Trouble DJs & MC Ratty B – Biog (2008)

Widely regarded as the rising stars of Britain’s leftfield club scene, the Trouble DJs & MC Ratty B is a unique proposition in today’s hackneyed club climate. 

The Trouble DJs don’t have much truck with the ‘music policies’ of the British clubs of yesteryawn and really just like to play the best of everything and anything they can lay their grubby mitts on.  Provided it will keep people moving on the dance floor, they’re happy to drop anything from old soul, p-funk, boogie and rare groove to the freshest nuggets from the global disco, house, techno, dubstep, 2step, b-more, baile funk, hip hop and electro scenes.  Basically this means dance music of black origin.  However, that’s not to say they won’t play a classic by Talking Heads, The Police, Blondie, Bowie or the latest indie-disco/rock banger, say, to spice things up and keep people guessing.  Trouble is about having a good party first and foremost and if the record’s got a decent beat, a good tune and enough soul coursing through its grooves, the Trouble crew will probably be into it.

As stylish, eccentric and original as the Trouble DJs’ selections, MC Ratty B adds his own unique flair to the mix.  Don’t be fooled by the image, though (or rather do be fooled – that’s part of the fun!).  After years of honing his skills at jungle and drum ‘n’ bass clubs, this floppy-haired, bespectacled young squire can rhyme and flow like the rudest of bad bwoys from Britain’s inner cities, as well as singing in key, bringing something genuinely distinctive to the table and ensuring the Trouble crew stand out even more. 

Well-established players on the Scottish scene, the Trouble DJs currently hold down residencies and guest spots across Scotland’s bars, clubs and other salubrious nightspots, with their flagship night at the capital’s much-lauded Cabaret Voltaire (recently voted one of the Top 100 Clubs in the world in DJ Magazine) celebrating its sixth anniversary in June.

With an all-singing, all-dancing web site enticing you to getintoTrouble, this crew’s ‘freestyle’ party gospel is currently being preached further and wider than ever before.  People are lapping up the Trouble DJs & MC Ratty B wherever they go.

Trouble DJs on tour and other guest spots:

Soho, Sopot, Poland, 2008
Mandala, Warsaw, Poland, 2008
Bacardi Sino Sessions, Shanghai & Beijing, China, 2007
Bestival, 2007 & 2006 

Innovative Grooves and Classic Party Moves 

 Trouble has always been about going beyond the average club play-lists and the restrictions in the 'music policies' that Nineties clubbing/DJing brought, to revitalize an approach much more common before, when decent clubs were few and far between and often tended to be, quite simply, good parties in unusual, wee locations (like a basement bar on the corner of the street!). Thus, the music at Trouble can be anything from across the 'black' musical spectrum to the output of all the white 'brothers and sisters' who feel the funk and have got a good groove. This includes the classic dub, reggae, soul, funk, jazz, Afro, Latin and disco of the Seventies, early hip hop, electro, boogie and house from the Eighties, the stand-out dance moments of the last decade and the most exciting, upfront new nuggets, whether in hip hop, R n B, dancehall, soul, broken beat, jazz, house, techno, Brazilian or drum n bass. We're very open-minded about our tunes! And, since the music is constantly evolving and changing, at Trouble we just like to call it all 'freestyle'.

 History Started in 2002 at the freshly endorsed Blue Note Records venue, The Beat Jazz Basement on Chambers Street in Edinburgh with young wet-backs Hobbes (Andy aka 'The Hat' Richardson) & Erik 'D'Viking' Roberts sharing resident duties.  Trouble was designed as a weekly mash up where live bands shared a stage with DJs and PAs. We jammed, played live, played records, burnt exclusive CDs and sang with all our hearts. In fact we did pretty much everything that would make us tick tunefully. 

Over three years down the road, we've had long holidays, venue changes and differences of opinion with anyone who cared to put a spanner in the works, not to mention running interim shindigs Say Samba! (a monthly, mid-week Brazilian festa) and Missing (last-hedonistic-stop-of-the-weekend for musically passionate souls!), with new recruit Dom 'Flanners' Flanagan joining the DJ crew and helping to make things happen from 2003 and youngest member Hugh 'The Rookie' de Winton first getting to stick his finely-tuned oar in around June 2004. 

In November 2004 an influential man in London called Gilles Peterson (Radio 1 broadcaster, jazz obsessive and another passionate soul who loves a good groove) decided our small Edinburgh get-together should be included in the short-list for Club Of The Year alongside massive events run by scene-leaders such as Mr Scruff, The Unabombers, Bugz In The Attic, Russ Dewbury and Jazzanova. Anticipating another change of management and more shenanigans at the Cellar Bar in Spring 2005, we jumped ship before we were pushed and got bigger by moving to the all new Cabaret Voltaire (well, under new management, anyway) in May 2005. 3 sell-out dates on the trot made this move logical. But you can be sure the Trouble crew have lost none of their style, panache and enthusiasm for championing fantastic new music and ol' school party jams and will continue to ensure many more nights of good music, good people and unstoppable dancing won't be forgotten fast.