In its heyday, the California West Coast was a mecca for Drum & Bass with San Francisco leading the way. Groups of talented artists such as the Phunckateck crew and Sister SF were pushing envelopes and forging sounds that helped put the US on the map in the global culture. While living in San Diego at that time, I caught wind of a Bay Area DJ acting as label manager for Skunkrock Productions by the name of Alley Cat who would be performing at the city’s most influential club, The Dragon Lounge. We had been in contact before the gig and finally met that night after she dropped one of the better sets I’ve heard at that location. Years went by, new paths were followed and she somehow ended up across the large pond doing even bigger and better things. Seeing all that she’s presenting to the table these days, I figured it was time to introduce you to this multi-faceted magnate and purveyor of deep music, Alley Cat.

Phear – We’ve known each other for years, dating back to when you used to live in San Francisco. I think the first time we physically met was at The Dragon Lounge down in San Diego when it was at the Baja Brewing Company, which was one of the best D&B clubs on the West Coast at the time. You seemed to be pretty active in the D&B community then, but now have your hands in even more projects living in the UK. Talk to me a little bit about the move from the States and your life now.

Alley Cat – Yes for a long time. The Dragon Lounge was a cool gig. Sage and myself were both residents there. (We are still friends BTW, I just talked to her today!)

The first one we played was early 1998 sometime. I think that was in the basement of some restaurant! Then it moved to the Brewery which was cool. That must be where we met? (Yep!)

Skipping ahead… I moved to London in 1999. It was a bold move but I’m still here! I really had little expectations.

At the time I DJed and helped manage a label called Skunkrock, working on tunes with some of the guys. After the label died down about 6 years ago I continued DJing, did various radio shows and started to get more into production over the last few years. I did some help for other labels a bit as well. Now I’m working on my new project Kokeshi, and am also a director at ESP Agency. I’m also involved in Feline which is a group of DJs and MCs (myself, Flight, Storm, Miss Pink, MC Chickaboo and Deeizm MC) who do events and gigs under that branding.

Your production has really impressed me these days, especially your latest releases on both OffShore and your own Kokeshi imprint. I’m noticing a heavy influence from the days of classic jungle and tech step… not just in your music, but in the overall scene. What has spawned this on your end and what do you think has motivated producers to dive back into that realm? Also, what do you think about the minimal style of D&B making huge waves at the moment?

Thank you :D I’m really pleased with the Offshore Recordings release (Sweet Spot) which was a split single with Vaccine. I really rate her as a producer and as a person so it’s awesome to share a record with her. And I’ve always really respected Offshore’s sound. I think the first release on Kokeshi is a tad more techy sounding than the Offshore, but both feature a lot of synths which is my favourite element to work with in a song.

I think the tech step stuff is sort of coinciding with the minimal sounds. Guys like Ulterior Motive are doing this sound that echoes of old Virus but still feels new, fresh and futuristic. So are Icicle, Sabre, S.P.Y and Nymfo. Also watch out for FD & Keza- they’re killing it! There was a bit of a gap that these guys filled. It’s just nice to hear some rolled out tunes and less anthem bashing. I also like what Lynx does because his stuff fits in with everything. I really love the ‘minimal’ movement, it’s what I prefer because of all the synths and pads and people are finally open to a bit of deepness which I was waiting to happen for years! The influences of the Autonomic guys mirror a lot of my own influences.

Give me a little history on the ESP Agency you work with. A few artists on your roster appear to have the multi-genre thing going which is really exciting. How important do you think that is to the future of electronic dance music?

ESP is almost 15 years old. Mark, who I used to do the old label with, always had ESP going. I started working at the agency in 2004 when he wanted to expand, yet we are still a small company. We’re doing mainly DnB and Dubstep bookings at the moment. But it’s exciting because music seems to be crossing over into other genres like you said, which is quite cool. Makes it more interesting. I think it’s very important that artists and promoters are trying to do multi-genre things. Drum’n'bass has had a bit of a bad rap over the years. People that aren’t totally immersed in it might think it’s all “aggro and shirtless dudes running around the dance” and that’s just not the case. If it’s introduced to crowds in a different way it’s only going to benefit our scene. I love that dBridge and Instra:mental are getting booked at Dubstep nights like FWD and DMZ, as well as multi-genre and more techno-y parties. But they still rock the dnb crowd at the same time. We work with acts including dBridge, Calibre, Instra:mental, Marcus Intalex, Lynx, Klute, Youngsta, Kryptic Minds, Black Sun Empire, and Consequence (who will be touring Europe in February 2010) to name a few!

Your Kokeshi label is seeing its second release by a guy named Lung doing Dubstep which is available today. The selection of music you are presenting is definitely staying true to the “Go Deep” slogan. What are your plans for future releases and the overall goal of the label?

There has to be something emotive in the music or I won’t be interested. The Lung tunes just sounded so different to me and really special. The next release is dubstep again, from Kiat and myself. I will probably be doing another Lung single and I’m also releasing an LP by a guy called Irrelevant which is about 135 to 140 bpm. I play a lot of his tunes on my ((Pod)) Kasts. I’ve also done a dubstep tune with MC DRS called Runnin’ Away which might come out on his LP on Soul:r. If not, it will probably end up on Kokeshi.

There’s a couple other guys I’m watching also but I’m keeping it under wraps for now ; ) –But its also more in the 140 bpm region. It’s not really a conscious choice to do more dubstep right now, they just happen to be making tracks that really grab me. The stuff I sign would also be played in a DJ set. It’s amazing the kind of music that gets sent to me, that people know both me and the label well enough to know what sounds I’m going to be into. It’s brilliant. I think doing the ((Pod)) Kasts helps.

The overall goal of the label is just to do what grabs me at the time musically. I’m more interested in people that are relatively unknown. I like that. I hope I’m getting to the stage this year where people will see the logo or the name and just think they’ll hear some good electronic music regardless of what tempo it is or who made it.

You’re coming to LA early next year! I can’t wait to meet up with you and have a few drinks over some loud, bass-heavy music. What all will you be doing while in town? Any gigs lined up?

Oh yes, drinks are a must! I’m playing at Respect on 14th January. I haven’t played there in a few years so I’m really looking forward to coming back! I’m not planning on doing any other gigs while I’m there (as of now) so I hope people can come out to Respect. I’ll be linking up with some family and friends as well and indulging in a bit of retail therapy, and eating loads of Mexican Food. Can’t wait!

As mentioned, Kokeshi’s 002 hits both retail and digital stores today. Break out your hard earned money and support the artists who bring you the music our culture thrives on! Visit the Kokeshi website for details on where to pick up your copy.

Also be sure to Subscribe to the Kokeshi ((Pod)) Kasts. The third installment features some of the best emotionally driven content that I’ve heard in a while. Though the below download link is available, please do subscribe via Itunes to help their numbers on the charts.

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Click to Download “Alley Cat – Kokeshi ((Pod)) Kast 3″
(Stream & Download Courtesy of Kokeshi)

Websites: Alley Cat, Kokeshi, ESP Agency