Transit Mafia (aka 29 year old James Busby) has quite a few things going for him at the moment. Not only is he one of the best of an upcoming bunch of Drum and Bass DJ’s from the Nottingham scene, but he is also a hugely successful event promoter in his own right.
Six years ago, alongside his friend Kath, James set up Detonate. Over the next few years the night venues from The Lenton to Stealth, via Dubble Bubble, Beatroot, The Garvey, The Bomb and The Rescue Rooms on the way.

Things are looking up for them right now. Over May bank holiday Detonate host one of their most ambitious nights yet at Rock City. Not only does it feature drum and bass acts like Andy C, London Elektricity and LTJ Bukem, but it also has hiphop legend Afrika Bambaataa along for the ride. We spoke to James to pick his brain about local talent and the future plans for Detonate.

You must be looking forward to your May bank holiday line-up
”We love doing the Rock City shows. In the lead up to the first one I didn't really sleep for about two weeks because the DJ bill was massive. Thankfully they've been really well attended and so we just keep trying to make the line-ups bigger and bigger. Planning a Rock City event usually involves us thinking of the best line up possible then seeing if we can afford to do it. Usually we can't, but do it anyway. It's good to have Spectrum and Camouflage on board for this one as well.”

Detonate has been going for six years now. In that time, who are your favourite acts that you've brought to Nottingham?
“We were really happy to get The Roots last year, because both me and Kath have been big fans for a long time. Roni Size live was something that we'd been trying to get since we started out, and we only managed it last year. Roots Manuva was another one which stands out. I like all the acts that we book so as long as their performance lives up to expectation then it's all good. It's a good feeling when you manage to get an act that you've rated for years, and people come out and support it. Especially when it's someone that you didn't realise so many people would be into.

Tell us about the first ever Detonate? Where was it? Who played? What kind of a night was it?
It was at Deluxe (now the Cookie Club) in Jan 1999. Kenny Ken headlined the D&B room. At the time Kath was a student and I was doing a music course. We both borrowed £100 to get it off the ground. Neither of us knew what to expect. We were sat in a bar round the corner adding together people that we knew were coming! We walked back round to the club and the queue was going right down the street. It was a really good night - good vibes. For some reason Kath persuaded some of her friends to dress up as Aliens for the night. It backfired when they realised they didn't really like D&B, so we had 5 really moody aliens walking about!  The feedback from everyone was really positive and it encouraged us to do more.

If you could book any DJ or musician to play at Detonate who would it be?
Since we started doing the Rock City events I've been able to tick a lot of people off the list! There are a few big American hip hop artists which we'd like to put on one of which is KRS-One which will hopefully happen in June.

When did you move to Nottingham? What inspired you to do this…?
I moved up here in 1995 to do a degree at Trent. I like Nottingham so I stayed.

What other club nights in Nottingham do you rate?
There's loads of people doing good things in Notts. Spectrum, Camouflage, Kombination Funk, & Repercussion are all nights which I try and get to. Also, I head down to Stealth on a Saturday quite often and various things at Dogma. I went to Skinny Sumo at the bomb last night which was cool. When I first moved here there were mainly house nights which were quite dressy. When Steel started at Beatroot it was a relief to go to a night which played D&B, and that you didn't have to wear shoes and a shirt to get into! Steel stopping was one of our main motivations for starting Detonate.

What's the plan with Detonate Recordings?
A record label is something that I've always wanted to start but I never had enough good music at once. I'd get given tracks and start planning but then by the time I got some more together I'd stopped playing the first one. Over the past few months I've collected some
bits which I'm really into, and the response from other DJ's and on the dancefloor has been really good. The distribution is all sorted, so the 1st release should drop around May/June time. The first release is by a big D&B DJ/producer going under his Killer Instinct guise, backed with a track by Hold Tight - who are causing a stir at the moment. The label isn't focussing on a certain sound - it's just tunes which we like, and I play. A lot of labels focus on one sound which is cool, but we try and represent all sides of the music with our various events, so I want the label to reflect that.

What do you think to other Notts DnB labels such as DSF and Brutal Recordings?
There seems to be loads of good music coming out of Notts at the moment. DSF have been doing their thing for a while and Brutal have come with a strong first release. Also, a guy called Ben Fawce has got his first release coming on Mindrush soon.
On the Hip Hop tip Dealmaker and Sure Shot are doing good things. Nottingham's music and club scene has got a really good reputation and a lot of really good underground artists have come from here. Long may it continue.

What tape / CD is in your car at the moment?
Been caning Rodney P's album, also a Nu Tone mix CD, The Perceptionists, The Calyx album, also The Doves.

Who are the people that inspired you to become a DJ?
The whole Metalheadz thing was what made me want to play D&B. People like Doc Scott, Randall, Grooverider in around 1995. Also, watching Small Kid clang up Aphrodite tracks at his night in Portsmouth gave me a lot of confidence!
Once you get into D&B you get hooked - I think that's what makes the scene so strong. I still see people at Detonate that were at the first one. Drum & Bass is so fast moving so I've never had a situation when I haven't got tunes I am looking forward to playing out.

What made you call yourself Transit Mafia?
Nothing made me, I just decided to. The name comes from a Graffiti crew in London years ago that we were involved in. The transit bit relates to carriages of the London underground. There were originally 3 of us. Me, a guy called Adam and MC Freestyle.
We used to play in Portsmouth quite a lot cos Ad and Freestyle were down there. Then things started going off in Notts, and it became harder for the others to make it. So now it's just me. Not much of a mafia really. But it was too late to change it. Thankfully there are a lot of strange names in D&B! I don't reckon Grooverider or Ed Rush would have called themselves that if they started tomorrow.

Where other than Detonate do you play?
I've been lucky enough to play quite a few places abroad. Last year I went to Portugal, Spain, Germany, Holland, Belgrade, & Poland. I've also played in Denmark, Sweden, and Miami. In the UK I play mainly in the Midlands, but I've done a few gigs in London at Fabric, The End and The Mass.

Tell us about the rest of the Detonate crew…
Myself and Kath started Detonate, but now Rich works with us full time as well. Kath has a facial recognition problem so smiles at everyone in case she knows them! Also she quite often nearly pays DJ's wages to random people. A punter nearly got given Andy C's money recently! Originally, me and Kath did all the promotion ourselves but as the events got bigger more people have got involved. These days we're lucky to have a good network of people who help us out.
Small Kid moved to Notts around the same time we started out, and he's always done our flyers. He's a wicked designer and artist whose getting the recognition he deserves these days. Check his website. He specialises in drawing monkeys and making horrendous spelling mistakes. Apparently we were meant to have a 'Special Gust' at a Detonate recently.

What other jobs have you had apart from DJing and promoting?
I worked at Drum & Bass Arena for four years up until last September. Since that I've started managing Mampi Swift's label Charge, and Friction's Shogun Audio label. I also help get out Ram, True Playaz, and Technique with digital distribution. Through my work running Detonate and D&B Arena over the years I've got good links in the scene.
Worst job I've had was in a cardboard box factory. The machine was bust so I had to stand in the same place with my arm out all day. Pretty dull.

What are your plans for the future?
We wanna do a compilation album. I did a few when I was at D&B Arena. It's hard for a club night outside of London to get nationally recognised. I think an album might be a good way. Also, we've recently hooked up with UK Takeover and are doing UK Takeover 3 at Rock City on the 29th May. Other than that, I'm getting into producing some tracks and playing as often as possible.

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