Border Crossing 'Ominous' album

The core trio on the highly praised “Ominous” album are a posse of hip-hop idealists - Turntablist AJ (Alex Angol), engineer/producer Paul Mulvey, and the guy with the vision, Seorais Graham - who, having DJed for 10 years, was desperate to make his own music. “Border Crossing is a journey to question what hip hop is in the UK. A lot of people are alienated by hip hop, and I wanted to change the way people think about it,” Seorais says. Their sound defies regular boundaries of music by combining Hip Hop, R’n’B, Dancehall, Reggae, and Chill Out.

The three grew up in West London, the streets of Notting Hill, Shepherd’s Bush and Hammersmith, areas that have spawned some of the best in British music from the Clash to Aswad, from Reggae to Acid House. In the same way that Soul II Soul gave late ‘80s Camden a musical style, and Massive Attack created a voice for Bristol in the early ‘90s, so Border Crossing bring the sounds of West London to the 21st century. Their debut album “Ominous” is ladled out of a huge sonic melting pot of musical styles.

Alex has been involved in the Hip-Hop scene since ‘82 and started DJing at some of the most important club nights including the Language Lab, which is now considered the most influential night in introducing the genre to the UK. The night attracted a whole host of music lovers who were later to go on and have their own success including Depeche Mode and Boy George. Alex formed a reputation as a rapper and by ’86 had formed a DJ/Rap collective called the Radical Crew.

The Radical Crew played alongside the soundsystem known as Metro that went onto become the Renegade Soundwave sound-system, the band who from the mid-‘80s, have influenced some of the biggest names in UK dance: The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and Underworld. The band was signed to Mute Records and released several records including the massive club hits “The Phantom” and “Probably A Robbery.”

Renegade Soundwave mixed guitars and turntables, just as another west London band once fused reggae and rock’n’roll, something AJ is proud to point out. “Renegade Soundwave sampled The Clash; now with me working with them and these guys, it’s a new sound of West London, but it’s all connected.”

Seorais Graham was born and bred in Shepherd’s Bush. He grew up on a diet of Jazz and Blues thanks to his father, a huge jazz fan. A sponge soaking up mixing and scratch techniques from his elders, he started DJing on the Hip Hop scene in the late ‘80s. By the time he was 20 years old he had moved up to Manchester where he played at clubs like the Hacienda, Paradise Factory, Sankeys Soap and the Roadhouse. By the mid ‘90s Seorais purchased himself recording equipment and set upon creating the sounds and identity for Border Crossing.

Paul Mulvey, was born and bred in Ladbroke Grove and like the others has grown up with music. “My dad’s a keyboard player, he’s kind of like a rock’n’roller,” Paul says of Paddy, who played alongside Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards in the band Dirty Strangers and toured with Chuck Berry. By the age of 15 years, Paul had developed a musical love of his own. Paul and Seorais met as teenagers. Already a talented programmer, Paul set up his own studio, and eventually persuaded Seorais to start experimenting with beat making, the seeds of which grew into Border Crossing.

The band works with different vocalists and MCs who each bring their unique flavour to Border Crossing. They include: Halifax born rapper Usmaan, who appears on the album’s opening track “In Your Area;” South London sound system veteran Ricky Rankin (Roots Manuva’s dynamic MC), who brings his dancehall chat to “Dance For Your Life” and “Rankin’s Move;” American rapper Rockwell, who takes us back to those late ‘80s days on “Original Heads;” and finally the dazzling female vocalist Alex Watson who graces “More to Life” with her angelic and soulful melodies.

The album encompasses party anthems, moody raps about dangerous streets, orchestrated instrumentals, soul and reggae. Says Seorais: “The motivation behind the music is to unify people. Our name comes from the concept that compassion is the tool that links people from all the tribes and cultures.”

During 2004 they opened for the likes of De La Soul and Jem and DJed in their own right at Homelands, The Big Chill, Cargo, Spectrum, Glades Festival, Pacha in Ibiza. In December 2004 the highly respected Transmusical Festival in France witnessed their first live performance with a full band alongside The Beastie Boys, Kraftwerk and Kasabian.

The domestic release of “Ominous” also features Mr. Scruff’s Remix of “Searching For Mr. Manuva.” Other bonus tracks include the previously unavailable remix of “The Alias” featuring Jhest and a “No Go Area” Sun Mix featuring Usmaan.

“‘OMINOUS’ IS THE RECORD YOU WISH MASSIVE ATTACK HAD MADE AFTER “PROTECTION’”--DJ MAGAZINE

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Border Crossing - Ominous