Few drum & bass labels have the status of Reinforced. Since their debut release back in May 1990 (4 Hero’s “Risin Son”), they have constantly pushed the boundaries across the whole hardcore breakbeat spectrum. They have never quite fitted in, mainly because of their policy of only releasing ‘different’ music.
Their music often sounds way ahead of its time – sounds of the future today. Their latest release, “The Beginning Of The End”, is a compilation album and part of the long-running Enforcers series. However, the meaning behind this ominous-sounding title isn’t a resignation note, but a statement of their discontent with the current state of affairs in drum & bass.
Few people could get away with this, but then few people have as much respect as they do. The original team behind Reinforced are Mark, Dego, Ian and Gus – four friends who just wanted to put out their own tunes, as they felt they were totally unique.
Today, Mark & Dego are most famously known as 4 Hero, but their solo alter-egos, Tek 9 (Dego) and Manix (Mark), are also easily recognisable. (Just in case you’re wondering, Mark & Dego have many other aliases like Maximum Style, Jacob’s Optical Stairway, Nu Era and Tom & Jerry, but never on Reinforced.)
The first ten releases were practically all in-house productions, but then people started approaching them and they started releasing outside artists. “We only wanted to take it if it was different from what was out there,” says Gus, “and that concept remains the same.”
Some famous names have passed through their ranks as well, like Goldie, Doc Scott, Peshay and Nicky Blackmarket. All have since moved on, so Reinforced are now nurturing their next generation of artists: Arcon 2 / Leon Mar, DJ Stretch, Nucleus & Paradox, Sonar Circle, G Force, Seiji, Spacelink and Alpha Omega.
Reinforced have never really needed to look for artists, as there’s never any shortage of people approaching them, but what do they look for in potential artists? “The ability to last,” Gus answers, “but they can only prove that over a few singles. However, the main thing is individuality – you hear something, and it’s got a drum & bass feel, but not like anything you’ve ever heard before. A few singles later, we’ll be able to tell if they’re developing, and we’ll probably do an album the following year if they are.”
These days, a lot of their new recruits grew up buying their early records, and so a Reinforced release means a lot to them. Nucleus & Paradox are a good example of this. They might have only got together in the last year, but they’re no beginners, having had many solo releases on respected labels like Moving Shadow, Renegade Hardware and Good Looking. When they first teamed up, they sent out many tapes and were particularly delighted when Reinforced showed an interest.
“We got offers from quite a few labels,” remembers Paradox, “but we were really shocked when Reinforced rang us up, because one of the first records I ever bought was on Reinforced. Reinforced is a label that has been respected since day one, so when they made us an offer, we felt we had to give it to them.
“With Reinforced,” continues Paradox, “we get a chance to do stuff we couldn’t put out on other record labels because they have a more diverse sound. They’ve said to us, ‘do what you want’, and anything we play them just now, particularly the raw stuff, they’re really into. We have an excellent rapport, which is good, because I find if I’m relaxed and not under pressure, I can really create the ideas in my head.”
Reinforced are in a position to pull out loads of favours to stay ahead, but all sorts of producers are more than willing to give them tracks anyway. Something that comes in very handy for the Enforcers series, as guest tracks have been an important feature since the very first volume in 1991. It’s not just any old track lying around, either; producers often go that extra yard just because of who it’s for.
“When we say we want a track for the Enforcers, we’ll be waiting ages for it,” laughs Gus, “because they say ‘oh, we did one, but we’re not satisfied with it, we’ll do another one. So we never have any fillers. Another journalist asked There are so many other compilations out there, what makes Enforcers different? It’s because all Enforcers tracks are exclusives, it’s special because all the tracks are done just for it, you won’t find them anywhere else.”
Enforcers originally began life as a strictly limited edition picture disc EP, but the last two have grown into fully fledged compilation albums also available on CD. It was always meant to show all sides of drum & bass, and the album format suits this philosophy better.
“The background of all of us is rare grooves,” explains Gus, “old records that were hard to find. We were all into collecting and we thought it would be nice if some of our records became rare grooves in ten years’ time. We decided to do picture discs and only press about 2,000, so they would be, and that’s what’s happened, the first Enforcers goes for £50 – £60 nowadays.”
Reinforced could definitely have exploited their reputation for more fame and fortune, but they have deliberately held back. Put simply, this is because they want to last: “We’ve always wanted to hold our corner, not be influenced by anybody else and not have to feel we’re following anybody else. It has its drawbacks, but they’re outweighed by the benefits. The drawbacks are you don’t release dancefloor killers and sell 8,000 singles – you release experimental stuff and only sell 2 – 3,000. However, if you’re different and keep your individuality for the long term, you’ll be there for all time. If you try and jump on all the trends, you’ll eventually fall off.”
“All innovative artists,” he continues, “do stuff that people initially can’t get to grips with, but a few years later, the same people say how great and wonderful it is. By then, all the flash-in-the-pans are forgotten and all the innovators are remembered. When you name all-time famous artists, you think of people like Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye because their records are timeless. That’s all we’re trying to be like.”
Reinforced has now released nearly 120 singles and wants to keep their current average of 20 a year. However, albums have always been just as important, maybe even more so now. Reinforced was one of the first labels to release a jungle artist album with 4 Hero’s “In Rough Territory” in 1991, and they have released at least one a year since (although not all artist albums).
“An artist can’t express all they want to on a 12″, so if you’ve got a diverse artist, you definitely need an album for them to show their wares. So this year we’re going to have a few more: Procedure 769 (G Force and Seiji together), The Force Of One (Dextrous and Tee Bone) and another by Arcon 2.”
Despite isolating themselves from the scene’s sometimes petty politics, their overall aims have always taken in the bigger picture. They want to help evolve and expand the scene by inspiring new producers to keep things going. The main way to achieve this is again through artist albums.
“When producers out there hear artists that can do all these different types of tracks, they’ll get better influences than just hearing straight drum & bass tracks all the time. A lot of the older generation of drum & bass producers grew up on soul, hip hop, rare groove, etc., so they can bring those influences to their productions. Nowadays, a lot of the younger generation have been brought up solely on hardcore and drum & bass and haven’t had enough musical diversity to make their productions different. They’re not recycling enough old ideas, so it becomes stagnant. It’s the responsibility of the older producers to show them all the different permutations of drum & bass there can be so that new producers can learn from that.”
Things aren’t moving quickly enough for Reinforced just now, and they are highly critical of the current state of play. “You get bursts of evolution when a lot of new stuff happens and everything sounds fresh. Then you’ll get a couple of years of stagnation and this stagnant period has been going on too long. If it carries on going, it will be the end. That’s why we called this Enforcers “The Beginning Of The End. There are too many people imitating the style of true innovators like Dillinja, Photek and Ed Rush. It happens in all kinds of music, but it seems to be happening on too much of a grand scale in drum & bass just now. Another thing that’s happened is that a lot of these innovators got snapped up by majors and the scene has gone without their 12″ releases that used to inspire and boost people. They were too busy making albums, so they were out of it for a while and the scene folded back in on itself.”
“Things always move up and down in cycles, and we’re down in the depths just now but hopefully we’re on an upward turn again. Reprazent winning the Mercury Music Prize was probably the turning point. The thing is, every up has been higher than the last and I think 1998 will be drum & bass’ best year; it will sell more albums than in any other year. There’s going to be albums by Goldie, Krust, 4 Hero, Peshay, LTJ Bukem, Grooverider and Dillinja. It will be the make-or-break year, but whether or not the rest of the world latches on to it is another matter.”
Reinforced recently signed a licensing deal with Sony Japan, allowing them not only to release artist albums and Enforcers series, but also specially made up compilations from their back catalogue. Reinforced just returned from a tour of Japan promoting the latest Enforcers and, not surprisingly, they loved every minute of it.
“Sony is snapping up loads of drum & bass labels at the moment, they’re just trying to break it out there big time. With us, they could be putting out as many as six albums a year if they want to. We’re looking to spread drum & bass worldwide, so that it’s a recognised form of music in the same way that reggae, hip hop, jazz and soul are. I think that’s the next mission for nearly everyone. The way Sony is going about it, it will soon be in Japan and Germany has always been strong. We’ve got to try and conquer France and the rest of Europe, but America is going to be the hardest, because they’re just so set in their ways. You can tell by the way their radio stations are programmed.”
Reinforced, still the vanguard of drum & bass.
Photo: Eddie Otchere