Ali B: Fabric's Breaks Resident on Chris Tarrant & Mr Velcro Fastener

Like breaks supremo Adam Freeland (and numerous other jocks) Ali B (known to his old friends as Alastair Bennett) once worked for London marketing/ PR company Slice Communications and like Adam Freeland, he's one of Britain's friendliest and cleverest DJs. Though unlike Adam Freeland, who left the company in 1996, Ali's stint finished just 3 years ago, when he landed a residency at Fabric (as one of the club's first ever residents). Since then, he's gone on to become one of Capital Radio's few credible DJs (so much so that he's on Chris Tarrant's Xmas card list) set up his own label Air Recordings and continued his Fabric career, to become one of London's highest rated upcoming jocks.

Catching up with Skrufff's Jonty Adderley in Hoxton's Blue Bar (a place he began his career in) last week, he was both enthusiastic and clearly content, looking forward to the first release on his label, Mr Velcro Fastener's Electric Appliances.


Skrufff (Jonty Adderley): You're just about to release your very first single on your new label Air, Mr Velcro Fastener's Electric Appliances, do you have any concerns about the supposed crisis in clubland-

Ali B: "I've wanted to run a label ever since I started DJing, it's the next step but in terms of the current climate in dance music with people saying it's not a good time to release a record, my view is, if you've got a good record, a good record will always sell. That's my vibe, I want to put records out and put my name behind them. I'm not really sure that we're in a slump for dance music, I guess maybe a year down the line it might be apparent but I think it's probably a healthier time right now. Because it is having a dip and moving back underground so people are going back to the core as to why they got involved in the first place."

Skrufff: We're sitting in the Blue Bar, where you worked in the early 90s when it was the Blue Note…

Ali B: "It's ironic that we're here because I started working here the last time there was a crisis in the early 90s when all the rave stuff suddenly stopped. Outdoor raves disappeared, everything disappeared back underground but for me, working here, everything started. The Blue Note spearheaded that whole new wave of leftfield eclectic sounds, with nights like Metalheadz. The loss of some of the big clubbing organisations is probably a good thing, it's a spring cleaning."

Skrufff: You're one of Fabric's busiest resident DJs, how's that club performing-

Ali B: "We just passed our third birthday and it's doing really well. Obviously lots of comparisons are made between Fabric, Cream and Gatecrasher, classing it as another superclub, but their outlook is poles apart. Fabric was never about picking a couple of superstar DJs and pinning their hopes on them for the next ten years. Fabric, for a start, have championed me and I'm an unknown so that tells you something straight away. They also took on James Lavelle who had a big profile but I'm sure James would agree, he was never known for being an outrageously talented DJ. He's someone whose residence has become really special to him. Musically, if they've modelled themselves on anybody, I'd say it's been the Blue Note, in terms of creativity. It's been more about the musical flow than superstar DJ names and I think that's why it's doing well."

Skrufff: You worked at dance music PR Slice before Fabric-

Ali B: Yes, though my first job was here at the Blue Note working in the cafe and I'd be always hassling them to get a job at the record label. I next got a job at Acid Jazz across the square (Hoxton Square) working at the warehouse, then came back here freelancing and started living off DJing. Then when the Blue Note closed I fell into PR because Slice asked me to A&R a label for them. I went there with loads of artists to sign, continued working freelance, then they offered me a go at music PR. I'd lost my base at the Blue Note so I thought, f**k it, I'll give it a go. I was lucky at Slice bec Tags

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