The Wolverhampton wanderer

Everyone knows who Goldie is, but not many are entirely sure what exactly it is he does. As it happens, this Wolverhampton wandering wonder does quite a lot – producer, DJ, Bond villain, celebrity, pal to the stars, fund-raiser, Metalheadz boss, promoter, socialite and gossip column regular…

Now, another one to add to that role call is activist, as Goldie lends his support and a box of beats to the Stop Esso campaign affiliated to Greenpeace. “I got involved with this through a friend of mine Wendy who works for Greenpeace,” Goldie reveals. “I saw a positive role to play.” Other celeb endorsements have come from Tim Roth, Damien Hirst, Ralph Fiennes, Les Ferdinand, Keith Allen and Jade and Bianca Jagger.

“I don’t like to get very heavy about it,” Goldie cautions. “While I frequently get involved with causes, I try to deal with one thing at a time because otherwise it would occupy so much time, much as I may want to. But this is especially prominent. It’s totally in the mainstream and on the High Street so I think it demands attention. Esso are blatantly taking the piss and they are being so backdoor about it. They should be far more considerate.”

Goldie’s latest incarnation is certainly a long way removed from the ostensibly trivial nature of his unlikely gig in Celebrity Big Brother. Personally, I avoid reality TV shows the way other people try to avoid a fatal disease, but a cursory look at last summer’s papers and Goldie’s rant a minute web site = reveals that, at least, it was eventful, as Goldie initiated a debate on the loftily academic subject of Melinda Messenger’s breasts.

“I had to question whether or not they were fake, and we had a debate about it,” Goldie wrote on his site. “Then I heard Graham Norton say on his show, how can I talk about false tits when I’ve got false teeth? But I question that, as I never had to cut large membranes of skin from my body to get them put in. The thing that annoyed me was that Melinda wasn’t happy when I told her I thought her breasts had made her famous. If she doesn’t like them, I’ll pay for her to have them taken out and I’ll take them home as a souvenir of the time I had in the house!”

But to Goldie, there were far more important issues at stake than silicone.

“It was alright and a bit of a laugh,” Goldie now maintains. “The best thing about it was to make some money for Centrepoint, an organisation that helps homeless kids which is a cause close to my heart because I used to be homeless. They got between thirty and forty grand. The fact that homelessness still exists really annoys me. I do get frustrated. I’m happy with one car, I don’t need 24. It’s so fucking ignorant. English people are very cushioned and we seem to find it very difficult to deal with reality.”

Would he do it again? “Nah. Been there, done that and bought the T-shirt. I like to keep moving.” Hence, Goldie is going to move to the other side of the camera for a forthcoming film. “I’ve just finished my first screenplay Sine Tempus, which I’ll also be producing and directing and doing the soundtrack,” adds the busy bod. “It is scheduled for around February of next year. I’ve been involved in it for a very long time and it took at least two years to write so it’s been intense. I’ve also been getting along with married life and children and not going out so much. There are a couple of others film roles I might be doing but I’m not in a position to disclose anything yet I’m afraid.”

Goldie has previously moonlighted as a cameo gangster in Eastenders. Aptly, his character was called Angel – the name of one of the tracks the Timeless era.

“A real privilege and a great laugh,” he enthuses about his soap bit part. “It’s mad to have done these things but I really like the way that it’s because I came from a musical background. Sure, it gets lumped into the Celebrity dustbin, but at least I stumbled into all this through music. I appreciate the chance to break the norm and do something different and that’s something I’m always eager to do.”

Breaking the norm was exactly what Goldie did with Timeless – the album that brought drum n’ bass into the mainstream.

“For me, Timeless was the ultimate statement of drum ‘n’ bass’s technical sophistication and manipulation,” he reflects. “Back then I was the first of the drum ’n’ bass crew to sign to a major label; London records. To me this made no odds. I didn’t care if music was underground or overground; I knew where it came from! Timeless shot straight into the album charts at number seven, which was a first for a drum ‘n’ bass record. But I don’t even know if I’d call it a drum ’n’ bass record, I don’t like to be that narrow-minded about it.”

And the music hasn’t gone away, you know.

“The ’03 mix album is ready to go,” he says. “We’re (Metalheadz) starting up a new night in five weeks in the Medicine Bar in Shoreditch in the Old Street area (trendy but pleasant district to hang out in North Central London). We stopped it while when the superclub syndrome was in full swing. It was hard to get a right venue. Drum n’ bass was a stepchild that took a backseat and managed to look after itself. The label has been quiet for a while but we’ll be back in full swing with a rake of great tunes and artists. I’ve always digged deejaying as well. I love playing Seattle, San Francisco, New Zealand and I used to love the Kitchen in Dublin which I know is gone now.”

While most may recognise Goldie from wearing his DJ/producer hat, the man himself gets as confused as anybody else on the subject of his ever changing public role.

“Four different people might say hello to me on the street and they’d know me from four different things and sometimes you can’t put your finger on it,” he reflects. “Some know me as the recording artist, others as an actor, club promoter, DJ or record label. It’s great and I think it shows just how small the world and youth culture really is.”

Celebrity means little to him now, he concludes, but he does treasure his achievements enormously.

“I’ve grown up,” he admits. “I’m 36 and I did all this stuff. If I gotta go out now, then at least I’ve done all this and I’m very proud of that.”