We catch up with DJ and promoter Christian ‘LD50’ who is playing at Momentum in Leeds alongside Om Unit, Ant TC1 and Source Direct this Saturday. He tells us how he ended up in the drum&bass world, why he joined the Momentum team and his dream booking…

Hello LD50! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your rather unique DJ name?

I’m a promoter and DJ originally from the lakes now currently based in Leeds. The name came about shortly after I got my first DAW on my what would seem now hugely outdated pentium desktop PC back in the late 90’s. It was fruity loops and contrary to some mixed opinions on it now I had great fun using it. After my first few experiments producing and DJing when I was still at school I was racking my brains for an alias. Doing science was always fascinating and although I struggled with the maths, I couldn’t stop reading about biology. My real name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue and I didn’t want a cheesy sounding name and my musical preference was pretty dark back then, so the almost abstract combination of letters and numbers of ‘LD50’ was ideal. I think the most succinct way to define LD50 is ‘The amount of a substance that is sufficient to kill 50 percent of a population of animals within a certain time’. It’s used to calculate how much poison would be required to kill a load of rats for example.

How did you end up in the drum&bass scene?

Without my older brothers influence at home it would have been unlikely that I would have been as engaged with DNB and jungle from an early age. I would have probably still have a drum kit and be playing in bands, perhaps me now in an alternate universe. Getting a taste for raves and outdoor parties from when I was about 15 was the first step, although most of the music played was either acid techno or squelchy breakbeat and it didn’t seem to fill the hole in my mind for something more full on and intricate. I started putting on Jungle & DNB events and outdoor parties with friends in the North West around towns and small cities like Kendal & Lancaster. Things began to escalate fairly quickly by the time I moved to Leeds in 2002 where several of us with the same interest in alternative jungle / DNB seemed to coalesce. Once we had a few heads with the same ethic, we started up what is still known today as Central Beatz, providing a platform for up and coming DJs who found that their tastes were perhaps marginalised when compared to the ubiquitous jump up sound of the early 2000’s. If it was well produced, tightly mixed and got heads turning, we’d get them on board. I try to keep this philosophy today, and after all you’ve got to try harder to convince people to leave their comfort zone of musical tastes, so if you put on a good performance then you may just get a few more people into the alternative sound.
Hosting weekend performances on pirate station ‘Radio Frequency FM’ Leeds was pivotal to both my success as a DJ and also as a club promoter and being involved with that shortly after arriving in Leeds really helped to cement things in place for the future, and hopefully will again soon for another generation!

You’ve been involved with drum&bass for a very long time; both behind the scenes as a promoter and also as an artist. What would you say has changed during the years?

I think now the mainstream audience is paying a lot more attention to the genre in recent years. With the likes of Rudimental and Sigma smashing the charts with the trademark sounds of amens and bass then I guess people begin to accept that tempo and format when they hear it when they go out. Wether or not they recognise it as DNB still I’m not sure! What’s also interesting since about 2009 even the traditionally jump up producers are now giving their beats a tech twist, whilst perhaps the more stalwart jump up guys have simply joined in with the re-enlightenment of the classic Jungle sound with copious gun shots and skanky guitars.
Having said this, from about 2001 right through to 2008 I felt that in some respects, playing a tech dnb set (from the likes of prototype, renegade hardware, tech itch, industry etc) was somewhat of an uphill struggle as most weren’t into or didn’t recognise that style. I stuck to my guns and was proud to be delivering something different, and it could be argued that now this sound that was started from Ed Rush & Optical’s ‘Wormhole’ is now the new paradigm for dancefloor and avant garde DNB in the clubs in the UK. I’ve always been historically more into the Euro sound delivered by Dutch & German producers such as Black Sun Empire, Jade, Noisia, Phace etc and when they are played now at a club, it’s good to see people enjoying it alongside other styles & sub-genres. Given the digital accessibility of dance music in particular the re-release of certain label’s back catalogues its enabled the young newcomer DJ to get hold of what would have taken years of obsessive vinyl shopping (as in actually going to stores on a Friday for delivery) to complete. Now everyone can be an oldskool DJ! Having said that though, vinyl cannot be beaten as having them on a shelf is like my diary. I can recall exactly where each one was bought, or nicked from, and what it sounds like, where the drop is, whereas I look at my digital library and draw blanks with them mostly. I think the UK has been always in a tug of war with the underground vs. commercial sounds, and it’s interesting to see how producers and promoters slyly change their policies to suit the vogue over time. I’m happy to have stuck to my guns and kept true to the sound that I know and believe in.

You are involved at different levels, including being a DJ and promoter. What else do you and what do you enjoy to do the most? What’s the least fun part?

I do a lot of graphic design work for a number of labels and club nights. This consumes all the time I think my body can take on a computer, and whilst i’m proud of the work I create, I definitely think that if I wasn’t working on computers all the time, I’d use that spare time to make more music. Being sedentary for large parts of the day isn’t healthy for anyone regardless of the job being done. Hopefully I’ll be able to switch things around soon and concentrate on being by a computer making just music. An electronic drum kit would probably be a wise investment – making music whilst exercising instead of just staring at a screen for hours on end sounds ideal! Having said all this, it’s amazing to see the work I’ve done on print and it feels awesome to be a part of a wider mechanism of artists, labels, djs and ravers all constantly evolving from year to year. Knowing that you have shaped the future and archive of a genre slightly is great as these are the elements that will hopefully live forever long after we’ve gone.

How did you get involved with the Momentum guys?

I wouldn’t say “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” with this one although it might be easy for cynical people to view it that way haha ;) To be fair, DNB is a very tightly neat community and when people join together the end result it always infinitely better. As I began to do more work with Ant TC1 at Dispatch Recordings and Simon Scott (Subdub / Exodus) I got my foot in the door for DJ sets at Momentum. It’s great to see it back for this event, I’ve never seen such a quick resurrection of a club night which held its ‘last ever event’ not too long in the past :) I’ve been very grateful to be a part of Momentum and I’m happy that my own event Central Beatz can co-exist as we have very similar music policies. I think that it’s testament to the ravers of Leeds who have not been in short supply, and I hope that it continues to be the case.

You are playing at Momentum on Saturday alongside Om Unit, Source Direct and Ant TC1, what can ravers expect and what kind of set are you planning to do?

This event has a line up which should attract a good mix of newcomers and also beard-strokey types and thing I good blend of classic tech step and new material should put a smile on everyones face with luck! I’m playing 4-5am so you’ve got to be carefully not to blast people out of the door too soon, however you’ve got to fairly up beat to keep the last people engaged until the lights come on. People assume that most heads will be too smashed to notice, however there should be no excuse in delivering a well thought out set for any DJ playing at this time. It’s about keeping things alive and fresh inside a venue by that time will be covered with drinks and heads that need to be ‘woken up’!

Any forthcoming events we shouldn’t miss?

i wouldn’t be a good promoter without plugging our next Central Beatz event on Saturday 29th November at the Faversham Leeds. Not only have we a set from the breakthrough duo Gerra & Stone (check the rewind inducing ‘Too Deep’), we also have an opportunity for the next artist on the block to make a mark and win big prizes at our DJ competition. Outside of Leeds, I’m patiently waiting to get on the train for the next Metalheadz event at Fabric which in the past has never disappointed me.

Dream booking?

Would probably have to be spread over a few rooms though! Would be probably something like:

Room 1: Phace, Nymfo b2b Klute, Audio, Gridlok, Break, Break & DLR, Ulterior Motive.
Room 2: Special Request, Om Unit, Remarc, Konflict (reunion set, most likely impossible but it is a dream booking!).
Room 3: Icicle, Hybris, Hydro, Command Strange, Stray, Detail.

You’ve done a mix for us – what can you tell us about it?

Ive gone for a pretty upfront selection of newly released material. As expected there’s plenty of Dispatch! This will be similar to my selection on Saturday night, however there will be a choice blend of some tech classics played out amongst the new. Its great to have shed loads of top notch new music to choose from currently.

Thank you LD50!

Here’s the exclusive guest mix from LD50.

Tracklist:

01. Arkaik – Cutting Edge – Different Music
02. Nymfo – Tower Of David – Dispatch Recordings
03. SCAR – Old Time Metal – Metalheadz Platinum
04. Chroma – 201 Dub – Program
05. Dose – Like This – Commercial Suicide
06. Nymfo & Maduk – Tatta Ganja – Fokuz
07. BTK – Try – V Records
08. Gerra & Stone – Too Deep – Dispatch Recordings
09. Command Strange – Rock Steady [Lenzman Remix] – Fokuz
10. Cern ft. DLR – Patters – Dispatch Recordings
11. Ulterior Motive – Tape Pack – Metalheadz
12. Blu Mar Ten – Remembered Her Wrong [Anile Remix] – BluMarTen Music
13. Stealth – Homage – Program
14. Klax – Blackball – Critical Music
15. Dose – Mind The Future – Commercial Suicide
16. Misanthrop & Phace – Sex Sells – Neosignal
17. Kantyze – Bring The Core – Fat Kid On Fire