Words By: PSYDiPHECTs

EverydayJunglist: Tell us a little about Ammunition Recordings? When did it all begin?

Coffey: What initially got the wheels turning to spark up Ammo was when I decided to start doing an online radio show. Producers started sending me their unreleased tunes to get some exposure. Was just basic promotion.

EverydayJunglist: What made you want to start a label?

Coffey: Well, I'd play these tunes that I really liked, and I saw that other people really enjoyed em. But after following up with the producers, I'd hear that they weren't getting releases, or were having trouble getting them signed. So I thought, eh, why not start up something and get these tunes out there.

EverydayJunglist: How hard was it to start Ammo Recs?

Coffey: At first it was a little difficult, getting everything setup and into the normal grind, making all the right contacts with producers, getting people to "believe" in the label, basic networking, securing distribution, putting my own money down to get it off the ground, etc etc.

EverydayJunglist: Why did you choose Ammunition Recordings for the name?

Coffey: It's funny actually. Me and my buddy eRok were playing at Torque in downtown, Orlando, and I had all these big tracks to end my set with. You know, start slow and warm the people up, and then hit em with the dirty stuff in the end right, get em going? Well, I lost track of time while mixing, and didn't end up dropping any of my big tracks, because I used all my time on the other stuff. So I told eRok, "Fack! I didn't get to drop any of big tracks!" He responded with something like, "You gotta drop those ammo tracks!", referring to "big tunes" as ammo tracks. Was like a lightbulb after that.

EverydayJunglist: Did you think Ammo would get as big as it has?

Coffey: Honestly no, and I still don't think it's "big", but people are always saying otherwise, so maybe there is something to it, haha. It just started out as a little project, something I loved doing. I based it on music that I enjoyed, and other people seemed enjoy it as well, which is awesome.

EverydayJunglist: Who are your biggest selling artists?

Coffey: All of them! Haha, nah we treat each release as if that artist is our biggest selling artists though. Everyone, regardless of name, gets the Ammo treatment if they're onboard. Hard promotion, we send tunes out to all the big names we're conencted with, squeeze em into Podcasts, etc. And honestly, it's not even about the sales or money, not why we started this up. Just love the music.

EverydayJunglist: Who is on your artist roster?

Coffey: Psh, too many to list, haha! Seriously, lots, check out the roster on Beatport sometime. Ammo started off with newbies, and we gradually built our way up. Hell, we still release artists that are brand new. We don't look at people by their name, reputation, or fame etc, but by the quality of their music. If you've got good tunes, the rest will follow.

EverydayJunglist: What is in store for 2011?

Coffey: Tons. If the first month of 2011 is any indication on what the rest of the year's gonna be like, watch the skies... artillery incoming.

EverydayJunglist: Can you give us a list of Ammos discography and forthcoming tunes?

Coffey: There's not enough space on this page to list our previous releases, lol. If you really wanna know, go to one of the sites we distribute on (Beatport, Juno, TrackItDown, etc) and go through all the releases. There's lots of em , as we release 2 per month, but we always focus on quality.

As for forthcoming tunes, we've got a really promising release schedule shaped up. Looked at it the other day and thought "G'damn!" Includes artists suchas Imprintz, Kloe, Xilent, Kung, Jade, Mastif, Engage, Axiom, Miss Redflower, DaVIP, Zeal & Litta, High Maintenance, Paperclip, Computerartist, Redject, Soulstorm, Mizo... the list goes on and on.

EverydayJunglist: When can we expect releases on vinyl?

Coffey: We actually have one out at the moment (AR001) with Axiom, and Inside Info / Kiro / 59Crime. Is a killer release! We also just signed on with industry leader and distro giant Triple Vision, who handle labels suchas Hospital, Vision, Ram, Viper, Evol Intent Recs, and Bad taste to name only a few. So we've got some big stuff lined up for incoming vinyl. Our 002 is going to have Jade + Mastif, and Engage. Crazy choons!

EverydayJunglist: What are other labels that Ammo works with?

Coffey: We're actually launching a sublabel called Caliber Music, which is going to be focused on genres outside of Drum & Bass, like dubstep, electronica, and experimental styles. And no, not that wobble style business you hear everywhere. We've had loads of artists on Ammo send us non Dnb tunes, and alot of it's really good! So, figured why not start something up to release these as well. Will be based on the same Ammunition quality standard of course!

As for other labels outside of Ammo / Caliber, I'd say like Gridlok's Project 51. He's always got some mean stuff incoming! Other than that, we really just focus on promoting certain artists sounds, not really "label" specific. Although I do find that we end up promoting alot of stuff from certain labels. Keep up with the Podcasts and you'll know what I mean.

EverydayJunglist: Do you have anything else you would like to add?

Coffey: Just a massive massive thanks to everyone out there who has shown support! All the fans obviously, wouldn't be anything without those following Ammo! And bigup all the producers onboard Ammo as well! We're extremely priveledged and fortunate to be able to work with such talented people. If you've been a part of Ammo whatsoever, we're extremely grateful! We always say, "Much appreciated!" & "Cheers for the support!", and we mean it everytime. So yeah, cheers for the support!

And, now on to the Coffey part of the interview!!!
Jumbo Jets Mate!!!

EverydayJunglist: Tell us a little about yourself?

Coffey: Well, I was born at a very young age... lol. Such a cheesy line my dad always uses. I'm a music producer, DJ, and label owner. I've had my roots in music since I was about 12 years old. I started playing an old tenor saxophone that my dad got me at 12. Anything I could play on the sax, I could play on other instruments, like piano and guitar. People said I had "an ear for music." I moved onto drums, and experimented with tons of instruments over the years. This all kind of paved the way to me discovering electronic music when I moved to Orlando, Florida, years ago.

EverydayJunglist: How did you get into drum and bass?

Coffey: When I was growing up, I was always into a high energy music. Rock and similar harder styles of music always caught my ear. I found myself always faux drumming with my hands on like, table tops, desks at school, the couch, etc. Even like tapping my teeth together or moving my toes. I still do it even, and I can't really help it, but it drives my woman crazy!

It was always fast, and that traditional Drum & Bass kick / snare offset pattern. I had no idea there was a music genre along the same lines, so when I first heard Dnb, the energy and speed was perfect.

I was working at this restaurant years ago and one of the cooks (eRok) had it playing in the kitchen. So I heard it and started talking with him, he gave me a CD, and that kinda started it up. I was immediately hooked, and started looking up all Drum & Bass I could find.

EverydayJunglist: Is there a story behind your name "Coffey"?

Coffey: Nothing exciting really. It's my last name, but what all my friends call me. Irish apparently. But it's an easy name, and I never have to introduce myself twice. Seems to stick in peoples heads.

EverydayJunglist: When did you start djing/producing?

Coffey: Well, after I found out about Drum & Bass from eRok, like I said, I started looking up whatever Dnb I could find. This was liiiike... Oct. 2006'ish? Figured it'd be cool to learn how to mix the tracks together, so I bought a shitty Numark Battle Pak to see if it would be something I would enjoy. I went down to The Drop Shop (local record store) here in Orlando and bought like 4 records... train wrecked the hell out of those for awhile. Was wax from like, Survival, Benny Page, Funky Technicians, and Sonic. Moved to much harder stuff after that, when eRok hooked me up with a huge crate of like 100 records. Had stuff from Hardware, Moving Shadow, Bad Company, Shogun, but also lots of jungle riddims. Was pulled toward the dirt though, hehe. Accidentally beatmatched once and was like, "Ooooh so that's how it works!" Learning how to beatmatch with Drum & Bass sucked! I didn't know any better though.

I Started producing a few months after that, when he introduced me to Reason. Have learned quite a bit since then.

EverydayJunglist: Who are some of your favorite artists?

Coffey: Too many to list! There's so many extremely talented artists out there. Fortunately, a ton of em are on Ammo, haha! A few favorites, and really influential before Ammunition started though were like, Evol Intent, Noisia, Spor. Ya know, the usuals. I remember meeting Mike / Gigantor of Evol Intent for the first time, awhiiiile back, in Orlando when I first got into Dnb. I was like the hyped little fanboy, all "YOMG!" and shit, haha.

EverydayJunglist: When you do a Ammo Podcast, are you sitting down? I've always pictured you just chillin in your studio. LOL

Coffey: Nah man, I'm running on a treadmill. Makes it more interesting! Haha, most def sitting down. Usually just chillin in the studio. I try and do em when my woman's out and about. I feel dumb sitting here recording the vocals when she's around the house, not sure why, lol. They do get pretty out there sometimes though, aye? Maybe that's why.

I've tried having guests come through so we can have like, a back and forth but, they always end up fucking it up, or not knowing jack about the music, or being scared of a microphone. Few ideas up my sleeves to make some future ones a little more interesting though, we'll see how that works out. Be ready?

EverydayJunglist: What came first mixing or producing?

Coffey: Mixing for sure. Had no idea what you would even use to start producing till months after I started mixing.

EverydayJunglist: What does your dj setup consist of?

Coffey: I've got 2 turntables, Numark TTx1's. Gotta lurve that POWAH. Seriously, the motors on these things are crazy strong. And +/- 50% pitch?! Fack, it opens up multi genre mixing on the fly, so long as you can beatmatch by ear. Done it tons on the radio, makes for some interesting live mixes, ask Kiro :P Mixer wise, I've got a Mackie D.2 Pro. Serato Scratch Live of course. A Denon DN-HC1000S midi for hands free / faster mixing. Umm... 2 Mackie SRM-450 Active speakers, "booth" monitors. Things are fuggin loud, and killer bass response! Feel sorry for the neighbors, haha. All in a custom built cabinet. Nothing too fancy, gets the job done.

EverydayJunglist: What does your production setup consist of?

Coffey: Cubase, amazing DAW. I'd say it's the industry standard, like 90% of people use Cubase from my experience with producers. My monitors are Mackie MR8's, good sound, and affordable. Soundcard is an Audio Kontrol 1 by Native Instruments. Axiom 61 Midi Keyboard (what's Transpose? lol) Condensor mic / filter, etc. Tons of VST's. I'm totally a NI fanboy (Massive, Absynth, Battery, FM8, Kore, Reaktor, etc). And a 40" display to make it all ginormous. Really helps when working on graphics as well.

EverydayJunglist: Who were your biggest influences when you started in the Dnb Scene?

Coffey: I always give credit to my buddy eRok, first and foremost. Wouldn't be in this if it weren't for his guidance. He introduced me to Torque, which was obviously a huge factor. Torque's Florida's longest running Drum & Bass night, nearly 12 years now, every Monday here in Orlando. They bring some heat! So yeah, the Torque crew's like family, and they were huge in bringing me more into Dnb.

EverydayJunglist: How is the scene in Florida?

Coffey: You always hear people moping and complaining but it's actually really awesome I think. Could be worse, I used to live in Arkansas, haha. Serious though, in Orlando we've had the likes of Evol Intent to LTJ Bukem, and everything in between. Like I said, the Torque crew bring some heat. Plus the Godfather of Dnb in the US lives here, AK1200! Also, we've got WMC and Ultra down in Miami every year. And a constant Dnb weekly with locals, couldn't ask for much more.

EverydayJunglist: What is your fav. label of all time?

Coffey: Ammunition, duh! Nah, definitely had lots of influential labels over the years though. Hardware, Ram, Shogun, Lifted, TrustInMusic, Close2Death, Shadybrain, Virus... too many to list. Couldn't pick "one" favorite label of all time, all have had a big influence.

EverydayJunglist: What are your fav. tracks right now?

Coffey: Seriously, too many, but I'll give like a top 11 off the top of my head since I avoided the "fav label" thing. I listen to Ammo nearly nonstop so, heavy Ammo influence, haha. In no specific order:

DNB - Imprintz - Remain
DNB - Xilent Ft. Susiah - Fallen
DNB - Inside Info, Kiro & 59Crime - Response
DNB - Cliffhanga - Final Assault
DNB - Diode - Space Express
DNB - Redject - 7th Sorrow (incoming Ammo)
DNB - Engage - Overbreaker (incoming Ammo)
DNB - DaVIP & 3DStas - Hospital Robbery (incoming Ammo)
DNB - Cern - Doubledown (incoming Project51)

Dub - Kung - Beg Me (incoming Caliber)
Dub - Unsub - Silk Button (incoming Caliber)


EverydayJunglist: Any shoutouts?

Coffey: (Peter Griffin Quote) "I want to thank God, and the devil too because, you know... that is why God is there. He's minding the fence to make sure that guy never comes back. You know, if it weren't for the devil, God had probably gone insane and blown his brains out from boredom. Everybody likes to feel useful. Make a da world go around. Back to you Tom."

Lol, I love Family Guy. Not really religious though :P

But seriously, eRok of course for getting me started in all of it. My woman for dealing with and supporting all the music, and faux drumming, lol. The Torque fam for keeping the Dnb alive and thriving in Orlando. The Drop Shop for supplying quality music. My DnbRadio Fam! VSL1200 dudes in Tampa! Anyone who's ever shown support for Ammunition, all you Ammo followers / soldiers! All the producers onboard Ammunition, uber priveledged to be working with such talented, down to earth individuals! Patricia Felonia of Kryteria, love you like a son! I'm sure I'm forgetting loads but, so many people to thank. Ammo would be nothing without all of ya so, big thanks as always! And shouts to EDJ! ;)

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