Intelligent Manners

Intelligent Manners is the stage name of Dmitriy Sabekiya, a Russian producer and DJ working across drum and bass, jungle, liquid funk and lo‑fi house. He is based in Saint Petersburg and first came into contact with drum and bass in 1996.

Sabekiya’s earliest public releases appeared in 2007–2008. One of those early cuts, “Praise The Lord,” appeared on the Respect 6 Saint Petersburg compilation (2007–2008 era). From that period onward he issued singles and EPs on independent labels, building a catalogue across a handful of established imprints.

Labels that have released Intelligent Manners material include Fokuz Recordings, Celsius and Have‑A‑Break. His debut full‑length, The Movement, was released on Fokuz in 2012. Beyond physical and digital releases, he has maintained an active presence online and on the airwaves: he hosted the Night Grooves radio show and is active on SoundCloud, where he shares tracks, mixes and updates.

As a producer, Intelligent Manners blends elements from liquid funk and jungle with touches of lo‑fi house texture. On The Movement (Fokuz, 2012) and accompanying EPs he uses warm, melodic pads and Rhodes‑style chord work alongside tighter, chopped break edits common to jungle and rollers. His arrangements emphasise clear low‑end weight and round sub frequencies, while midrange elements — vocal chops, keys and light brass/dub flourishes — sit higher in the mix to keep clarity on club systems and headphones alike. Percussive work often relies on layered breaks with processed hats and ghost snares, and his production shows frequent use of saturation, subtle tape‑style degradation and filtered ambience to create a slightly worn, lo‑fi sheen on top of DnB rhythms.

In performance roles he functions as both producer and DJ. The Night Grooves radio show provided a regular platform to present his DJ selections and unreleased material, illustrating his dual role: curating mixes and testing new productions. His SoundCloud account remains a public archive of tracks, edits and DJ mixes that document his output and ongoing activity.

Specific public statements about personal influences are limited. What can be traced through releases and the labels he has worked with is a clear alignment with melodic, rhythm‑forward drum and bass and a willingness to incorporate lo‑fi texturing into dancefloor material. Publicly verifiable milestones remain the 2007–2008 early releases (including “Praise The Lord”), singles and EPs on Fokuz Recordings, Celsius and Have‑A‑Break, the 2012 Fokuz album The Movement, the Night Grooves radio show and active distribution via SoundCloud.