Basic details :

Name : Matt Lowe, Sensa
Record Label : Dirty needle recordings [owned] / Motion sensor records [owned] / Garanteed beats [owned] / Maximum Ammo / Source Records / Raw Records / Dirty Buscuit Records
Home Town : Birmingham
Website : www.myspace.com/sensa2006

KRISISDnB : After the KRISISDnB show on Thursday (24th January) what was your first impression of the station? And how did you personally think the show went?

Sensa : Well for the last year or so I havent really had time to do any internet radio unfortunately, But doing a show on krisis deffinetely bought it all back for me. I was pretty pleased with how the show went conciderin the record for the station was set that night!!. Will deffinetly be making a little more time for the krisis listeners!.

KRISISDnB : How and when did you first get into Drum n Bass? What were your inspirations?

Sensa : I was actually dragged into the dnb scene as a kid, my friends cube and venz were veteran drum & bass heads, I was into all sorts of music at the time but after hearing them mix drum & bass i was converted pretty much straight away and have never looked back!. My main drum & bass inspirations were the usual suspects, Shy fx, hype, zinc, twisted individual, hazard & too many others
to mention.

KRISISDnB : What other types of music do you listen to?

Sensa : I would say im a very diverse person when it comes to music, most of my producing in the past has been based around hip hop samples, so hip hop for me is a very big influence especially all the early biggy & tu pac material. Other than hip hop I like anythin with a nice vocal.

KRISISDnB : How was Dirty Needle recordings started? How long have you been running it?

Sensa : Dirty needle recordings started in early 2007 when I met a guy from Milton keynes called Garron-T.
At the time when i first got speaking to him he was running the "Dirty needle" record shop which is also based in Milton,with me producing & knowing alot of artists in the scene, him owning the shop we had a perfect foundation for a record
label.

KRISISDnB : What have been the major highlights of your DJ'ing career so far?

Sensa : Djing brings alot of advantages to the table, you dont only get to meet the people who you idolised as a kid but you get to play alongside them & converse with them!. Other than that doing what you love, having fun and getting paid for it, obviously!

KRISISDnB : Is Dirty Needle your full time day job or what other work do you do?

Sensa : At the moment the label is my full time job im not doing anything else except djing, producing & setting up the brother & sister labels Motion sensor records & garanteed beats which will be hitting your record stores in mid 2008!.

KRISISDnB : What plans have you got for 2008 and beyond??

Sensa : 2008 is looking like my busiest year so far. At the moment im preparing for my USA tour in may which im really excited about.Ive been working on my first album with a succesfull hip hop artist from Los angeles called Sacrifice the album if you dont already know is called Tower of babel and is a bit different to your average drum & bass album, im combining jump up drum & bass with a hip hop edge, im not going to give too much away but you can expect that hitting the stores in late 2008. Aside from that you can expect to be getting alot more of my tracks on vinyl, ive been producing alot of tracks for source records, Raw records & a newly spawned bootleg label called Dirty buscuit records which all my remixes are going to appear on.

KRISISDnB: Whats tracks do you have out at the moment?

Sensa: At the minute in the shops are "Sensa - We got a problem" & "Sensa & Izah - gettin personal" both of which are available to buy at the source records website!!! www.dnbsource.co.uk

KRISISDnB : What have been the biggest events you have played at?

Sensa : Ive only really being djing clubs about a year or so now although i have been djing about eight years in total, I concider myself more of a producer than dj but I tend to dj because it comes with the territory. Ive played at festivals & many well known clubs such as Mass night club in brixton & have also been booked for an innovation re-union night. Lets just hope that the bookings keep coming in for this year!!

KRISISDnB : Who are your favourite DJs and MCs worldwide?

Sensa : I wouldnt say i have favourite "DJs" but my favourite dj is the one and only hazard, hes deffinetly got the best sound, djing wise & production wise in my opinion. My favourite mc's are eksman, flyte, fleximus, fun & finally the one and only skibbadee who im glad to say will be featuring on my set on the 15th of march 08 @ vagez bar in Hastings!.

KRISISDnB : How do you see the Drum n Bass industry moving forward? Do you see it becoming more mainstream or staying underground?

Sensa : Im hoping that the dnb industry will remain underground but who knows, with people like Pendulum on the scene commercialising everything we could all be mainstream before you know it, which im sure the majority will agree will be a very sad day!. Drum & bass just wouldnt be the same if you had hazard playing on your local rock station would it? I think keeping it underground gives the music more edge & more of a spark. To all those commercial Pendulum heads its just music, to the rest of the scene its a way of life and so much more.

KRISISDnB : What software / Hardware do you use to make your own tunes?

Sensa : Im using reason 4 at the moment with some other programmes to host my VSTs such as fruity loops 7 & Nuendo, thats pretty much everything, not using any monitors just running everything through a brand new technics system! but its doing the job.

KRISISDnB : We have a fair few producers on KRISISDnB. What tips would you give to anyone starting out and making tunes?

Sensa : I give the same tips to all aspiring producers, NEVER give up, if its one thing that stops the producers of today provailing its giving up when the goings tough keep on rolling & you'll get to where you want to go its taken me eight years to get recognised in that whole time I never thought id be releasing tunes I was just doing it for fun, keep your passion levels high & you will succceed!.

KRISISDnB : What have been the biggest tunes released on Dirty Needle so far?

Sensa : For this question I think the majority will agree with me, "Optimist - High volume" & "Dub zero - Power gurn" are the most memorable tracks to come out of the Dirty needle camp.

KRISISDnB : What releases are forthcoming on Dirty Needle?

Sensa : The next promo "Chowder - Dead man walking" is going to be hitting the shelves in early Febuary 08, after that we have a full NW2 [Cabbie & Origin] 12" which features "itchy fingaz" & "octopus legs" after that we have Dub alley & myself - spiderman which has been eagerly awaited for the last two years or so!. We do have a schedule set beyond that but I think i'll leave you in suspense for now!.

KRISISDnB : Whats your gut feeling about who is gonna make it big in 2008 (no, not you!!! haha)?

Sensa : Other than me??? hmmmm no idea!!! Joke! I think it goes without saying that Pleasure is deffinetly making his mark on the scene at the moment.Callide is another producer whos making his mark, im proud to call him a friend! Although, There are alot of relatively unknown producers out there that I speak to on a daily basis who would deffinetly give them both a run for their money. Lets just watch this space.

KRISISDnB : Ok, you thought this was just another interview, well were not quite like that. so heres the 10second round..

KRISISDnB : Vinyl or mp3?

Sensa : I can't answer that in ten seconds!!! I Prefer to mix on vinyl but because of the mass amounts of material i get sent
on a daily basis mp3!

KRISISDnB : Online record shop or local record shop?

Sensa : local record shop

KRISISDnB : Promo or Picture disc??

Sensa : promo

KRISISDnB : Mixmag or Kmag?

Sensa : knowledge mag, because they printed my interview ! It could be mix mag when you next interview me if they decide to
publish me in some way shape or form.

KRISISDnB : One Nation or Random Concept?

Sensa : Random concept, Birmingham all the way.

KRISISDnB : Innovation in the Sun or Innovation at the Dam?

Sensa : Innovation in the sun

KRISISDnB : Reebok or Nike?

Sensa : Nike

KRISISDnB : Pepsi or Coke?

Sensa : Coke, although im not really feeling the fizzy drinks at the moment.

KRISISDnB : Anything else you would like to tell us about?

Sensa : I Think weve pretty much cleared everything, but can I just big up everyone from the Dirty needle, Motion sensor,
Garanteed beats, Rollin soundz camp, all the promoters who have booked me & a very big shout to Becky & my family for the support when
I needed it most!!

KRISISDnB : Cheers for being interviewed for the site. Hope 2008 brings everything you want from it, and hope to see you back on KRISISDnB very soon !!!