Culture Shock
Culture Shock is James Pountney, a young up-and-coming drum and bass DJ/producer from London who is signed to Ram Records.
James was brought up in a musical household with both parents involved with classical music, and always showed a healthy curiosity about music, listening to anything from jazz to house. He first heard about drum & bass around '96 on London's pirate radio stations and at school where everyone talked about "jungle music being the cool new thing". In his own words, "it sounded totally alien" and he was blown away. He started reading music technology magazines ...read more
Culture Shock is James Pountney, a young up-and-coming drum and bass DJ/producer from London who is signed to Ram Records.
James was brought up in a musical household with both parents involved with classical music, and always showed a healthy curiosity about music, listening to anything from jazz to house. He first heard about drum & bass around '96 on London's pirate radio stations and at school where everyone talked about "jungle music being the cool new thing". In his own words, "it sounded totally alien" and he was blown away. He started reading music technology magazines, managed to set up a basic studio and started experimenting.
James' first release happened thanks to a hook up with Dom Angus (Dom & Roland) through their parents who are friends and colleagues. The result was the 2004 Vega EP on Moving Shadow. It was well received but unfortunately the seminal label stopped releasing music and it was another two years before James found another home with the legendary Ram Records.
Impressed by the production skills displayed on the Vega EP, Andy C followed the progress of the young producer and ended up signing him to his label, with the first track 'The Bypass' – one of Optical's favourite tunes - appearing on 2006's Dimension EP and getting tongues wagging on the scene.
James was then given the chance to make his own EP, and Third Stage was released in the summer of 2007. It included the suave 'Rework', produced in partnership with the Brookes Brothers, and a brilliant electro-breaks track 'Asteroids' that fits well with James' open approach to music: "I've been into drum and bass for a long, long time" – he recently told Knowledge magazine - "That is great but it's all about bringing in influences from elsewhere. I am really into all electronic music and I listen to a lot of techno and electro".
With signing Culture Shock to its prestigious stable, Ram are nurturing yet another talent destined to expend the boundaries of the scene. « hide |
