GARAGEM // Artists & DJs // Roni Size

Roni Size
Full Cycle / V Recordings ~ UK

Roni Size started on the path of musical production when he was thrown out
of school at age 16, but music had always been a part of his life. Roni
was born and grew up at 'the top of the hill' a.k.a. St Andrew's, Bristol.
From the bottom of this hill came the sounds of the 70's blues parties and
sound-systems - the beat infected Roni's bones. So, after being expelled
he walked straight into Sefton Park basement project, which allowed
youngsters to try their hand on the decks, the mixing desk, drum machines
and samplers. Here he learned the basics and his brother's comprehensive
collection of Studio One records gave him material to work with. After
setting up a home studio and buying a sampler, a musical master of
production was in the making.

Meeting up with Krust in the early 90s brought two musically compatible
minds together, they faced the same dilemma of having no outlet for their
music they put their energies into their own label. With the help of Chris
Lewis Roni set up WTP (Where's The Party At?) record label as part of
Circus Warp. From that Full Cycle and Dope Dragon were established in
1993. Bryan Gee was an early admirer, holding on to their tapes whilst at
work at RCA recordings. When in 1994 he set up V Recordings, Krust had
V001 with 'Deceivers EP' and Roni and Die had V002 with their debut
release, 'Agility'. "We looked at V as the strong brother label, with Full
Cycle the sister following in its footsteps... Over the years the two
gelled, people associated V and Full Cycle together. Through putting a lot
of music out on these two labels we then got noticed by another label, a
major - Talkin' Loud."

-Roni Size and Full Cycle were one of the first to bring the jazzy
elements into the dark jungle of the early 90s. "We were using more
melodies, more jazz orientated loops - sounds that in London only people
like Bukem, or maybe Fabio or Peshay were using. But they were still using
fat Amens where we were just using toned down breaks." 'It's a Jazz Thing'
in 1994 sparked the interest of fellow experimental types James Lavelle
and the Mo' Wax posse. Roni Size was picked up by Talkin' Loud and the
compilation album Music Box (a fifty/fifty collaboration with Die) was
released in 1996. Their varying personal influences helped create the
unique Full Cycle sound.

"Suv was more dub, Die was more jazz, I was more ragga or bashment and
Krust was definitely more hip-hop but we all had elements of soul and
break beat in us, we all had graffiti stains on our hands, we all rode
BMXs or skateboards. We all came from the same school - the school of the
80s and 90s. We've always tried to incorporate all those elements into our
music. If we could put the sounds from spray can, the sounds from
skateboards scraping along the road and of people falling off BMXs, in one
record we would." The following year the crew, now officially called
'Reprazent', took the world by storm with their New Forms LP. Winning the
Mercury Music Prize boosted their international status and the world awoke
to the sound of Roni Size and Full Cycle. The singles from the album all
featured the unmistakable vocals of Onalee whose call for the music in
'Brown Paper Bag' is a signal all ravers still respond to. 'Heroes' and
'Watching Windows' are also classics. The album went platinum and,
surprised by their new massive fan Roni and the boys and returned to the
studio. 'It's Jazzy' came out on V Recordings later that same year.

1998 was a year of Dope Dragon tracks. These dance floor smashers were
given an outlet through Dope Dragon but after this year it took a back
seat to Full Cycle. "The Dragon's gonna return… trust me," promises Roni.

In 1999 with Die, Roni produced the Breakbeat Era album featuring vocals
from Lennie Laws and in July the following year his Through The Eyes
compilation showcased tracks from newcomers D-Product and Surge. Later
that year came the long awaited second project from Reprazent. In the Mode
delivered a variety of tracks, some featuring vocals from Dynamite, Onalee
and some from collaborations with hip-hop legends Method Man and Zac de la
Rocha and beat-box master Rahzel.

In 2001, Roni returned to the studio and started working with Tali who
had recently arrived from New Zealand. In this time he also produced
Touching Down - released in October 2002. This, his first truly solo
album, is 16 brand new dance floor smashers mixed into one hour's set and
includes the massive singles Playtime and Sound Advice.

In 2003 Roni put together a live show reminding the world of his Full
Cycle's presence in the live arena. It featured some of his new tunes from
forthcoming Return To V and remixes of old classics like 'Brown Paper Bag'
and 'Underneath the Moon'.

And the future is just as prolific, now having been in the game over ten
years Roni is a veteran. His latest release Return to V on V Recordings
which features guests such as Beverley Knight, Rahzel, Jocelyn Brown,
Rodney P, Vikter Duplaix and Navigator shows his production skills never
fail to vary and adapt.

Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008 with the release of a deluxe
edition of his Mercury Music Prize winning album 'New Forms' on Universal.
Reforming the band, complete with original members Dynamite MC, Onallee
and highly acclaimed bass player Si John alongside Yuval Gabay (Soul
Coughing), D Product, Jay Wilcox and Pete Josef, Roni Size and Reprazent
toured some of the biggest festivals in Europe including Bestival,
Glastonbury, Lovebox, Exit and Rock Herk. As a result, they were amongst
the nominations for best dance act from the UK Festival Awards.

2009 is shaping up to be another busy year for Roni with the release of a
new Reprazent album, a new Roni Size album, a Reprazent tour of Australia,
North America, the UK and Europe as well as committing to his usual packed
schedule of DJ shows.

The year begins with a one-off Reprazent show at Komedia in Bath on 4th
Feb courtesy of Essencia before the band tours Australia as part of the
Good Vibrations Festival. In addition to the live shows in Sydney,
Melbourne, Perth and Gold Coast, Roni Size & Dynamite MC will also play
four DJ shows. Following on from Australia, Reprazent will be back in
North America for the first time in seven years as one of the headliners
at this year's Ultra Music Festival in Miami on Friday March 27th. Please
keep checking back for more information on upcoming gigs.