Roy Reid is known to have the mystical Dance Factor, the fabled ability to turn an empty field into a hallowed sanctuary of rave. His humbled highness can transform a suffering venue into a holy location of extreme ‘ardcore. As the classic Indeep tune ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My life’ once proclaimed; “There aint a problem I cant fix, cause I can do it in the mix’. And no truer statement can be used to describe the legend of the decks, Ellis Dee!

The second of the Ellis Dee Project reissues to be taken on by Vinyl Fanatiks and its a personal favourite of ours. The rawness of the production, the simplicity of the structure, the awesome use of samples… this is a pure rolling hardcore gem, a diamond that shines, 27 years after its creation. Our story previously ended on the last release with Roy successfully releasing his solo debut 12” to critical acclaim after he had become the link that joined together the mighty Rhythm Section the year before. ‘Dance Factor’ continues through the year of 1992, as the raves got bigger, the music spread further, and the drugs got stronger. Three things that Ellis Dee was a first-hand witness too in every sense!

For this release Ellis Dee wanted to make something different to his previous vinyl excursion, the infamous ‘Do You Want Me/Rock To The Max’. As he put it to me “I wanted to make something a bit tougher, a bit darker, to show my versatility”. His LBC Studio was still based in Bethnal Green in the East End of London, a couple of miles up the road from where he was from, Hackney, and as per his first release, the mixdown was done in the West of the city at his bandmates house, Rennie Pilgrim. He was riding the wave of success as his first 12 had made it onto the Fantazia album ‘The First Taste’ and the tune ‘Rock To The Max’ was now something of an anthem at the Fantazia raves. The name Ellis Dee commanded respect and people drove for miles to see him at a Rave, myself included!

Feeling confident and totally submerged now into the scene and the lifestyle, Roy wanted to show his ability as a producer after the years of showing it behind the decks. Reigning from the era of Acid House where he could play Donna Summers ‘I Feel Love’ right next to Fast Eddies ‘Acid Thunder’, Roy wanted to push himself rather than emulate his previous success. ‘Dance Factor’ was also the first track that he had used an Atari ST Notator on, after watching Rennie use it on the Rhythm Section tracks. Ellis Dee loved the rawness of the sound it created and this rawness is evident on ‘Dance Factor’. As Roy told me “The Atari ST Notation was so much better for editing on than what I was using before, the Ensoniq ASR 10. It was far more user friendly and you are able to see a lot more of what’s actually going on with the track that you are making. It really helped me step up my production”.