I’m a massive fan of DJ Zinc. A massive, massive fan.
He started out as a jungle DJ and producer, made his name in drum and bass, and has gone on to make house, bass house, garage and all kinds of other things, because he’s basically just made the music he likes. I have the craziest amount of respect for him as a result.
138 Trek is the one I’ve picked today. The number in the title is the tempo: 138 beats per minute. It first came out at the end of January 2000 as the last track on Zinc’s Beats by Design EP on True Playaz: six drum and bass tracks, then one slower one he chucked on the end to show a bit of versatility.
One bassline at three different speeds
The bassline on this record serves such an incredible purpose. It has such a sense of movement that it’s turned out to be three different tracks.
There’s the original at 138. In 2001 Zinc released 174 Trek at drum and bass tempo, and in 2009 came 128 Trek, a house version on Crackhouse Vol. 1. Three different tempos, the same bassline, the same artist.
Whatever speed you play it at, that bassline knows exactly where it’s going from the first bar.
The track on the end
Zinc told the story himself in a reel for the track’s 26th anniversary this January. Once DJs like Slimzee got hold of it, people were buying the whole EP, three pieces of vinyl, just for this one track. So it came out on its own with a Danny Breaks remix on the flip, then again on Phaze:One in November 2000, when it reached number 27 on the UK singles chart.
In his words, this track changed his life. It opened so many doors, and it showed him he could make music in different genres and people would actually listen.
Knowing your own lane
This one doesn’t necessarily fit with the other posts for today, but it’s definitely about knowing your own lane. A slower track tucked on the end of a drum and bass EP, put there because you never know, ended up opening every door. Zinc has moved between scenes ever since by following his own taste, and it’s that sense of knowing who you are that I wrote about in Know Your People and Know Your Business.
Put it on when you’re starting something new and you want to feel like you know where it’s heading.
I love so much of what he’s put out over the years, and this is where I’d send anyone new to him.
