‘#Back of the stack’, catching up with artists in the scene every 2 weeks reminiscing on some of their favourite tracks from back in the day. No real rules, just sharing some musical knowledge and reflecting on the past….
This week we caught up with DJ Monita who runs the legendary Skeleton Recordings. After it’s establishment in 1992, the label quickly gained a lot of recognition with support from some of the biggest names of the early to mid 90’s period; LTJ Bukem, Kenny Ken etc. The label’s popularity will come as no surprise after a listen through some of it’s back catalogue, which will direct you to numerous big hits of the old school era; tracks such as ‘Luv Ta Luv Ya’, ‘Don’t Take It’ and ‘Bones Break To The Max’ were huge anthems in clubs such as AWOL back in the day. After a 20 year dormancy, the label was recently re-launched in 2014 and continues to reinvent its sound with a brand new roster of artists such as Threshold, Sicknote, Tim Reaper & DJ Future to name a few. Here’s what Monita said when we caught up with him…
When In-Reach asked me to take part in their Back of the Stack series I was obviously thrilled and really keen to get involved, but I also knew it was going to be a very difficult task. To narrow it down and select only 3 tracks from the hundreds of favourites that mean a lot to me was no easy feat and I found myself asking “Where do I start?” So I’ve basically chosen a track from each of the years which were the lead up to the start of Skeleton and also that mean just as much to me hearing them now as they did back when I first heard them.
Satin Storm – 1999 (Satin Storm 1990)
Now these guys knew how to make an impact with tracks. The way this starts with that heart beating kick drum, them eerie chords and them gradually building noise upon noise. But when that bassline eventually comes in… it’s game over. Really reminds me of the convoys of cars traveling around motorways, trying to find the location of the raves we were heading to. A real head down, foot to the floor classic.
A Guy Called Gerald – Anything (Columbia 1991)
This one track reminds me a lot of when I got my first set of 1210’s and my old estate where I grew up. A stand out, almost unique track at that time which brought a new dimension into the sound that was within our scene. A Guy Called Gerald is an absolute legend in my eyes. With tracks like this, 28 Gun Bad Boy and the unforgettable classic Voodoo Ray. Legendary.
Nasty Habits – Dark Angel (Remix)(Reinforced 1992)
How often do you hear a remix of a tune that you absolutely love and it not only equals, but betters the original version? Well this remix for me exceeded everything about the original in my opinion. Really throws me back to my regular pirate radio days on Trance FM, as this was never out the bag. The start of my love for the darkside began pretty much here with this.
