DJ Kid & The General - Invaders




DJ Kid & The General - Invaders (Formation Records, 1999)

DJ Kid AKA Peter Symington played a pivotal role in the development of the Scottish Jungle / Drum & Bass scene, beginning in the early 90s when he was one of the first to play Breakbeat /Hardcore north of the border. Originally from Edinburgh, he started DJing in 1990 in the city before promoting a night called Megabass in the nearby town of Penicuik the following year. Later that same year the event moved to Crystals Arena in Glenrothes, Fife and renamed Pandemonium. Although these nights were a great success, Kid was becoming frustrated with the lack of enthusiasm for the emerging Breakbeat sound which would later be known as Jungle and Drum & Bass and began DJing at events in England.

Photo from a Megabass event at The Complex, Penicuik in 1991

Photo from a Pandemonium event at Crystals Arena, Glenrothes

After becoming a resident at Quest in Wolverhampton, DJ Kid would soon find himself playing at events such as Dreamscape, Fantazia, Universe and Jungle Fever where his reputation and contacts book grew. In 1995 he was the first to have Roni Size play in Scotland at one of the Street Knowledge nights he put on alongside fellow Scottish Breakbeat DJ KMC. Shortly after he would became resident and co-promoter at Manga alongside G Mac in 1996, a night which started at La Belle Angele in Edinburgh and would become a Scottish institution during its 12 year run. Although mainly known as a DJ, promoter and label owner, DJ Kid is also a producer. In 1999 'Invaders', his collaboration with The General AKA Gary Dickson, was released on Formation's World of Drum & Bass album. I spoke to DJ Kid to find out how this tune came about.

Back in 1991 he was heavily influenced by the sounds Formation head DJ SS was playing, with an Amnesia House tape from a Donnington Park event on 07/09/91 (which had Stu Allen on the other side) being the first time he'd heard the fusion of rave and breakbeat: "As a Hip-Hop head this was an exciting development and SS's "Turn Table Psycho" moniker inspired my early "Turntable Terrorist" name". In June 1992 he would meet SS at the huge Earthquaker event in Ayrshire and they developed a friendship. In 1997 SS guested at a Manga event broadcast live on the One In The Jungle show on BBC Radio 1 and when SS began putting together the World of Drum & Bass LP in 1998, he asked Kid if he could contribute a track to represent Scotland.


Kid revealed that 'Invaders' went through several stages of evolution: "The General had a better studio setup than me, and I had already had issues with my neighbours, so it started life there with us sampling sounds and breaks from the Zero G Jungle Warfare CDs". During some earlier studio time when Kid was staying with A-Sides in Essex he'd had the idea to sample speech from Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys. Although nothing came from that session, he thought the samples would suit this new tune and that's where the dialogue on 'Invaders' comes from: "We have a very advanced programme. Something... different". The duo got the basic structure of the tune sorted but didn't feel they were experienced enough to get it to a finished state for release.


They first took it to G Mac AKA George Macdonald, but after he'd revamped it without their approval they decided to go a different route. Once they'd undone the updates, Kid contacted Simon Robinson AKA The Advocate who agreed to help them out. They traveled down to Manchester where Simon had a studio in the buildings where the Sankey's Soap club was located: "We worked on it for several hours together, sorting out EQ levels and trying to make the track loud enough, but there was still something missing so we took a break and went for a much needed Chinese". After returning to the studio for a smoke the track was then finished off in 3 hours.


DJ SS was pleased with the result. 'Invaders’ is a steely-eyed tune that would have also sounded right at home on Renegade Hardware. The intro features sci-fi film style ambience before a thumping two-step beat and some menacing, swirling low end is deployed. The bassline is accompanied by some ‘Killa Bees’ like squelches while the drums get increasingly busy underneath as the tune progresses. It isn't a tune that goes for the jugular, instead circling threateningly until it has you under its control.

DJ Kid played at the Launch Night for the World of Drum & Bass album at Bagleys in Kings Cross as well as the Durham and Edinburgh legs of the subsequent tour (check the flyer for the Edinburgh event at the Potterow shown here). 'Invaders' was included on the CD edition of The World of Drum & Bass album and then on the first of three doublepack 12"s that followed the LP. The centre label states "courtesy of Invade Recordings" and this was going to be the name of DJ Kid's label until the Invaderz trio appeared on the scene.


The imprint became Restless Natives instead, named after a Scottish film from 1985 about two bored Edinburgh teenagers who become modern day highwaymen. The label put out the first material by DC Breaks, two Edinburgh University students otherwise known as DJ Kryptic and DJ Samurai who Kid encouraged to work together. Andy C approached him about signing the duo and they've gone on to become a major force in the Drum & Bass world, a testament to Kid's A&R skills.


After taking a hiatus from the scene DJ Kid now has several projects on the go. An autobiography is due later this year while a documentary will follow in 2021. Meanwhile Restless Natives is also coming out of hibernation, with an 'Invaders' remix possibly on the cards. Stay tuned to his Facebook and Instagram for updates. Currently he's using the lockdown to make old sets from back in the day available for streaming and download. 'Invaders' is available as a free download and you can check out a recently uploaded set with MC Gavzie from Pandemonium at the Crystals Arena on April 11th 1992 below.

Thank you to DJ Kid for taking the time to talk to DnB 365 and providing photos from his personal archive.



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