Roni Size is a producer. Dynamite MC, Krust, Onallee, Suv and DJ Die (Die and Size also joined forces for 1999's Breakbeat Era project) make up the Reprazent collective that handles singing, riffing and sculpting duties. Other lines on Size's resume reveal a small label owner, a b-boy and a former youth worker. We did a little Q&A to see what else rounds out the man behind the beats. Like anybody, he's got stuff on his mind, folks on his shit list and favorites in his CD player.

This new record's a bit different from New Forms.
With New Forms, some tracks were quite old before it even came out. If I didn't progress to get to the point where I am now, I don't think it would have been fair to myself. We brought the best elements of New Forms and brought them to the table in In the Mode. There were elements of the whole hip-hop thing, and trying to elaborate on vocals more.

I'm reading a lot about the death of drum & bass. What do you make of that?
Instead of saying the death of drum & bass, say the death of Roni Size. I would take it like that. I think it's very selfish for someone to announce the death of something that is still growing, still maturing, trying to find its own pocket of supporters. I've never really read it anywhere. I've only heard it since doing present interviews. This album is definitely very alive.

New Forms and LTJ Bukem's Journey Inwards came under fire for being a bit too smooth. Do you feel like drum & bass has to be aggressive or dark to have credibility?
The simple explanation is that you can't please everyone. I've met a million people out there who love LTJ Bukem, New Forms and Journey Inwards -- and there's probably a million people who don't. There's probably a million people who love it when it's very hard and very expressive (I don't use the word aggressive) and there's people out there who don't. Some people have the power in their pens, and some people choose not to voice their opinions. What Bukem has contributed, being involved in music, and his opinions -- forget the music alone, and allow him and myself to craft our art. We're not necessarily trying to please the majority. It's not like we're pushing ourselves in your face, telling you to listen to what we're doing. This has been a case of [being] invited to bring our music to the forefront, because people want it. It's not a big marketing campaign. We're quite happy just sitting down in our bedrooms, making beats and putting them on the shelf … and DJing.

Was it a conscious thing to explore more hip-hop flavors with this one?
Absolutely. With New Forms a lot of people did misread the elements. All they did see was jazz, and they didn't reference what we had done prior to that with our own independent record labels. A lot of people just saw the immediate jazz, and with that, it was announced we were winning the [Mercury] award. This time around, if people were going to read into anything, we wanted to show and reference our inheritance of hip-hop. And not hip-hop in the sense of what you think hip-hop is today. What it was for me -- about small independent labels signing to majors and getting burnt by these majors, but learning from it and making themselves stronger. The dress culture, the language, the cliques they created to be able to get their music over the other side of the ocean. I remember the Juice Crew coming to England with MC Shan and Roxanne Shante.

Seems like hip-hop means different things to different people.
I'm a b-boy. I'll be the first to say that I'm not hip-hop, and that I'm a b-boy, man. I love the whole aspect of, in the breakdance, who can bust the best move; in graffiti, who's got the dopest ill styles. Same with New Forms -- we bust the double bass phat, phatter than anyone else.

How do you get fat bottom end?
Most things come from accidents. We learned so much from coming to America, just by listening to the production in America. The Americans got the rawest, deepest, nastiest sound. A lot of it was very accidental. We just plugged it into a desk, turned it up, and it sounded great.

How did that British production versus American production thing evolve?
Best of both worlds, I think. I've come to America and seen the way they do things, and I've gone home and used some of the tricks that I use. My record, you can hear that it sounds like it was mixed in America, with the vocals up in the mix, compression -- but it's done in the drum & bass style. I just love the way kicks and snares in R&B and hip-hop just snap.

What would be the quintessentially American record in the way you've described?
One of the tunes I really like for the production is Sisqo's "Thong Song." The way that record is put together -- the production -- is tight, and the way the vocals are mixed on Mobb Deep records. But for me the real cherry in the pie has got to be Rodney Jerkins, Beyoncé and Timbaland. Those guys got it goin' on.

You've got a few contributors on this album. Are you gonna be showing up on other people's tracks?
All I want to do is produce, and I want to make things happen. I'm doing some more stuff for Zack [de la Rocha]. I'm a producer. I don't necessarily want my name to be visible. I just want to be there and be involved. The fame game is great, but I really am just about making the music.

What do the kids most want to know about you?
They want to know where we're trying to get to. They just want us to keep on doing what we do. Sometimes it's hard, because you feel like you just want to take it back to the bedroom, because people start having an opinion. Especially in England, some of the press can be bloody aggressive. It's so different here [in the US]. Here it's great. There's a lot of good people out there as well, but there are some c*nts. Sometimes I don't say it, but sometimes I do. Normally I'd be afraid of … maybe I shouldn't say that, but someone's got to. When I read in a magazine where they're talking about me as a person, and they don't know me … it's not nice. My kids are gonna read that. My mum's gonna read it, and she's not gonna like it. It's gonna create atmosphere. I don't think that's fair.

Tell us about those Wild Bunch parties in Bristol.
Wild Bunch are renowned for bringing this whole thing to England. If you weren't there, I'm sorry, you just missed out on some really exciting times. For me, they were my blueprint of what was to be. This was the blueprint for people who were in Bristol and never had the opportunity to leave Bristol, so people who did have the opportunity to come to America, this is what they brought back. They gave us a glimpse of what it was. They brought it back to us. Wild Bunch consists of Massive Attack, Nellee Hooper, Milo. Basically, they were our heroes.

I don't know much about Bristol. What's it like there?
Bristol is small, and it has no industry. It needs to grow. It needs to have an industry, and that's what we're trying to bring back to it right now. It needs at least one building with five or six big studios, rehearsal area, distribution setup.

Is it hard to balance your art with the business of running a label?
It had been. It's a lot easier now. We spent the last three or four years making sure that Full Cycle is very well established and well received. The artwork is great. The production of the music is great. It allows us to move around and represent while the label is doing its thing.

What do you pay attention to socially and politically?
Socially and politically are two of the same thing. The fact that one wears suits and one doesn't wear suits is the difference. I believe that it's all about schooling. Imagine your school was [about] going to make music or to learn how to be a performer. It starts at school, doesn't it? I don't think dressing kids up in school uniforms and giving them disciplines and chores … I used to be a youth worker, and I used to really enjoy it. I was very young at the time, and I still got respect from the kids. I never had a good schooling. I wish I did.

On the cover of your record it's like you're reaching out to someone. Who are you reaching out to?
I'm reaching out to you, bro. It's all about you. A lot of my hand movements, for me they're very natural. That's how I would be standing if you saw me.