Something Wicked This Way Comes: DJ Storm Interview

Drum & bass pioneer DJ Storm talks to Stewart Gardiner about the reissue of the seminal DJ-Kicks: Kemistry & Storm mix on !K7

Drum & bass DJ duo Kemistry & Storm, real world names Valerie Olukemi Olusanya and Jane Conneely, were central figures in the scene, who not only inspired rave devotion as they tore up dancefloors, but also broke artists such as Photek through running the Metalheadz label. Olusanya tragically died in a road accident in 1999, so Storm has had to continue alone, nevertheless remaining a vital presence within drum & bass.

Winding back to the late nineties, Kemistry & Storm were invited to put together an entry in the influential DJ-Kicks series from !K7 Records. The resulting release proved to be a landmark DJ-Kicks and seminal drum & bass mix. Sonic adventure and dancefloor manifestation of the lived-in futurescapes of The Terminator and Robocop, it’s a forward-thinking, future-shaping mix that sounds as fresh today as it did in 1999. It was therefore a smart move for !K7 to reissue DJ-Kicks: Kemistry & Storm as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations.

!K7 have thankfully made the collection available again on vinyl, as well as CD and digital. The digital comes with the continuous mix as well as the individual tracks, so I’d personally recommend grabbing the vinyl from !K7’s Bandcamp to get the best of all worlds.

We opened bunker to bunker communications and I was able to speak with DJ Storm about DJ-Kicks, shaping the future Kemistry & Storm style and more.

These are strange and frightening times we’re living in. What’s life like for you at the moment? Is there any particular music that’s helping you get by?

Yes it’s all a bit difficult at the moment, feels like Groundhog Day, and as I care for my 93 year old father it can be even a little more difficult at times. So music, and for me drum & bass, is vital.

So I have to say a massive thanks to all you wonderful producers who keep rolling out wicked tunes to soothe my soul.

It’s really great that DJ-Kicks: Kemistry & Storm has been made available again – both digitally and on vinyl. I felt a genuine burst of excitement when that was announced – which is hard to come by in these times! What do you remember about being commissioned for DJ-Kicks back in the day? 

For Kemistry and myself we felt excited and truly privileged about being asked to do the DJ-Kicks mix for !K7.

We had already done Above the Law for Reinforced Records in 1996 and Artcore 4 in 1997 and they were both fabulous to do, but the DJ-Kicks mix was a different prospect.

This time we had complete control over the tracks that we chose which was a great opportunity to highlight all our favourite producers at that time.

Could you talk a little about how the reissue came about?

I was approached by David from !K7 about their 25 years of DJ-Kicks anniversary and that they would like to reissue our mix, which I have to say I was really happy about.

What does it mean to you that it’s back out there?

It means so much to me in many ways, the first being it was the last studio mix Kemistry and I did before she sadly passed away and to be back out there allows new and old people out there to hear her amazing DJing talents again.

Secondly I feel honoured that our mix has been chosen amongst a great selection of brilliant artists’ mixes, it feels very special indeed.

Was your DJ-Kicks something you’d revisited over the years or was preparing for the re-release an opportunity to look back at a key Kemistry & Storm moment? Does it bring back any particular memories of the two of you? 

DJ-Kicks has never been out of my mind for very long as I have been brought so many copies in so many different parts of the world to be signed by fans. Only last year in Switzerland a guy brought his CD to me to be signed.

Of course it made me think of the whole experience, how professional and forward thinking !K7 were and what lovely people they were.

Kemistry and I had so many amazing times on the tour in Europe and the USA, and it gave us an opportunity to play in some different places which is still exciting to me to this day.

It’s interesting that it still sounds as fresh and forward-thinking today? Why do you think that is?

Yes I have to agree, I listened to it myself the other day. The reason for this is easy. A wicked tune will always be a wicked tune – and I still draw out these tunes in Old Skool sets that I get asked to do – and they are timeless.

A number of recent works have engaged with and re-contextualised rave culture. I’m thinking Jeremy Deller’s Everybody in the Place documentary, Matt Anniss’s bleep & bass book Join the Future and Joe Muggs’s oral history of soundsystems Bass, Mids, Tops. With this going on it feels even more right that your DJ-Kicks should re-emerge. In fact there’s an interview with you in Joe Muggs’s book (which is a real standout section for me). It feels as if rave culture is finally starting to be properly recognized. Drum & bass and indeed Kemistry & Storm are vital parts of that story – did you feel at the time like you were involved in shaping the future?

No I don’t think we did, we just loved what we did. We did realise that DJ-Kicks was a really good stepping stone for us as the approach to this series was different, it was treated as an artist album rather than just a mix CD.

Over the years from the love and respect I have received concerning this mix I do now think it did make a difference.

When you do something you love with passion and integrity, recognition of that is a natural process.

The Kemistry & Storm origin story part of your conversation with Joe Muggs is particularly inspiring. You talk about getting your first decks, practicing mixing and putting sets together – I really feel it’s essential reading for anyone who wants to DJ. You go on to say that Kemistry and yourself felt “that pressure as women that we’ve got to be really good, we can’t skip a beat.” What was it like as women DJs back in the 1990s, particularly within the world of drum & bass?

I think when you are a minority you always feel a pressure to be as good as the majority, I think it was easier being a female duo rather than doing it as an individual.

Even though we were aware of prejudices, having each other made it a lot easier to handle and if you are determined and focused on your goal you will get there.

We were also very lucky to be picked up early in our career by the guys from Reinforced Records and they never made us feel judged for being women, it was never an issue.

Also being part of a pirate radio station was good grounding for having a platform to show what you could do. For us Defection FM was that place and again there was no judgement, we were treated as equals. Again our ability to hold down a two hour set once a week on a Sunday was all that was asked of us and we loved every second of it, even when Kemi was in the mix and part of the studio fell on her lol.

We just felt we had to be good with our skills and selection, turn up on time and do what we loved Kemistry & Storm style.

How much has changed for women in the industry today and how much more has to be done?

Things have definitely changed for the better and it has been a joy for me over the years of travelling to be introduced to more and more women DJs and not just in drum & bass.

I have also done many interviews and have been involved with organisations such as Red Bull Music Academy to promote women and try to encourage women to feel there are possibilities and ways of becoming part of this scene.

In the last couple of years EQ50 has become a fantastic platform for women to come together and be part of discussion forums and practical workshops.

It has also been encouraging to see Mollie Collins come through in this world of producer DJs as a DJ. I really thought at one time this was not going to happen but I am so happy it did.

Have to give a shout out to the 6 Figure Gang, it was truly wonderful to be part of their night at Electric Brixton, an all female line up which sold out, so if you had any doubt at all we as a gender have totally arrived.

What’s your view on the drum & bass scene at the moment?

Drum & bass is really on top of its game right now, it has always been a roller coaster of a scene and we have all ridden that ride but at this point in time drum & bass is going nowhere but onwards and upwards.

Obviously the immediate future is uncertain, but what can we expect from DJ Storm once everyone can get out again?

Well I am busting to get out there again and get back on the decks spreading the joy that drum & bass brings.

DJ-Kicks: Kemistry & Storm Bandcamp