Hello Todd, thank you for having a chat, how are things going out in California?/p>

Fantastic, thanks for asking. San Francisco is amazing and Drum and Bass is bigger and badder than ever. Shout out all the junglists worldwide who share the sickness in their minds.

Can you please give readers some background on when and what first got you interested in electronic music and the Jungle culture? What led you to deciding to put your efforts into mcing?

Man, from the first second I heard Jungle I was hooked. Inner City Life by Goldie, Warhead by Krust, it was like something I had been hearing in my mind my whole life. I never had any aspirations to be an MC, but when I went to London, to a club called The End, I saw the legendary Dynamite MC hosting for Roni Size and the Full Cycle crew, and it blew me away. I couldn’t believe how much Dynamite added to the night, how he hyped the vibe, toasting and calling out the drops. It added so much more to the music and the crowd was going off like nothing I’d ever seen. I woke up the next morning and it was like I had seen the Matrix, it absolutely changed my life.

When I got back to the states and no one was MCing at drum and bass parties I was going to, I was like somebody’s got to play that role. Some one has got to hype it up to that level, that’s the legit jungle experience. So I took up the mic. Big ups to Shylok and the whole Portland crew who put me on.

You have been working with Calculon recently on his Shoot Recordings label. How did you two link up to start collaborating?

I’ve been a fan of the mighty Calculon since I got into Drum and Bass. He’s an absolutely gifted producer, one of my very favorite DJs to play with, and he runs Shoot Recordings, a sick, forward-thinking label. During the quarantine we were blessed by the Church & Stamina mix series (on Mixcloud) where we got do to a series of banging ass mixes together, and when we escaped jail we started touring. Then one day he called me and said, hey, I’ve got this ridiculously disgusting banger I made with the king Stunna, do you want to get up on that dirty business, and I was like 100% shit to the damn, hell yes, and that became Bust, the first of our tracks together.

Can you tell our readers who might not be aware, a bit about the recently uploaded video for the song "Bust" yod did with Calculon & Stunna?

Some people might know the Car Bars series from MC Bellyman, but MCing in the car is a pretty typical junglist event, haha. So when Bust dropped so hard, we had to do a video, and it was natural to hit the streets. Skip ahead to me and Calculon driving across the San Francisco bridge scaring the locals with bass as we come booming by like absolute idiots, haha. We just released the filthy Bust Remix from Dave Owen, and got him in the car for a video too, absolute badman.

What advice would you give to younger people that want to start MCing?

Practice. It takes a lot to project your voice over music as sonically huge as Jungle, so you’ve really got to be able to belt it out. There was a time where I would also say “study the legends” too, but these days Jungle MCs have branched out to all styles and flavors. Now you can be whatever you want to be on the mic as long as it hits. You can sing, you can rap, you can double-time, you can toast, like me or you could probably get away with Sammy Davis Jr. scat-talk if you did it right. The key is to practice what you want to say 90,000 times before you get on the mic, don’t be that chester trying to practice at the club.

What would you tell aspiring MC’s who want to get on the mic at the club?

Come say hello, introduce yourself, but don’t beg to be on the mic. Never beg the mic. If you’re serious, make a mix and give it to me or the promoter on the night. If we can see you’re putting in work, we’ll invite you to come play early, see how you sound, and maybe you’ll get invited to play more. But if you come up to me halfway through Dillinja’s set in front of 500 people and ask if you can give it a try, the answer is NEOW, haha.

You have been active for a number of years with the Stamina Drum & Bass nights in San Francisco. Can you tell us about some of the background on you working with the crew and how much these nights mean to you and the local people attending?

Stamina is what a Jungle night is meant to be. I mentioned the legendary End club in London, and that place was pitch black dark, louder than god, hot as hell and absolutely pulsating with energy. That’s Stamina, every Sunday night in the city, fully off the hook with the Stamina famina of hardcore junglists who are there THICK on the dancefloor every week. Now imagine that Stamina features some of the sickest producers and DJs in the game, including Jamal, Flaco, The Bachelors Of Science, Submorphics, Method One, and our new star Khariszma! We get the absolute cream of visiting DJs and MCs every week, there’s no door charge and it usually goes until at least 2:30am? Some folks drive from hours away for Stamina, and we’ve been ruining their Mondays for 13 years, haha. Maximum boost to the one like Jamal who made the club what it is, the City is blessed for it.

Photo by Alexx

What keeps you busy when you aren't focusing on music related work?

Enthusiastic single dad of two daughters, aspiring screenwriter, man about town and the like.

Any upcoming music or events you want to let readers know about?

Hell yes, DIRTY CITY is the new track with Calculon and Stunna, and Dave Owen just dropped the Bust Remix which is absolutely stupid. Also peep Reach Out My Junglists.

For events, all I can say is come to Stamina. Come to San Francisco for the weekend, take off Monday, let us know you’re coming, bring a towel, bring earplugs, bring your Stamina.

What musical artists do you enjoy that you would recommend others to check out?

People who know me know I’m a deranged jump-up head, and right now I’m listening to Hazard Ban 1 and Dutta Whipper and Dutta Piescream as well as Clipz New and Serum Sabertooth and Heist Stir the Cauldron. Something that folks might have missed when it came out, but absolutely crushes is Chu Hi. Not drum and bass I’d recommend is Total Blue.

Any closing thoughts or shout outs?

Only to big you up for promoting jungle, thank you, and I hope we see you at Stamina or another dancefloor soon.

Keep tabs on The Colonel at the following links