mat
sound.selectah

Reg.: May 2001
Location: planet.funk!
Posts: 1767 |
stamina bio:
You could say that Stamina MC started out on his music career in 1994. Although he didn't realise it then his love of early jungle would eventually lead him to his enviable position today, where he is cited as one of the hottest young talents in the Drum & Bass/Jungle scene.
Like a lot of kids around in 1994, Stamina was buying records and sneaking into raves with his mates however, rather than just party away his teenage years, Stamina began writing lyrics to go along with the tunes he was spending all his pocket money on. At first it was just for fun, but he quickly realised that he had a good feel for it and gradually became more and more immersed in the developing scene.
Quickly, he gained a succession of slots on some of the best early pirate radio stations of the time which in turn lead to a scattering of bookings at small events with his friends at Camden Palace and Bagleys. In 1996 he arrived at Rinse FM in 1996 and began MC-ing for DJs like Flight and Ruffstuff.
Over the next few years he would continue to graft for his living until it got to late 2000 when Ruffstuff introduced him to the Movement promoters who would change his career direction and life.
He started appearing regularly at the legendary Movement events in the UK and during this time became friends with the up-and-coming Brazilian DJs DJ Marky and DJ Patife. Events like Homelands, Ministry of Sound @ Knebworth and Planet V followed, with Stamina's trademark vocal expressions becoming one of the main ingredients of Movement.
In his own words Stamina MC is, a DJs MC - no shouting, but an ability to compliment any tune in any way - rapping ragga lyrics, rhyming and singing, even talking to the crowd - Stamina is a natural at building a rapport with an audience as well as concentrating on what he is saying and how the crowd is reacting.
Stamina¹s other talents, beside DJ-ing, also reared their head as the club-smash Dexter's Groove - under his moniker, Armour - on Double Zero Recordings came out at the end of 2001 following studio time with Aquasky and Stanton Warriors.
It was late in 2001 when Stamina MC became an official resident of Movement and it quickly proved to be his most successful year yet.
Continuing to establish himself as an MC to the Brazilians, DJ Marky and DJ Patife, on their frequent tours around Europe, Stamina MC continuously moulded lyrics for the mainly instrumental sounds of Drum & Bass/Jungle and would create something new, taking the music in a new direction.
This vocal remixing came to a head in mid-2001 when Stamina added his vocals to a tune that the Brazilian boys had been playing for a few months. This tune was called LK and the crowd in Newcastle around this time that Marky was playing to kept asking him to play the tune called It's The Way (one of the main lines from Stamina's version), Marky thinking it was DJ Tactix on Back2Bascis Records from the early 90s, not for one minute thinking it was the version of LK with Stamina singing over the top performed last time Stamina and Patife had played in Newcastle! The tune hadn't even been recorded yet.
In April 2002, with the massive Skolbeats festival imminent at the F1 circuit, Interlagos in Sao Paulo, Brazil Stamina faced up to his biggest job yet. People talk about life-defining moments, but in his own words this was one of Stamina's. Stamina MC ended up hosting an 11,000 capacity Movement Arena for no less than 11 hours. His version of the Brazilian-music sampling LK went down a smash a sign of things to come. This experience would establish Stamina MC in Brazilian dance music history and lead him to start learning Brazilian-Portuguese, the Brazilian national tongue.
Brazil is now a destination for both work and play for Stamina and he recently performed in front of over 1 million people at the Sao Paulo equivalent of Berlin's Love Parade the Parada Da Paz (Peace Parade).
Stamina MC returned to Europe to see LK released in July 2002 and his soulful tones propelled up the UK charts making the world look at Drum & Bass/Jungle with their blinkers off.
For the future Stamina MC plans to devote more time to the production of music and to start DJ-ing again (he gave this up to pursue MC-ing). All this means he now has an outlet for his own productions and new, more experimental sounds that don't get played that often which he likes. Plans to take over the world are not high on this artist¹s agenda just the opportunity for others to hear music he likes which they wouldn't necessarily hear anywhere else.
Also, for the future and following on from his studio session appearance on BBC Radio 1 (UK) with London Elektricity and the legendary Robert Owens, Stamina MC will continue to do what he does best, perform live, going on the road with the London Elektricity live show as well as numerous Movement tours and MC-ing dates.
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There will come a time in your life when you will ask yourself a series of questions. Am I happy with who I am? Am I happy with the people around me? Am I happy with what I'm doing? Am I happy with the way my life is going? Do I have a life or am I just living? Do not let these questions strain or trouble you just point yourself in the direction of your dreams find your strengh in the sound and make your transition.
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