Two Cities, One Crew
Some creative partnerships start in the same room. NC17 started on the internet. Peter is based in Toronto; his partner Sean is from Ohio — about five hours away. What began as an online connection eventually turned into a studio visit, and that first session was all the confirmation they needed.
“We just got into the studio and it clicked,” Peter says simply. And from that click, a working method was born.
Before each in-person session, both producers work independently — building loops, sketching ideas, letting the work accumulate. By the time Sean makes the drive to Toronto, there are twenty or thirty ideas sitting in the folder, waiting to be judged with fresh ears. The filter is time. “You never know what’s good until you’ve given it some time,” Peter explains. It’s a patient, deliberate approach in a scene that often moves fast.
“You never know what’s good until you’ve given it some time.”
When Cinema Moves the Faders
Ask most producers where they find inspiration and they’ll point you toward other records. Peter points you toward the cinema — specifically the shadowy corridors of Italian horror.
Dario Argento. Lucio Fulci. Mario Bava. Lamberto Bava. The architects of a peculiar strain of 70s and 80s horror that was less about jump scares and more about atmosphere — a creeping, textural dread built as much from sound design as visuals.
“I’ll watch a film and then be like, oh my God, I’m inspired by that film, I’ve got to work on it,” Peter says. He’ll dissect the film, pull sounds, pull moods, and let the feeling translate into music. The result is drum & bass shaped not just by rhythm and sub-bass, but by the particular emotional temperature of Goblin’s synths and Fabio Frizzi’s scores — something with atmosphere that sits apart from the mainstream.
“It’s the atmospheres, the tones, the feelings that are very, very different from a lot of what you were seeing in other horror films.”
Three Decks, Three Hours, Five Training Sessions a Week
Here’s something that doesn’t come up much when people talk about DJing: it’s physically demanding. Not in the way people imagine — not just the late nights and the crowds — but the mechanical, sustained effort of a three-hour set on three decks, mixing every sixteen bars without dropping pace or precision.
Peter trains at Combat Arts in Toronto four to five times a week: kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, grappling. He’s direct about the connection. “That’s when the martial arts comes into play. You’ve got to keep fit.”
Behind the discipline is perfectionism. Both Peter and Sean approach their sets competitively — not against the crowd, but against each other. Who can pull a tune the other one wouldn’t? Who can read the room better? That internal pressure is what keeps the sets sharp.
The Tape That Changed Everything
Peter didn’t come to drum & bass easily. He was a hip-hop head — genuinely into it — until around 1998, when hip-hop shifted in a direction that no longer resonated with him. He was looking for something but didn’t know what.
Then a high school friend named Darren handed him a tape. A Conflict mix from Renegade Hardware, circa ’98 or ’99. Peter didn’t listen right away. He wasn’t interested. Then one night, alone, he put it on.
What he heard was rawer and more chopped than what he’d associated with the genre. Something about the texture of it — the weight and the edit — hit differently. He listened front to back without stopping. “I fell in love right away.”
From there, it accelerated quickly: parties, producers, records. Ed Rush. Optical. Conflict. The entire Renegade Hardware catalog. He became, as he puts it, “all drum and bass” — and then started throwing his own parties to practice DJing, then producing, then eventually forming NC17 with Sean.
The Sunday Show & Staying Sharp
In 2009, NC17 won the Toronto Drum & Bass Awards for Best Local DJs. It meant a lot. But the work didn’t stop there — if anything, it clarified the discipline required to stay competitive.
Every Sunday, Peter runs a three-hour show. Someone asked him why he does it so religiously. His answer was simple: to stay sharp. “You can never get comfortable in this industry. The minute you start slipping, it’s over.”
The goal isn’t complicated. Travel. Play music. Share what inspires them with people who want to hear it. NC17 keeps it exactly that focused.