From Pirate Radio to the Underground

A music tech college dropout who's lived and breathed the underground since the days when Lush FM ruled North West London, Tova Brown's journey began in '98 as a teenager scribbling "woz ere 9E8" on schoolbooks, Reebok Classics laced loose, Sony Walkman permanently on play. Lush FM was the heartbeat of the ends—DJ Ragga D, MC Ganja, and Black Vinyl Crew running pirate airwaves every Friday night. "I was cassette-ready," she recalls. "Every Monday I had a new set for the bus ride to school."

Too young for the clubs—though she laughs that she "could've at least tried"—weekends were spent in record shops, collecting flyers for Stush, Twice As Nice, One Night Stand, with Loppylugs being the local spot for a 12-year-old girl. By night, she and her best mate would sneak into her brother's room, spark a joint, raid the cupboard, and jump on his 1210s. "We were completely immersed in garage culture. I even bought records without decks—my mum was never buying me decks!"

From MC to Producer

As 2-step took over, she grabbed a mic. "It was cheaper to grab a pen and paper than buy turntables." At her school careers meeting, she told them she wanted to be an MC. "My teacher and my mum—what should I say? Went ape shit. They had a point though," she laughs. Then came Grime—Moschino, Iceberg, Evisu—that "dress to impress" attitude that went hand in hand with garage was still in full effect. "I was finally old enough to be out," Tova recalls. Her first wages? "A pair of D&G spell-outs."

It was a wild time—the underground was alive, and Lady Sovereign, a close friend of Tova's then and still now, was on the rise. "Sov was everywhere—and lucky for us, our group of pals had guest lists for every show she performed at. We've even got that iconic shot of Ghetto and Kano at Run the Roadz—where we had beef with some girls and Kano stopped the music. Typical club scene, typical beef… still got the scar! What an era that was—again, built from garage. And funny enough, me and Sov still have some fresh 2-step yet to come out. Sov is wicked at making 2-step."

The College Dropout

She later joined Watford Campus Music Tech, but dropped out before year two. "I wanted to produce, not record live bands." The classroom couldn't teach what pirate radio already had. She went on to study mix engineering, fine-tuning the swing and feel that would become her trademark. "Garage was my childhood. R&B was adulting."

As garage cooled and life moved on, Tova turned to a new obsession—R&B. She even spent a few months on a pair of Pioneers, trying to mix R&B like it was garage. "I'd blend slow jams like it was garage—it didn't always work." Her passion-turned-obsession for R&B led her across the Atlantic from NY to Atlanta to Miami to LA, working with both unsigned talent and industry heavyweights—including Wu-Tang Clan affiliates, R&B royalty, and most notably, Steven 'Q-Beats' Kubie (credits with Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, SWV, Missy Elliott), a producer from Miami.

"I was going through a shitty situation with some projects over in New York at the time and getting frustrated with how things were moving. It was Steven who encouraged me to release my own stuff—and I did. I was also lucky to have been asked by Steven to feature on his own Hip Hop albums." She dropped a handful of singles but soon realised something was missing. Then one night, an old-school garage event up the road changed everything. "It hit me—I'd made R&B, Hip Hop, everything else, but never garage. That was my roots. That was me." She went home, opened her DAW, and made her first garage track. "That's when I unleashed the inner child and she was having fun."

Big Drum Records

When she began posting her productions online, Jeff Big Drum heard her sound on TikTok—that blend of R&B warmth and 2-step grit. Within days she was on a video call with Jeff and UKG pioneer Ray Hurley. The connection was instant; the vision matched. Big Drum Records became home.

Since joining Big Drum in 2019, Tova has become known for her meticulous attention to detail and her ability to create tracks that work in both intimate underground venues and major festival systems across the UK. Her releases—including exclusive dubs on Fresh Milk Records—showcase the versatility and emotional depth that make UK garage timeless.

Her breakthrough came with early Big Drum releases that caught the ears of DJs and pirate stations alike. Her track "Fight 4 Love" became an underground anthem in 2024, proving her ability to craft records with depth and longevity. "Fight 4 Love" wasn't just about the dancefloor—it showed her instinct for groove, texture, and soul. Follow-ups like the "Listen Up EP" and "R U Listening EP" cemented her as one of the scene's most exciting producers, ranging from deep late-night rollers to peak-time 2-step bangers. Every release shows her evolution—quality over quantity, feeling over formula.

The Tovstep Philosophy

In the studio, Tova's process is methodical yet instinctive. The drums come first—getting the shuffle and swing just right—because, as she says, "in garage, rhythm is everything." Her subs hit hard but stay musical, her R&B vocals chopped and re-pitched into new hooks while keeping the human touch that makes garage so emotionally resonant.

"I'm just doing what was done before in the golden era of 2-step. Most tracks sampled R&B—and I bet most people don't even know where the sample came from or what it is. I do." Renowned for her signature 'Tovstep', she refuses to follow trends. You won't catch her on the 4/4—she's a steppa through and through, often remixing Jeff and Ray's tracks into her own swinging, soulful versions that bring back the pirate-radio energy she grew up on.

"After you've made R&B, everything else is a piece of piss. I stay true to who I am—you want people to hear a track and say, 'That's Tova Brown.'" As a female producer in UK garage, Tova brings a rare perspective—balancing technical precision with raw emotion while staying rooted in the underground ethos. She's become an inspiration for aspiring producers, showing that creative vision and graft outweigh any label or stereotype.

Today, Tova Brown stands at the crossroads of the past and future—fusing the swing and soul of the '90s with the sound-design precision of now. Pirate-bred, purpose-driven, and back where she belongs. Home sweet home.