When Roni Size and Reprazent won the Mercury Prize in 1997 they took drum & bass to a whole new audience. After a long hiatus they're finally back with stage two of the masterplan, 'In The Mode'...

It's 6.30pm. Roni Size and Dynamite have been trapped in their (admittedly rather swanky) hotel room listening to the same questions for almost ten hours. Understandable then that they're both slumped into a sofa staring at Eminem's 'The Real Slim Shady' video playing on MTV. Roni looks up only to complain of a sore throat. They suddenly let loose a collective 'yeeeeurrrrgh' at the part where a sizable lady devours Em's expertly placed saliva salvo. This breaks them from their reverie and they finally offer their attention for the interview.

The importance of Roni, Dynamite and the rest of the Reprazent crew to the drum & bass scene cannot be understated. No more and no less than a random collection of creative and subversive personalities who have met and joined forces over the years, they have managed to achieve the almost impossible by creating a strain of d&b that has earned mainstream appeal while remaining true to its musical roots. After 'New Forms' earned them a surprise victory at the Mercury Prize Awards and shoved them wide-eyed into the media spotlight back in 97, the group have refused to rest on their laurels, keeping up the momentum with projects like Breakbeat Era, Krust's 'Coded Language' LP and a glut of tunes released through Full Cycle, including the recent 'Through The Eyes' compilation.

While all of this has been impressive enough, it's the follow up to 'New Forms' that everyone has really been waiting for. People have expectations, and while fans eagerly await the return of the Reprazent massive, critics from the 'build 'em up and knock 'em down' school of journalism are already sharpening their pencils, wondering how they can possibly match such a strong debut. The crew who finally managed to catapult drum & bass from irksome outsider to fully fledged, card carrying member of the wider musical community must surely have felt the pressure?

"The Mercury Prize opened up so many doors for us," acknowledges Roni, leaning forward and concentrating fully. "We learned so much from releasing a record on a major, from working with Talkin' Loud and touring and travelling. The initial idea of all that was quite hard, that was a lot of pressure. And before that, when we had no equipment and no Giro and no food, that was pressure too. But now we're the ones applying the pressure. No-one is doing what we're doing, we're one of a kind. We're eight people on stage, we're strong, travelling all over the world pushing a good record, we have a lot to offer. To be honest we absorb the pressure like a sponge. We apply it, use it like a tool in the studio and it works for us."

Such pronouncements are typical of Size. Even after such a tiring day, his words seem like statements of intent and are laced with a somewhat grim determinism. He switches negatives to positives in a nanosecond, slaps down errant questions even more quickly and invents new words (though not as many as wordplay veteran Dynamite) in his haste to get them out of his mouth. Three years of success and 'industry' initiations have done nothing to diminish his famous ardour. But then the unique thing about Reprazent is that they've always seemed to do what they've wanted, to follow their own paths musically ­ and for true music enthusiasts what better motivation could there be?

"From a musical point of view its been great," concurs Roni. "We've had the opportunity to do the Breakbeat Era, 'Coded Language' and do the Full Cycle stuff and, to be honest, the music is very easy for me to do. I just do what I feel and don't make clones of what we've already done. It was more about finding a direction to go in and then spending the next six months recording."

It's this direction that will be the crucial part for many people. The questions have already been bandied around: will Reprazent - now surely the main face of drum & bass - be mellowing their sound to make it more palatable to the masses? Will 'In The Mode' simply be a play-it-safe extension of 'New Forms'? Or will it take another direction entirely? In fact, the answer has been delivered in the shape of the potent first single, 'Who Told You', a full on rant of a track complete with ram-raid lyricism from Dynamite. It's as uncompromising and confrontational as they come and - more significantly perhaps - is in line with much on 'In The Mode'.

"It's bigger, badder and louder," offers Dynamite. "We've learned from the first album, from being on the road, from the scene, from whatever and are taking it to a new level. It's next level business, a new strain. This album is huge. It's massive. It's gigantic..."

Self-approving big-up's aside, he should know. Because this time around, Dynamite is in the driving seat, steering the new and improved Reprazent machine towards dancefloors and living rooms world-wide. Onallee is still safely in the passenger chair but it's down to the crew's much respected MC to act as primary verbal ambassador. And yes, his voice booms through the gritty sonic chaos loud and clear, helping to create an atmosphere that's coarser and more powerful than anything 'New Forms' offered up.

"The goal ain't to make this into a pop phenomenon," rejoins Roni. "You have to understand about where we come from and where we're trying to get to. We're not trying to collect an audience that isn't going to grow with the music. We're trying to set up a platform in terms of music, not in terms of winning awards or record sales. You have to understand that once we had no opportunity but now we've got the key to the door. When people see us doing well it generates hope and that's great. In Bristol there's not a torch but there's a glow. People in Bristol are glowing as they know it's possible to do something creative, out of Bristol without having to... sell your fucking soul."

Ah, the 'selling your soul' question. Throughout the group's many interviews it's an inevitable theme that has come up again and again. Many journalists have recorded an annoyed reaction at this line of enquiry so I approach the subject cautiously. Surprisingly though, Roni doesn't start spitting teeth.

"We have a new term," he comments smugly, folding his arms, "it's called fencing. We sit on the fence. Its nice there." Dynamite - perhaps sensing that Roni has been through this too many times - interjects: "We love the underground," he states. "We are underground. But when it's time to represent and play in front of 10 million people - which you would consider overground ­ damn right well do that too. We'll play main stage at Glastonbury or Thursday night at Bar Rumba, it's all the same to us, there's no difference."

If talking about the underground/underground position of Reprazent is a turn off for Roni, getting asked about the grander aims of the clique is a veritable aphrodisiac. When asked if there is some kind of 'masterplan', the response is unequivocal: "That's the best question anyone has asked all day, no word of a lie," he says with no apparent irony. "We do have a masterplan and it's to put together a company ­ a production company, a management company, to get a DJ base, a club angle, some studios and all work together to allow each and every one of us to put forward their own vision.

"And it s not just drum & bass either," he warns. "We've got hip hop here, soul elements... there's a whole unit of people here that can make their own industry and create a vehicle for ourselves and put our shit to good use. It's not hard to work out that this is where we trying to go but we need to be allowed to get to that point. I feel that we're taking the opportunity to build our platform as Full Cycle, as Reprazent, as Krust, as Dynamite, for everyone involved. First and foremost we want to lay foundations so we can start producing what we really want. We are still babies in terms of production but we're learning fast and there's lots we want to do."

While 'In The Mode' may not be a thousand miles away from 'New Forms' in places - there's nice melodic tracks, plenty of jazzed up b-lines, tons of drums and hip hop/drum & bass hybrids with the likes of Rahzel and Method Man - it's different enough to be a progression. Some may find it harder to handle than its predecessor, others will welcome its brash honesty and ruffled edges. Another important factor in how it's perceived is the environment it's being born into. Roni and the crew may have been through some changes in the last three years but so has the scene and their new album comes at a time when the underground is beginning to diversify once again.

Instead of being dominated by overbearing technical sounds, heads can now witness an increase in vocal tunes, more musical experimentation and more party vibes. Roni, unsurprisingly, is confident about the future. "The scene has always been renowned for changing," he claims. "Faster than you could say the word drum & bass it became something else and it's always been like that. Now there's loads of kids who are flying the torch right now, who are inside their boxes and shit is starting to happen, there's lots of different techniques coming through."

And while it's certainly down to these 'kids' to start making their mark, it's also of crucial importance that this younger generation has role models who can keep them inspired and lead them in the right direction. Reprazent are one such guide. By sticking to their particular brand of rebel music, by constantly breaking new ground and sticking a collective middle finger up to convention, they are helping push the bigger picture and keeping everyone 'In The Mode'.