Hear the True Intent Interview on the Radio-V Hour: Heaven on Earth What does it take to start the nation’s first atmospheric drum & bass label? Mikebee, Gabe Real and DJ Sea can tell you in their own words… How was True Intent conceived? “We’ve been in the scene for a while now and kind of found each other through a mutual love for atmospheric drum & bass, the more melodic, musical side of things and after Gabe Real and I hooked up, DJing at a few clubs around town, we met DJ Sea and we’ve been hanging together ever since. There’s a manufacturer in the neighborhood here in the Lower Haight in San Francisco called the Impressive One-Stop who gave us, or rather gave Gabe Real the opportunity to start the label. He brought the two of us in on the project along with our graphic designer Matt Fraser and the rest is history.” Mikebee What is the intention of True Intent? “The intention is to be a beacon and an outlet for atmospheric drum & bass artists to release their music on 12-inch vinyl. And we are in a great position here in San Francisco to be ambassadors to this music worldwide and provide a solid and steady outlet for atmospheric recording artists to release their music.” Gabe Real What are the advantages of being based in San Francisco? “Obviously, or maybe not so obviously to a lot of people, is that the drum & bass scene here is incredible. It’s massive and growing by the week. We have over ten weekly drum & bass parties, one every night of the week, all pretty much packed. That’s not including one-offs and tours, of which there are many. There’s probably an average of between 10-15 drum & bass parties weekly. There’s a huge DJ community playing all styles of drum & bass. Probably over at least 30 DJs playing out regularly and touring all over the country. It’s really become one of the centers in North America for this style of music, and to be here and to be a part of it and be involved in the energy and the creativity is a pretty incredible opportunity.” Sea “It’s actually really supportive on every level of the scene, from the club-goer who just goes out to the nights and supports with their dollars and with their smiling faces on through the DJs and the producers making the tracks, so we have people involved in every level of the scene here and we’re almost a self-subsisting economy--a self-subsisting industry here in San Franciso.” Mikebee What can we expect from True Intent in the year 2000? “We’ve got three 12-inch releases coming in the Spring this year from artists like Howard Hughes, who’s recorded for Sunburn Recordings as the Infinite Posse. We’ve also got a new producer called Subversive who’s from the UK, affiliated with the Cadence label, who we are also proud to be affiliated with. They are our sister label in the UK; we will be co-promoting them here in the States. They’ve got some great tunes coming out this year from people like Subversive as well as one of our other artists, Aural Imbalance and Forensics, a newer team, although aural Imbalance has been around for a while recording for labels like 720, Ascendant Grooves, as well as the Cadence label. We’d also like to big-up our man in the UK, DJ Tricksta, who’s running with his new label, Nu Directions--also going to be putting stuff out from one of our artists, Aural Imbalance. Also coming soon in the new year will be material from local San Francisco DJs, Kaos and Method One who record as Atlantiq, as well as a newer production team from Chicago, consisting of DJ Casper and his partner. They are known as Cascade--excellent, excellent stuff that I hear has been picked up by the 720 label and Seba’s Secret Operations label, Seba being a Good looking recording artist. Hopefully before the end of the year you will also be seeing some stuff form the three of us collectively as Heaven Scent. We’re going to be really proud to be putting that stuff out by the end of the year.” Mikebee “Keep your eyes peeled for more 12-inch releases from True Intent this year as well as a mix CD by myself Mikebee and Gabe Real and DJ Sea featuring all the tunes that will be coming out this year. All you atmospheric heads: if you’re into the music, this is where it’s at for Stateside drum & bass. Keep your ears open.” Mikebee