DJ DREN BIOGRAPHY
Back in 1984 Dren was breakin to the B Boy sound and it wasnt long before he acquired some decks and began a life of spreading the electro & hip hop beats throughout Cornwall As one of the original JASS Productions members alongside Si Spex and Juliano (later to become top UK Hip Hop Producers,The Creators) they regularly rocked the South West underground scene and Djd in numerous mixing competitions. Dren also teamed up with DJ DVS and MC Keltek as Akomplice and JAS in the late 80s. In the early nineties Dren got severely side tracked into the rave scene and house music. Initially he worked closely with MC/DJ Ribbz as SAD Productions. Soon after he established Million Dollar Records with Ian Widgery (Skynet UK) and Dave Brinkworth (Harmonic 33) following the success of Ian and Drens StazzioneEP by Panique on Manchesters Hammered imprint. This was the EP which really kicked things off, it featured in Pete Tongs BBC Radio 1FM Cool Cuts Countdown and was regularly played by Sasha and John Digweed. Many releases followed until 1997 when Drens Son, Caleb, was born. This new inspiration pulled him back to his B Boy roots and he started making tunes that were closer to his heart
the drums changed
.bye bye 909
hello 808, SP12, Old Skool and Breakbeats!
Although breaks had been included in Drens house music during 92-96 they now took the main stage. He started writing funk infused breakbeat as Capio alonside Dave Brinkworth and Si Gordon (Play Recordings) and dark moody beats under the guise of Unseen Children alongside The Horn (Universal Language). Capio spawned many projects including co-writing and producing tracks for Tom Hingley of Inspiral Carpets fame.
Dren then joined the Play Recordings family as Sign 13 and his first release launched the Play label. It was dark and moody but slightly uptempo fully utilising the classic King Curtis breakbeat. More releases followed (see Discography) until 33 Throwdown Recordings was established in 2002 with DJ Atomic Dog and Just Brian.
Dren put together an intense cut n'paste mastermix named Old Skoolin (Part One) which became the limited first release on 33 Throwdown. The heavily layered and intricately sequenced editing skills, mixed at a dance floor friendly tempo along with a mash up of classic breaks in 1/4 bar snippets soon made this a sought after piece of vinyl which currently fetches up to £40 on the record collectors scene. USA DJ, Producer and founder of Howlin Records, Freddy Fresh, was so impressed he included it in his highly acclaimed book, The Rap Records
.(quote) - "although this is a recent mastermix it is of such high calibre and utilises very early old school rap which makes it unique. Mixed by the incredible British DJ Dren it is a must have for all collectors
"
More recently Dren has also been working with Delic Records of Japan. His My Records Jump EP continues to impress the Japanese DJs and the 2nd single release is scheduled for May 2006. The Number Pieces Compilation CD Album on Delic also included two tracks from Dren. Delic have also licensed all the Sign 13 releases from Play and have released the originals with added remixes from Delic Artists. The exposure that these Japanese releases gave Dren has also secured remix work for the Death Comet Crew of New York. These guys were responsible for producing beats for rap legend Rammellzee who appears in the original Hip Hop/Rap Movie Wildstyle.
Dren rarely gigs as a DJ now but when he does youll be assured of an outstanding night of tunes, spinning Old Skool Rap(1979 - 1994), Funk, Jazz, Break Beats etc. His unique style meant he had the honour of warming up for Los Angeles Old Skool West Coast Legends Ice-T and Evil E.
33Throwdown is now on its 8th release. Drens Sign 13 Album is available on download from ITunes, Napster, Tunetribe etc now.
