Blame is Conrad Shafie, a British producer whose route into drum and bass began with hip-hop, electro, and the rave scene. Raised in north London before moving to Luton, he studied graphic design and worked in that field before concentrating on music. His early interest in making beats predated his first record deal.
Music Takes You became his first solo production after a college connection introduced him to a community recording studio. Recalling the session to Vinyl Junkie, Blame said he hired four hours at the 33 Arts Centre. He subsequently contacted Rob Playford and sent the track to Moving Shadow.
His 720 Degrees imprint gave another strand of his work a home. In their UKF interview, Future Engineers recalled being drawn to Blame’s combination of musical elements and harder, more technical drum and bass. The label’s place in that history also appears in Blame’s own interviews about his production career.
During lockdown, rediscovered DAT recordings led to releases on Over/Shadow and invitations to revisit earlier styles through his Shadow remixes. He told Vinyl Junkie that he brought old synths and samples back into use for those projects. In the same interview, he described 720 Degrees as inactive while he focused on making music for other labels.
