Pascal

Although dismissive of acid house, Pascal found himself engrossed by the rave scene of the early nineties - drawn in by the hip-hop influences. From DJ'ing he quickly became involved in production; following the white label Fubar EP with a couple of singles with <a href="spotify:artist:2JXDwIo5HsiwTcTPQytrZ8">Sponge</a> as <a href="spotify:artist:7zAfa2euG43YQDEiHK2Ljl">Bad Influence</a> before the pair eventually established Face Records in 1992. His first solo outing acted as testament to his skills as a producer, with the horror film aesthetic of "Johnny Jungle" heavily influential to the 'dark' period which came to dominate the music. Tracks for Suburban Base raised his profile still further before an amicable split with <a href="spotify:artist:2JXDwIo5HsiwTcTPQytrZ8">Sponge</a> began a brief period of working with <a href="spotify:artist:3DyNrfbjNdST3C9fjeocIx">Marvellous Cain</a> at IQ before he established his own Frontline imprint. The substantial sales of the Still Smokin' LP, a collaborative effort between Frontline and <a href="spotify:artist:2MnM5JbezlOuVYlfx61Qc6">DJ Hype</a>'s Ganja imprint encouraged the pair to set up True Playaz with <a href="spotify:artist:3xZdDJ1ftqw9o5RoZ1xK4k">Zinc</a>; the consistently high sales achieved through the trio's own productions resulting in a deal in 1996 with RCA as the <a href="spotify:artist:1GNqYPZX9xWLXHQfHKXXVu">Ganja Kru</a> in 1997. Although a considerable success, the threesome backed out of renewing their options a year later, a wise move in retrospect with many of the other artists who flirted with the majors at the time finding the short attention span of the companies more damaging than rewarding. The True Playaz empire has continued a steady growth, supporting a string of singles with compilations and, more recently, a series of superb extended player projects with a sound that encompasses all of the strands of drum & bass. ~ Kingsley Marshall, Rovi