the valiant emcee...a unique individual, indeed. not the usual kind of guy by any measure, his approach to drum-n-bass, and life in general, is far from conventional. with a rock-n-roll mentality, and a style all his own, he's a darkside alternative to the drum-n-bass status quo. his involvement in drum-n-bass goes back more than a decade, and his tenure as an emcee goes back to 1998. it started after valiant attended some raves in 1994. already a punk and hardcore drummer, the bass was exciting, but he soon grew tired of the 4-beat that was house and techno. a year later, he got dieselboy's "witness the strength" mixtape, and soon bought ltj bukem's "logical progression, metalheadz "platinum breakz", and goldie's "timeless". these three cd's would shape the way valiant would view drum-n-bass music forever… after starting off with a modest foray into promotion, co-throwing buffalo's first all drum-n-bass one-off party, he picked up a microphone in 1998 as part of underground fm, a local radio show cofounded by cable (good looking records/cov-ops). cutting his teeth and finding his style on the airwaves was a bit of a trial by fire, and he finally started to play out at events a year later. valiant wound up being cable's partner in crime, playing along side him at a variety of events, including headlining a room at buzz in washington dc with chris j (svek, good looking records), and orion (subtitles, cov-ops), and several of ltj bukem’s progression sessions tour dates. in 2001, valiant landed the resident spot at return, a drum-n-bass weekly that really set the tone for drum-n-bass in upstate new york, along with la selva in rochester. here, he began switching up his style. with cable, he carried on the tradition begun by luminaries such as conrad and drs. but as drum-n-bass further drifted into more diverse territory, so did valiant's style, as he began balancing lyrical content with playing host of the festivities. around the same time, he made a forray into 2-step and breaks with rochester's annalyze (twice as nice, dj quik, lady sovereign). in 2003, valiant met ms.six, a nyc drum-n-bass dj, and the two were soon romantically linked. they married the next year, and began playing out together, including dates in pittsburgh, nyc, miami, and toronto. in 2004, valiant became the resident emcee at the opm lounge, which began hosting a party called factory, where ms.six also became a resident dj. the night became a weekly, and has since become a touchstone for drum-n-bass artists touring north america, and has hosted dozens and dozens of the world's biggest drum-n-bass and breakbeat artists, from grooverider to goldie, dj rap to john b, influx uk to dj ss, dieselboy to dara and so many more. it was here that valiant's style came full circle. his talents here led to his bookings at world of drum-n-bass (along with ms.six) and americas unified at the 2006 winter music conference in miami, florida. valiant has developed into an emcee who embraces his punk and metal roots and his love for the darker side of music. raspy voiced, inked, holding down a fighting stance, he reminds people that he brings more to the drum-n-bass table than one might expect. the sentiment that he seems more like he's fronting a band than a dj is shared by many people. he's been fortunate enough to play regularly with some of the industry's biggest names. 2006 was a year of change for the man on the mic. his marriage to ms.six ended, although the two remain truly best friends. he became a social studies teacher, and relocated to las vegas, where he has begun performing regularly at deton8r events. a longtime staple of the scene in the east, he now seeks to establish himself out west, and indeed across north america in general. he currently regularly vocalizes for toronto's mr.brown (2dabeat) and buffalo's perceptor (www.djperceptor.com), and has recently collaborated with dj fixx (bottom end recs, after dark recs, florida) for a spring 2007 release. he's also planning vocal collaborations with catacomb (syndrome audio, aesthetics, shadybrain, toronto canada), and with nightwerks (telluric, nyc/philly/ tampa), a collaboration that will take valiant back to his atmospheric roots. through it all, he remains committed to being the best mc he can be while playing out across north america as much as possible.