But instead of making it out of Bristol, they made "IT" out of Bristol--which is entirely different. As 1998 rolls swiftly along, the eyes of the music world are keenly trained on this former small-time city; Bristol has turned out some of the best music to originate from Britain since the turn of the '90s, along with a handful of influential indie record labels.

To truly appreciate how Bristol has bred so many wide-open, drop-dead creative geniuses, you'll need to board a train at London's Paddington Station and take the train west for about 130-odd miles, or 90 minutes, until you reach Bristol Temple-Meads. Perhaps the first thing that becomes apparent upon arrival is how unimportant time, hustle and bustle are to this old port city, which originally made its money in the slave trade. The sleeping clocks have allowed Bristol's music scene to move quietly by without the glare that, say, Manchester's rave scene attracted in the early '90s, and this has allowed many Bristol artists the time needed to develop.

But what of the flavors that have influenced the "Bristol scene"? The city's West Indian roots, dating back to the post WWII days when slaves were imported for menial toil in England, are a major factor. "There's a heavy West Indian influence in Bristol," says Massive Attack's Grant Marshall. "We're all part of that first generation whose parents are immigrants. Andrew [Vowles's] parents are West Indian; so are mine. Robert [Del Naja's] parents are from Italy, so we've grown up with lots of different cultural influences. So you had reggae--which was always big in Bristol, a part of the culture--and add that to some of the things we listened to, which was everything from punk like Wire, PiL and Gang Of Four, to ska and new wave to hip-hop."

The role of producer Nelee Hooper and Massive Attack in cultivating the first real core Bristol scene has been enormous. Basing their collective of DJs and artists known as the Wild Bunch on Jamaican sound systems, they would regularly tear Bristol up with parties. "The Wild Bunch started DJing at parties everywhere," remembers Marshall. "There was this club called Dugout which was this mad, multi-racial club in Bristol. It was in the upper crust area of Bristol, this club, and you'd get the drop-outs, punks, Rastas and skinheads all hanging out together in this posh neighborhood. London is the bullshit capital, a rat race, whereas down here you're always left to your own devices, people just don't give a fuck. Then we started doing the warehouse parties where you'd find an empty space, break in and start a party. That's how we became known, through those illegal warehouse parties."

The inner-city area of St. Paul was the scene of Britain's first burst of civil unrest in 1980, so when rap migrated from America not long afterwards, Bristol was primed and ready to receive the rage. Rap became yet another element of the developing Bristol sound.

"I've been influenced by so many different forms of music its been crazy," Roni Size laughs. "In Bristol, music comes from all over the world. So you've got it all here, from soul to R&B to Two-Tone to pop to ska to acid-house to acid-funk to B-rock to bee-bop. All these different types of music have come to my door, and naturally found their way into our music."

By the time the Wild Bunch had returned from a Japanese tour in 1987, broken up and spawned Massive Attack, a whole new atmosphere had pervaded Bristol, with clubs springing up everywhere. Coupled with the city's small-town feel, experimentation continued to thrive. In 1992, a young jungle music auteur, Roni Size, got together with fellow DJ Krust to join the local drum 'n' bass label V Records. They later went on to negotiate their own label, Full Cycle (after they signed with PolyGram), and the legendary independent label of cool, Cup Of Tea Records (now with Milk Recordings, an all-vinyl collection of mixes and music). These labels started to earn a name for themselves by the middle of the decade. "My label and others like it will be the next Sonys and the next Mercurys," says Size. "Because this music is all about bringing something to people rather than selling it to them."

Other big Bristol acts, like Massive Attack and Portishead, have also reinvested their energy in the divergent community that bore them. Portishead own a studio in Bristol, and have recently helped local bands such as Airbus, Monk & Canatella and Santa Cruz further develop their own visions. Massive Attack, meanwhile, have set up their Melankolic label through Virgin in the U.K. and Caroline in the U.S., with Craig Armstrong, Alpha (the dreamscaped and much-murmured-about "next thing out of Bristol") and reggae legend Horace Andy currently making up the roster.

			Portishead - "Only You"
			Roni Size Reprazent - "Brown Paper Bag"
			Massive Attack - "Teardrop"

To properly understand the seamlessly connected cultures of Bristol, it's important to spend time at one of the many fine clubs that keep the city awake 24-7. The club Lakota might currently be the best-known, with its revolving door of resident DJs and many international DJ artists spinning the decks (their website is www.lakota.co.uk). Then there's Club Loco, once again spanning Friday, Saturday and Sunday, as well as Revolution, which boasts one of the city's most successful house music evenings during its Saturday residency at the Powerhouse. Or you could slip on down to Silent Peach, a small but 100% danceable hot local event that focuses on house music.

Indeed, to truly capture Bristol's flavor, it's important to reconcile the city's small size with its huge selection of clubs catering to all sorts of dance and reggae music. What's more, most of them are open at least five late-nights a week, and there are at least a dozen others not even touched upon here and another half-dozen opening as you reach the end of this sentence.

No wonder daytime is sleepy down in Bristol. London? Who needs it?