Dub Funk Association's Kelvin Richard gets down with Tony Corbin.

Far too often British black music is judged according to how well the artist impersonates their American or Jamaican counterparts. This is not always the fault of the journalist/listener/DJ etc as many UK artists have been content to mimic their idols. Under the name Dub Funk Association, Kelvin Richard - who it must be said is a most amiable and level-headed man - takes the said influences and, rather than attempting to emulate them, mixes them up like a laboratory technician, producing most interesting results.

His debut album, Raise the Dub - on his own Tanty Records - is in the shops now. It's an idiosyncratic and experimental recording that swings between the two genres that constitute his recording pseudonym.

'There are wide parameters with dub at one end and funk, house or whatever at the other' says Kelvin, who also works as a cameraman/technician on pop videos. 'So one track might be more reggae-orientated while another might lean towards the other end of the scale'.

The album is very much a nineties fusion, which is obviously a good thing, though I must admit to being thrown when I first played it expecting it to be a cross between Scientist and George Clinton.

'It's fine if people want to do that retro thing like Brand New Heavies or Alpha & Omega' says Kelvin. 'They're good but I don't think it would benefit me. Tanty Records is all about trying to be different. That's what I'm trying to achieve. It's about taking the essence of what dub was all about and integrating it into today's style. It has to move on.'

This in fact has been achieved though, typically, he downplays it: 'I don't think it will make me a rich man but hopefully it will do alright. Hopefully it will be accepted on its own merits.'

Kelvin's material can only really be accepted on its own merits as it has no real precedent. On the sleeve it's suggested that the recording could be filed under 'reggae, dance or ambient', though it doesn't have much in common with the current ambient scene.

'A lot of ambient is too formless to me. It needs some kind of body to it. Beats are starting to come back into it though It's like an extreme reaction to the drum n bass scene where the beats have become so furious.'

Drum n bass, now there's a British thing and seeing - as it is mainly comprised of fast hip hop beats and dub basslines - it must be considered a black thing.

Drum n bass, the antithesis Dina Carroll, often gets swept under the carpet. But it seems a lot harder to keep from the urban streets.

'Recently I heard this guy playing a heavy drum n bass tune in his car with this deep sub bass that you could really feel, you know what I mean', says Kelvin. When I went home, I started messing around and recorded a track'.

He plays me the ensuing cut on tape. It is drum n bass-influenced rather than drum n bass keeping in line with his philosophy. It's like a more musical version of the genre with deliberate dissonance and roughness blending with his smoother approach. It's pretty impressive, believe me.

But though his tunes stand up as instrumentals I can't help wondering what he can achieve with a vocalist. 'Well, Dub Funk Association is more a concept than one guy,' he says, 'and I always intended to have vocals at some point - maybe something like some of Smith & Mighty's stuff.'