Few would disagree that Grooverider is the most famous jungle DJ there is. Goldie would be the most famous producer and, just as Goldie now also DJs, so Grooverider is a producer. Of course he's been producing for years under the Codename John alias on his own label Prototype, but he's finally put out a release under Grooverider. Not just any old release either, "Mysteries Of Funk" is his debut album for Sony imprint Higher Ground. This is the same label that released DJ Rap's album recently, but while Rap wants to be a pop star, Rider stays true to his roots and delivers a drum & bass album full of hardcore futuristic funk. However, he somehow manages to also make it accessible enough to appeal to a wider audience not purely into drum & bass - easier said than done. I won't bore you with Grooverider's background - his history has been so well documented I think we're all familiar with it by now. This feature is purely about the present and the future.

If we're talking about now, then his album must be top of the agenda. "DJing is good and probably the best move I ever made," he says, "but there has always been other areas of music I wanted to explore. Doing an album was one of them. Going on the road and doing a live show is the next step for me. So this is the intro for that. Music is supposed to be there forever. Hopefully I will as well, so I've got to make steps for me to move on. The concept behind it is the future. I like to call my music future funk, so I had to make an album that portrays that and I think I have."

Grooverider has never really been recognised as a producer in the same way he has as a DJ, and this is the biggest objective with the album. After a decade at the top, Grooverider's name has become almost as much as a brand name as Sony's and there was no way they were ever going to let him release it under any other name. He had never released anything under Grooverider before as he never felt ready for all the expectant eyes on him. It's now two years since he signed, so he has obviously been careful with the quality control, but at least it's a 15 track double album.

The only time Grooverider felt confident about putting his name to music in the past was on remixes and he sometimes referred to himself as more of a remixer than a producer: "I still love remixing, it's so easy because I've always got ideas. If I hear a tune, I'll think ŒI can touch that, that would sound alright'. I always think like that because I'm a DJ. When you mix two records, that's what happens, that's what you're trying to do, make another tune. So remixing is a natural thing for me, so to challenge myself within the remixing now, I have to do things that aren't drum & bass." After his recent successful mix of 808 State's "Pacific State", next up is another classic from the era that made him, the Stone Roses' "Fools Gold".

Grooverider has now transformed himself into a fully fledged producer, but he's had to adjust the way he listens to the world to do so: "It's only since I've started making music in the last few years that I've realised that we live in a world of so much sound. If you don't make music, you don't really notice so much. Even rustling a piece of paper would sound really abstract if you recorded it. These are the things you live with all day. I get sounds from everywhere, it's just a matter of picking them out."

The problem with some futuristic music is that it can sometimes sound too cold and synthetic, but Grooverider has melded this with warm organic elements like live musical instruments and vocals to create the aural equivalent of The Borg in Star Trek TNG - the man machine. "It's not a mental thing, it comes from the heart, and that's why it has warmth. It's got hard sounds but there's feeling behind it - it's still got soul in there and that's what it's all about for me. Soul is the fundamental behind all music, if music hasn't got soul then it's not worth listening to. I'm not into making machine music for computers to dance to. It doesn't have to be soul music, it just has to have a bit of feeling and heart."

You can probably tell Grooverider was slightly disillusioned recently, and basically because of the technology. "Music wasn't music anymore - it had lost the melody and soul. It's so easy to buy a module with all these sounds in it, but after a while you start to notice they're too digital - you can hear that it's not real. The whole point of these boxes was that you had a band or 60 piece orchestra in your house, but if you can get the money to go and get somebody to do that, that's even better then isn't it?"

This financial backing was one of the main reasons behind signing with Sony, but not at the cost of losing complete freedom to do what he wanted artistically. They may be taking totally different paths, but these are the same reasons behind Rap signing to Higher Ground. Both their albums also take in a wide variety influences from other musical genres, but the big difference is that Grooverider stays within the amazingly flexible drum & bass blueprint: "I wanted to make music within drum & bass - not just drum & bass, so there are jazz and techno elements in it. My album is a drum & bass album, but it's got more things on there. I represent what I do, because I love what I do. I don't want to be something else, maybe in five years time, but not right now."

This open-minded attitude is what has kept Grooverider one step ahead of the game. He can see the way music is moving - beginning and ending - way before most people and has the confidence to act on it too. To him, this is the art of being a DJ: "You've got to believe in yourself and not just follow what everyone else does. Don't try and sound like this or that person, because that's not going to make you survive as an individual or as a DJ. I can walk into an event and, after twenty minutes, I'll know who is playing without even hearing their name. That's what I want. Having your own sound is so important. If you hear something and you like it, don't be scared of it. Try and find more of it. Trust your instincts. Like I said, right now it's drum & bass for me, but I don't know what it's going to be in five years. I may still be drum & bass, it may not. I'm always on the look out."

Optical, one of the most promising producers in drum & bass just now, engineered most of the tracks and a lot of people seem more willing to give him the credit for the album than Grooverider. Grooverider is obviously keen to point out that this is his solo album and Optical just pressed buttons. Grooverider can actually engineer himself and did so on a few of the tracks but readily admits that Optical is the better engineer of the two and was quite happy to relay his ideas through him: "He understands what I'm talking about, we've got a good working relationship and he pushes me, which is something I needed." The only other people involved left to mention are the vocalists on some of the tracks - Cleveland Watkiss, Sophie Barker and Roya (whose voice is on the latest single, "Rainbow Of Colour"). Each bring something to the track they're featured on and provide that human element necessary for major label releases.

If one word sums up Grooverider it's challenging. When he plays or makes music, he's uncompromising, constantly pushing the boundaries further, demanding more than most from the audience. He also constantly challenges himself to do more and has the self-belief to lead not follow regardless of what other people are saying (something else Rap and Grooverider have in common): "I've always liked going against the grain. Sometimes people don't really agree with what I do, but they seem to come around in the end. I'm not a trend follower, I like to be a trend setter so you have to take risks sometimes. You've got to have hard skin as well, because not everybody is going to like what you do. These are the things that you have to have." If anyone knows Grooverider (apart from the man himself obviously), then it's Fabio and he recognises even more qualities that have not only taken him to the top and kept him there, and these are his work ethic, focus and motivation. Through all of this, Grooverider gets attention, although he claims he never seeks it. His extreme designer dress sense also makes him hard to miss, but that's another story.

The next challenge for Grooverider on his continuing quest is a live tour. First he needs to get a band together and find some time for rehearsals in his hectic DJing schedule. He plans to include one major thing that's never been done before in any live drum & bass shows so far. Why? So he can take things that little bit further yet again: "When I first started talking about it, I was just toying with the idea, but the more I talk about it, the more I want to do it. Reprazent, Adam F, Goldie - when I see all this, it's making me say Œyeah, I've got to do this thing, cos they're fucking good and it looks like fun. That's what it's all about for me, fun."

Grooverider is having a lot more fun than he expected on his show with Fabio on Radio 1. He thought it might be a bit stiff upper lip because it's the BBC, but he has been pleasantly surprised and is really enjoying it. Prototype continues to roll along with forthcoming remixes of Trace's "Sonar" and Ed Rush's "Locust" and new releases from Optical and Fierce. There are already a couple of albums in the pipeline for next year on Prototype. Another artist album by Grooverider (under his Codename John alias) and a remix compilation album.

So ends another episode in Grooverider's never ending mission to boldly go where no-one has gone before. A new episode is already in the making, so tune in again soon to see what happens...

WORDS: Colin Steven