With D&B roots dating as far back as 2009 as Stan SB, and a current reputation as excitable, cheerily unpredictable genre-jumper, Fox Stevenson is a man of many styles.
With a consistent, melodic hook-heavy signature running through all his endeavours, and a loyal following who support him on every stage of his journey, he’s an example of how artists can explore a variety of genres without confusing or alienating fans and, as a result, has appeared on both UKF and UKF Dubstep twice in the last two years.
With a D&B VIP of last year’s Curbi-collaborated Spinnin hit Hoohah expected to drop later this month we asked tempo-flexing Fox for his favourite moments where house music and D&B have made perfect sense together…
Danny Byrd – Ill Behaviour
“While this isn’t a remix, its house legacy is strong! The original sample is a rapper called A.D.O.R and the sample first came to fame on Wildchild’s Renegade Master in 1995. The sample still gets used today as an acapella in house sets and more recently and notably in HI-LO’s Renegade Mastah last year. Danny Byrd’s take on the classic has always been one of my favourites, though, and I still find myself reaching for it in my sets from time to time.”
Deadmau5 – Avaritia (Dimension Bootleg)
“Yeahhhh I know, everyone is still coming down from the Strobe remix and rightly so too… It’s beautiful. But I find this remix embodies the modern D&B spirit a bit more, or at least as I know it! If I remember rightly, Netsky dropped this as his opening tune at Tomorrowland a couple of years ago and it went off! It was great to see the crossover d&b working so well in front of such a house orientated crowd.”
Tchami feat. Kaleem Taylor – Promesses (Calyx & TeeBee Remix)
“This one’s a really well executed remix of a very cool modern house track. It maintains enough of the original to keep the house heads along for the ride while letting the D&B heads have their fun. It’s a great way to trick the house people into enjoying a bit of D&B that they might not usually enjoy.”
Sigala – Sweet Lovin’ (Brookes Brothers Remix)
“This soulful vocal just screams classic house to me. It’s something I personally don’t see in drum & bass as much as I did a few years back when Danny Byrd’s Supersized album and Brookes Brothers Tear You Down first blew our minds. It’s a really fun tune, I love it. Drum & bass can have a tendency to get very serious at times, but Brookes Brothers never fail to turn that around.”
Sub Focus – Rock It
“One of the biggest tracks in recent years; I still hear people play it out regularly. But we wouldn’t have it without the influence of Daft Punk and tracks such as Robot Rock. That’s how it all works though isn’t it? Rapping may not have been as popularised if Sugar Hill Gang hadn’t taken so much inspiration from Chic – Good Times. It’s nice that this track was allowed to be released, each genre has its strengths and we can all learn from and inspire each other.”
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