Melinki

Melinki (Sonny Symes, born 22 August 1986) is a British DJ and producer from Hastings. Within drum and bass and jungle his work most often sits around drum and bass, jungle and liquid funk, while his broader output also covers dubstep, breakcore, breakbeat, bass house and related bass-driven styles.

Sonny founded the Four Corners Music label and runs S.T.L. Studios in Hastings. He has released music on Four Corners Music, Fokuz, Emcee Recordings, Dispatch and Technique. His debut album, A Lifetime Obsession, was released on Four Corners Music in 2024. He has won DJ competitions and has played sets on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra in addition to his studio and label activity.

As a producer Melinki works across a wide palette of bass and break-based forms. His catalog spans lighter liquid textures through to harder-edged bass music and breakbeat-inflected tracks, reflecting the multiple genres he lists: jungle, liquid funk, drumstep, dubstep, breakcore and others. Across releases on labels such as Fokuz and Dispatch he moves between warm, pad-led liquid arrangements and tracks that prioritise chopped breaks and low-frequency bass weight — an approach that also carries over into his label output on Four Corners Music.

Concrete studio roles: Melinki runs S.T.L. Studios, where he produces and prepares material for release and for DJ play. He operates as producer and DJ — producing original tracks and running a label while performing mixes that have led to competition wins and radio slots. His 2024 LP A Lifetime Obsession on Four Corners Music is the most complete, publicly available statement of his work to date.

Publicly available biographical detail beyond releases, label activity and broadcast appearances is limited. There is not a widely published list of named personal influences or collaborators; instead, the verifiable record is his label founding, studio operation, releases on Fokuz, Emcee Recordings, Dispatch, Technique and Four Corners Music, BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra appearances, DJ competition wins, and the 2024 album A Lifetime Obsession.