DJ SS

DJ SS

DJ SS performs at a rave.
Background information
Birth name Leroy Small
Also known as Leon Small
Born 27 August 1970
Leicester, England
Genres Electronica
Drum and bass
Occupation(s) Producer
Disc Jockey
Labels Benz-Street


One of the UK's finest DJ/Producers and co-founder of Formation Records, now celebrating it’s 25 year Anniversary making it the longest running Drum&Bass label on the planet. DJ SS aka Leroy Small is an original breakbeat pioneer who has made an immense contribution to today's drum & bass sound. SS is one of the very select DJ / Producers who has been there right from the start, due to the hard work and dedication that he puts into his music. When the hardcore scene exploded SS was there and hasn't looked back. He and his partner Eidris started promoting their own parties called Total Kaos every Friday in their hometown of Leicester. They also put on one of the first large indoor parties at Donnington Park in the summer of 91. It was an amazing success and 6000 people danced till dawn. DJ SS himself born and bred in Leicester is a self-taught scratch DJ and found fame scratching his way through the era along with break-dancing his way on the streets of Leicester. He progressed onto the “rave scene” and was one of the first on the worldwide scene to DJ his own produced tracks. Things moved quickly from there – SS taught himself how to produce a high calibre of music and also coached others to produce to equally high standards.  DJ SS has an enormous list of tracks and used various aliases. Over the years he’s had countless releases on Formation Records as well as doing remix work for other artists. He has released such tracks as 'The Psycho E.P', 'Rhythm For Reasons', 'Breakbeat Pressure', the Drum & Bass anthem 'Black', with the highlight being ' Lighter' which was Formation Records best seller, reaching the number 1 spot in the Music Week dance chart and reaching number 68 in the music charts. It is a track that has remained incredibly popular and still continues to be played years on. Not only has his label Formation during the years had many big tunes released, they have also had many big DJ/producers release records on the label. The list is strong, big and endless including Carl Cox, Grooverider, Shy FX, Ray Keith, Bryan Gee, Frost, Roni Size, Krust, Kenny Ken, Ratty, Matrix, John B, Mickey Finn, Twisted Individual and Distorted Minds.

Originally a breakdancer, DJ Stratchenstein began playing electro music as a teenager in the early 1980s. He then played hip hop and rare groove before turning to producing in 1988 initially acid house, hardcore, breakbeat and finally drum and bass tracks.

SS got his big break DJ'ing at the big British raves of the early 1990s such as Telepathy. Since then he has gone on to DJ world wide. His biggest hit came in 2002 with a new release of with "The Lighter" (originally released in 1995), which reached number 63 on the UK Singles Chart.[1]

Formation Records

Formation's logo

SS is the co-founder and head of the Formation Records label, and has released over 100 tracks using a number of aliases. These include the "Color Series" and the "Country Series", MA3 "Those DJs", the piano-theme-from-Love Story-sampling "Lighter" (the label's biggest hit) plus many popular drum and bass tunes. He has also remixed "No Good (Start the Dance)" by The Prodigy. He has featured on radio shows such as BBC 1Xtra's D&B M1X, on which he put together an hour-long mix of Formation tracks and was interviewed about his career.[2]

The Formation label has become a stable for new drum and bass producers such as John B and Twisted Individual. The label came to prominence from 1992 onwards releasing countless classics of darkside hardcore/jungle over the next couple of years. The label evolved with the times and by 1994 was one of the leading jungle labels. In the wake of this, the label created a number of subsidiary labels, each showcasing a differing style of music from the main imprint, including 100% Records, 5HQ Recordings, Reformed Records, New Identity, Easymen, F Project, Dubform and lately, Digiform.


In between this huge success he has also been the driving force behind some of the finest talent now established within the scene, his most recent sensation arriving in the form of Twisted Individual, who had made a huge impact on the scene with releases on Formation Records and sister labels Reformed and New Identity, as well as his debut album Tooled Up. He has also convinced Zen, old friend of Twisted Individual, to take the plunge and move from London to Leicester to join the Formation team after several releases on 5HQ Recordings and the last couple of years has seen his debut appearance on Formation Records with Minefield as part of the 100th release, and sister labels Reformed and New Identity. Adding to the successful list of a&r projects, DJSS is also responsible for launching the careers of successful artists like John B, Greenlaw, Multi Platinum selling artists Nero, and is continuing on that path bringing on new blood.  Fast forward to 2015 and we saw Formation events team up with the UK’s premier event company, Outbreak Festival to host Formation & World of Drum&Bass Arena’s at their massives. Simultaneously DJSS has built his World of Drum&Bass brand to become the biggest Drum&Bass events in Russia averaging over 4-6,000 people per show. As the 25 years of Formation arrives, DJ SS enters a new chapter launching his next concept, Bass Disciples. This Gospel&Bass movement will bridge the gap of church and Bass music collide on a path of worship through a genuine music platform. prays be to God almighty

Artists

^Influx UK has stated he has retired, but he appears on Formation lineups and it can be assumed it meant retiring from production only.

References

  1. ↑ "DJ SS", Chart Stats, retrieved 9 August 2010
  2. ↑ "BBC 1Xtra D&B M1X with Crissy Criss", BBC, 17 June 2010, retrieved 9 August 2010

Further reading

External links