regular at the infamous Raindance at Jenkins Lane, which is where she first met Slipmatt & Lime (SL2). Jo and Lime starting making music together and in 1993 released the seminal R -Type/ Imagine the Future on Awesome Records.

It was miles ahead of its time and was one of the key tracks that set the blueprint for Drum and Bass. R-Type is named after the computer game from which they sampled from and features tight breaks and a killer bassline that destroys any dance! It’s hard to put into words the magnitude of R-Type - it caused complete pandemonium on the dance floor and remains an undisputed anthem to this day.

R Type was re-released many times on white labels and on Shy FX’s label, Ebony Recordings in 1998. It has been remixed by Friction and Chopstix, and features on countless compilations. Jo had 5 releases between 93-95, co produced with DJ Lime on Slipmatt’s Awesome Records – all great cuts of jungle worth checking out.

Considering Jo co-produced one of the biggest jungle tunes in history, it’s been incredibly difficult finding any information about her.

We want to biggup Jo to the max for making such a timeless classic. R-Type completely flipped the script and continues to inspire musicians far and wide.

Midlands based DJ Spice was a highly regarded DJ, producer, engineer and record label owner who was closely affiliated with Back 2 Basics. Alongside artists such as JB & Twisted Individual, she was a leading light of the Midlands early jump up scene.

Her pathway into the music industry began in the early 90s at the influencial club night Quest in Birmingham. DJ Spice was a dancer at the venue where huge acts such as The Prodigy and Carl Cox would play.

Deciding to forge a career out of her passion for music, DJ Spice soon started producing and DJing. DJ Spice’s heavy hitting jump up smashers preceeded her earlier productions, first released in 1996 under the alias Microtek, which featured hard hitting raw breakwork.

DJ Spice grafted hard in the studio and over the course of her career she had over 15 releases. Her tracks were in huge demand and were on heavy rotation from artists such as Roni Size, Krust, Nicky Blackmarket and Micky Finn.

Flynn & Flora met in 1990 at the Special K café - a café owned by Flora’s brother Kosta that was a focal point for Bristol’s growing art & music scene.

The couple were gripped by the power of rave that was surfacing and although Flynn had been making trip hop they decided to start making breakbeat rave/ jungle music together.

Their DIY ethos and hunger to create made up for their modest set up. Their resourcefulness saw their kitchen double up as a music studio from which stunning, atmospheric, jazz infused drum and bass was made.

Over to Flynn…

‘Flora had the idea to make a DnB album after making our first single ‘Dream of You’.

That’s when we came up with Independent Dealers, an outlet for our music, it was all very fresh and exciting, so there where no rules to what we wanted to do,’

Their first release, Dream of You/ Flowers was released in 1994 on their newly founded label, Independent Dealers. It was followed up by the superb, 13 track album, Native Drums. Between 1994 - 2006 Flynn & Flora maintained a steady work rate and released over 15 singles and 3 LPs.

They ran the club night, Versatility, which saw leading Drum & Bass DJs play such as Kemistry & Storm, Bryan Gee & Krust. Flynn & Flora DJ’d around the UK and internationally in Japan & Italy.

Flora sadly passed away in 2014 but her music and contribution to the culture lives on. Thank you for the music Flora, RIEP

For our penultimate entry we keep things Bristol based with Dazee. She is an esteemed DJ, producer, record label owner and mentor and has been a pivotal figure in the drum and bass scene since the early 90s, contributing to the “Bristol Sound” alongside the likes of Roni Size, Krust and Die.

Dazee began her journey into jungle in 1992 and in 1993 co- founded Ruffneck Ting alongside Markee Substance (Kosheen). She established her name at legendary raves including Dreamscape, Helter Skelter World Dance and Universe, with her sets captured forever on the tape packs as well as live broadcasts on BBC Radio 1’s “One in the Jungle”.

Dazee has been consistently producing and releasing music over the last 25 years and had featured on her own label, Ruffneck Ting and has tracks out on Breakbeat Culture, Colourstone, Siren Records, Dope Ammo, Straight Up Audio & Hocus Pocus. Her beats continue to carry that classic 90s Bristol swagger with big rolling basslines, where jump up energy merges with jungle vibes.

As we close our ‘Women in Jungle’ series we end with one of the most prolific producers of the 90s - DJ Rap. She is the definition of a trailblazer and was the first woman to headline events and tour internationally, introducing jungle to all corners of the globe. Her unflinching self-belief as an artist and unapologetic assertiveness have smashed down the barriers of ‘the big boy’s club’ and contributed to her monumental career.

In 1988 after seeing Dem 2 live she had an epiphany – she was going to become a famous DJ and producer. The next day she went out, bought turntables and never looked back.

DJ Rap has produced three albums and has had a number of massive releases over the years including Divine Rhythm and Ruffest Gun Ark with Top Cat, however it’s Spiritual Aura that is her most iconic tune to date…

Still vibing from the night before, as night turned int day DJ Rap began creating music. In the early morning haze, feeling close to God she wrote one of the most distinguishable and sacred jungle riffs. Alongside Aston, under their alias ‘Engineers without Fears’ with just an M1 keyboard, Cubase and sampler, Spiritual Aura was created. It remains an absolute classic that was championed by everyone from Grooverider, Fabio, Kemistry & Storm, Micky Finn & Ray Keith.

She has produced some of the biggest rave and jungle anthems and created a legacy that inspired the likes of Kemistry & Storm, DJ Flight & Roni Size.

DJ Rap continues to DJ, tutor and release music on her label Propa Talent. To get a full insight into the life of DJ Rap check out her book, ‘Intelligent Woman’ out now.