Right time in cycle of creation for Goldie

By STEPHEN JEWELL

You could get the impression things were written in the stars for drum'n'bass pioneer Goldie, whose mighty debut album Timeless was released 10 years ago.

The title of his second album, Saturnz Return, of 1997, was inspired by a seven-year astrological cycle which regularly provides an ideal starting point for new endeavours. Unfortunately, despite Goldie's planets being in alignment when Saturnz Return was released, the double album - which included an hour-long, autobiographical symphony, Mother - wasn't well received.

Goldie, real name Clifford Price, retreated from the musical spotlight, concentrating instead on DJ-ing, acting and writing an autobiography, Nine Lives.

But this year once again heralds the return of Saturn and Goldie is set to embark upon his most ambitious project to date, a film entitled Sine Tempus - although he hadn't realised how coincidental his timing is until it's brought up.

"That's weird you should say that but I guess it makes sense," he laughs down the phone from Sydney. "I guess that's why there's been a cycle of activity. It's about that time. That's the feeling I get. It's taken me three and a half years to work out the concept of the film and to write it. But most artists tend to move away into other areas.

"So the commercial market would say, 'Oh, he's not doing anything', but they were only looking at one aspect of my life. But that time [when the cycle begins anew] is a very creative time and I'm about to burst out again, which I think is quite mad because I've never actually looked at it like that."

The coincidence of it being a decade since his landmark, genre-defining debut also allows for reflection on his career. Timeless was not the first drum'n'bass album but it was the first to receive widespread critical and commercial acclaim. And with songs like the sumptuous, 22-minute-long, three-part title track, which included the Diane Charlemagne-sung single Inner City Life, Timeless has indeed proved worthy of its name.

"That's what it was designed for," he says. "It's a brilliant inspiration in that sense. You have to listen to it in its entirety and at the end of the day, the music I make goes far beyond drum'n'bass. It's Goldie music in a way, my spin on things because my concepts never change. The whole concept of Saturnz Return dealt with the aspects of time and with one of the greatest gifts we've been given, which is memory.

"People forget that memory is a very beautiful thing. Without memory, you're nothing. Sine Tempus, which is Latin for 'without time' is like a cross between both of my albums, which visually and aurally pulls together all my concepts into one place."

But despite a growing resume which includes playing the henchman Bullion in the 19th James Bond film, The World is Not Enough, and a current stint on EastEnders as the gangster Angel, Goldie doesn't plan on starring in Sine Tempus.

"People are expecting me to act in it but I'm not going to. There are actors I'm looking at but I'm not going to name anybody. I first jumped from music to film because I was being criticised for making pop music, which I never did. So I decided that they could criticise me for acting because that takes the emphasis away from the music which I wanted to protect and wasn't willing to compromise.

"Acting, however, is another avenue. I thought that if I'm going to get into film, I might as well start at the ratty, shitty end where I could challenge it, like a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Goldie is reluctant to reveal what to expect when he plays the Fu Bar tomorrow: "The same as I did but more of it" is all he will suggest. However, he enthusiastically expresses admiration of New Zealand drum'n'bass duo Concord Dawn.

"They've actually branched out a bit different from the norm, which is what people need to do. Drum'n'bass as a genre is now 15 to 16 years old and people have grown complacent. I've always thought that the world would catch up with me but my music was too far ahead for a lot of people.

"But that's one of the things that happens to artistic people. If you look at any art form from the last 20 years, the main artists are either dead or acknowledged very late on when it's too late to do anything about it."

Performance

* Who: Goldie

* Where: Fu Bar

* When: Tomorrow night