Grooverider is included on a list of possible pardons which will be dealt with during Ramadan, which falls in September. Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, traditionally pardons foreigners caught with small amounts of narcotics during religious holidays. The pardon would have come during a period which coincided with the birthday of the prophet Mohammed.
Last November, Grooverider was arrested at Dubai International Airport after a customs search revealed he was in possession of two grams cannabis and a pornographic DVD. Though he had hoped for an early release, some speculate that the government is using him as an example of their zero-tolerance against those who attempt to bring drugs and pornography into the country.
Nearly 17,000 people have signed an online petition asking th government of Dubai to pardon English drum ‘n’ bass DJ/producer Grooverider.
A spokesman for the DJ’s management said: “He’s bearing up but desperate to get out.”
In 2007, 59 Britons were arrested for drug related offenses in Dubai. In a related story, an English woman is facing six years in prison for allegedly having sex on a Dubai beach.
Big Shot has spoken exclusively to Portishead about their new album, Third, which will be released next month. The fourth release from the Bristol based trip-hop pioneers (their third studio album, overall) is a less claustrophobic body of work that sees Beth Gibbons utilize the softer vocal style she perfected with her solo album that perforated their ten-year absence from the music industry. Geoff Barrows and Adrian Utley sat down with us to talk through the eleven-track release that steers away from their previous inclination for samples and ventures into a broader sonic pastiche.
The three-piece act will be joined by a similar lineup of musicians to those who have played with them in the past; however, DJ Andy Smith is not appearing at the live dates. Barrows explains that this is due to the new processes the band utilized. “As we haven’t used many samples with Third, the live shows are more about a band. We all swap around instruments. When the lights go out between songs, we are madly running around trying to prepare for the next one. Swapping snare drums, things like that.”
Barrows is excited by the prospect of coming to the US to play at Coachella. “We’ve never done it before, and yes it’s quite funny that The Verve are the other headliners,” he says. “When they split we had to step into their shoes and fill a number of festival slots they had been booked for. So now, although we never went away really, we are going to play Coachella at the same time as them.’
Portishead have indeed never really gone away. They took a well-earned break after a massive promotional tour for second self-titled album and began recording again in 2004 in Sydney. According to Barrows, the tapes were “okay,” but not considered good enough by the band to be classed as new Portishead material. So it came to pass that now, in 2008, the British band who captured the hearts of millions worldwide in the 1990s, arrive back in a music industry that has changed but will surely welcome them with open arms.
A full length exclusive interview with Barrows and Utley will feature in Issue 23 of Big Shot, where the band discuss their live album, PNYC, the influence of Bristol on their music, the changes in the technology between albums, and the plethora of fan made videos that have cropped up on the Web. OGW
British drum ‘n’ bass DJ Grooverider has been jailed for four years in the United Arab Emirates for possession of 2.16 grams of cannabis. After his arrest on November 23, 2007, the DJ (real name: Raymond Bingham) claimed that the drugs were in the pocket of a pair of jeans he had forgotten about.
A spokesman for BBC Radio 1 has said, “Grooverider has paid a very high price for a serious mistake.” It is expected that his attorneys will launch an appeal against the minimum term sentence.
England’s Radio 1 has refused to comment on the arrest of one of its DJ’s, drum ‘n’ bass pioneer Grooverider (real name: Raymond Bingham). Grooverider was arrested in Dubai airport on November 23 for possession of cannabis and pornographic DVDs. Possession of drugs and porn are seriously illegal in the Islamic UAE Arabic State and carry a minimum sentence of four years in prison.
Since his arrest Grooverider has been detained without bail, a fact the promoter of the show he was due to play a sold-out show at The Lodge on the evening he arrived clearly stated to him in a fax before his departure.
It is also being claimed by Dubai based press that Grooverider had traces of drugs in his system after taking a urine test. This could weigh heavily against the DJ when his case is heard in the next few days. In 2006, R&B star Dallas Austin was also arrested in the UAE for bringing cocaine into the country. After lobbying from none other than Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie, who is immensely popular in Dubai, the star was released and deported.
Grooverider’s case may not be so simple with the lack of backing from his employers in the UK; however, it appears that the British Embassy have been in touch with the man who introduced millions of us to drum and bass via the UK’s primary radio station.
