VIVID PROPHET spoke to Tony Cummings.

Vivid Prophet

Tony: Give me a potted biography.

I am Vivid Prophet, aka Piers Williamson. I write drum 'n' bass music and am a label owner/musician/producer and occasional DJ. I have a live band to perform the stuff live and I have a degree in music composition and jazz guitar. It makes me sound like I am applying for a job or something! Yeah I think that just about covers it all.

Tony: How did you get involved in dance music?

I have been writing dance music for ages now. I really got into it from spending time in Manchester and getting engrossed in the dance scene there, but I have admired so many dance acts, eg, Prodigy/Chemical Brothers/Roni Size and Goldie for so long now.

Tony: How did you learn your production skills?

I learnt my production skills from various directions. I studied Audio Engineering at University so picked up skills there. I also used to be a studio assistant at the studio were Paul Godfrey from Morcheeba used to work. I picked up a lot of very practical skills there. Mainly I would say it is from spending hours just listening to music and writing my own material.

Tony: How did you become a Christian?

I became a Christian by rationally thinking it through and working out that all the stuff in the Bible just simply made sense (this was when God was opening this up to me). The next step was a mate of mine taking me along to church. This was crunch time and I became a Christian. I am so grateful for my mate Stu for taking me along to church because if he hadn't then I may not have become a Christian. Sometimes we as Christians have to swallow our pride and reach out to people (it has eternal consequences).

Tony: I believe this is your first recording. How did you find the recording process?

The recording process was great; it was like home from home. I have my own studio/writing room and so I worked on the material in my studio and took it as far as I could and then took it down to Bristol to put on the final polishing work and production at Psalmistry's studio. I went to Bristol because it is the centre of drum 'n' bass and I needed that for it to sound the way I envisioned it.

Tony: What track would you say best portrays your work and why?

That is a toughie...I would have to say that "Dissolution Flex" or "I Know" (I know I was only supposed to choose one). The reason why is that they have really great rolling drum lines that you can really get down and dance to. A track like "I Know" is a good example from a lyrical point of view because it is just a real testament of faith, in that it says "I know Jesus."

Tony: Christians seem very slow to get involved in the experimental end of dance music. Why is that, do you think?

I think that a lot of Christians listen to music written by other Christians. Now I am not saying that this is wrong, because it can be really helpful for our spiritual growth but...if a Christian wishes to be relevant to his or her culture they have to be very aware of that culture. Not enough Christians listen to secular dance music so as to create dance music that is appropriate for the culture that you are reaching out to. The pharisees insulted Jesus because he was hanging around with tax collectors and sinners, but he was out there mixing with the people and infecting them with the gospel.