!K7 Records

Formed in Birmingham in 1992, Glyn Bush, aka Biggabush, and Richard “DJ Dick” Whittingham – later joined by MC Farda P and Phoebe One – became one of UK house’s most prominent exponents of dubwise experimentation. Originally signed to an Island Records subsidiary but soon dropped, they were picked up straight away by another major. By the late ‘90s, Rockers were getting big – the stage was set for them to record their sophomore album.

They set to work converting their room into a proper studio – the DIY way. Carpet was attached to the walls along with egg-boxes, and new equipment was added: various Roland synthesizers, drum machines, Space Echoes, a bigger mixing desk, decent monitors, a TEAC 8-track tape machine, and their beloved Mark II Mellotron made their way into the Rockers Hi-Fi sound laboratory. They began digging for samples: easy listening albums, soundtracks, Southern Baptist ministers, obscure spoken word LPs, dub albums. Anything that took their fancy.

The title Mish Mash came early on in the process as they had already decided to showcase a whole raft of different styles which were only united by their diversity, spanning Drum & bass, techno, deep house, hip hop, funk, beats, incidental music, cop themes, and end titles – all were grist to their creative mill at that time. The intention was to create 74 minutes of music – the optimum amount for a CD, which spanned six sides of vinyl.

Vocalists Farda P and Phoebe One were drafted in to add their own lyrical flavours, resulting in some of the album's high points: On ‘Going Under’ Farda P's elegy to nightlife and “e-fuelled love and insanity” weighs in deep. Phoebe One supplies her unmatched flow on ‘Now I Deliver’, celebrating the collaboration with Richard and Glyn “bustin' styles creams to the browns”. Rockers’ ‘Queen of the Ghetto’ is a fresh take on ‘Ghetto Defendant’ by The Clash.

Thirty years after its initial release and newly-remastered, Mish Mash will be available online for the first time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of !K7.