Dope Ammo was formed in 1996, initially as a collective seeking to promote a series of club events. The hugely successful shows featured world renowned DJs and live acts including amongst others: Scratch Perverts (Tony Vegas), Kosheen, SL2 (Slipmatt+Lime) and Nicky Blackmarket. Being aspiring DJ’s and producers themselves they found a studio space, becoming “The Drunken Masters” – this became the production moniker for the founding members of the Dope Ammo crew: Anil ‘Coco’ Shah, Chris Ball, Alan Parker, Nik Tomkins and Pornchai Doyle. By 1998, the label Dope Ammo Records was born and acted as an outlet for developing their own influences and style. Their intention was to reach out as far as possible and get their tracks in stores and on turntables all over the world. Since then the label has grown with the addition of new artists and remix work from big players in the Drum & Bass scene such as: Baron, DJ Hazard, G Dub, Benny Page, DJ Swan-e and many others. The label has a back catalogue now well into double figures with more releases on the horizon.

The year 2001 saw Dope Ammo sign to the DJ agency of jungle legends, Micky Finn and Aphrodite. It was with ‘Urban Agency’ that The Drunken Masters found the opportunity to take their innovative, forward-thinking sound to the nightclubs of Europe and America; smashing up the dance worldwide with their highly acclaimed dancefloor anthems: ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘Mastered Technique’. It was the globally commended reception of these tracks that saw The Drunken Masters profile rise even higher, gaining Radio 1 airplay courtesy of Steve Lamacq.

The label released their first album, ‘Uprising’ in 2002. This featured tracks from The Drunken Masters themselves as well as some new recruits. The lead single from the album, a reworking of ‘Deep In The Underground’ helped propel newcomer DJ Hazard to the forefront of the Drum & Bass scene and gave Dope Ammo a highly respected reputation for supporting new talent as well as established artists. With this increasing praise, the Dope Ammo crew soon found themselves collaborating with big names such as Benny Page, Micky Finn & Aphrodite. Around this time the crew teamed up with good friend, DJ Swan-E to set up a project label for young and emerging Drum & Bass artists called ‘Maximum Ammo’.

The following years saw The Drunken Masters tour all over the world, embarking on their first US tour in 2004. In the past decade, they have played to big crowds in some of the most exciting cities including: Berlin, Hamburg, Rome, Chicago, Austin, Houston, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Paris, Lyon, Lille, Vienna, Bangkok, Lisbon and Porto. In 2008 two of the founding members of The Drunken Masters decided it was time to settle down with their families, leaving Coco to take hold of the reigns, opting to use the label name for future DJ bookings and production.

In recent years Dope Ammo has produced remixes for big reggae artists, such as the huge chart-topping remix of ‘Badboy Comedy’ by Big Ranx, and the popular remix-collaboration with Benny Page, ‘Bigante Life’. A sample pack produced through Loopmasters was co-produced and released by Dope Ammo & Benny Page, receiving praise for its high quality and well structured sound delivery. Branching out in other areas of music, Dope Ammo has also worked for Sony Entertainment, designing soundtracks for popular video games such as DJ Hero.

So far, 2014 is looking to be another great year with Dope Ammo collaborating with Marvellous Cain on new material. This is to commemorate 20 years of Jungle music, with the massive remix of ‘Nice Tune’ getting a release on Yardrock after it smashed up the dance at Outlook Festival this year! Other studio work includes forthcoming material with The Run Tingz Cru and Full Monty, and a new Dope Ammo album celebrating 15 years of Dope Ammo Records, with the first full live show featuring vocalists and MCs to follow.

Dope Ammo has continued to strive towards keeping a real connection to the scene as well as trying to push its sound to as many people across the world. This attitude, honesty and real love for Drum & Bass guarantees our commitment well into the 21st Century.