State of the Art

Talking 'Headz

by Michael Endelman

In his 1998 documentary Modulations, director Jon Klein attempted a broad survey of electronic-music culture by lightly essaying a multitude of genres, from musique concrète to minimalist house -- the result seemed a frustrating parade of soundbites. Klein wisely chose a different tactic in his new film, Metalheadz: The Documentary (just released on video through Manga/Palm Pictures), a focused exploration of one label within a specific genre, drum 'n' bass. From his Central Park-bound taxi, Klein explains why he decided to home in on the Metalheadz label: "For the last two years I've been working with a production company that was right next to the Metalheadz offices in London. So it really came from me starting to hang out with them after work and then bugging them for free records. This was the first stuff that made me bang my head like I did to punk. It is the most rockin', banging stuff I've ever heard in my life."

Although Metalheadz is a pioneering drum 'n' bass label -- as well as a London club night affiliated with some of the best DJs in the style, like Grooverider and Dillinja -- its most famous export is perennial music-mag coverboy Goldie. Klein wanted to avoid making the film simply a promotional trailer for the label's biggest star, but Goldie ends up one of the most intelligent and interesting artists interviewed, a true ambassador of the genre. Most of the other DJs communicate a lot better from behind the mixing board; when asked to translate sound into words, their vocabulary is limited: "hard beats," "taking it to the next level," and "futuristic hardcore music."

Even getting these DJs in front of the camera was no easy task. "The summer is prime traveling time for DJs," explains Klein, "so half of them were traveling to Asia for massive parties and the rest were spending 24-7 in the studio." But when the camera trails these nightcrawlers down into their studios, we're treated to the best footage of the entire hour. Watching Dillinja obsess over every nuance and tone -- literally down to the megahertz -- that passes through his workshop sheds light on his reputation as a "bass scientist."

It's easy to understand why drum 'n' bass culture, and electronic culture in general, moves so quickly when you see it progress before your eyes. A track is finished on a Monday, it gets pressed onto a dub plate during the week, and the DJ spins it at the Metalheadz club over the weekend. If the crowd reaction goes well, it can go from studio to public release in less than a month -- a synergy among club, label, and artist that's unmatched in efficiency. Metalheadz is great at explaining this process, but when it delves into the past, its thoughts aren't so clear. The closest it comes to offering lessons in drum 'n' bass history is the following DJ quote: "They used to call it bonehead music cause it was so intense . . . then it started off as hardcore, then we started calling it jungle . . . then it went into dark, you know what I mean? Then it went into jump-up, then drum 'n' bass, and the new term for it is jungle/drum 'n' bass." Huh?

Then again, it might be too soon to wish for a film about electronic music that really digs into the history and evolution of a musical style that's less than 10 years old. So we're left with films like Modulations and Metalheadz, scrapbooks of sound bites that cater to hardcore fans and leave the rest of us with a few traces of the energy that led us to bang our heads in the first place.