‘Whatever happens, we’re going to leave here smelling of meat.’ Serum says as we slide our backsides into the red pleather seats of a Turkish restaurant in Hackney; Serum’s old stomping ground. Voltage is visibly excited by the promise of platefuls of spiced, pressed food. The pair sit side by side grinning like Cheshire cats. We meet to deep dive into 10 years of Serum & Voltage, a milestone that represents many wonderful things and yet, it is clear to see the real star of the show was the delicious, succulent, mixed grill that awaited us.

10 years of Serum & Voltage means, in short: 10 Years Of Absolute Bollocks, 3652.5 days of relentless tune making, 5259600 minutes of hard graft, 315576000 seconds of bonding over Belgian beers, curry, kebabs, spag bol and various other pasta based dishes. From their Jupiter EP in 2016 and debut album Strike Back in 2017 – both on Logan D’s label Low Down Deep – to present day, the pair have had a steady but sturdy rise through the ranks, leading them to be two of the most prominent figures in not only jump-up, but also in what has grown to be this hugely popular, modern era of drum & bass. However, this terrible twosome once roamed the raves as individual artists, clueless of the love story that would soon flourish. ‘In 2004, I started releasing on labels like Dread and Penny Black with Ray Keith’ Serum reminisces. ‘I met Bladerunner at Dread the year after. He was the next artist that got picked up. We were rolling along for a while, we had some success, but it wasn’t really like making a job for either of us.’ Voltage took a little longer to join the parade, but when he did, he came in like a wrecking ball. ‘That was the mad thing, you came through and just shot up super fast.’ Serum says.

Voltage remembers it all too well. ‘Serum was already established and had quite a strong name for himself at that time. He was actually someone that I was really trying to reach.’ Voltage says with a smile. He was clearly super inspired by Serum, little did he know he was having quite the impact on him in return.

‘Voltage bursting onto the scene kicked me up the arse.’ Serum shares ‘I didn’t really see anybody in my situation, in the music industry, making it. I felt a little bit like everybody who was making it were people who had been to private schools, people who seemed to have just some sort of easy way. Whereas I was working, living in my own place, having to pay the bills. I had a full time job living in London.’ They were similar in more ways than one, and with a love for the music and their passion for making dirty rolling jump-up bangers as their driving force, the pair quickly became inseparable.

Listen to Serum & Voltage’s Exclusive Mix for UKF here.

Serum & Voltage’s bromance was brewing like a nice cup of tea on a cold winter’s morning, with the pair visiting each other weekly for lengthy, burrowed away studio sessions. ‘From the word go, we were always just bouncing ideas off each other. I liked the energy behind it.’ Serum says. ‘Since probably the second studio day, we haven’t stopped.’ And they really were unstoppable. Collectively, it will take you many minutes to scroll through Serum & Voltage’s releases on Spotify – both individually and as a duo. It’s exercise. Do it. It’ll keep you fit. And yet, this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg in terms of the bangers they’ve churned out of the Serum & Voltage machine.

‘I checked on Discogs, I’ve released over 800 tunes.’ Voltage beams.‘It’s actually crazy. In 2015, I was releasing an EP a week. Solid, for 18 months. Mark and I were very much in the same opinion that we just didn’t really enjoy what was going on around that time in jump up. It was very mechanised.’ From 2017 onwards, everything in drum & bass started to change, promoters watched as raves went from being on the brink of closing down, to completely selling out overnight. A pivotal year for drum & bass and timely entrance for Serum’s Souped Up to join the party; launching the label with ‘8-Bit / Gunfingers’ courtesy of Serum & Voltage, obviously. From London to Leeds, people were travelling up and down the country to go to jump-up nights. Serum & Voltage played a huge part in this movement, producing many of the tunes that fueled – what soon became – these absolutely massive parties ‘All of a sudden like we had the tunes that everybody wanted’ Voltage shares excitedly.

‘It was a crazy time.’ Serum jumps in ‘We were releasing with the big jump up labels like Low Down Deep, but we were also on Metalheadz, 31, Philly Blunt, V Recordings. Voltage did a tune on Ram Records, I was on Critical. We were everywhere. Everything changed really quickly’

The pair were on fire, leaving no drum & bass shaped stone unturned. What was their main motivation? ‘I’ve always wanted to be as good as Mark.’ Voltage volunteers whilst taking a small sip of his Turkish tea. ‘Technically, for me, he’s set the bar. He always finds the next thing. The reason I end up making so many tunes is because I’m just like, no, I’m going to keep going, keep going until I make something that I know when I send it to him he’s going to be like, ‘That’s ridiculous.’ That’s like a massive thing to me, you know? When he turned around to me and said ‘Bloody hell, the mixes on those tunes are like, I don’t know what you’ve done there, but that is ridiculous!’ I’m like, wow. I’ve worked my arse off for 10 years to hear you say that!’

The years that followed were full to the brim with good times. From Kings of the Rollers being signed to Hospital Records to releasing with the likes of Katy B and turning hundreds of raves into actual, literal zoos. Times were flying, and even whilst battling with late nights, long flights, back-to-back shows and relentless schedules, the pair have never even so much as squabbled. ‘We’ve never had one bad word in the studio.’ Voltage says with pride. ‘Ever. Because we’re a bit older and we started working together when we were older too really, in our 30s, we’re not kids trying to figure out our emotions and egos. We have always been able to leave our egos at the door. If a tune isn’t working, we’ll just sack it off. It doesn’t matter. It’s just music. We’re meant to be having fun, and we’ve always maintained that.’

Serum & Voltage are two artists who know too well that success doesn’t happen overnight, and that there are lots of people along the way to credit for the rise of a successful artist. One prominent figure praised by both is none other than the legendary, Bryan Gee. ‘Bryan will message me on a Wednesday at 10am and be like, ‘Yo. Load me up. I know you got the tunes. I’ve heard this, you’re killing me, you’re killing me!’ Serum says. ‘And I’m just thinking, you’re so supportive and nurturing. There’s no gatekeeping.’

There is an abundance of respect for Bryan from both, with Voltage chiming in: ‘We owe a lot to Bryan really for that kind of attitude.’

So, the tunes were slapping, the raves were popping off, the socials were good craic, but what was the secret ingredient for such success? Truth is, the foundation of everything is years of good ole fashioned friendship. ‘I think as time goes on, we’ve gone through a lot in life.’ Serum says ‘We have gone through a lot in life with each other too. You live several lives in that time, you know? When we met, Voltage was living in Gloucester. I had my first child. We both went through a time of thinking, is drum and bass the right thing to do? Do I want to be an aging drum and bass DJ? Hustling to support my kids?’ Making tunes was the main event, but the support system they had created was something special.

The pair became visibly distracted from the interview. There was something much more important at play: the food had arrived. A mixed grill and various plates of sides landed on the table. ‘Wow. Wow, okay. Nice. Kaboom. Yeah. Don’t muck about, do we?’ Expressed a hungry Serum.

Fast forward to post-pandemic times, Serum & Voltage were flying sky high. Their music was sending ravers heads spinning into another dimension, and with the camp oozing of fun, young ravers from all over were keen for a piece of the pie. ‘Things have been pretty depressing in the world over the last few years.’ Serum says ‘People want a lift, they want to have fun. That’s why after Covid, jump-up went bananas, because it’s the most fun thing. It’s the most energetic.’ Jump up was popular amongst the youngens, but little did they know that their energy was feeding right back into the music sending them wild.

Voltage explains more: ‘For us as producers too, having that energy to tap into, you can literally write tunes because you can sort of picture people’s reactions, you just get a really good energy from the people.’ Serum chimes in, ‘They make you excited, then you’re kind of like, oh, what else can I do that’s going to like, twist their heads up a little? What kind of things can I bring in that are going to put a smile on their faces?’

Social media has played a huge part both Serum & Voltage – and the whole Souped Up gang’s – brand. With our feeds full of Voltage eating copious amounts of spag bol, Serum’s cat taking centre stage and Mozey frolicing around wearing nothing but a skimpy pair of sequined black shorts, it seemed like a genius marketing plan, but really, they are just really and truly having a bloody lovely time. ‘I just film my cat on TikTok and I make jokes about my fans.’ Serum laughs. ‘They take the piss out of us being old all the time too. When someone says something like that to me, I’m just like, yeah, fair. I’ll have a laugh about myself. Trying to be young when you’re in your 40s doesn’t work. I just think that stuff just doesn’t exist. The younguns don’t care.’

Voltage agrees, whilst dunking a small piece of pitta into some unknown Turkish dip. ‘You’ve just got this really nice interaction. They [the fans] are funny, they crack me up. They give me good energy.’

Souped Up have since become one of the leading labels in this modern era of drum & bass. They changed the game with their fruity artwork and tongue-and-cheek persona. ‘If fun offends you, you probably don’t want to take notice of us. That makes us super offensive, I reckon.’ Voltage says with a smile on his face.

It is clear to see, however, that there is much more to the label than spag bol and cats: ‘I think we’ve always moved as a very solid unit.’ Serum says, ‘There’s a lot of different skills between us all. And because we were such huge fans of the whole Roni, Krust, Die, Dope Dragon, Full Cycle, kind of thing, we’ve always had our vision of mirroring that and creating our own labels, making our own camps, our own team.’ Voltage, now label owner himself after starting Nice N Decent earlier this year, chips in. ‘We’ve always presented that kind of united front, but that’s just the natural way that we move. We’re all about each other and we would never do anything to put each other out. We’re a family. I think that really comes across too, especially when it comes to the kids, because they look at it and I think they want to be part of it. It’s nice because it means you’ve put something good out into the world. And people are like, oh, I want to be part of that.’

Many layers make up the foundation of this pitta-loving pair. Layers of hard work, challenging times, life-curveballs, an understanding of what it means to have to work really hard for your place in the scene. We see them in their prime, yet even they know themselves that success doesn’t last forever. ‘I think it’s important that I’ve seen real lean times.’ Serum shares ‘It makes you realise when it’s going well, you always keep a little back. If you don’t milk what you do, someone else will.’

Celebrating 10 years of kebabs and gaffing on all the wobs, Serum & Voltage mark 10 years of their camaraderie with an LP suitably titled ‘10 Years of Absolute Bollocks’. ‘When we were deciding what to call it we were like, we should just call it 10 years of absolute bollocks, because that’s what it’s been, pretty much.’ Voltage says. Serum nods in agreement. The EP is a joyous package for lovers of jump-up from across the land, marking this milestone with 18 tracks of carnage, some rather beautiful royal wedding visuals – with Serum & Voltage replacing Princess Di and Charles, obviously – and a complimentary tea towel. Heck, they even had a commemorative plate made, cause, why not?

Get your Dub Pack and Tea Towel here.

They laugh and they joke, but really, there’s a lot of love and gratitude amongst Serum & Voltage, in particular, for their adoring, yet completely ‘unhinged’ fan base. ‘We just love anyone who has been a part of this journey.’ Serum shares with a twinkle in his eye. ‘Sometimes people do our marketing for us because they come up with stuff for us. Like one day, some guy just starts posting ‘gaff on the wob’ on every one of my posts. It just became a thing. And I’m like, I want to make that some of the artwork, just so this guy will be like, I came up with that, and so we made that happen. There’s loads of things like that, or they’ll turn up and give Voltage a cooking apron on stage or bring presents for my cat. People bringing pies and biscuits to the rave. It’s good to just have a laugh with people.’ Serum smiles, Voltage adds ‘They do keep us going. We’re super grateful. Like, super grateful.’

It’s safe to say Serum & Voltage are going absolutely nowhere, anytime soon. The pair are pros at looking to the future, whilst remaining sturdily in the present, but what do they see for themselves in another 10 years from now? ‘20 years of ugly bollocks.’ Serum says with confidence. ‘We’re gonna be really sick, mad old people. You know, like Elton John in all his Gucci suits and stuff. We’re just going to get weirder and weirder until we explode.’

Voltage laughs and says ‘I think we’ll still make good tunes though.’

The plates were cleared, hugs were had, Ubers were ordered, and we all left the restaurant as Serum predicated, absolutely stinking of meat.

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By: Laurie Charlesworth
Title: Cover Story: 10 Years Of Serum & Voltage
Sourced From: ukf.com/read/cover-story-10-years-of-serum-voltage/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cover-story-10-years-of-serum-voltage
Published Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000

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