Randall McNeil (2 April 1970 – 31 July 2024), better known as DJ Randall, was a British jungle and

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

DJ and record producer.

Biography

Randall was introduced to DJ scratching and mixing in the late 1980s. He first encountered

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...

music at the 1987

Notting Hill Carnival The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean festival event that has taken place in London since 1966

which led to him buying records and listening to other DJs. His first playing out was at the 'Delirium' warehouse parties in Stratford,

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

. This also led to his first appearance on pirate radio on Centreforce in 1989. His big break would come when appearing at the

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

'Living Dream' held in Leyton. Although he was already booked to play, the non-appearance of Colin Faver meant that Randall played a 2 and a half hour set. He quickly rose to become one of the most prominent DJs of the breakbeat hardcore scene. He was a co-owner of the De Underground record shop and label based in Forest Gate (instrumental in releasing the track ''

We Are I.E. "We Are I.E." is a song by British breakbeat hardcore producer Lennie De Ice (real name Lenworth Green). It was first recorded in 1989, but not released until 1991 when it appeared on a four-track EP from Reel 2 Reel Productions, one of a number ...

''), alongside fellow DJs Cool Hand Flex and Mike De Underground. Randall would become a regular at nights such as Orange at the Rocket, Dreamscape, but it was his residency at AWOL that he would be most remembered. During this time, he started to first produce and release records on De Underground as well as Reinforced Records. In 1994, Randall produced the track "Sound Control" with Andy C, released on RAM Records. He also regularly hosted the jungle show on Kiss 100. In 1997, he founded the Mac II record label, and was still performing up until his death on 31 July 2024, at the age of 54.

References

External links

Randall
at Discogs {{DEFAULTSORT:DJ Randall 1970 births 2024 deaths Black British DJs English drum and bass musicians Musicians from London