Rob Playford - Moving Shadow Records - Interview - 2001

From its genesis in the tail end mists of the 80’s, Rob Playford has been a prominent figure in the drum & bass/jungle/hardcore scene. Not least for his creation of one of he scene’s most important labels, Moving Shadow.   

It was April 1990, Acid House had already mutated into what was to become one of the UKs most important musical assets, and Playford had decided to move from his role as an increasingly authority-harassed free-party promoter/DJ with Ibiza 2000 AD, into the studio. The Update spoke to Rob to get the dilly:

“I was DJing and wanted to get into the studio and get some tunes out.” 

Moving Shadow’s first release was Playford’s own eponymous ‘Orbital Project’ 4 track 12”. After a second release under the same moniker that year, the next year saw the seminal (and equally eponymous) 2 Bad Mice 12”. The label soon became THE hardcore/jungle label with release after release of quality beats. 

“We were just so heavily involved with what we were doing and what was going on that we COULDN’T get anything wrong: I think we came through better because we were trying a bit harder. We were a bit more professional.”

With a discography that includes as many absolute classics as MS’s, it seems pointless to name seminal releases: nothing wasn’t seminal.

“It’s hard to say which releases were seminal. I guess if I had to say it would be the Foulplay remix of Omni Trio’s ‘Rengade Snares’, ‘The Helicopter Tune’ by Deep Blue, Renegade ‘The Terrorist’, and of course Dead Dred ‘Dred Bass’.”

But looking at the discography makes you realize that of the 150 odd releases, coming from the scene’s key-players like Aquasky and Cloud 9, MS haven’t released anything that wasn’t played out to rapturous response in 12 years.  

“Part of the point of Moving Shadow was to give the dancefloors something they wanted, as well as something that would push the music forward and blow them away: a 50/50 split between that would be an ideal release.”

In the mid nineties the label and the scene was sufficiently strong for the MS crew to launch a sibling imprint: Audio Couture.

“By 1996 Moving Shadow had such a spot light on it that there was a lot of pressure on new artists, so we launched a sub label to release new artists on. Audio Couture wasn’t necessarily stylistically different, it was supposed to be an artistic nursery.”

While other drum & bass labels consciously released non-drum & bass records, Rob explains that MS’s move into other musical territory was purely the way the scene was moving.

“We just ended up releasing other things – downbeat, non-drum & bass things. The people who were making music were experimenting in the studio, so we decided to put stuff on a b-side or an album and it filtered in like that. It was just what people were doing at the time; we trust the artists.”

As Moving Shadow goes from strength to strength their exposure and appeal continues to grow, not least from the use of their tracks in films such as ‘Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ (‘Walk This Land’ – E Z Rollers) and various things for computer games including the Grand Theft Auto Soundtrack. 

It’s good to know that the Shadow is still Moving.