blame blame, aka conrad shafie, is perhaps the most innovative producer on the drum & bass scene - an accolade hard won over years of consistently breaking musical boundaries in an attempt to bring true innovation to the music that he loves. it all began over ten years ago when, whilst in the studio with college friend tony justice, conrad started to create tracks which would be synonymous with the early hardcore scene. 'music takes you', a solo project for moving shadow, saw him break into the uk charts and become number one in the dance chart; many books charting the early days of dance music have since credited this tune as a seminal moment in what was to soon become drum & bass. after experiencing - and celebrating - such early chart success, conrad decided to focus on his musical direction, and received critical acclaim for tunes such as 'planet neptune', also released on moving shadow. in late 1996, he joined ltj bukem's good looking records, and it was here that he began to try out more new sounds, soon becoming one of the label's most important artists. conrad hadn't been at the label long before he was experimenting with unusual time signatures on tunes such as 'solitude', exploring his jazz influences on tracks such as 'j-walkin' and '360° click', and mixing the second in the famous 'logical progression' series. he not only made waves with innovative, space-age tunes such as 'visions of mars' and 'alpha:7', but he also became one of good looking's best djs, touring the world with ltj bukem. in 1997, conrad set up his own subsidiary label at good looking - 720°. 'cuban lynx' / 'solitude' was its first release, and since then conrad has used the label as a platform for innovative drum & bass, releasing his own tunes alongside tracks from odyssey, seba, future engineers and pariah amongst others. 1999 saw the release of 'two revolutions', a 720° compilation album that showcased the label's increasingly dancefloor-orientated sound. it was a direction in which conrad's own music was heading - his 1999 'between worlds' ep featured a fiercely robotic tune called 'mechanism', which seemed to manifest the evolution of his musical vision. "i wanted to get tracks like it out on 720° as much as i could," he explains. "it crosses the board from the more musical styles of drum & bass to the harder stuff. for me, that's the future, that versatility." in 2000, after releasing pariah's 'censure' / 'living cell' on 720°, conrad locked himself in his studio, intent on pursuing that vision further and creating his first artist album for good looking. his next release was the 'sigma' ep in early 2001, which explored styles from the eerie urban jazz of 'spectre' to the uncompromising twisted amen of 'point 4'. the autumn of the same year saw his album finished and another ep released on good looking, namely the 'firestorm' ep. showcasing material from his new album, the ep yet again proved his aptitude for creating tunes as innovative and ground-breaking as they are addictive and dancefloor-friendly. for conrad, operating on the far reaches of this drum & bass in this way is what it's all about: "drum & bass is the most futuristic, forward thinking music on the planet. it's come a long way in a relatively short space of time, and my sound has grown and evolved within this journey. also whenever i work on a track," he adds, "i picture it in a visual domain. this gives the music a depth, which enables the listener to lock into your frame of mind." with such a thoughtful approach to making music, it's hardly surprising that conrad has produced some of drum & bass's most intelligent, forward-thinking tunes. and having now left good looking and set 720° up on his own, he's beginning a new chapter for both his own music and that of his label. one thing's for certain - drum & bass won't know what's hit it. as conrad explains, "drum & bass is part of my life. i'm currently somewhere i'd like to stay for as long as i can: for me, it's what i'm all about." say no more. » blame 720 mix for aerosoul a 21 minute mix from blame featuring the following tracks : dragonsword - centre of the system - 720 degrees third rail - space cameras - breakbeat science seba - vector : reload - 720 degrees dragonsword - uridium - 720 degrees for more info on blame visit the 720 web-site : http://www.720-degrees.com photography by richard ash » back