Yesterday, DJ del Mar, one of New York's most respected Drum & Bass DJs, departed for England for only the third time in the last nine years -- years he spent specializing, creating, and performing the widest spectrum of Jungle/D&B possible. Over the past year in particular, del Mar has injected a wealth of new ideas into the plot with tracks produced under the Spearman moniker for both Ghost and Home Style Cooking and, as del Mar, for the Agriculture label. While these marked important production forays, they were hardly the first. In fact, over the course of some seven years, del Mar has regularly stepped out with a track or two each year, along the way contributing to some of the best-selling Drum & Bass compilations in the United States. All told, he's released some 18 tracks on multiple labels, from DMC to Jungle Sky to Taang. Del Mar is also the man behind such slamming remixes as "Fire" by Afrikaa Bambaataa, in addition to remixes of The Swirlies, and VersionEternal.

The music portion of the story began in 1993, when del Mar found himself caught up in the excitement of the breakbeats scene. Soon after buying his first few records from that world, he began DJing at various events, including the pre-Soundlab, pre-illbient Molecular, and New York's first proper Jungle/Drum & Bass party, Konkrete Jungle. Del Mar followed up this initial work under the tutelage of Lloop, the renowned beat manipulator. From there, he went on to play many seminal NYC events, among them Jungle Nation, the V sessions at Twilo, and many of the off-the-hook Trace nights at Coney Island High.

The D&B luminary has also put on several memorable events of his own, most notably the Kent Ave. Sessions in Brooklyn, Step Forward, and Drunken Bass. Del Mar has managed to juggle this non-stop schedule while performing worldwide at such far out locales as Japan, Germany, Canada, and at points across America. Throughout his travels, he has showcased his skills with numerous top artists, including Afrikaa Bambaataa, Dara, and WE(tm).

Not content to rely solely on his expansive DJ skills, del Mar expanded his reputation as a forward thinker by pursuing his own unique concept of beat creation. Whipped up into an unexpected fury in 1995, he remixed a track from one of the original US jungle producers, DJ Soul Slinger's "Musical Section," a work later included in the "Synthetic Pleasures" compilation (you may also have spotted dM in the film by the same name).

In about a week, del Mar returns from England. After all these years of building and creating D&B, who knows what stories he'll bring home to New York. In the mean time, he's already working on numerous other projects, including a hush-hush hip-hop collaboration with up-and-coming producer/MC Bashton. Del Mar also has several upcoming releases as Spearman, DMT, and as del Mar , including releases on Home Style Cooking, Ghost, Musicom, and theAgriculture.

Outside of these projects, he continues to build and promote New York Drum & Bass. Remarkably, the city remains oft neglected, despite its important contributions to Drum & Bass in America. As one of the leading lights in New York's D&B community, del Mar is, as-ever, committed to its growth and vitality. In fact, maybe it's time to bring the crates to the harbor for a real New York City Vinyl Party.
June, 2002