by Gavin Weale

25-year-old Jason Sparks was shoehorned into the fray when London-based breaks label Botchit & Scarper used 'Left To Live For' to kick off their superb Botchit Breaks 2 compilation (1999), a release that defined the explosion of 130 bpm breakbeat beginning to seep heavily onto UK dancefloors. 'Left To Live For' captured the bass-pummeled imagination of the breaks-headz with a sublime fusion of strings, saxophone and mid-tempo breaks, setting it apart from the more dancefloor orientated efforts of his label mates.

It was a rapid ascension: from bedroom knob-twiddler to denizen of the breaks scene, all in the time it takes for a DAT tape to get from Hertfordshire to London.

Q: Briefly run us through the releases you've had and the responses they've provoked?

A: My first release was 'Left to Live For' which was the opening track on Botchit Breaks 2. The compilation got some good reviews particularly my track, which was great press for me - I was really pleased. I then did 'Our People', which was one of 3 tracks on the Urban Funk Breaks 1 EP. That EP got a few 5 star reviews and BBC Radio 1's Annie Nightingale rated it as her top tune at one point which I was really chuffed with. Following 'Our People' came my 'Natural Born World Shaker EP'. The reviews for that were quite good; I got 5 stars and In The Box in DJ Magazine, which was a pleasant surprise. 'Gangsters' then came out on Botchit Breakspeech and then I did a joint track with Atomic Hooligan, which is on the Urban Funk Breaks 2 EP.

Q: What's your earliest memory of being involved with music - Tomytron keyboard? Dancing to the 'Birdie Song' wearing your mum's knickers?

A: When I was 7 years old, I was staying in a hotel while on holiday in Devon and I found an old piano and learnt to play the Star Wars theme. Or 6 years old, singing Buddy Holly 'Raining In My Heart' (if you can count that) to my parents while they tried to keep a straight face.

Q: Did you have any formal music training?

A: Not really, I had about two piano lessons when I was 10 years old, and a few guitar lessons when I was 15 and going through that "I wanna be a rock 'n' roll star" phase.

Q: What bands did you use to mosh around your bedroom to then?

A: I didn't really mosh in my bedroom but I was really into bands like Curve, Ride and My Bloody Valentine and I have memories of stage diving at their gigs (painful).

Q: So when did you first get grabbed by electronic music?

A: In my last year at junior school, breakdancing came into fashion so everyone was buying and pirating breakdance compilations and there were quite a few electro tracks on them which I got into (can't remember any names). I also loved Paul Hardcastle's "N-N-N-N Nineteen", which was around at the same time.

Continue to part two of this feature