Music / Dr Meaker
From the farm to the fields: 20 years of raving
Dr Meaker is a name synonymous with live drum and bass. The band bring the party with unrivalled full power vocals, soulful melodies and infectious hooks.
This year marks their 20th anniversary as a live act, though frontman Clive Meaker has been part of the scene since he was in school.
The band is also gearing up for their third album release, the long-anticipated Distorted Sun. Bristol24/7 sat down with Clive to find out more about his journey from family farm to festival headliner, and the story behind the new record.
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Tell us about the new album…
“It’s been eight years since we put out Dirt & Soul. The album before, A Lesson from the Speaker, was also eight years previous to that, so this is the third in 16 years.
“It’s 12 tracks of dirt and soul music. I put out dancefloor tracks nearly every month and reserve the deeper, more soulful tracks for my albums; but there’s still plenty of filthy, dirty Bristol bass lines, as you might expect.
“I’m inspired by bands that clash different styles and cultures together – like The Prodigy, Massive Attack, The Specials. The sound is a combination of influences from disco, soul, funk, jazz, classical, folk and blues.
“The album features stories from the singers – Celestine, Tenisha Edwards and Laurent John from the live band, UK soul songstress Terri Walker, Australian jazz singer Rita Satch and Bristol songwriter Simon Le Fort – with my music as accompaniment.
“One of the album’s most important collabs was back in 2018, I travelled to Ghana to create a new soundclash bridging drum and bass with Ghanaian music. I recorded some great stuff with a couple of talented guys I met in Teshie, near Accra – Xrusade and Teshie Boy, now Rebel Star.
“Xrusade died of a brain tumour two years ago. We’re releasing his song Waiting in his memory. It makes me sad to hear it, but it’s important to me to get his voice out there because he was such a talent.”
Clive on stage with long-time collaborator Celestine – photo: Infinite Words
Let’s wind right back to when you started making music. What’s the beginning of your story?
“I listened to what my parents played at home and in the car, from 70s funk and soul to the Beatles, and it all inspired me.
“By ten, I wanted to be involved in music myself and started playing the piano. At 12, a pub landlady near my home in Glastonbury would pay me a tenner to run the mobile disco in their skittle alley. That was my introduction to being on stage, if you like!
“This was around 1992 when the rave scene was happening. I was really into rave music, hardcore and jungle. By 14 I’d built myself a little sound system, and we started putting on raves on the Somerset Levels for a quid entry. We put on the Pre-Pilton Summer Solstice Party before Glastonbury every year until I was 24.
“Around that time, I used to come up to Bristol on the 376 bus every Saturday to buy records. I’d get loads of flyers from the record shops and sell them at school on Monday for 50p each. I was a little entrepreneur!
“I saw The Prodigy at Glastonbury in 1995, when I was 15. That made me decide, ‘This is what my life is going to be about’.
“I was working on the farm – creating music at night and going out in a tractor spreading shit during the day, listening to the tape from the night before, wishing I was out there playing.
Clive at Jurassic Fields festival this year; he had the music in him from a young age – photo: Linda Dunham
“By 19, I’d got signed to [legendary jungle/d’n’b] MC GQ’s label, Emcee Recordings, and played on Radio One. That enabled me to blag it onto a uni course in Bath and spend three years focusing purely on music.
“I came across and lived in Bristol from there, and started to get the band together. Our first gig as Dr Meaker was Ashton Court Festival in 2004.
“It was really special for me. My dad was a farmer: I was expected to be a farmer, but I wanted to be a musician. There was always some reluctance from my dad about that, but after Ashton Court he said, ‘You made me really proud.’ I remember it to this day.
“My real ambition in life was to play Glastonbury and it happened when I was 27, after winning a battle of the bands in 2007. We’ve been on a steady projection onwards and upwards since then. We’ve slowly but surely kept working on our art and our music.
“We’ve now risen up to headline a lot of festivals across the UK – including stages at Boomtown, Glastonbury and WOMAD this year. I’d like to big up the band – a brilliant talented bunch of musicians that I’m very lucky to work with.”
You’ve been such a big part of the scene for 20 years – has it changed?
“That Ashton Court festival was amazing. Classic Bristol vibes, even 20 years ago: loads of people, ciders in hand, absolutely mashing it up to drum and bass. Nothing’s changed! There’s just a younger generation doing it now. Energy keeps being poured into it – continuing to give it life.
“The main change has been social media and smartphones – we were more in the moment back then.
“It’s really important for me to pay respect to the elders that came before – who paved the way in the first place. I like to bring in and pay respect to the legends and elders that started the whole bass music thing. I’m so happy and honoured to have Daddy G and Ray Mighty on the bill at our album launch.”
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What’s next for you?
“Once the album’s out, we’re going to bus down the entire country playing live. We’ve got 10 dates secured in the UK, as well as Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Slovenia. We’re really excited to take this album out on the road.
“I’m always busy and wear many hats – I’m the band’s leader, agent, manager, video creator and promotional guy; and now I’m a father as well.
“I guess I’ve got a strong work ethic because I saw my parents working really hard on a farm. There’s no days off: you get up at four every morning to milk the cows, or they don’t get milked. It’s as simple as that.”
Distorted Sun is out on October 24. Dr Meaker’s album launch party is at Trinity on November 2 and features special guests Daddy G, Ray Mighty, Queen Bee and SUV. Tickets are available at www.trinitybristol.org.uk/whats-on/2024/dr-meaker-live
This article originally appeared in the September/October 2024 Bristol24/7 magazine
Main image: Mo Birmingham
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