Until a few years ago, the mystery of Source Direct and what happened to the duo was far from clear. All we knew is Phil Aslett left departed sometime around 1998, and Jim Baker continued to produce under the Source Direct moniker until about 2000.

If you are a regular reader of Drumtrip may be familiar with this interview Phil, who now goes by “Phil Source”, gave Knowledge mag back in 2010. The interview, which is curiously no longer online, was mostly focussed on Phil’s new label “Vampire Records“. However, at that time he did touch on what happened to Source Direct…..

Would you ever get back together with Jim as Source Direct?
Because we started out so young we kind of eventually grew apart. When we signed the big deal with Virgin there was a lot of pressure on us and it drove us apart really and we almost began to hate each other which was a real shame.

We had musical differences and it all just fell apart. A lot of it was to do with the pressure and stress of having a major deal. I don’t think it will ever happen to be honest with you. We don’t really speak any more and a lot has happened in the past which no one will ever know.

It’s personal stuff and I don’t really want to go into it but what’s done is done, my new baby is Vampire, that’s what I’m pushing now. Source Direct is part of my past, a great past as we made a lot of great music but I’ve got to move forward. I’ve always been forward thinking and that’s what Source Direct was about.

Why did you have a break after Source Direct?
I had four or five years completely away from music. I went to the odd club but it was more techno. I just wanted to get away from drum & bass. I was heavily involved with it for eight years so it was a long time.

I wasn’t sick of the music but I was sick of the scene. When you get really amongst it and get to know all the people and the way that the scene ticks it can swallow you up. I just needed a complete break and it was good for me to learn about the world and real life as well.

Fast forward to 2014 and a lot has changed. Excitingly, Jim Baker has returned! Jim now exclusively DJ’s under the original Source Direct name, with a promise of new productions for 2014 and beyond.

In one of his first interviews since returning to the fold, the excellent Gotham City blog inevitably moves onto the issue of the Source Direct split. Jim is a little more forthcoming in his explanation.

GCB … You’re working solo now under the SD name, but obviously that hasn’t always been the case. I set up #GCB to ask the difficult questions, so with that in mind. What happened with the original SD partnership, why did you guys part ways and will we ever see you work together again in the future ?

SD … They say you should never say never but I will never work with him again. There’s no point as his contribution to the music was negligible and simply more of a mate (from school days) who ended up helping to buy a few items for the studio with his family support so it was more of a extra pair of hands to help do the mundane things.

All music creation, programming, mixing, production, engineering and mastering has solely been myself from day one. He used to make a good cup of tea to be fair… lol!

S.D. has always been my baby and always will be, it cost me a lot emotionally and financially to keep it as well as blood sweat and tears but S.D. and its trademark are by law & contractually owned and vested solely by me.

If you honestly had created and genuinely contributed to the S.D. body of work would you really happily agree to sign over all ownership, publishing, copyright etc. for a little pay-off cash? I know I certainly wouldn’t! S.D. is mine and tattooed on the inside of my head for life…lol!

Phil then moves on explain what happened around the time of the Virgin album deal for Exorcise The Demons, and their fateful tour of America.

It all became a serious business when the major players got involved and by this time Phil was up his own arse thinking he’d made the “big time” (have a laugh!) when in fact the “door of opportunity” had only just been knocked on and the hard work was just about to begin as far as I was concerned.

He didn’t put in the studio time to assist in the process of making the tracks and it was a constant battle with him moaning about the work schedule. Virgin/Astralwerks organised a US Tour with a couple of dozen bookings & “press” interviews over 3 weeks and Phil pulled out just 48hrs before … didn’t want to go or be part of SD any more, he was off to do his own thing…

I don’t think you could even begin to imagine how I felt, this was my baby and I had built it up with him only to be let down by him. I did the gigs alone and my manager Graham Bell came along with me.

It all went really well but on my return I had to go through loads of shit dealing with the split and loosing the Virgin deal because of this. It was a nightmare and it went on for months and months taking its toll on me.

This is why I will never work with him again. If he had come along for the ride who knows where it would have taken us but its water under the bridge now, his input has never been missed and many S.D. tracks where created since he was bought out. Only recently have I been playing them out and getting a good reaction to music I made 10 years ago. They will get released all in good time together with the new projects.

This is just a part of an excellent and quite epic interview conducted by the guys at Gotham City blog, much respect to them. Check out the full interview here.

Personally I think it’s a great shame how it all panned out, as even putting all the fantastic music to one side for a moment, the end result of this fruitful partnership was a complete falling out between two friends. But, whatever happened, it does not detract from what an impact Source Direct had on the drum and bass scene, and continues to do so today.

Drumtrip wishes Jim and Phil all the best with their new projects. I’m really looking forward to hearing some new beats… especially from Jim!

Catch Source Direct (Jim) online at….
Twitter @Source_Direct
Soundcloud @source_direct_official
Facebook @Source.Direct.Recordings

The post Whatever happened to Source Direct? Part 2 : Jim Baker interview appeared first on Drumtrip - Hardcore / Oldskool Jungle Blog.

I was listening to some Doc Scott and Kemistry/Storm mixes the other day (Mixmag and One in the Jungle) and it inspired me to have a dig for the kind of mid to late 90s tunes which were rated highly at the time but never surfaced much. Stuff you generally didn’t hear in a club and had to seek out unless you were lucky enough to live near Hoxton Square.

I was at Bournemouth Uni at the time and only managed a few trips up to Speed and the Bluenote but the guys from Fat Trax Records and their associates managed to get the big names down once a month or so. Luckily for me, they preferred the deeper styles so it was usually the likes of the DJs above along with DJ Lee and Peshay etc who would turn up at the weekend.

What I liked most about these guys style was the way they rolled out the mixes and showcased a wide range of moods and sounds across their sets. Always fresh and taking the path less travelled.

I think most of these tracks are around the 95-97 years. There’s some heavy bangers (Spirit – Fathoms), some deepness (Oblivion – Last Dance) and some all out technical masterpieces (Hidden Agenda – Dispatch 1). Don’t think I’ve heard an amen squashed, compressed and twisted like that before or since. Hope you enjoy the mix.

Origination – Brace Yourself – Creative Source
Spacelink – Timezone – Reinforced
Dj Krust – Going Nowhere – Full Cycle
Jonny L – Treading – XL
Hokusai – Divine – Source Direct
Intense – 1st Contact – Vibez
DOPE – Travelling – Rugged
Sounds of Life – Intallect Remix – Cert18
Oblivion – Last Dance – Street Beats
Danny Breaks – the Bear – Droppin Science
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J Majik – Lightsabre – Infrared
Hidden Agenda – Dispatch1 – Metalheadz
Nasty Habits – Prototyped – 31 Records
Dj Krust – Soul in Motion – Full Cycle
Spirit – Fathoms – Fresh86
Peshay – Music Remix – Good Looking
Source Direct – Exit 9 – Source Direct
PFM – One & Only – Good Looking
Photek – Hidden Camera – Science Virgin
Source Direct – Secret Liaisons – Good Looking

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It occurred to me the other day that I had more than enough tunes to complete a third part of the All Source Direct mix series. I just had to pick up the one tune that has eluded me for sometime, the jazzy, slinky amen number ‘Jade‘, produced under Phil and Jim’s ‘Hokusai’ alias.

Their work as Hokusai, a name I assume is taken from legendary Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, was a bit of a departure from the Source Direct sound.

It was dark, but never reached the evil depths like they did on ‘Exorcise The Demons’. But it also had a kind of jazzy noir feel to it which really comes across in tracks like Jade, Divine and 12 Till 4. A style not heard much within D&B other than from a handful of producers such as Photek, around the time of the “Hidden Camera” EP, and Hidden Agenda.

Once again this volume of the mix ecompasses pretty much all the styles and aliases the duo used throughout the 90s, starting from the deep jungle of Sounds Of Life, the precision edits and dark atmospheres of Source Direct, to the moody jazz tones of Hokusai.

The final third of the mix moves into the late 90s when Source Direct abandoned the mellow chords and strings in favour of horrifically bleak atmospherics created for the stunningly dark ‘Exorcise The Demons’ album on Virgin records subsidiary ‘Science’. To this day I don’t think anyone took D&B to a darker place than Source Direct did, ‘Technical Warfare” and “Stonekiller” are two perfect examples of how Drum and Bass can be dark, yet subtle and cinematic.

01. Sounds Of Life – Release The Bells – Certificate 18
02. Sounds Of Life – Currents – Certificate 18
03. Intensity – Generations – Basement
04. Source Direct – Fabric Of Space – Source Direct Recordings
05. The Medicine Men – Scream In The Jungle (Source Direct Mix) – Headroom
06. Oblivion – Sands Of Time – Street Beats
07. Mirage ‎– Just For You – Odysee
08. Sounds Of Life – Don’t Resist The Beat – Certificate 18
09. Mirage – Feel My Dreams – Odysee
10. Hokusai – 12 Till 4 – Source Direct Recordings
11. Hokusai – Jade – Source Direct Recordings
12. Source Direct – Web Of Sin – Metalheadz
13. Hokusai – Sculptures Hide – Odysee
14. Source Direct – Call & Response – Science
15. Source Direct ‎– Capital D. – Science
16. Source Direct – Mind Weaver – Science
17. Source Direct – Technical Warfare – Science

You can catch parts one and two at here

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