I'm a British artist based in Denver Colorado, where I've been working on a project inspired by the London pirates of the 90s (particularly around the birth of Jungle out of hardcore). I grew up over near Heathrow near Staines, and when I was a kid I could pick up Redeye and a bunch of other pirates- it was a big influence on me.
The project is called "Can't Stop the Pirates" (a nod to the Dica & Ben Intellect tune), and it's a collage of voices, music and other sounds that is broadcast inside the art gallery where it's installed. I'm using multiple low power FM transmitters so that when visitors put on radio headsets and walk around the gallery they move from one signal to the next and 'mix' the work themselves.
I've sourced most of the voices from old documentaries and other material, but I want to open the project up into more of an oral history, so I'm planning to do interviews with people who were active in the scene at the time. I would then take these stories and mix them into the project, so people can learn more about this important period in our culture.
The interviews can be credited or totally anonymous. If you are interested in having a chat and telling me about your time as a pirate in the hardcore/jungle/drum and bass years, give me a shout!
There's a dedicated page for the project here: www.bencolemansounds.com/pirates
Please let me know if you've got any questions I can answer here.
Cheers, and big up the pirates!
