Agman Gora isn’t your average drum&bass MC. He’s probably the only one that wears make up but he is also an incredible lyricist with more ongoing projects than… well, anyone really. He recently released his music video for Pretty Like Drugs and is featuring on Philth’s latest LP. He is also MCing alongside Ray Keith for his birthday celebrations on the 9 May AND at Launch on the 30 May where he is a resident. Drum+Basics wanted to know more…

What have you been up to since we last saw you?

Other than posting dog dirt through Nick Farage’s letterbox you mean?
Well, I’ve been recording with Philth, None Decay and a couple of other respected artists in the scene that I’m not allowed to mention yet but I’m very excited about, I’ve been commissioned to record a song for an animated film which is also really fucking exciting and I’ve just put out a music video for a song called ‘Pretty Like Drugs’ that I made with King Norris!

‘Pretty Like Drugs’ is a very fun and different music video, what has the reaction been like?

It’s a bit of a weird one when you’re known for making and performing Drum n Bass and out of nowhere you drop a Prodigy-esque rap song all about drugs – It definitely helped to define me as a character to certain people!
All in all the reaction has been amazing, with messages of support from Evil B and a collaboration off of the back of it with a producer that made one of my favourite DnB tunes of all time in the pipeline as well!

We’ve seen your name on lots of flyers for this spring and summer, what are you the most excited about?

Well, on saturday the 9th of may I’m holding a free entry warehouse party with the king of the Jungle Ray Keith which anyone is welcome to attend, just check my Facebook page for details, (1 free beer for anyone with black panda eye make-up!) but other than that – LAUNCH! I’ve got all sorts of bookings across the DnB spectrum, but in my opinion Launch is the best party at the moment.
It really feels like something kool is happening with the Launch Collective and I’m proud to be a resident.

You also feature on Philth’s latest LP on Dispatch Recordings, what can you tell us about that?

Me and Philth have been working together for years, we used to MC on pirate stations in the late 90’s and early 00’s. Not many people know this, but he’s got a voice like Joe Pasquale and as a result he moved on and mastered production. Fast forward a century and we’ve been collaborating for the last few years. 

This single is called ‘Incantation’ and has received support from the likes of Bailey and A-Sides which is wicked and it’s part of The Cosmos EP which is out on Dispatch on the 4th of May.

Any more releases in the pipeline?

I feature on a track called ‘Forever’ which is part of the the Lithium EP (released 18th of May) by None Decay, and if you don’t know about them they’re both legends of the bare-knuckle boxing scene turned Drum n Bass producers. Nice geezers, but don’t get on the wrong side of them.

I’m also working on new stuff with Philth and Fortitude which I’m hoping will get released this year!

We are mostly used to seeing you on stage at a drum&bass rave, but you’ve also been in punk bands and Pretty Like Drugs is a bit of a pop tune; what genre would you put yourself in and is there anything you won’t do?

I don’t understand why any artist would pigeonhole themselves, least of all an MC. There’s so many different ways to express yourself in that format that it’d be stupid not to try…
Unless you were fucking terrible and you needed to hide in the peripheries and shadows of a specific scene to keep that under wraps. Personally there’s stuff that I haven’t done, but there’s nothing I won’t do! I murdered a man in Ipswich once, but that wasn’t music related.

I know people must be wondering about your unusual MC name, where did you get that from?

My sister couldn’t say my name properly when she was a baby, so instead of Alex she said ‘Aggit’, which in time became ‘Agman’ and ‘Gora’ is a slang Punjabi term for ‘white man’ – so it roughly translates as ‘Alex the White Man’.

A lot of your lyrics are deep and seem to mean a lot to you, where do you get the inspiration from?

I’m influenced and inspired by the world and the people in it. I read lots of books and watch obscure films, more often than not I think of a concept, write a short story and then make it rhyme.
My lyrics are very important to me. When I’m dead and gone my words will still remain, they’ll build a picture of me as a person and give a good representation of who I was and what my views were.

What’s next for Agman Gora?

Well, I’ll be releasing a few songs of varying genres as free downloads on my soundcloud page over the next couple of months, the wheels are in motion for the next music video and I’ll also be unveiling my own make-up range for men this summer, it’s called “Pretty Like Thugs” and will be available in Boots, the Pound Shop and filthy pub toilets.

Any famous last words?

I should probably use this question to say something inspiring like “The future you have tomorrow, won’t be the same future you had yesterday” but instead I’ll probably just say Jeremy Clarkson is a bellend.

Don’t miss Agman Gora at Launch on the 30 May at Bar 512 in London together with Nymfo, Ash-a-tack. Mauoq, Handy and more. Get your tickets HERE and have a look at their latest event below…