by James Edgar, The Leeds Guide
After a recent holiday to Greece, I flirted with the idea of an exclusive pan-European special report contrasting the Leeds dance music scene with that of its Athenian equiva lent. However, although I did manage to find some time between oiling my mankini-clad body and perfecting my rendition of Wham’s ‘Club Tropicana’ video to savour what the Greek capital had to offer, I found little to make a fruitful comparison. Maybe I just went to the wrong places? (Suggestions on a postcard to the usual address please.)
What I should done to hear some decent beats is follow Leeds drum & bass heavy-hitter DJ Steppa on his worldwide tour! Fresh from headlin ing nights across Europe and Canada, Steppa will be back in Leeds for his big birthday bash at SubDub on 8th September before heading out to the white isle to DJ alongside Andy C for the closing party of Metropolis’ first season in Ibiza (as featured in last month’s Leeds Guide). Then on to Lithuania of all places — Greece needs to catch up!
After the relative lull of Leeds’ summer, Steppa told us: "I’m looking forward to getting the raving season kicked off again in Leeds. There’s a lot of big line-ups this year. Metropolis and SubDub have stepped it up a whole other level."
As well as those two main residen cies, he’ll be DJing at Jump, the new monthly drum & bass night opening in September at the Mint Club. And, of course, with the return of the students it’s "all about getting ready for the freshers’ week onslaught!"
It’s not just about the mixing for Steppa. With a brand new studio, he’s looking to treat the production side of things more like a job, with a remix for Ray Keith in the pipeline for Dread Recordings. And his current tune, ‘The Menace’, a collaboration with Ego Trippin and DJ Sly (3rdangle Recordings), is getting a lot of support on dubplate from the likes of Nicky Blackmarket and Hype.
Winning Best Breakthrough DJ in the National Drum & Bass awards was a real turning point for Steppa, and he explained how he used it as a launch pad for his career (take note kids): "You can’t sit around and wait for bookings to come in, so I got off my arse and promoted myself as the best breakthrough DJ, and I’ve got so much more work out of Leeds now. I’ve played in places I didn’t even know existed or even had a drum & bass scene, so things are going off!"
Check out the latest from Steppa and listen to his beats on www. myspace.com/djsteppa
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