Alex Banks, the soul of EZ Rollers pampered us with a brilliant olskool set within the confines of the latest NinjaBlade event. After his phenomenal performance, he was more than ready to get down answering my questions — which starts quite exceptionally now
(right after the set, backstage)
Alex: When EZ Rollers were big, it was EZ Rollers, Bristol… that’s why I played them.
Valdi (promoter, Bladerunnaz): Yes but it’s pretty rare in Hungary.
A: Really?
V: Yeah, Bristol was a bit like underrepresented here. Everybody played Bad Company, Ed Rush& Optical and so on.
A: But that was late 90s! We were rather like mid-90s.
V: In Hungary, the scene is pretty much from 97-ish. So that’s the reason why.
A: But you had us from our second album, Weekend World. (1998)
Évi: Yes, and you were here in 2000.
A: Hungary has always been great. You are the second market of drum and bass after Britain. … Oooh, okay, shall we start the interview again?
É: No, not at all, it’s fine. But I’m actually a bit hoarse.
A: How come? You’ve been having a crazy night out and screaming? It’s the same for all of us! (laughs) Oh, do you mean now? Did I give you Jägermeister?
É: I’m so happy you didn’t! (laughs)
But going back to 2000, when you were here for the first time; do you remember it?
(hesitating) I… I think I do. That time was so very-very busy. I was out of England more than I was in. It’s a bit of a blur for me, so many countries… But I do remember Hungary, I was here many-many times and always enjoyed it.
Do you often play oldskool sets?
I do now because these sounds now are so very modern and so tech and jumpup, that I don’t think represents EZ Rollers in the fair light. So I made a conscious decision not to stray into neuro or jumpup because it really wasn’t I wanted to do. Although I very much love the good groovy neuro sound and the immediacy of jumpup.
How about your current project as EZ Rollers? What are you up to at the moment?
Well, mostly I run a recording studio. This is very busy, takes up all my time. But I also have a new project with my girlfriend, who is a singer (Ella Sopp), it’s called Sesame Beats. We have a breakbeat-based musician included but very recently, I’ve been thinking I should make more drum and bass because what I hear, I don’t feel so much. The sound that we pioneered in the late 90s isn’t represented anymore. I understand that music moves on and discovers new things but I still think there is a ground to cover in what could be achieved with musicians and music.
After all, is EZ Rollers active now? How could we define?
Well, it is, with me. There were two EZ Rollers. One (Jay Hurren) decided that he should do something else. And that is fine because he has a big family that he needs to care for. He chose to stop making music. But I am still a teenager (laughs), I chose to continue to make music that I felt moved me. You know, that made me want to make music. The sounds I hear now are good but alien to what I want to hear, so I decided I should make more music.
And when did you two part?
Three years ago.
So your last album was published in 2007 (Conductor), and since then?
Since then, he has gone to do other things. Jay has a successful career in another industry, he has a trade as a toolmaker. Also as a toolmaker critique, he checks other people’s work. He decided to leave, I have the studio, the Hyper-on Experience, so I carry on.
It’s good that you’ve mentioned Hyper-On Experience; how is it going now?
It has gone massive! I play classic sets about 12 times per year. This was a great success and the Facebook page has blown up massively. It was built around the limitations of the technology at that time and that dictated the sound we could make. So now I’m looking to regress technology to the point where I can continue Hyper-On. I want to simplify because you know, with technology, I can do anything at all. I can simulate orchestras, complete bands. With the Hyper-On sound, you’re limited to a bunch of samples you can sequence. I’d like to experiment with it some more and I’m doing it.
So, on a daily basis, you deal with your own studio, which means you don’t really make music.
I do. When the studio isn’t busy, I make music but I also like to live life. My girlfriend, who works from home, she’s a sales director for a travel technology media company. I work during the day and if I’m not working with clients, we would make music or we have a boat, so we go to the river, or we go out for walks, so we LIVE instead of music… so it’s music and life, really.
And she is, as far as I’m concerned, pregnant.
Yeeeah! 7 months! She has just come back from Berlin, she was working there at a travel show. And then I had to leave but we will meet soon. So yes, it is our first child. I can’t wait.
Congrats! 🙂 Are you planning to have a bigger family?
Not right now. I need to buy another house because the current one is also a studio. It’s okay for a bachelor but not for a family. I’d buy a 3-bedroom house, so we may have another child. Life is about smiling and I want to smile some more with my lover.
Is EZ Rollers the two of you: Ella and you right now?
No. As a trade name, can be used by either party. But I chose to continue it because Jay has very much work to do in a very conformist way. Whereas I can do the fuck I want! (laughs) I don’t have a job where I have to turn up at certain times. I just have to do what I want, really.
What would be your dream drum and bass collab if you could choose anyone?
I’d probably work with Roni Size, as he is fucking brilliant. Also DJ Die, he is also really good. I’d do some more work with Peshay, I worked with him before. And LTJ Bukem. Danny Bukem occupied a niche within drum and bass that hasn’t been in the past. His music influenced so many people, he is the pioneer of that very specific sound now. In fact, I’ve spoken to him very recently, he inquired to employ me as a mix engineer and I told him “Danny, let’s not just do that, let’s make some music, too!” and I think he liked that. But he is very stickle and busy, so he has a definite idea of what he seems to pursue, and should I be included, then it’d be something I love.
What is the current situation of drum and bass in your opinion?
It has become a little bit closed. D’n’b used to be a tempo and then you could include anything in that from classical music to funk, from jungle to tech. Now it’s mostly neurofunk and jumpup, so what’s happened is that it’s closed in and become narrow. What’s gonna happen? In the future, it just takes one person to do a tune that breaks all those barriers, and some people would say “ahh, we should be making that tune now, fuck jumpup!”. So if someone came out with, for instance, a music tune that sold many-many and every DJ played that, then everyone would make music!
The future is the new discovery of what has happened already because at the moment, there is very little variation in the modern stuff. That’s just my opinion but I am from the oldskool! Not someone who’s new; so the new people would tell you something different.
It has to evolve. It used to be a huge sphere of ideas, every idea would bounce in and keep moving forward, forward and forward. Now the sphere has changed into a narrow path, you can’t stray too much for the path, it’s just one sound. When I listen to the music that is sent to me, it just seems like “I’ve heard that before, next tune!”. There’s nothing like “Wooow! Great idea, let’s do this! I should incorporate to my ideas!”. But no.
Are you about to change it? 🙂
I plan to make more music as EZ Rollers. Recently, I’ve started to play instruments as I don’t know how to play any. I play the computer. (laughs) I’m into guitar now and I’m really enjoying it! With my girlfriend, in the evening, instead of watching television, which I fucking hate, we play the guitar, we sing together, we make tunes.
What’s the problem with television in your opinion?
It’s repetition! There is no originality, it has nothing new to offer. Although I understand why people might like to watch it: it requires less calories than doing nothing. (laughs) If I said there is a natural history programme, there is a documentary on young people, there is a soap opera, there is a film that you’ve seen before with guns and violence… that’s how it’s been for 20 years. And once you watch television, it doesn’t bring anything new, does it, really? It’s just something to do if you don’t go out of your house. Don’t think that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just for me, I find it tedious. There is something else I can do, I live in a beautiful area, where I can walk or sail, I can make music. Television doesn’t count.
How important is the closeness of water for you?
I was brought up on yachts and I lived on boats in England, so I’ve always lived on water. And now I live near water, which is just great, so the importance is, I guess, the security of history, you know. What has happened in the past is secure, and in my future, it includes security, which makes me happy. So I spend a lot of time by water. Comfort, happiness, relaxation for me involves water. But not all the time! Interestingly enough, relaxation for me requires music at the same time. I can’t turn it off, I always hear a sound. If I’m not making music, it hear it, anyway.
24/7, music all the time?
Not 24/7, maybe 20/7. But I express musically, always, always. And now, since learning the guitar, I experience different ways, like different ways of approaching chord progression. Because with the keyboards, you just know what you’re doing. But with the guitar, it represents different ways of moving between chords, which in itself suggests different songs and ideas. You can’t ever know everything, which means your whole life can be spent discovering and that’s what I want! Discovering new things, and I do that a lot.
For example?
Perhaps my girlfriend is cooking, and perhaps I’m playing the acoustic guitar (but I also have an electric). And perhaps she’s singing as she’s working and I’m singing what she’s doing in the kitchen. (sings) Sometimes a song will come from that! But it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter if a song does or doesn’t come, what counts is that we’re not watching television and I’m playing music. This is living because you’re creating something new that hasn’t happened; your reaction to your environment in a musical way. This is how I live my life.
And this is how you perform. Because it was rather a performance than just a plain set.
Yeeah. What do people want to see on stage? They want to see someone having a good time! And whatever you do on stage is right! It doesn’t matter what I do, I could fucking kill a sheep and it would be right! I could stop the music and give someone a drink – it’s also right because they want to be entertained and I’m happy to do that because playing music isn’t difficult. I mean, teenagers can do it. And what have I done up there? I’ve given performance. You see me, you see how I love music that I’m playing, “aaah, this tune is fucking amazing, you should enjoy this with me!”. In fact, that’s what I want. I want an engaging experience on the stage with the crowd, and if they’re not engaged, then I’ll go down there and engage them. (laughs)
With a tiny sip of Jägermeister. 🙂
Exactly. Can you think of a better way? (laughs)
Well, any DJ can watch their laptops but what are YOU watching? Nothing! You can hear his music on the radio, you don’t need a DJ for that. So when you see a DJ, you want to see someone having a good time as you are and showing you that you can join.
I absolutely adored it! I can’t exactly remember now what happened in 2000. I remember the Lady Roller (Kelly) a lot, perhaps you performed as well.
Not really. Back then, we had an MC and Kelly, so we just played the music with Jay. Now there’s more chance for me to do more. I know that from an aesthetic sort of presentation of show business point of view: “Look at the crazy on the stage! Look at the guy having a good time!” That’s what we feed of, isn’t it? If he’s having fun, me too because that’s what I wanna see. Otherwise it’s left to people and if the guy on stage isn’t obtaining you, you’ll leave and have a cigarette. That’s what you do. If he’s there, I don’t wanna leave because I want to see what he’s up to. The tunes I played were mostly EZ Rollers and Bristol, from that era. The music from ’86 till 2001 was amazing! From 2001, it was still very good but it started getting narrow and narrow, whereas up until 2001, like I said, it was a big ball of ideas and everyone could take a little bit for their own purposes. At that time, music was different: experimental, ignorant, rebellious… it was a voyage of discovery for all of us. But now it is more of a voyage of technology rather than discovery, you know. If he’s there, I don’t wanna leave because I want to see what he’s up to.
The tunes I played were mostly EZ Rollers and Bristol, from that era. The music from ’86 till 2001 was amazing! From 2001, it was still very good but it started getting narrow and narrow, whereas up until 2001, like I said, it was a big ball of ideas and everyone could take a little bit for their own purposes. At that time, music was different: experimental, ignorant, rebellious… it was a voyage of discovery for all of us. But now it is more of a voyage of technology rather than discovery, you know. Technology was the mechanism of delivery, but now technology IS delivery! I understand but it doesn’t hold the attraction for me.
They say the British rave scene was the last great punk. It was punk, and before that, it was rock n’roll, and before that, it was jazz – these things were threat to mainstream society. They are all over now but currently, there’s nothing as rebellious as any above. There is nothing left now, we’re the last survivors of what represented the threat to our parents. Because neurofunk is just disco music now.
I go to some nights and I just think “why book EZ Rollers for a neuro night?”. Because whenever I play EZ tunes, they say it’s fine but then comes neuro “aaargh”. Why have me, why? Just get more neuro! Because that’s what they want. But I don’t mind, at least I was there and I did this and that. There aren’t many people who could step up to me and say “I did better” because I had so many tunes, I did so much and I was so involved in that. I’m still doing it now, you see me, I love it! Show me what you’ve got ’cause I’ve got better!
But I don’t mind, at least I was there and I did this and that. There aren’t many people who could step up to me and say “I did better” because I had so many tunes, I did so much and I was so involved in that. I’m still doing it now, you see me, I love it! Show me what you’ve got ’cause I’ve got better! (laughs) That’s the way I see.
The guy on stage (Krafty Kuts) is just standing there now. His music is really good, his tunes are amazing but he’s just not a performer, is he? When I’m on stage, my only problem is that I have to work. (laughs) I like to have fun, to perform, to integrate the audience.
What was the best tune of 2015 in your opinion?
I haven’t got a clue. Sorry, I don’t follow because no-one makes music that I like. It’s just all tech, I don’t hear anyone push the boundaries. No new ideas, there’s nothing in between, it’s just diversifying the two polarities (tech and music). Quite frankly, you could play the music from three years ago and it’d still sound like today. Whereas d’n’b from ’95 to 2001 was changing every week. It was just evolving, exciting, dynamic, engaging sound that no-one knew where it was going. Now it’s just the tech sound. I know it, I know how they do it, it’s just too niche – and there’s nothing wrong with that. If people like it, that’s just fine! But as for myself, I don’t hear “music music” that engages me, I don’t hear a 60-minutes set with 20 tunes, each one different from the next, I just hear 20 tunes. I can’t criticise it but it’s not for me. It doesn’t engage me from another angle.
Which of your releases are you most proud of?
I’d have to say RS 2000. It took us about four weeks to make! I wrote the brass part and I had the brass section come in, and I had these horrible beat, then I got a bass guitarist in and he played about 20 minutes. And that was it! Finally, we made it in about 6 hours after 4 weeks! The intro was made by me, it took me ages to do. For me, it’s the best tune we’ve ever made. It represented what we could do with musicians and drum and bass raves. I love it!
No wonder. “This is the sound!”
(laughs and sings) Sure. We collected so many ideas, sounds. Can you think of “Tough at the Top” and all the Weekend World album? And then, RS 2000 nailed it! All the brass I had in it, I had a 3-piece brass section, they were three old men, fucking alcoholic… (laughs) I kid you not, they were fucking pissed! And they said: “you write funny tunes!”. A keyboard player once sat down and said: “you’ve gone from this key to a B-flat, you can’t do that, that’s not how it works!” and I was like “What the hell are you talking about? I was just pressing keys” (laughs) because I don’t know music at all. This tune was made in a small shade in the back of a garden, by the way, and the brass section was in the house, the cables ran to the shed, it was a crazy night!
How about remixing?
I don’t mind remixing because it’s a commission job. There is a guarantee payment, so you do what you do in someone else’s style and that’s fine. People remixing my tune? Well, they can if they want, in fact, I encourage them. If anyone gets in touch with me about it, I always say yes and send them the data. But there is no money now but it has its place and it’s enjoyable. I’m not the only talented person on the planet, there are many-many others, regardless of their success, so I love to hear their versions, what they could make from my music. They could show me something I didn’t know, you can’t know everything, which means anyone could show you something. So show me what you’ve got and I’ll listen!
And which one is your favourite then?
My favourite from our tune is Bladerunner with Sian Evans (Kosheen) “Shoot Me Down”, which I played tonight. My favourite remix we did is back in 1996-97, for Danny Breaks we did “Droppin’ Silence, Volume 2 remix”. It was a classic at Club Speed, where virtually everyone in the scene went at Wednesday nights at that time. Fabio, LTJ Bukem, Diction, Rob Playford… and we wrote this tune for the club.
Which 3 tracks would you definitely take with you to a gig?
Ready or Not by Zinc, Back like that by Marky and Walk This Land or Tough at the Top.
Do you have any regrets concerning your career?
You can look with high sight to what happened before and think that what I know now, this could’ve been done… But at the time we didn’t know! At the time, we were inside an explosion and it exploded all the time. Everything was new, we were enthusiastic. We exploded with drum and bass all the way, so do I have any regrets? Not at all! Regrets? Maybe I didn’t drink enough. (laughs)
But we had such a great time because it wasn’t known. Nowadays we can look back and say: look, this happened then, then… but we were there then and we didn’t know what was happening. Oh, yes… I wouldn’t have got married. It was very expensive.
Probably rather the divorce was. 🙂 Is there anything that is not commonly known about you?
In 1984, I was the Norfolk break dance champion. And they held it for one year, which means that STILL I am the champion! (laughs)
Can you recall a moment that changed your life?
When I was 13, we were living in South London. I saw a group called “Tik and Tok” on TV, they were doing robot dancing. Then I thought it was very cool: electronic beats, robot dancing, so I decided that I wanted to do that. Break dancing evolved from that, and of course, graffiti, beatboxing, rapping, music… That was when I realised that I have a mission: I want to be a musician, a dancer, and that was crystal clear from then onwards.
Do you wish to say anything to the Hungarian fans?
I hope your country won’t fall into pieces. I wish good luck!
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Photo credit: Pozsonyi Photo