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08 Feb 2010

 

 

Raiden


Please introduce yourself briefly...
I'm Christopher Jarman and my artist name is Raiden. I'm a UK drum & bass producer / DJ based in Tallinn, Estonia, owner of Offkey Music, soon to be Voodoo Music labels and Renegade Hardware artist.

What have been the highlights of 2009 for you?
Going on an immense tour of Latin America. On this trip I witnessed the army take over Caracas twice, caught swine flu in Colombia, fell in love with Buenos Aires and got the biggest wedgy / sun burn combo of my life in an aqua park in Mexico. This was one of those trips that had a profound effect on the way I see music as we as a life-changing experience. I could have written a book!

What have been the highlights of the decade for you?
My drinking sessions with Proket, my Russian friend. Every time we get together the vodka comes out we always end up with a story.

I fondly remember a time in Voronehz when he sleep-walked into a swimming pool at 2am then climbed out trying to fight me because he thought I did it. It took me an hour to convince him he sleep walked.

Also a time when we were in Moscow drinking and we met a Siberian guy who refused to let us go home, we had to drink with him or he'd beat us up, so we had to get him so drunk so he'd let us go. We were pretending to drink while he got smashed. Once we escaped we went back and did karaoke for hours. We've had a few run-ins with Russian special forces too. It's like Keith Moon and Oliver Reed, many good memories!

How have things changed for you over the last ten years?
Being fatter balder and wiser for a start. Moving to Estonia, what was just an idea turned to be one of the biggest life changes in the last ten years. It's now my home and I can't see myself even leaving unless I get a chance to live in Buenos Aires.

What have you been doing recently?
I've touring almost all year, I've been to pretty much every corner of the world in the last six months so I'm currently enjoying some normality. Right now I'm preparing for next year with my new label, forthcoming Hardware LP and overhauling OffKey.

Which artists should we look out for in 2010?
Morphy, I think he's a genius. He makes this very deep subtle tribal inspired dub sound that really takes you somewhere. Sometimes when listening to his music you find yourself on a sand dune in the desert with Jim Morrison hanging out with an Indian with Hendrix of guitar! Morphy makes a lot of his music with original dub hardware which gives him a real individual sound as well as his wide ranging influences. He will be a major feature of my new label Voodoo. Also look out for Meth on OffKey, he's the master of tanky rolling machines. I think Rockwell well be massive next year and rightly so...

What are your plans for 2010?
I'm about to launch a new label called Voodoo for my deeper South American tribal inspired music that I'm so into recently. Offkey and Voodoo will exist in harmony with one another - Offkey is the cold steel of the metropolis whereas Voodoo will be the unknown of the rainforests and jungles. The first few releases will be various collaborations between myself, Morphy, Khanage, Loxy and Rockwell.

On Offkey I have a string of releases coming from myself and Meth. We have a collaboration EP followed by a 12" featuring remixes from Icicle and Spirit as well as a new image design and website.

Also, cementing my return to Hardware I have many forthcoming releases including a debut LP based around more energetic tribal percussion. I'm gonna be very heavily involved with Renegade Hardware in the coming year.                              

What are you most looking forward to in 2010?
I have a massive string of fishing trips planned for next summer. A northern pike expedition in northern Canada, carp and tench fishing trips in the UK / Estonia and large mouthed bass bonanza in Vermont, USA. Next year I want to catch to the largest fish I've caught and smash every personal record!

Give us a top 5...
Top 5 Best Freshwater Fish to Catch

  1. Crucian Carp
  2. Northern Pike
  3. Tench
  4. Large Mouth Bass
  5. Bream

 

Raiden - Expo Vol.2 by Raiden



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