This time we take a look at a young sound from Germany, that is well known for their excellent way of cutting dubs, and, with the help of those dubs, winning the Uptown Skanking Clash Final 2008 in Mainz, Germany.
Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Sting like a Bee from Pforzheim!
# Please introduce your Sound and all the members to the readers.
Yeah, this is Sting like a Bee Soundstation, named after the punch of the world renown “greatest of all times” Muhammad Ali.
Sting consists of 4 members: Marcus (MC & beyond), Feb (selecta), Steve (selecta & web guru) and the currently rather inactive Nick (MC).
# When was the founding of your Sound and since when do all of you djing?
Well Sting was founded in august 2003 by Marcus. Feb joined immediately, Nick about half a year after that. Steve used to play a sound called “Mighty Dragon” (based in Pforzheim too) those times.
We already knew each other quite well back then and in 2006 we decided to join forces.
Me (Marcus), i’ve been into music a long time, bought my first turntables in 98 (unless i’m very much mistaken) tho i was into hip hop back then.
Feb was inspired by his older brother and started selecting around 2002, i think that was around the time Steve started spinning too.
Nick and me were schoolmates back then, and i think we both fell in love with reggae at the same time (ca. 2000)
# Can you describe which style your sound plays mostly?
Contrary to what a lot of people might think, I feel we’re quite versatile.
We all got our favorite styles, I’m into vocals a lot, Steve loves the “digital” and rub a dub stuff and Feb keeps track of the new tunes.
Nevertheless we all share a strong passion for timeless music and don’t follow anything we don’t really feel.
Right now i think the only styles you will never hear Sting playing are soca and daggerin tunes, lol.
# Please tell me about the most important cornermarks in the sounds history, like clashes, the baddest dances, etc.
Aside from the 2 clashes, that is hard to tell. Picking 2 out of many great nights:
Playing in Vienna, Austria was wicked (and our first time playing abroad), the early dances at Club Zollamt (Stuttgart) were mad too (incl. a dance with Jeru the Damaja performing live on the sound).
Basically we enjoy playing everywhere people rate good music.
Since we had a strong focus on soundclashes from day one, I got to mention the Uptown Skankin Clashes.
Winning those 2 clashes gained us more recognition than anything before, and we were really overwhelmed with the positive feedback from all around the globe.
# Which plans do you have for your sound in the near future and what are the real longtime plans for it?
June 5th 2009 we will war it out with Ivory Sound in their backyard in Belgium.
Like i said Soundclash is an important part of Sting’s policy, but generally speaking we wanna play out as much as possible, keep the sound rollin and growin to the best of our abilities and gaining more recognition, both in germany and internationally.
# Which persons, sounds, artists have influenced you musicallywise?
Ok, now soundwise you just have to mention Stone Love, although i gotta admit the so called “War Sounds” (like Jaro, LP Intl. Addies etc) probably had a bigger impact on us.
Like most sounds who love vintage music Downbeat played an essential role in our musical evolution.
Speaking of germany Soundquake is the sound I always admired the most, but of course sounds like Sentinel or Supersonic are well respected too.
Then again the initial inspiration to found an own sound came from a Pforzheim based sound called Ganja Riddim, established in 98 I think.
Influential artists; (way too many to mention all of them, but in order to name some at least) i’d say Luciano really is our singer, along with the usual suspects like Dennis Brown, Garnett Silk etc.
# What was the first dubplate you ever voiced, and do you still play it?
Our first dubplate, i think a Westmoreland based Deejay called “Platinum” gave us that and No, we don’t play it anymore lol.
The first big artist we voiced was Yami Bolo (late 2003) and this one will definitely be played forever…
OK, thank you for the Interview Marcus and do you have any Last Words for the Readers?
Nuff respect to everybody out there who has shown us love thruout the years, special shout out to Belly Ranx for the wicked blog and the work you put in.
If you wanna contact Sting like a bee feel free to send an email to contact [ät] stinglikeabee [dot] de, or send a myspace message.
Make sure to check us out live whenever we feature in an event near you.
Bless, Sting Crew
So People, if you wanna hear Sting like a Bee in Action make sure to download the two Uptown Skankin’ Clashes they won from Guns-E-Num Clash Promotion, or take a slice of their
Best kept Secret Dubplate Mix.
[...] As you already read a while ago, this sound was the initial inspiration for Sting like a Bee to start play Dances, so Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for the mighty Ganja Riddim Sound from Pforzheim, Germany [...]