JDNB Interview - Kleen

Kleen - Winner of Into Darkness Events DJ Competition.

Thanks so much for speaking to us. As the judge, and running JDNB I thought it was only right we have a quick chat to you about your music career! Congratulations firstly on winning!

You must be stoked?
Yeah I am massively stoked. I can’t believe it and am so so grateful for the opportunity.

How has the last year been for you and did winning the competition give you some much needed motivation?
The last year for me has been okay, I have played at a few events but not as many as I had wished for. So winning the into darkness events competition has really motivated me, and made me look forward to an event that will be certain to happen.

Tell us about the finalists you were up against and had you heard of them before?
It was a tough competition, including a range of skilled mixes and some very good djs and a few people who have had more experience than me. I’ve listened to Natty Lou and seen Billy Kettles TikToks.

You were born and raised in Cambridgeshire, and still reside there. There are quite a few big dnb artists from your area right?
Absolutely, such as Inja who is my favourite MC ever! DJ Manual, Demize and JDizz who are up and coming, pretty fast.

What have been your favourite clubs and places to play and rave at in your area?
The Junction will always be my favourite venue and playing there would be a dream. Due to the pandemic I haven’t played at a big rave venue so I am looking forward to that. Maybe a next hype in London will be on the horizon lol.

So you only started out in 2019 and already been on Kiss, tell us about that.
My mate sent me a screenshot of a post from Charlie Powell who is one of the DJ and presenters of Kiss. Asking for an up and coming DJ to send a mix of any genre to be featured in an hour set. I sent in my Funktion mix and received an email a month later saying “Can you get me a 57 min clean mix over today by any chance? A slot has become available tonight!” I only had an hour and a half to record and send the hour mix in the deadline time, because I finished work later then I had hoped. So it was purely a freestyle set as I had no time for any prep.

Tell us about Extinct Audio and your set on Rough Tempo.
Somebody in the local Cambridgeshire area put a post on Cambridge D&B, asking for people to send a mix in to be involved in a livestream to raise money for meningitis. I sent a mix in and Sam (Extinct Audio) gave me an hour slot and everyone involved raised £240. I had an amazing time and it was so fun. I chat to Sam most days and consider him a mate. A mate I made just through the love of dnb. My mate Ryan asked me if I would want to go to Rough Tempo with him, as a Subsonik takeover. That was insane, 6 CDJ2000s. At first it felt like I was driving a spaceship, I’ve never seen such a fat set up before lol. So blessed for people who have got me invited and involved to play at some mad places.

Tell us about buying your controller, that has a nice story behind it right?
In 2018 October I was at a Warning (to not surprise) and I bumped into an old friend called Will; who I had met from the level 1 plumbing course at CRC. He said he was going to Vietnam and needed extra money for flights and asked me if I wanted to buy his controller for £80, which was the Pioneer DDJ-RB. I done some research about it and said yes. At the time I had no laptop so I bought an Acer. I needed to get some speakers but I myself was going travelling around South-East Asia. So the controller sat there collecting dust. The week I got back from travelling was my birthday (July 11th 2019) I opened my presents hoping I would have a pair of monitor speakers... Sure enough my brother and sister bought me some monitors, the Pioneer DJM-40s.

Who are your top 5 dnb djs, mcs and artists right now?
My top 5 Djs are: Voltage, Nu Elementz, Crossy, Randall and Slipz. My top 5 Mcs are: Inja, Trigga, IC3, Eksman and Shaydee. My top 5 artists are: Manual, Demize, EJ Kitto, Upgrade and Serum.

Tell us that feeling you get of perfecting a mix and what mixing drum and bass means to you?
Hearing back on a mix I am sooo picky and everything has to be perfect. I am way too strict with myself... even submitting the into darkness mix I wasn’t 100% about it. The feeling you get when you spend a long time perfecting a mix, putting in a lot of time and effort into it for people to say “that’s a fat mix” is an amazing feeling. Entering the competition, I could never have imagined winning. So I am very humbled by everyone who shows love on my mixes and continues to gassed me up. Massive big ups to Into Darkness Events for giving me the opportunity and for seeing something in me. My Funktion Events mix is probably my favourite, it just reminds me of summer also. Drum and Bass means everything to me. There’s nothing I enjoy more then to Dj. Even before I Djed I had such a burning passion for it. Everyone has those days when they are feeling down for no reason at all, dnb is that escape. The special thing about drums is the diversity, there’s a sub-genre for everyone. When you are skanking it out in the rave, nothing can touch you. You are just living...and taking in the fog horns.

You love the scene, tell us some of your fondest memories so far.
My fondest memory has got to be Inno In the Dam 2018. The atmosphere was amazing and the sets were insane. Favourite set from the whole weekend had to be Serum and Inja, SDC also went off! Was me and my five best mates. Couldn’t have been a better weekend.

Where would you like to be in 5 years time?
That’s a hard question, but in 5 years time I would like to be performing a lot. London, Cambridge, Bristol, Innovation in the Sun and Dam. I hope to meet more and more people and make loads more friendships. In 10 years hopefully New Zealand and Australia and to be a DJ full time. All of this would be a proper dream.

If I gave you £10k what would you do with it?
I would firstly buy myself 4 Cdj 1000 Nexus 1s and the DJM 900 Nexus 2 mixer. Buy some production lessons and start producing my own tunes. Then I would travel around the Scandinavian countries, and maybe invest some of it.

Where would your ideal set be at?
Corr that is an easy one, it would have to be Boomtown, Wrong Side of the Tracks. I remember seeing Benny L there at my first boomtown. The sound system slaps and I love how dark the inside is.

Where is your first place djing out in 2021 and if nothings booked yet, which raves are you hitting this summer?
I should be going to Goat Shed pretty soon. I’ll be playing at Wisereks on the 31st of July in Northamptonshire. The Into Darkness rave. Rough Tempo, Extinct Audio. I’ll be at Boomtown and Weekend in the Woods. But I want to go to more.

What do you think of the www.jungledrumandbass.co.uk website?
I like the layout of the website, it looks very inviting. Very informative and interesting. I look forward to reading more about artists.

Top 3 tracks you draw for?
Flee Vip - Lupo & Jappa Musket - Skeptical Mix and Blend - Zoro

Who's your favourite MC?
Inja all day!

Thanks for your time, big congratulations again.

Thank you so much! Also a big up to Into Darkness Events!
Interview by Missrepresent May 2021