NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2011
06
E V E RY B A S S C O V E R E D M U S I C I FA S H I O N I A R T
BODDIKA
L IF E A T 128 BPM
L I L S I LVA
F R O M UK FUN K Y TO TH E WORLD
OUTLOOK
F IV E P A G E S OF PHOT OS FROM THE BE S T B ASS FES TIVA L ON EA RTH
CAM O
&
KROOKED
H O SPITAL’S N EWES T SIGNINGS DISCUSS T H E I R B R A N D -NEW LONG-PLAYER
ALIX PEREZ
&
RO CKWELL
TH E S H O G U N AUDIO DUO TALK WAY O F T HE WA RRIOR
+ N E E D FO R MIRRORS A P P LEB LIM ON E M AN
FREE
SPECIAL 1ST BIRTHDAY E D I T I O N
JOKER NO FO O L I N G A ROUND
WIN
T I C K ET S TO LOWPASS WEEK EN D ER
WWW.TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
06
Re Regarded as one of the finest and most charismatic underground music brands, bringing artists and fans to the West Country area from far and wide, In:Motion have proved ar themselves to be the new jewel in Bristol’s crown. Their weekly programme of events feature the an eclectic range of mind-blowing talent from live hip-hop, to raw drum n bass, dubstep to indie, bass-driven electro to straight up underground house & techno. ind This October they re-open their doors for another season of the highly-charged and hugely Th loved ‘In:Motion’ series. Still reeling from the success of last year’s sell-out autumn events, lov 2011 sees them come back bigger, better, stronger, louder with the hottest electronic acts of 20 the moment gracing the infamous Bristol ramp skate-park, turned rave haven.
Friday 4th November Fr
AANNIE MAC PRESENTS
A MAC ANNIE TTODDLA T & SEROCEE 22BEARS DONAEO / EMALKAY / TBC DO BR BREACH / SEIJI / MARTELO / TOM MADICOTT DU DUBIOS / PARDON MY FRENCH Tickets: £14.50 / 16.50 Door times: 2200 - 0500 Tic
Saturday 5th November
SMERINS PRESENTS THE GUNPOWDER PLOT SMERINS ANTI-SOCIAL CLUB GENTLEMEN’S DUB CLUB BABYHEAD GYPSY HILL / DUTTY MOONSHINE / CHEEBA (AV) PARKER / DON HENDICUTZ / YOSHI Gaz's Rockin Blues ft GAZ MAYALL BABY SOUL & JOHN STAPLETON Tickets: £14.50 Door times: 2100-0400
Saturday 12th November Sa
Friday 11th November
Run 012 Rusko Andy C Scratch Perverts Grooverider Alix Perez / Spectrasoul / D*Minds Jakes / Gemini / Elijah & Skilliam Lynx / Mensah / Interface Lost / Kapacity / Hosted by: GQ Jakes / Inja / Tonn Piper / AD:MC Beezy / Koast / Shadz / Remidy Tickets: £17.50 Door times: 2200-0600
Saturday 19th November
Secret Party Acts TBA on the night
F Day night Field EErol Alkan Washed Out (live) W Friendly Fires (dj set) Hudson Mohawke (live) Jon Hopkins (live) Boddika / Chimes (Eat your own Ears DJ) Alexander Nut (Eglo) / Fatima (Eglo) Casper C / Simple Things DJs & more tba Tickets £14.50 / £16.50 Door Times: 22.00 - 05.00
Friday 18th November
ALL GONE PETE TONG Pete Tong Calvin Harris Eats Everything Robert Dietz Cesar Merveille / RETRO/GRADE Deepgroove / Burns / Waifs & Strays Grahame Farmer (Datatransmission) Tom Rio / Alex & Digby / Osky Croz Tickets: £16.50 Door Times: 22.00 - 06.00
Friday 25th November
BLOC Joker James Holden Martyn Luke Vibert 2562 / NATHAN FAKE / Illum Sphere
You won't be disappointed! Keep checking the website for ticket details
Gemmy / Fairmont / Luke Abbot Jo Hart / Al-Tourettes / Placid Rubin / Hosted By: Crazy D / Koast C-Strike-Z
Door Times: 22.00 - 05.00
Tickets: £16.50 Door Times: 22.00 - 06.00
www.bristolinmotion.com
Tickets available from www.bristolinmotion.com/tickets Also Available from: Bristol Ticket Shop
Saturday 26th November
RBMA & Futureboogie Henrik Schwarz (Live) Crazy P (Live) Bonobo (DJ Set) Julio Bashmore / Maya Jane-Coles Appleblim / Behling & Simpson Christophe / Lukas / Futureboogie Djs Tickets: £14.50 / £16.50 Doors: 22.00 - 06.00
Motion Ramp Park 74 - 78 Avon Street, Bristol, BS2 0PX T: 01179 723 111
THE DROP
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2011
06
E V E RY B A S S C O V E R E D M U S I C I FA S H I O N I A R T
BODDIKA
LIFE AT 1 2 8 B PM
L I L S I LVA
FROM U K F UNK Y TO THE WORLD
OUTLOOK
FIVE PAGES OF PH OT OS FROM TH E B E S T B A S S F E S T I VA L O N E A RT H
CAM O
&
KROOKED
HO S PI TA L’S NEWE ST SIG NINGS DIS CU S S THEI R BR AND-NE W LONG- PLAYE R
ALIX PEREZ
&
RO CKWELL
THE SHOGUN AUD IO D UO TALK WAY O F T H E WA R R IO R
+
FREE
S PECI AL 1ST BIRTHDAY EDITION
JOKER NO FOOL I N G A ROUN D
NE E D FO R M IR RO R S A PPLE B LIM O NE M A N
WIN
T I CKET S TO LOWPASS WEEKEN DER
06
WWW.TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
TRAP MAGAZINE NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2011 WWW.TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
REGULARS
FEATURES
HYPE THINGS WORTH GETTING EXCITED ABOUT
06
OUTLOOK FESTIVAL 2011
21
MONKI
09
NEED FOR MIRRORS
27
TRAP FASHION
12
LIL SILVA
28
TRAP X THE DAILY STREET
15
JOKER
30
BOSS SELECTIONS DJ’S TOP TENS PLUS IN-DEPTH CHARTS
16
SEE NO EVIL
34
FASHION INDIAN SUMMER
49
CAMO & KROOKED
38
MUSIC REVIEWS
57
ALIX PEREZ & ROCKWELL
41
BASSPOINTS THE HOTTEST EVENTS ON PLANET BASS
64
BODDIKA
45
28
30
38
41
45
FACEBOOK: Search ‘Trap Magazine’ TWITTER: @trapmagazine EMAIL: info@trapmagazine.co.uk
EDITOR: Jon Cook CREATIVE DIRECTOR/DESIGN: Andy Hayes FASHION EDITOR: Kasha Malyckyj SALES & ADVERTISING: Iain Blackburn MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION: Justin Iriajen SOCIAL NETWORKING: Amy Stiff WEB: Nick Hills COVER: Joker by Zachery Saitoti. www.shifteyephotography.com PICTURES: Laura Lewis, Zachery Saitoti, Sim Higginson, ASHES57, Sam Neill, Sebastian Matthes, Tom Bunning, Jacob Bours, Josh MG, Shifteye, Marc Sethi. WORDS: Jon Cook, Oli Marlow, Kasha Malyckyj, Sam Bates, Belinda Rowse, Sean Kelly, Sam Collenette, Jeryl Wilton, Amy Stiff, bassmusicblog.com, Sophie Thomas, Jon Carter, Tim Rayner, Adam Scotland, Dave Cotgrave, Curtis Moldrich, Geoff Wright and Sophie James.
THANK YOU: Leo @ Darling, Adam @ Backdrop, Ben @ Run, Carly @ Don’t Panic, Baz @FOO, Rob, Tom & Ollie @ The Blast; Johnny & Jack @ Outlook; Danna @ Takkako, Scot @ Fabric, Lee & Courtney @ Muzik Hertz, Steve @ Cooshti, Lisa & Suz, Louis, Rich & Sid @50/50, Cheba & Sam @ WOC, Johnny & Ben @ Outpost, James & Sophie @ Found, Steve @ Chemical, Chris @ Idle Hands, Danny Keston. TRAP MAGAZINE, Unit 14, The Coach House, Upper York Street, Bristol BS2 8QN.
006
HYPE
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
06
THINGS WORTH GETTING EXCITED ABOUT
RBMA 2011 MADRID Originally planned to take place in Tokyo back in March, the 2011 Red Bull Music Academy kicks off its month-long programme of events this October in Madrid, Spain.
WINTER HEATWAVE As regular readers will know, we at Trap love a bit of bashment. So we were pretty hyped when we heard that the indisputed kings of UK dancehall, RinseFM’s The Heatwave, were taking their Hot Wuk dances nationwide and starting a new weekly Wednesdaynight party in London.
Inviting 60 selected musicians to come together in a different city every year, for recording sessions, inspirational lectures and late-night jams, for those selected to attend the Academy this is a once in a life-time opportunity to follow in the footsteps of past RBMA alumni including Jamie Woon and Flying Lotus. This year, Doc Daneeka, Nightwave and Om Unit – some of the most tantalising talents in bass music right now – as well as a bunch of equally talented instrumentalists have been chosen to fly out and represent the UK. 2011’s RBMA takes place from 23 October to 25 November, and includes a hefty schedule of events that are open to all. If you’re in Madrid during that month, make sure you check the RBMA website for more details.
Hot Wuks are lined up for Brighton, Bristol, Leeds and London over the coming months (see listings for full details), while Mad Raff Wednesdays will be smashing up The Social on Little Portland Street each and every week. With free dance classes, nail art and, of course, whistles and horns, alongside some very special guests, Mad Raff looks like the most fun you can have on a Wednesday!
www.redbullmusicacademy.com
www.theheatwave.co.uk/maddraff
MOTIVATION MUSIC Nottingham’s Mimm is more than
BUGGED OUT After 17 years pushing the
LOOK OUT As you probably know, we at Trap
just a clothes shop that stocks
electronic music envelope, in
are big fans of Outlook Festival.
some of the dopest brands around –
January 2012 Bugged Out plan to
There is, quite simply, no better
art exhibitions, club nights and now
deliver what looks like one of the
celebration of bass music culture
a record label are all part of the
best ‘weekender’ line-ups we’ve
anywhere in the world. Tickets for
movement. Mimm002 is out in
seen yet. Promising the best in
2012 are on sale already, and after
November, for which Wigflex’s
techno, acid house and bass
2011’s sold out months in advance,
Spam Chop has produced a 12
music, tickets are on sale now.
we advise you get on it.
and a limited sweatshirt.
www.buggedoutweekender.net
www.outlookfestival.com
REDLIGHT Redlight has big things planned for the coming months. As well as supporting Tinie Tempah on tour, he’ll be dropping a mixtape packed with exclusive Redlight and Lobster Boy material. Watch out for the drop on his new website on 31 October.
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
0 07
FIFTYONE27 For those of you living or regularly visiting mates in Bristol, you need to get to know about Fiftyone27. Held each and every Friday at the city’s legendary floating rave den, The Thekla, Fiftyone27 has been bringing bass music’s biggest names to the West Country, week in, week out, since the start of 2011. The list of DJs who have played Fiftyone27 this year is amazing, and over the next couple of months the likes of Todd Edwards, Koreless, Hackman and Bok Bok will all be making appearances alongside superb residents including EFA and OPR8. Sign up to the facebook group for free guestlist and to keep up to date with all the latest happenings down on the good ship Thekla.
www.fiftyone27.net
OUTLOOK FESTIVAL PROGRAMS You may remember us telling you in Trap#005 that we were producing a special edition of Trap as the official program for this year’s Outlook Festival. Well, those of you who went may have noticed that these programs never made it in time – Croatian customs apparently didn’t like the look of our 1.2tonnes of magazines so sent them to fester in a depot in Vienna. We can’t tell you how gutted we were about this, but the good news is we’ve managed to get them back to the UK, and will be offering them via the Trap, Outlook and Chemical Records websites. Keep an eye out for when they become available if you want to grab the ultimate souvenir of the world’s best bass festival. Or alternatively, check www.isssu.com/trapmagazine to read online!
GUTTER FUNK
INDIGO CHILD
URBAN INDUSTRY
FREE MOSCA
Drum & bass legend DJ Die is launching Gutter Funk, a brand new label with a mandate for genre defying bass heavy music. The first release is out soon on hand-stamped vinyl and features beats from HENCH’s Mensah and UK hip-hop stalwart DJ First Aid.
Donaeo has been making plenty of noise over the last couple of years, whether that be for his UK funky anthem ‘Party Hard’ or his link ups with Shy FX on tracks such as ‘Riot Music’. On 17 October he’s giving away a full album of fresh material on his website. Go cop. www.donaeo.com
After years supplying the highest grade street fashions over the internet, Urban Industry has just opened a brand new store out in Eastbourne, offering one of the biggest and freshest selections of streetwear in the UK. www.urbanindustry.co.uk
Responsible for one of this year’s most defining anthems, the ubiquitous ‘Bax’, Mosca has some serious hype around him right now. As such, he’s just hit 5,000 followers on twitter and is giving away an EP of 100bpm house to celebrate. Download it here: tinyurl.com/6eqpclf
008
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
LOW PASS WEEKENDER WIN 4 TICKETS AND ACCOMMODATION! November certainly isn’t the prettiest of months here in miserable old England. With winter well and truly setting in, and the gloomy nights beginning ever earlier, the last place you’d probably ever want to go would be a holiday camp on the British seaside... However, imagine that holiday camp had been taken over for three whole days and nights by some of the biggest and best names in bass music, bringing with them an all-star roster of artists and their loyal followings of thousands of bass-hungry ravers... Sound more attractive? Well, that’s what this year’s Low Pass Weekender is setting out to do; taking over Pontins in Camber Sands, East Sussex for the weekend of 4 November with a truly outstanding line-up. With Digital Soundboy, SWAMP81, Shogun Audio, FACT, Wheel & Deal and the mighty Ram Records all hosting arenas packed with all the names you’d expect, Low Pass certainly means business. Rave mega stars such as Andy C, Friction, Caspa, Shy FX and Skream will all be in attendance, as will the hottest names from bass music’s cutting edge, including
HOT LIKE LAVA
SKATE SCHOOL
LAVA Collective are holding a group show at The Rag Factory, just of east London’s Brick Lane on the weekend of 3 November. Drop by to check work from the likes of street artists Lucas and Stik and Trap’s favourite photographer and Swamp81 illustrator ASHES57.
For all you Bristol skaters, Campus, the new south of the river skatepark that we used for the fashion shoot in Trap#005, is now open. Situated in an old college building (thus the name) and with ramps and space to chill, we suggest you check it. www.campus-skatepark.co.uk
Joy O, Boddika, BenUFO, Roska and Jackmaster, giving Low Pass’s line-up plenty of appeal. With all the other attractions a holiday park usually relies on to sell itself – including go karts, arcades and indoor pools (where we’re promised Ms Dynamite’s Pool Party!) – and chalets for you to catch some proper sleep between all the raving, Low Pass finally gives all you bass heads your own proper ‘weekender’. If this sounds like you kind of party, but you’re short on funds, don’t stress – Trap are giving you the chance to win four weekend tickets, including a four-bed chalet, for you and a group of mates. To enter, just email competitions@trapmagazine.co.uk with your name, DoB and post code before 29 October.
WWW.LOW-PASS.CO.UK
BEAT THE SYSTEM Hot on the heels of Bungle’s ‘Memories’ LP, Spearhead Records label-boss BCee releases his debut long-player in November. A blend of different drum & bass styles, the album contains new tracks with Robert Owens and Darrison to name a few, plus a selection of his biggest singles.
ART OUT WEST If you like the art we feature in Trap, then check Graffik Gallery on London’s Portobello Road, which is a hot-bed of established and up and coming street artists. October saw the launch of a new exhibition from Stik that runs until the end of November. www.graffiklondon.co.uk
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
009
FM’s Monki is one of the most on-point DJs around right now. Hosting her own weekly show on the now-legal radio station and regularly playing at the sickest raves in town, we’re proud to invite Monki into the pages of Trap.Read on for our latest column from the 19-year-old South Londoner, sharing everything she’s hyped about for the coming months…
NIGHTS
I LOVE…
CATCH ME AT:
French producer Surkin comes with a fresh EP entitled ‘USA’ in November, on new label Marble. I love both tracks for complete different reasons. Look out for this one!
KATY B UK TOUR
BIGGER THAN BARRY This Leeds and Sheffield based rave is well established and known for its sell-out events and totally up for it crowd. I only experienced a Bigger Than Barry night for the first time back in May, but my god have they put together some big line-ups just in time for the new freshers. Upcoming madness is gonna come from the likes of Brenmar, Lunice, Swamp81, Jackmaster, Mele, Joy Orbison, Blawan and more. .
autumn tour! I’ll be tagging along on Katy B’s UK tour, with 17 dates lined up in three weeks hitting up every city from Glasgow to London. P Money,
ONE TO WATCH DJ DODGER STADIUM
Roska, Jamie George, Zinc and Ms Dynamite will all be supporting Katy along the way - you can catch me behind the decks for P Money, while no doubt battling the lack of sleep caught on the
BOUNTY This one is more local to me and much smaller, but just as vibesy. I first stumbled across a Bounty rave in a huge East London basement under a leather shop. Now held monthly at the top of Shoreditch’s Old Blue Last; expect 90s hip-hop, garage, grime. And the best bit is that the lovely people at Bounty have made this a FREE party. A well recommended Friday night out.
For me, this is the month of the
tour bus. Can’t wait!
FWD>> + RINSE On 22 October, the Rinse and FWD>> family are heading up LOL Boys and Samosoundboy have teamed up to create DJ Dodger Stadium. Their first EP, ‘Stadium Status’, is out now on LA-based label Body High. The record is packed with old rave pianos, house organs, claps, an acid synthline, plenty of samples and a nice steady 135bpm across all five tracks. My favourite is ‘2 Plus 2’.
the M4 to Bristol for a massive party as part of the In:Motion series at Motion. The line-up is massive, and includes Zinc, Newham Generals, T Williams, Youngsta, EZ and many more, including yours truly! Check the website to download a mix I’ve done for the In:Motion series. I can’t wait to see what Bristol has in store…
T P-FES M A C S .BAS W WW
OM IVAL.C
2012 L I R P 6TH A D N 2 NCE , FRA MORZINE
PRICES F
ROM
€299
FOR ACC OM AND FESMODATION WRISTB TIVAL AND
MORZINE’S FIRST ELECTRONIC MUSIC AND SNOWSPORTS FESTIVAL 5 DAYS-NIGHTS OF MUSIC - 650KM OF PISTE - 6 SNOWPARKS - SUPER PIPE - MOUNTAIN MADNESS - STREET PARTY
BENNY PAGE - MARCO DEL HORNO - MC WREC
DJ CHEEBA - DJ SWITCH - BASS6 - HUNGRY MAN - IDREN SOUND OKORU DJ’S - PHIL JUBB - EVESON - DR. JOHNSON - BUBBLES - DISKO STOO - PENPEN DEMO MODE - JAGGA - CHEMICAL ALI - DJ C-SHE - DJ RAZE - RINSEMASTER SHAQQQX STAY TUNED IN ONLINE FOR MORE ARTISTS TO BE RELEASED, FREE DOWNLOADS AND COMPETITIONS
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/BASSCAMPMORZINE
@BASSCAMPMORZINE
‘brand new snow & bass music festival launches
2 – 6 April 2012
Po rt e s d u S o lei l, Fr a n c e.
With s u mme r n o w w e l l b e h i n d u s a n d th e me mo rie s o f a n o th e r a ma zi n g f e s ti va l s e a s o n s ta r ti n g to f a d e , yo u ’d b e f o r gi ve n fo r th in k i n g th e f u n ’s o ve r f o r a n o th e r ye a r... b u t yo u ’d b e w r o n g. Fe s tiva l s a r e n ’t j u s t r e s e r ve d f o r th e w a rme r mo n th s a n y mo r e – th e s e d a ys , th e re ’s a b u n ch o f o p ti o n s f o r th o s e o f yo u w h o ca n ’t w a i t u n ti l J u n e f o r yo u r fe s tiva l k i ck s . An d w h i l e yo u co u l d o p t f o r a w e e k e n d s p e n t i n a d i n gy Br i ti s h h o l i d a y p a rk lo s i n g yo u r mi n d to te ch n o a n d e a tin g s o ma n y d r u gs yo u ’r e n o l o n ge r s u re if yo u ’r e i n Bu tl i n s o r Be r l i n , th e r e a re , w e a s s u r e yo u , b e tte r w a ys to ge t your festival fix during the colder months... Th e in a u gu r a l Ba s s Ca mp f e s ti va l ta k e s p la ce in Mo r zi n e , Fr a n ce o n 2 – 6 Ap r i l 2012, a n d p r o mi s e s to co mb i n e o n e o f th e b e st a l p i n e s k i a r e a s i n th e w o r l d w i th five imme n s e a p r è s s k i a n d n i gh t-ti me p a rtie s , p a ck e d w i th w o r l d -cl a s s a cts fro m th e w o r l d o f b a s s -h e a vy mu s i c, a n d cu lmin a ti n g i n a n a l mi gh ty f a n cy-d r e s s o p e n -a i r s tr e e t p a r ty o n i ts f i n a l n i gh t.
Acts co n f ir me d to p e r f o r m s o f a r in clu d e Fo a mo , Be n n y P a ge , Ma r co De l H o r n o , Nu To n e & Lo gis tics , MC Wr e c, H igh Ra n k in a n d DJ Ch e e b a , a n d w e a t Tr a p w i ll b e ta k in g ch a r ge o f o u r ve r y o w n n igh t w ith o u r r e s id e n t DJ s jo in in g th e A-lis t a r tis ts f o r a p a r ty w e ca n ’t w a it to ge t s ta r te d . An d if , lik e u s , yo u ’ve n e ve r s e t f o o t o n a s k i s lo p e b e f o r e , d o n ’t w o r r y - w h e th e r yo u ’r e o n -p is te p r o o r a to ta l n o vice , Mo r zin e a n d its s u r r o u n d in g a r e a s h a ve s o me o f th e b e s t s n o w p a r k s in E u r o p e , o ff e r in g p le n ty o f n u r s e r y s lo p e s f o r b e gin n e r s , a n d mo r e ch a lle n gin g r u n s f o r th e e xp e r ie n ce d , in clu d in g th e o n ly Bu r to n Sta s h in E u r o p e . Five -d a y p a ck a ge s s ta r t a t ju s t €299, f or w h ich yo u ge t a cco mmo d a tio n a n d e n tr y to a ll f ive d a ys a n d n igh ts o f th e f e s tiva l. Th e lin e -u p is s till gr o w in g, s o ma k e s u r e yo u k e e p a n e ye o n th e Ba s s ca mp w e b s ite f o r f u ll d e ta ils . We ’ll s e e yo u in th e s n o w ! W W W .B AS S CA M P - F E S T I VA L .C O M www.facebook .com/bas s campmorzine twitter.com/bas s campmorzine
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
011
FA S H I O N Wo rd s: Kash
a Ma lyc kyj & Jaso n Ga rd en er
06
BLACK MILK Leggings ha ve co me a l ong way fro m th e i r h u mble begi n n i n gs a s the 1980s w o r k -o u t i te m o f choice. Th i s Lycr a l eg-wear ha s co me al l th e w ay back ar o u n d , a n d there’s no w a p a i r f o r e very girl of e ve r y s h ap e a n d taste… Colourful, s h i n y a nd p r inted leggi n gs a r e th e Tr ap ladies f a vo u r i te s , a n d o n e of the tr u e p i o n e er s o f this trend is cu l t Australian la b e l Bl a ck Milk. Starte d u p a s a l abour of love b y d e s i gn e r J a mes Lillis a n d s o l d e xclusively th r o u gh th e i r o n line boutiq u e , B la ck Milk stick to a p e r f e ct f ormula of e ye -ca tch i n g b o dycon pie ce s i n l uxe-look str e tch f a b r i c s .
012
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
PENFIELD
CARHARTT HEADGEAR
The Lakefield J a ck e t is o n e of our favour ite s tyle s in th e l ate st collectio n fro m th e co o le s t ( an d w armest) o u te rw e a r s pecialist’s Pe n fie ld . Co min g in thr ee colour-wa ys , th is co a t h a s everything ne e d e d to p ro te ct yo u f r om the eleme n ts . A s o lid b u ild i n Hudson wa x fa b ric is s u re to k eep you both w a rm a n d d ry, w hile the leath e r yo k e p ro te cts the shoulders fro m b a ck p a ck ru b . Add a fold-awa y h o o d a n d a button-zip sto rm fro n t a n d yo u 've got a great a ll ro u n d e r. We ’ll b e r ocking the co lb a lt co lo u r thi s w inter.
With over 120 year s in the game, one br and r enowned f or a bsolute consistency is Car har tt - as their f all dr op r eaff ir ms once mor e. With the har sher months f ast appr oaching, it’s time to step away f r om the summer f ive-panels and those ever-tr ending snapbacks and star t thinking towar ds winter headwear. Car har tt staples include the Cover t Beanie and Bobble Watch with a f ew seasonal additions by way of the subtle Militar y and Ribbed Admir al.
NIKE AZTEC Wi th s o ma n y s tyles available in Ni k e 's cl a s s i c Air Max 1, options ca n s o me ti me s be a little u n d e r w h e l mi n g. Although the s h o e i s a va i l a b l e to customise th r o u gh Ni k e Id , it’s always good to s e e th e b r a n d pushing the b o u n d a r i e s w h e n it comes to th e r e l e a s e s . Th i s b u i l d , d u e to dr op at the end o f Octo b e r r e a l l y stands out. The Aztec pa ck co me s i n two co l o u r w a ys - b l ack and gr ain e a ch f e a tu r i n g a pr inted f abr ic mi d -s e cti o n w i th pr emium leather a n d n u b u ck co n str uction. De f i n i te l y o n e f or the sneakerheads.
ROCKWELL X PARRA Dutch illustrato r P a rra is w e ll known for his gra p h ic w o rk , w h ich i s heavily influe n ce d b y ‘60s a n d ‘70s screen-p rin t d e s ign . Hi s bold print, in ve n tive typography and q u irk y ch a ra cte rs ar e represented w e ll in th is n e w col l ection for Ro ck w e ll Clo th in g. A s trong range o f p ro d u ct opti ons, w hich in clu d e , te e s , cre w s weats, flat pe a k s , s k a te d e ck s and bags, are a ll p re s e n te d w ith that distinct Pa rra vib e . TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
013
014
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
F A S H I O 0N6
ELLESSE HERITAGE So me o f o u r yo u n ger r e a d e r s ma y n o t r emember Ita l i a n s p o r ts l a b e l E llesse f r o m th e f i r s t ti me ar ound. Th e b r a n d ’s cl a s s i c styles w e r e i n i ti a l l y ta i l o r ed to te n n i s a n d s k i w e ar, but, l i k e ma n y Ita l i a n s p o r ts w e a r b r a n d s , later b e ca me a mu ch -l o ved s ta p l e f o r th e Br i ti sh f o o tb a l l te r r a ce s o f the 1980s . Th o s e i n th e k n o w will h a ve a l r e a d y b e e n p l u n d e r i n g e Ba y i n sear ch o f a p i e ce o f th e or iginal 80s /90s d e s i gn s , but if yo u ’r e n o t a s p o r tswear co n n o i s s e u r ye t s ti ll want to ge t i n vo l ve d , th en the E l l e s s e He r i ta ge collection i s w h e r e i t’s a t. Wi th a Sp r i n g/Su mmer r a n ge a l r e a d y u n d er their b e l t, th i s n e xt s e a sons o ff e r i n g f r o m E l l e sse is a gr e a t mi x o f s ma r t polos, s h a r p o u te r w e a r a nd iconic tr a ck to p s , w i th s tyles o ff e r e d to b o th gu ys a n d gi r l s .
‘Winter Accessories
Winter is our favourite time of year when it comes to clothing. There's only so much you can do with shorts and t-shirts, but with the colder weather arrives a whole host of different options. Here are a few accessories for you to consider for the months ahead...
Words: Adam Scotland
Pendleton Weekend Bag
You can't escape the influence of Native American prints and fabrics on current trends, and no one does it better than Pendleton. This wool/leather weekend bag is definitely a statement piece, with unparalleled quality. Be prepared to pay for what you get, though... Available from End Clothing: www.endclothing.co.uk
The Hill-Side Camo Scarf
Pointer x Anderson Woven Belt
Talking prints, camo is another that we've seen a lot of over the past few months, and now’s a better time than ever to include some in your wardrobe. It's easily over-done though, so something like this reversible camo print scarf from The Hill-Side will do Available from Superdenim: www.superdenim.co.uk
Pointer again team up with Italian master craftsmen Anderson's for another series of waxed cotton and leather belts. This three-colour woven piece is the perfect winter accessory and an ideal way to break up any outfit. Available from FUSShop: www.fusshop.co.uk
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
015
BOSS SELECTIONS The biggest DJs in the game share the secrets of their selection...
GOING IN DEEP. ONEMAN RINSE FM SIA – ‘LITTLE MAN’ (EXEMEN RMX) This reminds me of schooldays, listening to tapes in the playground on lunch break. For me, everything about this track defines what I loved about that 2step garage sound of the Millennium. The scattered beats, Caribbean steel-pan melody, heavy growling bass - all brought together by Sia's creeping vocals.
CRUSTACION – ‘PURPLE’ (J DILLA RMX) J Dilla's mix of the trip-hop classic 'Purple' is one of my all-time favourites. A lot of the time, with music like this, it's what isn't there that makes the track so special; the space it leaves for you to get into. If I ever feel the need to slow down a bit, I always listen to this track, it's like sonic codeine.
MALA – ‘LEAN FORWARD’ Mala is easily my favourite producer from the dubstep sound I was so into around 2004-2008. He has his own sound that nobody can copy and I really respect how varied he is with his percussion choices, rhythmic patterns and melody. ‘Lean Forward’ almost has the perfect beat - at the time I first heard it, it WAS the perfect beat, the best rhythm I'd ever heard. It would send me wild if I heard it in a club, like proper mental, storming around on the second drop.
SLEW DEM CREW – ‘GRIME 2005’ Slew Dem Crew were a very underrated collective from east London that came up through pirate radio and 'road DVDs' like their own 'Non Stop Working', 'Risky Roadz' and 'Practice Hours'. They put a lot of hard work into the scene, hosting a radio show and releasing a slew (no pun) of 12" EPs. One of my favourites is the Waifer-produced gunshot anthem 'Grime 2005'. It’s literally two sets of four-bar loops back to back for four minutes, but it just doesn't get boring.
SMIFF - N - WESSUN – ‘BUCKTOWN’ 'Dah Shinin' is one of my favourite hip-hop albums of all time; it's a Brooklyn classic. I love the way they use Jamaican twang in their talk all over the record, something that’s heavily done in British black music but not so much the US. ‘Bucktown’ is all about the beat and the sax riff, though, so dark and smooth, but without Tek and Steele on the track, I don’t think it would be in this top-ten.
PEARSON SOUND – ‘PERIMETER’ Pearson Sound has really developed since his 'Ramadanman' days. The edits in his
tracks are now every four to eight bars, which makes for really exciting progression and general unexpectedness. ‘Perimeter’ was one of the first tracks I heard from him to go down this route. There’s a 16bar breakdown that happens twice in this track, and it's possibly the best 16 bars of music I've heard in the past five years... I just wish it was longer as I often loop it when I play it out!
GIRL UNIT – ‘WUT’ I can remember the first time I heard 'WUT'. It was at East Village for a Night Slugs event in 2010 that Girl Unit was playing at. I'd never caught him play, so headed down with a big group of friends. I went mad for this tune like I'd heard it before - it felt like I had, but I think it was just the sheer power of it . I bugged the Night Slugs guys about three times a day after that to get the tune out of them ! JOY ORBISON – ‘MILK & HONEY’ I'm not a huge fan of the Goapele original, but the Joy Orbison version is outstanding. He has a great perception of how vocals can sound manipulated, it's the best part of his production for me, along with his tight EQing across the whole track. I can't remember the last time I didn't play this track out. It doesn't always work with every single crowd, but it's one of those tracks where I just don't care!!
STICKY – ‘TRIPLETS’ This tune was such a big deal when I was 15. Everybody was going mad over it; all the DJs played this track when it dropped - if you didn't have ‘Triplets’ in the bag, what we're you doing? I can't imagine life without this track back then. It was this, ‘138 Trek’, ‘Buddah Fingah’ and ‘Sounds Of The Future’ - they were the four tracks always getting battered. It went as far as trying to make the melody on your Nokia phone with the 'Ringtone Composer'! If you had the Triplets ringtone, you we're a badman. SO SOLID CREW – ‘OH NO’ The origins of grime, although at the time it was just MC-led UK Garage to us. I was so proud to be from South London when So Solid blew up, as I was an avid Supreme and Delight FM listener, always locking into So Solid Sundays and Live Caller shows. I thought this tune was so rude; “Never seen, never heard, never happened, never occurred.” I love Romeo's vocal style; he was always my favourite in the crew, the whole half patois-half southLondon chatter about nothing in general but party vibes.
PHACE NEOSIGNAL
BREACH PTN
XXXY ORCA
1. PHACE & MISANTHROP – ‘ENERGIE’ (NEOSIGNAL) 2. PHACE & NOISIA – ‘IMPERIAL’ (DUB) 3. ALIX PEREZ & ROCKWELL – ‘BALLBAG’ (DUB) 4. MISANTHROP – ‘HAMMERFAUST’ (NEODIGITAL) 5. PHACE & MISANTHROP – ‘WHAT’S WRONG’ (NEOSIGNAL) 6. PHACE – ‘STRESSTEST’ (NEOSIGNAL) 7. NOISIA – ‘RAISE YOUR WEAPON’ RMX (MAU5TRAP) 8. PHACE & ROCKWELL – ‘NO!’ (NEOSIGNAL) 9. PHACE & ROCKWELL – ‘RAT RACE’ (SHOGUN AUDIO) 10. PHACE & NOISIA – ‘MICRO ORGANISM’ (NEOSIGNAL)
1. MISTAMEN – ‘DAYLIGHT ROBBERY’ 2. BREACH & MIDLAND – ‘101’ 3. PANGEA - ‘HEX’ 4. JAM CITY – ‘BARELY A TRACK DISCO’ 5. DJ CRA$Y - JUST E (BREACH RMX) 6. REDLIGHT - ‘MOSQUITO MAN’ 7. KORELESS – ‘MTA’ 8. BREACH – ‘GUNFINGER’ 9. SAN SODA - ‘KAIZEN’ 10. EATS EVERYTHING - ‘THE SIZE’
1. SEPALCURE – ‘SEE ME FEEL ME’ (HOTFLUSH) 2. 14 – ‘FLICKER DEVICE’ (DUB) 3. DEXTER – ‘GREAT NORTHERN DIVER’ (CLONE BASEMENT) 4. PRESK & CINNAMAN – ‘SWEAT’ (DOC DANEEKA RMX) (AUDIO CULTURE) 5. MOSCA – ‘DOM PERIGNON’ (3024) 6. T. WILLIAMS – ‘GO IN’ (LOCAL ACTION) 7. THOMAS BANGALTER – ‘OUTRUN’ (ROULE) 8. PARIS UNDERGROUND TRAX – ‘HARDCORE DEEP HOUSE’ (MY LOVE IS UNDERGROUND) 9. RATCATCHER – ‘NIGHTLIFE’ (CATAPULT) 10. SLEEP OVER – ‘ROMANTIC STREAMS’ (HIPPOS IN TANKS)
FOREIGN CONCEPT CRITICAL / SHOGUN
WARRIOR ONE BLACK BUTTER 1. WARRIOR ONE FT AYAH MARAR – ‘FYAH’ (BLACK BUTTER) 2. NOCTURAL - ‘STAY DOWN THE ROAD’ (MURLO RMX) 3. WOZ – ‘GAIN’ (BLACK BUTTER) 4. BAXTA – ‘BLADE RUNNER’ (DUB) 5. BOYCOTT SELECTOR ‘FOUND A BODY’ (DUB) 6. FAMOUS ENO FEAT MC STITCH ‘ALL GOOD FM’ (DUB) 7. WARRIOR ONE - ‘1996 RIDDIM’ (BLACK BUTTER) 8. JUMPING BACK SLASH ‘SHOSHOLOZAAAAA’ (NECTAR) 9. GREYMATTER - ‘GIVE IT TO ME SLOW’ (WOLF MUSIC) 10. GUY ANDREWS - ‘KLIKKR’ (DISCOBELLE)
1. FOREIGN CONCEPT – ‘MOB JUSTICE’ (ENEI RMX) (CRITICAL) 2. CHROMA – ‘FALLING’ (CODED MUSIC) 3. NUAGE & THRNE – ‘DON’T EXIST’ - (ANILE RMX) (TRANSLATION RECORDS) 4. SKEPTICAL – ‘BLUE EYES’ (INGREDIENTS) 5. JUBEI, FIERCE & VICIOUS CIRCLE – ‘FIEND’ (QUARANTINE) 6. dBRIDGE – ‘SINCE WE’VE BEEN APART’ (SHOGUN) 7. MUTATED FORMS – ‘POWDER DEMON’ (DUB) 8. HEAVY 1 & JUNE MILLER – ‘SOMETHING’ (DUB) 9. ULTERIOR MOTIVE – ‘DIVERGENCE’ (CRITICAL) 10. FOREIGN CONCEPT & KASRA – ‘SHOW YOU’ (CRITICAL)
THE HEATWAVE RINSE FM 1. POPCAAN – ‘RAVIN’ (ADDE PROD) 2. MAVADO – ‘SETTLE DOWN’ (JUSTUS/JA) 3. MR VEGAS – ‘BRUK IT DOWN’ (Q45) 4. STYLO G – ‘CALL MI A YARDIE’ (KODY STARR) 5. BUSY SIGNAL, KANO & FATMAN SCOOP – ‘WINE DE BEST’ (ORANGE HILL) 6. DEMARCO – ‘LOVE MY LIFE’ (STAR KUTT) 7. VYBZ KARTEL – ‘THE BEST OF THEM’ (RUSSIAN) 8. LAZA MORGAN & MAVADO ‘ONE BY ONE’ (ATLANTIC) 9. MS DYNAMITE – ‘NEVA SOFT’ (STEPHEN MCGREGOR RMX) 10. VYBZ KARTEL – ‘WORLD BOSS’ (RUSSIAN)
018
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
F UND
Trap is proud to be an official media partner for the FOUND series at south London venue Hidden. Here we present a trio of quick-fire chats with two of the artists and one of the record labels you’ll find doing their thing at FOUND this autumn. COMPILED by: SOPHIE JAMES
BLACK BUTTER RECORDS
T WILLIAMS
BLACK BUTTER RECORDS HAS BEEN ON FIRE IN
T.WILLIAMS HAS BEEN TURNING HEADS OVER
2011, DROPPING RELEASE AFTER RELEASE OF
THE LAST YEAR WITH OWN BRAND OF BASS-
THE BASHIEST BASS-MUSIC AROUND. THE
HEAVY HOUSE MUSIC. CATCH HIM PLAYING A
LABEL WILL BE TAKING OVER FOUND,
SPECIAL GARAGE SET AT HERITAGE ALONGSIDE
ALONGSIDE THE Z SHED, ON FRIDAY 2
MATT JAM LAMONT, NOODLES, SLIMZEE,
DECEMBER, WITH LIL SILVA, RACKNRUIN,
HORSEPOWER PRODUCTIONS AND MORE ON
GREENMONEY, WARRIOR ONE AND MANY MORE.
FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER.
MY NAME IS... Black Butter Records.
MY NAME IS...
YOU MAY KNOW ME ALREADY FOR... Tracks like P Money’s ‘Ho! Riddim’, ‘Soundclash’ by RackNRuin & Jessie Ware, SKisM’s ‘Dazed & Confused’ remix, ‘Deep In The Valley’ by Rudimental & MC Shantie and ‘Watch This’ By Tomb Crew.
Tesf a Williams, aka T.Williams. YOU MAY KNOW ME ALREADY FOR... ‘H ear tbeat’, ‘Floor ing’, ‘Getting Mine’, and my r ecent r elease on Local Action Recor ds, ‘Br eak Br oke’.
WHEN I’M NOT WORKING YOU WILL FIND ME... Cuddling a bass bin in between bouts of vintage cocktail binges and high-speed car chases.
WHEN I’M NOT WORKING YOU WILL FIND ME...
MY AMBITION FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS IS... To release the most cantankerous, roughneck, poisonous dubplate you ever heard!
on twitter. Follow me @ twilliamsmusic.
Still in the studio doing something music r elated, mixing, playing the dr um kit or sitting
MY AMBITION FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS IS... To keep making good music, hopef ully.
IF I WASN’T DOING MUSIC, I’D... Be supporting the global community in some other fundamentally charitable way. YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT... The cost of living has actually doubled since this interview started..
IF I WASN’T DOING MUSIC, I’D... Be teaching music tech. YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT... I used to make gar age/gr ime under the name Dr ead D.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD TO ME IS... My silver and my gun, wait that’s two things. Um… my silver, no wait, my gun. What am I talking about? It’s obviously my silver.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD TO ME IS... My hear ing. I’D LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED AS...
I’D LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED AS... Doing more harm than good, no wait, these questions are hard!
Someone who has contr ibuted to the UK's under gr ound scene.
THE ULTIMATE DREAM IS... The last one you have before you die.
THE ULTIMATE DREAM IS...
www. b lac k -b u t t e r . c o .u k
www.fa c eb o o k.c o m / t.w i l l i a m s .m u s i c.pa g e
To have a long-standing music car eer.
APPLEBLIM DUBSTEP PIONEER, LONG-TIME FWD>> RESIDENT AND NOW DARLING OF THE TECHNO WORLD, YOU’D EXPECT APPLEBLIM TO BE ONE OF THOSE POUTING, ULTRA-SERIOUS TYPES, WITH PLENTY OF ATTITUDE AND NOT MUCH TO SAY. IN FACT HE’S THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE, AND HE PLAYS TRIX AT FOUND ON 14 OCTOBER. MY NAME IS... Lauren ce , La u rie , Le w is Wh i s k e y, Ap p l e f a ce , Bl i m U n i t, Lozzer, Lo zze lto v, Du b s te i n , Ap p l e ye ve r a f te r, a n d ma n y mo r e too si lly to p u t h e re ! YOU MAY KNOW ME ALREADY FOR... Being a ta ll ge e ze r w h o p u ts o u t r e co r d s e ve r y n o w a n d again a n d lik e s to k e e p th i n gs ti d y a n d cl e a n !
IF I WASN’T DOING MUSIC, I’D... Become a her mit, live on a f ar m, get a dog and a cat ( so they can be mates) , lear n how to gr ow or ganic vegetables, get some chickens and pigs, go pr oper r ustic! Lear n about ar t and histor y, and go on lots of epic walks. I 'd love to walk r ound the whole coast of Br itiain - I love the pr ogr am Coast, I r eally am a bor ing bastar d! YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT... I have a ver y nice Model 4001 Rickenbacker bass guitar with a ver y cool pinup gir l on it.... THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD TO ME IS... My mates. I am a natur ally depr essive per son, and I 'm a mazed my mates per sever e to dr ag me out of my BS so of ten! So big up to them, I owe them massively...I would lose it without them. THE ULTIMATE DREAM IS... My f olks used to live near this old r uined castle in Devon, called Ber r y Pomer oy. I t actually tur ns up in those Most H aunted books; it's supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the UK. Me and my mate Necta Selecta f r om Subheavy Soundsystem used to walk to it and muck about ther e, and we ended up r ef er r ing to it as 'The Rave Dr eam' because the place looks like it was built to be r aved in! I t's in this per f ect deser ted valley, in the middle of the countr yside, you can see wher e the stacks would go, wher e the decks would go, ther e's even a per f ect backstage bit! We became obsessed with the idea! One day, one day... The Rave Dr eam shall be r ealised!
WHEN I’M NOT WORKING YOU WILL FIND ME... Scourin g ch a rity s h o p s for tu n e s , b u yi n g b o o k s a b o u t Br i s to l archite ctu re - I w o u ld 've s a i d f r o m Th e Be a t Go e s On i n Cotha m, Bris to l, b u t it clo s e d d o w n - I a m GU TTE D. Yo u know w h e n yo u fin d s o me w h e r e w h e r e yo u ca n tr u s t th e buyer’s ta s te in p re tty mu ch a n yth i n g, vi d e o s , DV Ds , b o o k s , music - I co u ld w a lk in th e r e a n y ti me a n d w a l k o u t w i th some th in g b rillia n t, fro m o l d j u n gl e 12s to Ra ymo n d Chand le r b o o k s , to o ld h o r r o r vi d s ......Yo u a r e mi s s e d ! MY AMBITION FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS IS... To ow n a Ro la n d TR-909 d r u m ma ch i n e . Th e y a r e j u s t stupid . I t's lik e th e 808 to h i p -h o p , E V E RY BODY w h o l o ve s techno lo ve s th e s o u n d o f th e 909. I go t to s e e o n e i n action a co u p le o f time s th i s ye a r, o n ce a t We Lo ve Su n d a ys at Sp a ce in I b iza w h e re J e ff Mi l l s j a mme d o u t fo r 20 mi n u te s on jus t th e 909, it w a s a r e ve l a ti o n . Heari n g th a t ma ch in e go i n g s tr a i gh t i n to a s ys te m, w i th j u s t The Wiza rd a t th e co n tro l s o f th e o n e ma ch i n e … Yo u 'r e s o used to h e a rin g it u n d e r o th e r s o u n d s , to h e a r i t i n i ts n a k e d glory - th e s h it Mills d id wi th i t w a s r e ta r d e d - b a n gi n the bo x! The o th e r p la ce w a s th is i n cr e d i b l e f e s ti va l La b yr i n th i n Japan , w a y u p in th e fo re s ts o u ts i d e To k yo . Th e y h a ve a commitme n t to live p e rfo r ma n ce , a n d th e 808 a n d 909 barely le ft th e s ta ge a ll we e k e n d - th e y w e r e th e s ta r s really! Se e in g Ato m Tm, To b i a s , a n d Mo r p h o s i s a l l u s e th e 909 a n d o th e r a n a lo gu e ge a r cl o s e u p w a s i n cr e d i b l e ... Machin e fu n k in e s s e n ce ...
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
019
THE VISION
THE DEBUT ALBUM 31.10.11 FEATURES THE SINGLES: THE VISION (LET ME BREATHE) FEAT. JESSIE WARE ON MY MIND WWW.JOKEROFFICIAL.COM
WWW.4AD.COM
Memor ies of this year ’s Outlook Festival ar e still f r esh in our minds. Once again, f or a f ew scor ching days in ear ly September, Cr oatia became the bass music epicentr e of the wor ld, as the biggest names f r om dubstep, gr ime, r eggae, dr um & bass and beyond descended on the r uins of the ancient For t Punta Chr isto to give the thousands of r aver s in attendance an exper ience they’ll never f or get. We could wr ite thousands of wor ds about how amazing it was, but instead we thought we’d let pictur es do the talking. Thanks to Mar c Sethi f or the beautif ul photogr aphs, and thanks to all at Outlook Festival f or yet again giving us one of the best weeks of our lives.
2GNVB@ R H MF R NLD NE S GD AH FFDR S M@ LDR H M GNTR D F@ Q @ FD S DBGMN A@ R R LTR H B H M @ M H MS H L@ S D !Q H R S NK BH S X BDMS Q D K NB@ S H NM DU DQ X VDDJ [ [ 3'$*+ !1( 23.+
72'' (':$5'6 21(0$1 [ [ 3'$*+ !1( 23.+
)5(1&+ )5, (6 &4$232 [ [ 3'$*+ !1( 23.+
026&$ %$2%, 1*$
[ [ 3'$*+ !1( 23.+
+$&.0$1 &4$232
[ [ 3'$*+ !1( 23.+
.25(/(66 $5., 67
[ [ 1" !1( 23.+ + !
63(&, $/ *8(676 3!
[ [ 3'$*+ !1( 23.+
%2. %2. &4$232
[ [ 3'$*+ !1( 23.+
)$17$67, & 05 )2; ', 6&/2685(
), )7<21( 1(7
REFLECTION ETERNAL
N EED FO R M I R RO RS WORDS: Andy Hayes
Need For Mirrors is the meeting of minds between Mosus and HLZ. Since a chance meeting three years ago, the London-based duo has produced music for some of the drum & bass scene’s most prestigious labels, offering their own cultured take on the genre. September saw the launch of Zoltar, the pair’s carefully conceptualised label that will provide a home for their productions as their profile continues its inevitable growth. We caught up with NFM to talk about their future plans and why Zoltar is more than just a record label... TRAP: NFM are rapidly climbing the ranks within the drum & bass scene. What would you attribute this to? “In the last couple of years we’ve been spending every spare minute in the studio expressing ourselves creatively and learning as much as possible. When there are two people in a space sharing emotions, the dynamic doesn’t always translate cohesively, and I think now our music really reflects us as a group and not as individual artists. We think most artists go through periods of self doubt and have these issues of confidence and believing in themselves; it can affect your work and early on we felt this was the case, but now we just seem to be powering forward and it shines through in our music.” TRAP: There's a very nostalgic sound to your productions, harking back to the late 90s and early-00s. Have you been conscious of this while making your music? “The late-90s D&B sound is something we both appreciate. We like the dynamics, conceptual aspects and the analogue mixdowns. It’s like a romantic period for artists who weren’t involved in that era. The sleeve art and volume of classic music that's still as current and emotive 10 years on makes for the perfect starting point for some of our compositions. But it’s just that; a starting point. We listen to so much different music - we could be influenced by a Joy Orbison or Boddika track, or it could be a new Kanye West beat, a soundtrack or something going on outside. Usually, it's a new piece of software or hardware that dictates the rest of the composition.” TRAP: You’ve just launched your imprint Zoltar. What’s behind the name? “Zoltar is the name of the fortune teller machine from the 1980s film
‘Big’ featuring Tom Hanks. It has some dark magic, some mystery, as well as some mechanics behind it. It’s also a nice name to say and refer to, which is important so it can hold its own against the names of our tracks and imagery.” TRAP: What sets a Zoltar release apart from your regular 'add to cart' D&B releases? “We want to break boundaries and take risks with the art and packaging. By keeping it edgy and drawing on different emotions, we try to capture a feeling of what the music could sound like just by looking at the artwork. The first three singles come in a uniform inner sleeve that has then been hand drawn and has the track names on one side. Each single is distinguishable by its own colourway. The outer sleeve is mirrored foil card with a triangle die cut on the back, enabling the viewer to see some of the inner sleeve housed inside, while gazing back at their own distorted reflection. The labels are also image based with no text. The final look is something very 70s and sci-fi in design.” TRAP: Looking at the Zoltar blog, you’ve developed an interesting visual scrapbook of design and conceptual art. Do you have any plans to expand the label into other projects? “The web blog is there to express ourselves visually while we are in the studio, and to interact with our fans on another platform outside of the club environment. Maybe it will lead onto other projects; we have a club night running at East Village once a month and we’re interested in film scores, music videos, working with other artists and maybe some apparel. We have so many ideas.” TRAP: What’s been your most important release? “Our track ‘Lofar’ on Metalheadz has opened the most doors. Our work tends to have a narrative and cinematic quality, as we get a lot of inspiration from films and wide screen music. The track explores various facets of the Metalheadz experience, as we wrote it especially for that label.” TRAP: Any plans for a NFM long-player? “We hope to start producing albums in the future; it's all about timing. We could put out an album now with straight singles, but it wouldn’t represent what we are about or trying to say.” TRAP: When you’re not spending hours in the studio toiling over beats, what do you get up to? “Watching films, listening to music, reading, looking at art, dreaming and drinking coffee. But if we didn’t have music at all, I'm not sure what we would be doing, it would be something creative.” TRAP: So, what’s next for NFM? “We have a four-track project on Metalheadz out very soon. It's broken into two 12s and a digital EP. One track, ‘DFTF’, features MC DRS and will have a music video. Zoltar 002 and 003 will also be dropping soon and we also have follow up release on Symmetry as well as material on Krust’s Rebel Instinct. And we have music forthcoming on Dispatch, Project 51, Integral and a remix of Craggz & Parallel out before the end of the year.” www.zo ltarzo ltarzo ltar.com
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
027
0 28
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
N
o matter who you ar e, or what you do, ther e ar e times in lif e when it seems like ever ything is f alling into place and the r ecognition you’ve been wor king f or f inally star ts to ar r ive. For genr e-twisting DJ and pr oducer, Lil Sil va, the summer of 2011 has been that time.
The days af ter Outlook Festival and Notting H ill Car nival Deviation par ty saw twitter set alight with glitter ing pr aise f or the ar tist’s DJ per f or mances. Af ter spending the last couple of year s f or ging a r ep as one of the under gr ound’s most spar kling talents, over r ecent months the wider bass music wor ld has star ted to take ser ious notice of the young Bedf or d-based DJ and pr oducer. “I ’ve just done what I ’ve done f r om the star t and I think ever yone’s picking up on it now,” Lil Silva explains when asked if he f eels his pr oduction or DJing has actually evolved over the past f ew months. “People ar e still talking about the f estivals and ‘Cheese & Bun’ - that’s all I keep hear ing - it’s a bit mad.”
WO R DS SO PH I E TH O M AS
“
IT’S MAD HOW MUCH KNOWLEDGE S O M E P E O P L E H AV E O F Y O U R T R A C KS . . L I L S I LVA
If you’re familiar with one of Lil Silva’s club sets, you’ll know they’re usually brimming with untitled, unreleased material brought to experiment with on a live crowd. As he himself says, “Every other show, I’ll make quite a few new tracks and test them out to give me more ideas. The amount of voice memos on my phone of me humming or beat boxing ideas is a joke.” It’s interesting, then, that his ever expanding hard drive of beats, samples and drum loops has only resulted in a handful of carefully selected releases. From a series of 2009 white labels that included his remixes of seminal grime track ‘Pulse X’ and skank anthem ‘Seasons’, to the fourth instalment for the Night Slugs EP series – the fluorescent synth laden, carnival drum-heavy tracks of ‘Night Skanker’ and the more recent ‘Patience EP’ including sound-of-thesummer track ‘Cheese & Bun’, Lil Silva’s small yet punchy back-catalogue is quite some body of work.
As we a ll k n o w, th e re ’s n o th i n g mu s i c j o u r n a l i s ts l i k e more th a n to try a n d la b e l a n d p i ge o n -h o l e mu s i c, e ve n when th e p ro d u ce r b e h in d i t h a s n o s u ch co n ce r n s . Conse q u e n tly, Lil Silva ’s pe n ch a n t f o r e xo ti c d r u ms , brazen grime s yn th s a n d tha t h a r d -to -i mi ta te ma r ch i n g momen tu m th a t h a s e ve ry go o n i n th e r o o m o n th e i r feet, h is mu s ic h a s b e e n la b e l l e d a s e ve r yth i n g f r o m U K funky, d u b s te p a n d grime to j a ck i n g h o u s e . So , w h i l e Li l Silva ma y b e d is in clin e d to d e s cr i b e h i s mu s i c, ta l k i n g about its in flu e n ce s co me s e a s y to h i m: “ My olde r b ro th e r w a s a DJ ; h e ’s th e r e a s o n w h y I e ve n got into p ro d u ctio n . I u s e d to mi x w i th h i s vi n yl ; h e w a s into stu ff lik e K -Do p e , K a r i zma , e ve n ga r a ge l i k e To d d Edw ard s . We h a d s h it-lo a d s o f r e co r d s . We ’d go to Virgin la te n igh t a n d b e s e a r ch i n g th r o u gh a l o a d o f w hite l a b e ls . We ’d b u y th e s h o p , i t w a s a n a b s o l u te joke! Th e n yo u ’ve go t grime , I u s e d to f o l l o w th e s e gu ys from Be d fo rd ca lle d Ma ca b r e U n i t, o n e o f th e m a ctu a l l y taught me h o w to u s e Re a s o n . If yo u l i s te n to th e i r stuff, yo u ca n s o rt o f s e e h o w my mu s i c co me s f r o m that. I u s e d to lo ve th e ir pr o d u cti o n .”
Lil Silva possesses a quiet conf idence when discussing h is cr af t; ther e’s none of the shy, intr over ted qualities so of ten pr esent when electr onic ar tists step out f r om behind the decks. I n f act, it’s clear that he welcomes and thr ives off the diff er ent r eactions he r eceives f r om club cr owds. “I t’s mad how much knowledge some people have of your tr acks,” he r ef lects. “Like when I played in Par is r ecently they wer en’t that up to date, but they wer e amazed by the sound. Por tugal was a bit diff er ent; they’r e f ocused on ever ything you’r e doing and they wer e watching how I was DJing and stuff .” I n that sense, does the simple act of playing out become mor e of a theatr ical per f or mance f or Lil Silva? “That’s what it is! I t’s like you’r e looking out at a bunch of people just star ing at you with their mouths dr opped. And you think, ‘ar e they liking this?’ And then you play your last tune and ever yone goes mad.”
Lil Silva ’s la te s t s o lo o u tp u t co me s i n th e f o r m o f th e
I ndeed, it would seem that ‘last tune euphor ia’ can get
first EP re le a s e fo r Lo n d o n ta s te -ma k e r Se b Ch e w ’s
to even the best of us at times, if a video of Lil Silva
label Go o d Ye a rs ; ‘P a tie n ce ’. Fr o m th e i n ce s s a n t vo ca l
MCing at a r ecent gig at BC12 in Amster dam is anything
samplin g a n d a ggre s s ive cl a ck s o f th e ti tl e tr a ck , to th e
to go b y....
crow d-ch u rn in g s u b b a s s o f ‘Ch e e s e & Bu n ’, a n d th e dreamy, mid s u mme r h e a t o f ‘On Yo u r Ow n ’ ( vo ca l l e d b y
“H aha! Look, ever yone got on the mic,” he pr otests.
Sampha ), th e n e a tly co n ta i n e d r e co r d b o a s ts a n
“Mosca got on the mic, Bashmor e got on the mic. That
unapolo ge tic Silva s ta mp . Bu t w a s th e ta s k o f s e tti n g
was a ver y dr unken moment. I saw the video and
the pa ce fo r th e Go o d Ye a r s i mp r i n t a n i n ti mi d a ti n g o n e ?
thought, ‘nah, that didn’t actually happen!’”
“Nah. I ’ve go t a go o d te a m b e h i n d me . Be i n g a ff i l i a te d w ith Nigh t Slu gs ma d e p e o p l e e xci te d a b o u t my n a me
KE E P U P TO DATE WI TH LI L SI LVA’S SH OWS AND
and wh a t w a s go in g to co me n e xt. I k n e w ‘P a ti e n ce ’
RE LE ASE S AT WWW.SOUNDCLOUD.COM/LILSILVA .
w as goin g to d o w e ll, b u t n o t th i s w e l l . E s p e ci a l l y ‘Cheese & Bu n ’, e ve ryo n e w a s s a yi n g i t w a s l i k e a ‘Seaso n s P a rt I I ’. A lo t o f p e o p l e a r e i n te r e s te d to s e e w hat Go o d Ye a rs a re go in g to d o n e xt s o I’m p r o u d o f how we s e t th e p a ce fo r it.”
j o k e r WORDS: JON COOK PHOTOS: ZACHERY SAITOTI
j
ust over five years ago, as dubstep began to take root as the
lounge, in front of one of the biggest televisions we’ve ever seen.
dominant force in UK bass music, a 16 year old, grime-
Eventually, Joker strolls into the room, wearing sunglasses and
obsessed producer from Bristol was beginning to turn heads
making his apologies for not being up to greet us.
with his own unique take on the 140bpm template. With melodies for days and a sense of pure funk absent from so many of the
“It seems like it might have been a bad idea moving here,” he says
over-engineered productions of the times, the one they called
in a relaxed, soft voice as he collapses into the huge leather sofa
Joker suddenly found himself among the most talked about names
that wraps round the room. “We’ve been getting noise complaints
in the underground.
and we just got a letter saying the council are now getting involved. I might have to look for somewhere else.”
Taken in by dubstep luminary Pinch and other older members of Bristol’s notoriously rich bass-music culture, Joker’s trajectory
Leaning back and obscuring his eyes behind his Ray Bans, it’s
was set clearly for the top from the start. Those who saw Mary
impossible to judge whether Joker’s particularly bothered by the
Anne Hobbs’ 2008 Documentary on Bristol’s dubstep scene will
letter he’s just received. But as he slowly exhales a plume of
remember the BMX-riding kid who had very little to say for the
cigarette smoke across the room, it’s pretty clear he’s not that
cameras, leaving tracks such as ‘Gully Brook Lane’, ‘Play Doe’
fussed.
and ‘Snake Eater’ to do the talking for him. “My mum lives on the same road, this place came up cheap and I Several years later, things have changed beyond recognition for
wanted to get a room for the studio, so I could make as much
the now 22 year old. While tracks such as 2008’s ‘Purple City’
noise as I wanted,” he explains. “That’s the only reason I
continued to prove Joker’s underground credentials, remixes for
moved out.”
hipster-loved bands such as The Heavy, Turboweekend and The Gossip enabled Joker’s deeply melodic and textured sound to
Making noise is, as you’d expect, something Joker loves to do.
really shine, and were instrumental in taking dubstep to new
In the next room is one of the most impressive studios we’ve ever
audiences. The success of the last few years is clear as Trap
seen, packed with the vintage hardware and bespoke rack units
arrive at Joker’s newly-bough flat on the outskirts of his home city
that give Joker’s music its notable gloss and heavy-weight sound.
to discuss his debut album, ‘The Vision’. After numerous attempts
Having only just recently moved out from his mum’s, and with the
to call up to him on the intercom, eventually we’re ushered inside
noise complaints in mind, we have to wonder how she handled
by his girlfriend, who apologetically explains that Joker was up
living with the wall-shaking bass that resides at the heart of her
making beats until just a few hours earlier, and sits us down in the
son’s music...
030
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
“
I too k u p m usi c an d becam e a b i t o f a b i t c h a n d wa s scared o f ri d i n g. JOKER
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
0 31
“Towards the end she started really supporting me and what I was doing,” he says. “At the start, though, it was just me being a nuisance making noise and keeping her up at night. But she’s cool now.
Joker if he always knew the position he’s now in would come. “Where I am now is sort of nowhere,” he retorts. “If I look at where I am now expecting to be somewhere then this is as far as I’m gonna get.”
“When we we’re younger, my friends and me would beg our mums for £10, just so we could go to Rooted Records and buy the latest Wiley tune or whatever. We’d get all our records together to make a set and I’d have eight or ten speakers rigged up around my bedroom. I’d just jack it up and we’d all make a set. My mum would burst in the room and scream ‘You’re taking the piss!’ You’d hear her over the back of the recording. She used to always come in the room when we were dropping that rhythm, that special one. We did used to take the piss though... But you couldn’t have it on quiet; the second it was loud, we’d feel like we were in a rave!”
So where is ‘somewhere’ for Joker?
It’s a scene that anyone that grew up with a mate with a pair of decks and a group of friends who couldn’t leave the mic alone will know all too well, and it’s also one that will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the video for one of the stand-out tracks from ‘The Vision’ - the Buggsy, Shadz, Scarz and Double featuring ‘Back In The Days’. “You see in the beginning of the video, we’re at my mom’s house doing a set; she comes in, cusses at us over the music and we all leave – that’s the shit that used to happen back in the day,” he explains. “When I was doing the album, I knew I had to make a track with the boys. So that’s what that track is remembering; how things were back in the day when we were kids making music in our bedrooms.” Those who’ve seen the video will know the plotline, which sees Joker and his fellow Kold Hearted Kru members Buggsy, Shadz, Scarz and Double begin the video as kids in Joker’s bedroom, and then transforming in to their modern-day selves as they leave the house and climb on board a couple of Joker’s much-loved superbikes. It’s a demonstration of how far this group of friends, and particularly Joker, have come over the years, with each of them finding their own success. Shadz is now better known as solo artist Javeon McCarthy, and for working with L-Vis 1990 & The Neon Dreams and Julio Bashmore, while million-mile-an-hour rapper Buggsy has had quite some year himself, dropping his debut album and playing festivals world-wide to massive acclaim. It’s his opening line of “Joker, we’ve done it” on ‘Back In The Day’ that acknowledges just how far the crew have come. Joker is, however, cautious of putting too much emphasis on that opening line... “When Buggsy says ‘We’ve done it’, it’s not to say we’ve made it. We haven’t; it’s saying that it’s happening. We’ve been playing in clubs since we were like 13. Getting a tenner to get a taxi home, and thinking ‘Yeah, I got paid!’ We used to play Reality FM across the road from Slix on Stokes Croft in Bristol. That was ghetto. You’d walk up this flight of stairs, past bin bags and rats, and inside the station were just flies, thousands of them. It was fucked, but it was fun.” The squalor typical to tales of pirate radio couldn’t be further from the world that Joker now finds himself operating within. These days, he’s more likely to be found in the plush studios of Radio One or 1Xtra, than a dirty squat with a couple of belt-drive decks. Attempting to delve deeper into what it is that drives him, we ask
0 32
“Woosh... Space. I dunno...” he offers, standing up from his seat to tap the ash from his cigarette out a window. “I’m just doing my thing,” he says, sitting back down. “Sometimes I try to set goals, it helps if you can look at a board and tick things off; that’s nice. But most the time, I’m just freestyling life.” Freestyling life isn’t an option that’s open to everybody – but then Joker’s clearly not just anyone. With underground fame thrust on him at an early age, and with a talent for doing what he loves most in his own unique way, the still-young producer’s naturally playful and mischievous personality has never been forced to be tempered by office work or intense academic study. “I’m doing ok, but I get distracted by motorbikes and computer games,” he says as if to confirm this observation. “Before I used to do music, I did biking. I was taking it seriously, but then took up music and became a bit of a bitch and was scared of riding. But when I started getting money, I’d always wanted those bikes I could never afford. So I got them all. I’ve had four in less than a year. I’ve got two of them now - a Yamaha R6 and a KTM 450.” While you may be surprised to hear of Joker’s love of motorbikes, his other stated passion is one that’s obvious to anyone that’s ever heard his music. In fact, the first track that took Joker’s sound to audiences way beyond the ultra-underground world of grime in which he arrived a s a 16 year old, and into the thenexploding world of dubstep, was the Metal Gear Solid sampling ‘Snake Eater’ for Soul Motive. As is always the case with real fans of any given subject, it doesn’t take much to get Joker nattering away about computer games, sitting up in his seat and removing his sunglasses as he does so. “I really love the older stuff, the Sega games like Streets Of Rage, Sonic and Shinobi. All the soundtracks for them, I’ve got them on my computer and I just sit and listen to them like they’re normal tracks. I’ve even put them on CD and had them on in the car with my mum while she’s driving, and she’s losing her mind cause they’re some racing game sound track on! “But I think most games these days are missing good original music. Obviously, with Blu Ray discs, you can fit so much stuff on them, so all they do is hit up Universal and EMI for music to put on the games. But I don’t want to hear Chase & Status while I’m playing a game; it takes you out of that world. You’re thinking ‘This is so deep’ – then ‘Wa Wa Wa’. Music brings you into the vision of the people that thought up the game, so it needs to be original. The last game I played that had proper original music throughout the whole game was Metal Gear Solid. The Japanese think clever.” We take a break and move into the studio next door to take some shots of Joker at his desk, surrounded by hugely expensive synths and equipment. At this point, he’s a very different character from the sleepy, almost monosyllabic guy we met at the start of the interview. Playing us the track that was responsible for keeping him up all night, and offering to swap the enormous synths around
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
for different shots, there’s little doubt that this is Joker in his element and at his most comfortable. Returning to the lounge, conversation moves to the reason we’re here today, the album. ‘The Vision’ is notable for the featured vocalists that break up the body of instrumentals that form its whole. Turboweeked’s Silas returns to vocal duties on ‘Here Come The Lights’, following up Joker’s attention-grabbing remix of the band from 2009, while Jay Wilcox, Jesse Ware and William Cartwright all bring an injection of personality, hipster swagger and, most importantly, commerciality to Joker’s synthetic soundscapes. However, while these huge names will undoubtedly help sell ‘The Vision’ to the mass market, it’s the aforementioned Buggsy who appears not once, but twice on the album. Was it a conscious decision by Joker to bring his childhood friend through, now that the spotlight is beaming down on him?
“
S o m e t i m e s I t ry t o s e t g o a l s , but most of the time,
I’m just freestyling life. JOKER
“No, we just ended up making two tracks that worked and were right for the album,” he says flatly, before reflecting deeper, “If there’s one person that doesn’t seem to get writers’ block, it’s him. He doesn’t even write his bars down. I could say ‘Write a bar about jacking his camera,’” he says pointing at Zac, our photographer, “and throwing you out the window’” he nods to me, “and 15 minutes later he’ll come with something. And you’ll be like ‘did you really just write that’. It’s crazy.” Some producers make their name by bombarding the world with track after track and remix after remix – but that’s never been Joker’s way. He’s always adopted a quality over quantity approach, and the last couple of years have seen very few tracks from the producer actually surface. So, in writing ‘The Vision’, did Joker make tens of tracks and then whittle them down to the 12 that make up the album? “Pretty much what I made is what the album is,” he reveals. “I made ideas – when I start a tune, if it doesn’t sound good right away, I give up, next one. So once I started those, I finished them. But I find it a lot harder to write music now than I used to. When I was younger, I’d be watching TV, and I could see a whole track in Logic or Reason in my mind, and I could hear it. I’d go in to my bedroom and go ‘shhh shshh shhhh’ and it would just come out. Now, sometimes I have to wait for things to come. Sometimes it flows, but sometimes I have to really try.” Time is flying by, and we’ve had more than enough of Joker’s time for one day, so we pack our stuff and ready ourselves to leave. There’s time for just one last question though – growing up in one of the most musical cities in the world, packed with bass-culture legends, was there anyone in particular that helped inspire or drive Joker on to where he is today? “Yeah, I get inspiration from everyone around me who is doing well. When I was younger, I used to go to the Full Cycle studios and see Roni Size, Krust, Die and Clipz... I used to think ‘This is crazy’. I’d always go in Clipz’s room and then go home so hyped. Anyone around me who is doing well, that makes me want to do well. When I was kid, I got a lot of inspiration from The Neptunes – I love them to a next level, and I used to watch videos with Pharell talking. As a kid, I thought if they can make it, then maybe I can... “But I haven’t made it. I’ve not even started yet. If you think I have, you’re not gonna get anywhere bruv. I’m doing things the right way, but if I think I’ve made it now, I’m never gonna get any further than this flat and stuck in dubstep...”
The Vision is out 31 October on 4AD.
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
0 33
034
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
EVIL Back in August, dozens of the greatest graffiti artists on the planet set about turning one of the most miserable streets in Bristol into the largest permanent street art exhibition in the world. Old office blocks, disused buildings and 1960s architectural monstrosities became the canvases for some of the finest graffiti you’ll find anywhere in the world. The brainchild of graff legend Inkie, the event attracted everyone from New York’s legendary TATS Crew to street art pioneer Nick Walker and local hero Cheba,
giving them all the opportunity to showcase their ridiculous talents on a massive scale.
Tangent Books are set to release ‘See No Evil: The Book’ this October, packed full with photographs of the art that you’ll find adorning the walls of Nelson Street in Bristol city centre. Over the next few pages we present a selection of images from that book, taken by photographer Stephen Morris. See No Evil: The Book is out now on Tangent Books. www.tangentbooks.co.uk
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
037
CROSSING BORDERS
CAM O AND KROOKED
Explosive, future-thinking D&B duo Camo & Krooked came bursting out of Austria in 2007 with a slew of high-octane releases on premium labels such as BreakBeat Kaos, Renegade Hardware, Mainframe, Viper and Audio Porn. Fast forward five years and the pair are now signed to Hospital Records, touring a live show and celebrating the release of their album ‘Cross The Line’ – a 14-track rollercoaster ride of emotions, delving into D&B, dubstep, electro-house and everything in between. Trap caught up with the two Austrians to find out more... TRAP_Who are Camo & Krooked? “We’re Camo (Reinhard Reitsch) aged 27, and Krooked (Markus Wagner) aged 22, and we’re based in Vienna, Austria. We’ve been producing electronic music individually for about eight years now, and joined forces about four years ago. We’ve both been studying at university and skateboarding together for several years.” TRAP_You signed to Hospital earlier this year - how's that working out? “Hospital Records are really supporting us a lot and are letting us have total freedom of creativity, which is probably the most important thing for us. It feels more like a family than a business and the Hospitality parties are just the best D&B events we have ever played at!” TRAP_You don't just make D&B, do you? “No. On our new album you can find a lot of different genres; we have a tune that goes from electro house to D&B, some dubstep tunes and even an indie house influenced vocal bit. Our main influence at the moment is French and electro house – artists like Justice, Sebastian, Daft Punk, Wolfgang Gartner.” TRAP_What’s the bass music scene in Austria like? “Austria, especially Vienna has a really healthy scene, a lot of parties with a big and very motivated crowd. Vienna has a long history of D&B music starting back before the millennium, when people like D.Kay, Raw.Full, the Trife Life crew and the famous Flex club suddenly made it one of the most important places for D&B worldwide.” TRAP_Do you have different roles or skills in the studio? “Overall, everything is about 50/50, but Krooked is the one who likes to fiddle about with the melodies to make them as good and catchy as possible, while Camo is responsible for the final
WO R D S
Belinda Rowse
“
0 39
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
H o s p i ta l f e e l s m o r e l i k e a fa m i ly t h a n a b u s i n e s s . CAM O & CROO KED
mixdowns and the arrangements. All the tunes are developed with constant feedback from the other party, so it’s a fair process. Also, if there are technical problems, Krooked knows how to fix it - he is a big IT geek and knows a lot about computers, while Camo brings in a lot of endurance from his skateboarding career. He has been skateboarding for 18 years now!” TRAP_Your new album ‘Cross The Line’ is out now what should we expect? “A lot of new and fresh drum & bass! With this album we tried to break new ground for us and make some never-heard-before sounds and arrangements. We feel it’s a much more mature sound; more real song writing and less three-note loops. It was really exciting to work with all the vocalists we have on the album – Ayah Marar, TC, Shaz Sparks, Jenna G and Skittles.” TRAP_So a lot of vocal content then… Tell us about the vocalists on the album? “‘In The Future’ was the first album tune we made, about two years ago, when Futurebound was over for a few days. It was an instrumental for a long time, until we heard that Jenna G was in Austria. We love what she came up with! Ayah Marar was Hospital’s recommendation and, we have to say, it was probably one of the best recommendations we could have got. She absolutely nailed the vocals, and was great to work with. “We’ve worked with Shaz Sparks before; her husband Robbie is a producer, so he knows how to record vocals properly. A lot of people don’t know that TC has been singing for years, not only on his first album, but also on Pendulum and Sub Focus tunes. He’s quite an underdog when it comes to singing; he deserves way more recognition. And we found it super easy and great to work with Skittles; an upcoming rapper from Manchester.” TRAP_We’ve been hearing rumours about your live show... Can you tell us more? “The centre piece of our live show is the LED Cage, which plays visuals in front of and behind us, giving things a 3D feel. As well as this, we have Messy MC on board as the host MC and Ayah Marar and TC on the vocals. Playing live feels like a dream coming true and we are so excited to have that possibility.” TRAP_What else have you got lined up for the rest of the year? “We are touring the UK with our live show and DJ sets throughout the autumn, playing a lot of Hospitality events and other shows, plus an Austria album tour in December. Beside that, we’ve been working on soundtracks for videogames, so watch out for our tunes when you play your newest purchase!” TRAP_And finally, can you sum up Camo & Krooked in five words? “Diverse. Fun. Energetic. Friendly. Ambitious.” ‘Cross The Line’ is out now on Hospital Records.
Presents
See N No o Evil: The h Bookk Available now from www.tangentbooks.co.uk
74 Stokes Croft Bristol BS1 3QY W W W.IDLE HANDSBRISTOL.COM
ALIXPEREZ & ROCKWELL WORDS: JON COOK
It’s fair to say that drum & bass isn’t always considered to be the most ‘fashionable’ branch of the bass music family tree these days. While, in 2011, the genre enjoys unprecedented commercial success and can easily fill cavernous venues with over-excitable students keen to witness the acts they hear on day-time Radio One perform ‘live’ shows, it’s rare for D&B’s more refined and thoughtful side to get the attention it deserves and should rightly expect. The trend-driving online music press have, for the large part, chosen to ignore drum & bass in recent times, opting instead to shower praise on those that create their beats at 130bpm in a way that, if we’re honest, we at Trap have always found a little perplexing. Sure, the latest jump-up wobbler is never going to win its producer critical acclaim from a jaded old techno journo, but to ignore the genre wholesale is to disrespect the many incredibly talented and forward-thinking creatives that do operate at the faster tempo of drum & bass. Two such individuals are Alix Perez and Rockwell. Both signed to Friction’s Shogun Audio, the London-based producers are responsible for some of the finest bass-driven music of recent years, regardless of genre. As part of an exclusive camp of artists, each pushing an individual sound, but unifying behind a mandate of total quality and consistent originality, they help make Shogun the force it is; regularly selling out label events in Brighton, Newcastle and London’s Cable and attracting a crowd you’re not likely to see at too many other drum & bass raves. To mark its fiftieth release, Shogun is celebrating with the release of ‘Way Of The Warrior’, a compilation that features all of the label’s home artists and some very special guests. With that in mind, Trap caught the train (and the tube, and then the bus) all the way out to Crouch End in north London where Alix and Rockwell (Tom) share a house to find out more about life on Friction’s trailblazing imprint.
“
Sometimes, I’m a bit
o v e r w h e l m e d by t h e
s tat u r e o f t h e l a b e l c o m pa r e d t o f i v e yea rs ag o.
ALIX PEREZ
TRAP: You two are co-workers, good friends and house mates. How did you first meet? Tom: “I met Alix through a mutual friend, Neil Specific, when I moved to London from Cardiff about four years ago. Alix was already signed to Shogun then, and I was still very much unsigned. There was never an ulterior motive though... Actually, the plan was to move in, get mates with Alix and pay him to play my tunes. But in all seriousness, he was the first person to play my music. I was just sending out tunes for an opinion, but I gave Alix a track called ‘Drums’ and he started finishing his set with it, which led to it getting picked up by Shy FX for Digital Soundboy.” Alix: “When Tom moved in, I’d already been signed to Shogun for a while and was working on ‘1984’, my album. He got to see all the stress and pressure that went into the album writing process right away.” TRAP: Tom, you debuted on Shogun just last year with ‘Full Circle’ and ‘Underpass’ – did living with Alix inspire you to try to join him on the label? T: “When I wrote that tune, I never thought it would come out on Shogun. Again, like ‘Drums’, it just happened organically, I didn’t make that track thinking it would be something that Friction would sign for Shogun, I never aimed to do it.” A: ”Icicle battered the shit out of ‘Full Circle’ and then Ed (Friction) had it... As a label manager I think you have to be convinced that you want to sign someone. That tune became Tom’s breakthrough and Ed saw we were all playing it in the camp and supporting it, so it was natural to bring him in I think.”
0 42
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
“
I th i n k d ru m & bass
t h at ’ s i n f l u e n c e d by
d ru m & bass i s a b it
of a boring concept. RO CKWELL
TRAP: You mention the ‘camp’. One thing that’s striking about Shogun’s artists is that you all seem to have a lot more in common than just the music... A: “Yeah, it’s a family thing really – we’re all mates and can have a laugh together, we all share the same taste in music. We’ve all got genres we like more than others, but we have similar interests. I’ve been involved with label since early, in 2005, I remember when Spectrasoul we’re starting off, Dave was working with the label, we made a few things together, it just grew. And Icicle too; we all knew each other and were talking before we were anything to do with Shogun. We were trying to help each other out and we all had the same outlook, and I think that’s why we ended up being a unit.” T: “We’re all on the same vibe – like Alix said, we share a lot of common ground musically, but then everyone has their certain avenue that separates them from each other, and I think that makes it work. Alix is into his thing, Icicle is bang into his techno, I’m into weird IDM and Spectrasoul are well into their bass music. There are enough similarities and enough differences. You get the vibe sometimes that a lot of people who make drum & bass are just being influenced by drum & bass. I think that’s something all of us on Shogun can say, is that we bring our influences from outside the scene. I think drum & bass that’s influenced by drum & bass is a bit of a boring concept. It’s 2011; it’s time to step away.” TRAP: The Shogun family’s most recent additions, The Prototypes, have come as a bit of a surprise to many. They’re known for their peak-time dancefloor tracks – are the label’s loyal fans right to worry that this could signal a change in direction for Shogun? A: “They’re a great addition. It’s reached that stage now where sometimes I’m a bit overwhelmed by the stature of the label compared to five years ago, the amount of dedicated fans. Shogun’s at a stage where it can grow further and hit different audiences and I think it’s beneficial for all of us.” T: “I’m only a recent signing too, so with the Prototypes, both ends of the spectrum have been broadened.” TRAP: Alix, you’ve been putting out slower tempoed tracks under the ARP101 name for a minute now, and Tom, you’ve been writing and playing house recently? T: “Yeah, I’m writing a lot of house, but I’m keeping it all under the Rockwell name. It’s proving quite difficult, as sometimes I’m playing house and some people aren’t feeling it, but then some people really like it. The way I look at it is, I’m using the same palette at 130bpm as I do at 170bpm, the only difference between the tunes is that some are 40bpm slower. That’s it, they’re the same sonically.” A: “For me, doing ARP101, it was appealing because it’s so far removed from what I do in drum & bass. At first, I kept it quite under wraps, I did it because I wanted the music to be appreciated for what it is and not have my name attached to it - I think people were surprised when they found out. I’ve been writing a lot of different music for a long time and I just happened to send a couple of tunes to Alex Nut who runs Eglo and he wanted to sign them. I was like ‘Wow!’ I was baffled. I love the Eglo stuff – FunkinEven, Fatima – I was going to Deviation every week checking out that sort of stuff so for him to say he wanted to sign it was big for me.” TRAP: Making experimental house and releasing tracks on Eglo; this is the stuff of hipster fantasies. And you guys are known for your high fashion sense too – all this makes you pretty much anomalous in the geek-packed world of D&B producers...
T:”I’m constantly told I’m not cool by my girlfriend. And I’m not; I’m a massive geek. I’ve always liked weird music and things other people might not like. I’m just being me; people can call me a hipster or whatever.” A: “Yeah we get that a lot. I wear skate clothes just like I used to eight years ago. It’s like music, clothing labels change what they do, and if I like a certain label then I wear it, just like I wore it before.” TRAP: But beyond the garms – Tom, you’ve done a FACT mix, and Alix you’ve got another ARP101 single out this month. Not many D&B producers get the chance to do those things... A: “There is sometimes a snooty attitude towards D&B, but I don’t let it bother me, I’ve got enough on my plate trying to make music. People I’ve come across that are successful bass-music producers who grew up on jungle and D&B, sort of disregard it and look down on it. I think that’s a bit sad. We all love what they’re doing; I find that attitude of ‘It’s dated, it’s gone’ a bit of a shame really.” T: “It’s a bit insulting in a way. I don’t think there’s a dance music in the world that’s harder to make than D&B. I think the guys we have are the most technically skilled engineers in the whole game.” A: “At the end of the day, we have such a strong scene, we’re all touring endlessly globally. We saw that at Outlook, with the strength of the Shogun stage – there were a lot of people there who wanted to see the Shogun stage as much as they might have done the Night Slugs one or whatever.” TRAP: A lot of that snobbery is usually driven by the press... T: “Oh definitely, the bass music guys who are getting masses of hype on the internet; they’re not touring like we’re touring.” A: “I’ve never had a review of an Alix Perez track on FACT for example, but the last ARP101 thing I did, I got a very nice review, which is quite interesting I guess. They’re catering for what they want, but that proves there is something there.” TRAP: Back to ‘Way Of The Warrior’ – after a couple of years of everybody darking out their sound, the album seems to signal a return to a more soulful, liquid direction. A: “I think it’s time. It all got very techy for a while - recently I’ve been writing more soulful stuff. It’s needed man, I’ve always been about the musical aspect of stuff, as has Tom. I enjoy writing, stripped back, techno style rollers, but I think it’s time to change it up a bit. It’s nice to see girls enjoying themselves.” T: “It’s good to keep the balance, it’s not about it getting too dark. Saying that, the tune I did with Phace – ‘Rat Race’ – we had a day to make it, the intensity of the session came through in the tune. It’s a lot harder than a lot of stuff I’ve done before, but it’s where our heads were at the time. “I think one of the really strong things about ‘Way Of The Warrior’, though, is that you could hear any track and know who it was straight away. Everyone has a distinct style; that individuality is lacking across D&B generally, so again, that’s one of the great things about the Shogun camp.”
‘Way O f T h e Wa r r i o r ’ i s o u t n o w o n S h o g u n A u d i o.
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
043
Talk t o m e...
BODDIKA
For fa ns of ba s s - driv en mus ic, thes e a re exciting times . With the wa lls between genres ha ving been well a nd truly s ma s hed ov er recent yea rs , in 2011, once pola ris ed s ounds , s ty les a nd s chools of thought ha ve been free to collide a nd cons pire with increa s ingly crea tiv e a nd s urpris ing res ults . One s uch s urpris e ha s been the ris e of Boddik a . After prov ing tha t the drum & ba s s templa te s till ha d room for origina lity a s pa rt of groundbrea k ing duo Ins tra :menta l a nd the Autonomic movement, jus t over a yea r a go Al G reen decided to s low things down dra ma tica lly a nd go it alone under a new na me, link ing up with Loefa h’s scene- s ha ping S WAMP 81 la bel a nd quick ly becoming one of the mos t ta lk ed a bout a rtis ts in ba s s mus ic. If y ou’v e been to decent ra ve in the la s t 12 months , then y ou’ll ha v e hea rd a Boddik a tra ck s ma s h its wa y to the forefront of the s et of a ny DJ who drops it. Impecca bly engineered a nd with s ome of the hea vies t bas s lines a ny one da re produce, Boddik a ’s dis tinctly retro, a cid- ins pired 4/4 s ound, crea ted us ing vinta ge 1980s ha rdwa re s y nths , ha s been impos s ible to a void. R ecent link - ups with J oy Orbis on ha ve only s een to bols ter Boddik a ’s reputa tion, a nd ha ve res ulted in the crea tion of ‘S wims ’ – undoubtedly one of 2011’s bigges t a nd mos t defining mus ica l moments , a nd a track tha t a ny one who went to Outlook this yea r will k now off by hea rt. With s o much s ucces s brewing, Trap couldn’t wa it to tra ck Boddik a down to find out more...
Yo u w e r e d o i n g w e l l as I n st r a : M e n ta l – w h at m a d e yo u
d e c i d e t o sw i t c h s o u n d s a n d g o i t a l o n e as B o d d i k a ?
“Just over a year ago, my partner in I nstra:mental w ent aw ay for four w eeks to Australia, and I w as left alone in the studio. I w anted to do some more club sort of beats and I just seemed to fall into a groove while I w as in there; I w ent on a nutty one and w rote about 10 tunes in five w eeks. Then, w hen I had all that material together, I w as talking to Loefah a lot at that time and he and other people w ere really feeling it, so I thought I better start an alias. The bad guy in Robocop is Clarence Boddicker; I always thought that w as a really cool name, so I changed the spelling and called myself Boddika.” S o, t h e m u s i c w e ’ v e b e e n h e a r i n g o v e r t h e l ast y e a r was a l l w r i t t e n i n t h o s e f e w w e e ks?
“Yeah, apart from the recent stuff with Joy O. The first 12 on Swamp81 ‘U nderground’ and ‘Electron’, then the four-track EP. I did ‘Boddika’s H ouse’ and ‘Grand Prix’ that have come out on Naked Lunch too. As clichéd as it sounds, I w as in the zone really; I w as just on it, everything I did I finished. I w as just w riting and couldn’t seem to stop.” Yo u’v e m e n t i o n e d L o e fa h a n d SWA M P 81 – h o w d i d yo u t w o m e e t ?
“I first met Loefah a couple of years ago. As I nstra, w e played a few of Skream’s birthday parties; he was a big fan of w hat we were doing with Autonomic and a great supporter. So yeah, we went back to Loefah’s one night after Skream’s bash for an after-party. I ’d never met Loe before, but as soon as I got back there I started talking to him and I just felt a connection straight away; we had a lot in common. I ’m not usually that social; I don’t like idle chit-chat it bores the life out of me, but I felt I had something to talk to the geezer about. “After that, we stayed in touch. And then I heard ‘Footcrab’ by Addison Groove. That was really exciting to me, because I ’m such a big lover of the 808 and 909; vintage drum machines as a whole. ‘Footcrab’ that w as the first sort of drum machine statement that set everyone off on that mad one. When I heard that, I thought ‘Fuck, this is great.’ Loe gave me the tunes and I started playing them in our I nstra sets. There was a big turning point for me around that time. We just stayed in touch, w e’d meet up and hang out, so as soon as I started doing my own stuff Loe was bang into it and it went from there.” Yo u t w o s h a r e a s e n s e o f d o i n g s o m e t h i n g n e w , b e yo n d t h at
w i t h w h i c h yo u f i rst m a d e yo u r r e s p e c t i v e m u s i ca l i m pa c t s?
“
I’ d h a d e n o u g h a n d wa n t e d t o s l o w i t d o w n . I’ d g o t o l d e r ,
“Yeah definitely, it’s not a conscious thing w e’re just doing w hat we want. We’re just rolling w ith the times; it’s nice to have someone to talk to who’s on the same page as you. I t helps, makes you think you’re not crazy (laughs). Loefah’s very opened minded musically, he’s a music lover. H e’s just doing w hat he enjoys and I respect that.”
a n d wa n t e d t o f o c u s o n
H o w w o u l d yo u d e s c r i b e t h e m u s i c yo u’ r e m a k i n g n ow
interested in.
“I t’s no secret that I love electro beats. I w anted to bring something to the club – electro beat patterns have so much danceability and there’s so much scope to w ork and move around them. So yeah, it’s electro, techno, house, all rolled into one; everything that I like personally. I have
t h i n g s t h at I wa s a c t u a l ly BODDIKA
as B o d d i k a ?
p e o p l e co me u p to me a f te r s hows a nd a sk me ‘Wha t sort o f mu s i c i s th is ? ’ An d I ’m like ‘I dunno’. It’s j ust musi c to e n j o y yo u rs e lf to ; I can ’t tag i t a nywhere.” Yo u ’v e sa i d yo u’r e A b i g lov e r o f h o u s e, t ec h n o a n d el ec t ro, b u t yo u ca m e to p r o m i n e n c e t h r o u g h D&B. Ba c k i n t h e 1 9 9 0 s, i t u s e d to b e s o t r i ba l – i f yo u l ov ed D&B, yo u h at e d h o u s e,
a n d v i c e - v ersa. H av e yo u a lways b een a l ov er o f a l l fo r m s o f da n c e m u s i c?
“ We l l , i f I’m h o n e s t. I ca me f r om hi p-hop. I wa s a bi g love r o f h i p -h o p a n d th e n go t i nto ha rdcore a nd j ungl e b a ck i n th e d ay an d th e n in to D&B. But D& B rea ched a poi n t fo r me b y ab o u t 1999 tha t I wa sn’t feel i ng the dire cti o n i t w as go in g. Yo u know, i n the mi d-90s i t wa s su ch a gro un d b r e ak in g a n d interesti ng movement, a nd th e n i t j u s t s o r t o f s w allo w e d i tsel f. So when we ca me b a ck to th e s ce n e as I n s tr a:menta l i n 2006, i n tha t ti me I ’d b e e n l i s te n in g to a lo t o f other musi c; techno, el ectro an d th a t.
A n d f i n a l ly, w h at s h o u ld yo u b e wat c h i n g f o r o v e r t h e coming months?
“‘Swims’ is gonna be out in November I think. Then I ’ve got another 12 on SWAMP that’s gonna be ‘Acid Jackson’ a nd ‘Basement’ and will be out before the end of the year. I ’m going to continue working w ith Joy Orbison – we’ve struck up a good working relationship and we want to continue for the foreseeable future. Look out for a 12 from us featuring ‘Froth’ and ‘Mercy’, on w hat label has yet to be decided. Also, I ’ve got a couple of experimental tra cks coming on Darkestral under the aliases Grey Goo a nd Transportation AAD. There’s some exciting projects coming up for NonPlus+, I can’t say too much; stuff by a nother artists that w ill have a little shock factor to it, definitely...” ww w.fa c e b o o k .c o m/ b o d d i k a
“ We w a n te d to d o s o me th in g tha t wa s D& B, but ha d our ow n ta k e ; a n d th a t’s w h at w e di d a s Instra :menta l . But th e n a fte r w e w r o te a tr ack cal l ed ‘Wa tchi ng You’, I fel t we co u l d n ’t r e ally to p th at, I di dn’t thi nk we coul d do an yth i n g b ette r th an th a t at 170bpm. I’d ha d enough a nd wa n te d to s lo w it d o w n . I ’d got ol der, a nd wa nted to focus on th i n gs th at I w as a ctu a lly interested i n.” I t s ee m s to b e a u n i v e rsa l t r u t h t h at w i t h ag e c o m es a n a p p r e c i at i o n fo r h o u s e a n d t e c h n o...
“ Ye a h i t i s . I w a s n ’t th at mu ch i nto i t when I wa s younger. I ’m 34 n o w. I th in k it d o e s come wi th a ge for a l ot of peo p l e . Whe n yo u ’r e yo u n ge r you wa nt i t fa ster a nd hard e r. Bu t I ’m r e ally f u s s y a bout wha t I l i k e wi th house, te ch n o a n d e le ctr o . Fo r me , the best el ectro ha s been don e . U n d e r gr o u n d Re s is tan ce a nd peopl e – a l ot of stuff I h e a r n o w is ju s t in te r p r e tations of thi ngs tha t ha ve al re a d y b e en d o n e . I ’m ju s t tr yi ng to bri ng a bi t of bas s w e i gh t to it an d ma k e it a ccessi bl e i n, da re I sa y i t, a dub s te p d an ce o r a UK Ba s s da nce. But i t’s grea t, doi ng th a t, I ca n p la y E gyp tian Lo ver tunes i n my set. I’ve ha d peo p l e a s k me , ‘I s th is a n e w one? ’ a nd I’m l i k e ‘Bruv, it’s 25 ye a r s o ld !” . Th at’s r e a l l y, rea l l y cool . Pl a yi ng a t 128b p m, I’ve go t s u ch a catal ogue of musi c to ch o o s e fro m.” W o r k i n g as B o d d i ka n ow – a r e yo u i n m o r e o f a g ro ov e t h a n
yo u w e r e as pa rt o f I n s t r a: m e n ta l ?
“ Ye a h I gu e s s I am. Da mo n my pa rtner i n Instra :menta l , we ’ve b e e n f r ie n d s s in ce w e w ere 12 yea rs ol d, but I th i n k a s ti me w e n t o n o u r p e r sona l l i ves took sepa ra te path s , s o i t n a tu r ally b e co me s di ffi cul t to ma i nta i n the wo rk fl o w an d e n th u s ia s m to wri te together. I’m enj oyi ng mys e l f a t the mo me n t, it f e e ls l i bera ti ng.” S o m e c o u l d a rg u e t h at a lt h o u g h i t ’s o n ly b een a ro u n d a
y e a r, t h e B o d d i ka n a m e i s a lr ea dy b i g g er a n d m o r e w e l l - k n o w n t h a n I n s t r a : m e n ta l ...
“ P e o p l e h a ve s aid th at to me . But a s Instra :menta l , we we re n ’t tryin g to w r ite clu b musi c. We wa nted to wri te go o d e l e ctr o n ic mu s ic w ith a l ot of soul a nd moods, to ma k e yo u th in k . We d id w e ll; we won best brea k through pr o d u ce rs , b e s t co mp ilatio n f or the Fa bri c Autonomi c . Bu t I w a n t to ma k e a livin g o ut of doi ng musi c, a nd i t’s very h a rd to mak e a livin g w h en you’re not wri ti ng cl ub mu s i c. So , ye ah , it is cr a zy; ‘Swi ms’, whi ch I’ve done wi th Jo y O, th e r e ’s s o mu ch h yp e a round tha t tra ck . It’s huge – i t’s a cl u b tu n e a n d it’s b u ilt for tha t. But i t’s a l l a bout ti ming too...”
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
047
Work colour block knits with a slim silhouette for a hot look in the colder months… Photography Shifteye
Styled by Kasha Malyckyj
Assisted by Charlotte James Make up Katie Smith
Fiona wears:
Jumper Reverse at asos £48 Shoes asos £60 www.asos.com
Fiona wears:
Cropped angora jumper Topshop £55 www.topshop.com Leggings £10 asos
Shoes Jeffrey Campbell
www.jeffreycampbellshoes.com
THIS PAGE:
Jumper Topshop £35
Knitted leggings Topshop £22 Shoes as before Necklace H&M www.hm.com
Opposite page:
Cropped jumper £7.99 H&M
Shorts £45 American Apparel
Shoes as before
Fiona wears:
Cardigan worn as jumper £70 Topshop
Trousers £48 Motel Boots £75 Topshop
Fiona wears:
Coat Beacons Closet NY
www.beaconscloset.com
RAM RECORDS PRESENT
BREAK HOT LOVE/ BREAKFAST OUT 7TH NOVEMBER 2011
Available on 12” Vinyl and all Digital Formats.
DELTA HEAVY OVERKILL/ HOLD ME OUT 24TH OCTOBER 2011 Available on 12” Vinyl and all Digital Formats.
Ram Records LTD, PO Box 70, Hornchurch, Essex, RM11 3NR. T: +44(0)1708 445851/227753 F: +44(0)1708 223558 E: info@ramrecords.com
R EV I EWS REVIEWED BY: BASSMUSIC BLOG, SAM COLLENETTE, DUB BOY, GEOFF WRIGHT, JON CARTER, SEAN KELLY, OLI MARLOW, DAVE COTGRAVE, JERYL WILTON, FIREMAN SAM, JUSTIN IRIAJEN, NICK HILLS, CURTIS MOLDRICH, BELINDA ROWSE.
BASS GUIDE: DRUM & BASS
DUBSTEP
HOUSE/FUNKY
GRIME
DANCEHALL/REGGAE
ESSENTI A LISTENI L NG
BURAKA SOM SISTEMA ‘Komba’ (Enchufada)
P o r tu gal’s Bu r aka So m Sis te ma fi rs t an n o u n ce d th e ir ar r ival to th e w o rl d w i th th e i r ge n r e -me ld in g 2008 d e b u t ‘Bl a ck Di a mo n d ’, w h ich to o k E u r o p e an d an ce mu s i c p ro d u cti o n a n d ap p lie d it to Af r ican K u d o ro . Th e re s u l t w a s a n in te n se , me sme r isin g f u sio n o f La ti n e n e rgy, Af r ican o d d -b all attitu d e a n d b a s s - d ri ve n We ste r n d an ce mu sic. Hyp e d b y e ve ryo n e fro m th e b r o ad sh e e ts to th e u n d e rgro u n d , BSS a n d th e i r b r a n d o f ‘Progressive Kuduro’ received universal acclaim. Tw o ye ar s late r, BSS ar e b a ck w i th th e i r se co n d alb u m ‘K o mb a’, an d w o w, i s i t go o d . Man y w ill h ave alr e ad y se e n th e i n cre d i b l e vi d e o f o r ‘Han go ve r ’, w h ich f e atu re s a s j u s t o n e o f man y h igh ligh ts o f th is h uge l y s a ti s fyi n g a l b u m. Alb u m o p e n e r ‘E ske le to ’, fe a tu ri n g Afri k a n Bo y, se ts an u n co mf o r tab le vo o d o o -ti n ge d to n e b e fo re title tr ack ’K o mb a’ sw itch e s th i n gs u p w i th i ts d e licate car n ival gr o o ve , a n d ‘Vo o d o o Lo ve ’ slid e s in w ith its b ash y, inte rco n ti n e n ta l ta k e o n Fu n ky. E lse w h e r e , Re d ligh t co l l a b o ra to r Ro s e s Gab o r b r in gs so me U K atti tu d e to ‘We Sta y U p All Nigh t’ an d BSS e xp lo r e th e gro u n d b e tw e e n p u n k an d d an ce h all o n ‘Lo l & P o p ’. ‘Ve m Cu rti r’ w ith Ste r e o typ take s th in gs i n to l o w e r te mp o s an d mo r e e xp e r ime n tal str u ctu re s a n d ‘Can d o n ga’ d e live r s a su mp tu o u s l y s mo o th h o u se -in sp ir e d gr o o ve . A f r igh te n in gly acco mp lish e d a l b u m, th a t n o t o n l y d e live r s 12 e xce lle n t in d ivi d u a l p i e ce s o f d a n ce mu sic, b u t w h ich tie s to ge th e r b e h i n d a u n i fyi n g co n ce p t to p r o d u ce th at r a ri ty i n d a n ce mu s i c – a tr u ly co mp le te alb u m.
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
0 57
R E V I E W S 06
058
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
HACKMAN ‘Agree To Disagree’ (PTN)
ELIJAH & SKILLIAM ‘Rinse 17’ (Rinse) Elijah a nd Sk i l l i a m ha ve spearh ea ded a movement th at’s given the under-va l ued producer s i n gr i me s ome mu ch needed s potl i ght. Thi s l a te st addition to the Ri ns e CD se r ie s is testa ment to the duo r e establis hi ng i ns tr umenta l gr ime as an i mpor ta nt f or ce. So me argue tha t the new pr odu ctio n talent cur r entl y bubbl i ng in grime, outwei ghs the f r es h MC talent, a nd a CD s uch a s th is sugges ts they mi ght ha ve a point. Voca l contr i buti ons f r o m Wiley, Tr i m, P Money, Bl acks and Ruby Lee Ryder s i t alongs i de 20 other instrumentals. E&S br i ng excl us i ve dubs aplenty f r om the l i k es of Te r r o r Danjah, Swi ndl e, Rude Ki d , DJ Q, Stark ey a nd Roya l T, as w e ll as remi xes , a n ol d-s k ool ge m (‘Ghetto Kyote’) a nd s ome o f the bigges t a nthems of th e ye ar. This is the bes t gui de to gr ime in 2011 you’l l f i nd.
BRENMAR ‘Let’s Pretend’ EP (Hum & Buzz) London l a bel H um & Buzz lo o k across the Atl a nti c f or the ir fourth r el ea s e, wi th a n E P f r o m New Yo r k pr oduce r Br enmar. ‘Let’s P r etend’ a nd ‘Tempe r a t ure Ri si ng’ a r e me lo d ic and up l i f ti ng, f us i ng a typ ically heavy R&B i nf l uence wi th tigh t drums a nd s ta bbi ng s ynth s. ‘Done ( Don’t Luv Me No Mor e ) ’ switche s up the tempo wi th a darker edge, a nd DJ Mi k e Q brings a UK Funk y vi be with h is 808-in f us ed r emi x.
Fo llo w in g an e xcu r s i o n o n th e Gr e co -Ro man lab e l w i th ‘Cl o s e ’, Hackman r e tu r n s to P TN w i th w h at h as b e e n an n o u n ce d i s to b e th e f ir st sin gle f ro m h i s f o r th co min g alb u m f o r th e l a b e l . Fu r th e r sh ar p e n in g h i s s o u n d , ‘Agr e e To Disagr e e ’ a n d ‘Su n b u r st’ ar e tw o s l i ck s l i ce s o f h o u se imb u e d w ith th e s p i ri t o f classic U K G th at w i l l h a ve yo u p in in g af te r th e n o w l o n ggo n e su mme r.
SUBWAVE ‘Subwave’ (Metalheadz) Metalheadz’s Russian si gni ng Subwave deliver s his debut long-player f or Goldie’s legendar y impr int; a full al bum that acts as a culmi nati on of his wor k to date. Following up such r ecent r eleases as ‘The Gift EP’ o f 2010 an d ‘Rain Dance’ / ‘Naked Lunch’ ear lier thi s year, the album spans the Subwave sound bank; f r om moody, tribal tech number s such as opener ‘Wheel Of Time’, through some f eel-good vocal-led dancefloor moments like ‘Br ing Me Down’ ( that r ecall his r elease on Hospital, ‘Star s Get Down’) and exper imental cut ‘Rainbows’, ever y tr ack is car ef ull y consider ed and works cohesively in the whol e. Techno-i nf luenced 4/4 ventur e ‘Aster oids’ is a highli ght, as is the soar ing, simmeri ng outro ‘With o u t Yo u ’. A w orthy contr ibution to the Metalheadz discogr aphy.
DAMU ‘Unity’ (Keysound Recordings) Da mu ’s a s ce n t o ve r th e l a s t tw e l ve mo n th s h a s b e e n ra p i d . Sp e e d i l y ra ck i n g u p re l e a s e s o n Lo ca l Acti o n , Sw i n g & Sk i p a n d K e ys o u n d , h i s d i zzyi n g p ro d u cti o n s h a ve ca u gh t th e i ma gi n a ti o n . No w, w i th 12-tra ck a l b u m ‘U n i ty’ s e t fo r re l e a s e o n Bl a ck d o w n ’s l a b e l , Da mu i s a b l e to ma k e h i s b o l d e s t mu s i ca l s ta te me n t ye t, e l a b o ra ti n g o n p re vi o u s E P s w i th th e ro o m to e xp l o re h i s cre a ti ve re s tl e s s n e s s mo re fu l l y. Fro m th e s u n k i s s e d ga l l o p o f ‘L.O.V.E ’ to th e h a zy d ro n e s o f ‘Ma th s I s Fi n e Fo r Su m’, th e b ri l l i a n tl y e p i c ‘Ri d i n ’ Th e H yp e ’ fe a tu ri n g Tri m to w h i rri n g cl o s e r ‘Do n ’t Cry I n My Be d ’, th e a l b u m i s a fi d ge ty a n d u n s ta b l e l i s te n , b u t i s a l l th e b e tte r fo r i t. Da mu cre a te s a w o rl d i n w h i ch yo u mu s t fu l l y i mme rs e yo u rs e l f to b e re w a rd e d , a n d a t i ts co re i s mu s i c ri gh t fro m th e h e a rt.
PHACE & GUESTS ‘Energy’ EP (Neosignal) For thei r tenth r el ea se, Neosi gna l ha s br ought together the most si gni f i ca nt tr a i l bl a zer s f r om f utur i sti c D& B. Ger ma n l a bel owner, P ha ce a nd Misanthrop, plus guests Rockwell, Spor a nd Noi si a conti nue to push the l i mi ta ti ons of technol ogy a nd wa nder f r om the bea ten pa th. Noi si a & P ha ce’s ‘Mi cr o or ga ni sm’, wi th i ts ci nema ti c i ntr o a nd gl i tchy dr op sta nds out. Thi s E P i s si ni ster, a tmospher i c, phenomena l l y pr oduced a nd cr a mmed, unsur pr i si ngl y, wi th ener gy.
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
R E V I E W S 06
0 59
ESSENTIAL LISTENING
MUNGO’S HI-FI ‘Forward Ever’ (Scotch Bonnet) As we at Trap professed back in our Rodigan issue, without reggae, we would have no jungle, no D&B, no dubstep. There would be no bass music as we know it. So, whatever your sub genre preference, you owe it to yourself every now and then to pay respects to the roots of the sound you love and get immersed in some proper roots and culture reggae music. Whether you’re a red-eyed, seasoned dread, or a wide-eyed dubstep kid, there are few better prescriptions of the good stuff than this second album from Scottish reggae champions Mungo’s Hi-Fi. Packed with 15 fresh Mungo’s productions, each featuring an outlandish vocal
SENSI SKANK
talent, ‘Forward Ever’ is easily one of favourite albums of the year so far. Kenny Knots destroys the ‘Bogle Riddim’ on ‘Gimme Gimme’, London’s Mr Williamz delivers an ode to the online world in ‘Digital Age’, while Pupajim rides a sumptuous digital groove on ‘Boat People’. Meanwhile, the incredibly talented Soom T, herself an integral part of the Glasgow reggae movement within which Mungo’s reside, delivers two delicious and very different voicings, with the sultry toned Soom that we hear on the jazz-driven ska of ‘Bad Bad Boy’ giving way for her rawer ragga side on the digital rhyhthm of ‘Soundboy Police’. This is UK soundsystem culture at its very finest.
‘Ruben Da Silva’ ft. Skinnyman (Reggae Roast Records)
FALTY DL ‘Atlantis’ EP (Ninja Tune)
Reggae Roa s t ha s qui ck l y b u ilt a reputati on a s the UK’s l ea d in g label fo r contempor a r y dub w ise productions, and here again come with another ha r d-hi tti ng slice o f home-gr own di gi ta l r oots . ‘Se n si Skank’, pos s i bl y thei r bi gge st release s o f a r, i s s et to be th e ganja anthem of 2012. Wi th vocals by Ruben Da Si l va , the track al s o f ea tur es UK hi p -h o p legend Sk i nnyma n, gi vi ng it a unique cr os s over a ppea l .
After releasing music for some of the most credible record labels on earth, including Planet Mu, SWAMP81 and Ramp, New York resident Falty DL drops his debut EP for ever-evolving British label Ninja Tune. The result is a mesmerising fusion of influences, expressing a rich, bass-heavy sound evolved from house, dubstep and of course, UK garage. Featuring four very different compositions, this is the sound of an artist evolving.
SHANGAAN ELECTRO: ‘Peverelist meets The Tstetsha Boys’ (Honest Jons) Two worlds collide to great effect here, as Bristol bass technician Peverelist takes on South African new wavers The Tsetsha boys. Staying true to the dub aesthetic, Pev strips the track down and restructures it into an intricate and subtly driving rhythm. The submerged sounds of steel drums pay homage to the original's African heritage, while the shimmering chords and space age Detroit atmospherics launch it straight into the cosmos.
R E V I E W S 06
060
DELTA HEAVY ‘Overkill’ / ‘Hold Me’ (Ram)
BEHLING & SIMPSON
‘Politics’ EP (Futureboogie) Following the summer release of Behling's 'Without You', which turned heads from Tensnake to Chrissy Murderbot, Futureboogie now let Behling & Simpson loose across four tracks that veer from the loping cinematic soundscapes of 'Yenisei' to the classic houseinflected title track. At an average speed of about 110BPM, this is no straight-up house release, but instead solid club music that shows a freshness typical of the Bristol scene right now.
VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘IOTDXI’ (R&S) The lates t i ns ta l ment of R& S's classic compi l a ti on s er i es se e s the legenda r y Bel gi a n l a b e l confirm i ts pos i ti on a s on e o f the mos t f or wa r d thi nk i ng an d diverse el ectr oni c mus i c imp r in ts around . Si nce s ta r ti ng i n 1984, R&S h a s a l wa ys s a t s qua r e ly o n the cutti ng edge of da nce music, r el ea s i ng s emi na l tr acks from genui ne l egends s uch as Joey Bel tr a m, Aphex Twi n an d CJ Bo l l a nd. And now the lab e l has th e l i k es of J a mes Bl ake , Untold , Pa r i a h a nd Bl a wa n se t to steer i t i nto the f ur the r reache s of moder n ba s s -mu sic and be yond. Dr a wi ng on th e latest ba tch of r el ea s es to make up one of the two CDs he r e , an d a whol e di s c of compl etely f r e sh materia l , 'IOTDXI' cover s a w id e range of s ounds , of ten experimenta l but a l wa ys retaining tha t gr i t a nd r a w f u n k synonymous wi th the l a be l.
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
AUTHOR ‘Author’ (Tectonic) This self-titled offering is the work of a new collaborative project between Leeds-based dubstep producers Jack Sparrow and Ruckspin. Both established forces in their own right with an impressive string of releases under their individual belts, they link up here to explore new musical territory. While still built upon the structures of dubstep, the album expands its focus beyond the confines of the dancefloor, flickering with a much broader palette of sounds. Cavernous album opener ‘Turn’ featuring Ed Thomas immediately articulates these new processes, and this freedom continues right through the album, as is exemplified by tracks such as the jazz-inflected ‘Green & Blue’ with Ben Glass and the brilliant sprawling dub-lined closer ‘Drain’. Experimenting with these boundaries, the duo finds a new beauty and spaciousness amidst the rubble of dark dancefloors and soundsystem constructions.
STAR ONE ‘Star One’ EP (Carrot Records) The debut release from Toddla T endorsed brothers Star One fuses grime, UK funky, garage, hip-hop and plenty of chopped up vocals into five tracks. Although not all are ‘hit’ tunes, there’s evidence here that you’ll be hearing a lot more from these two. ‘Bugz’ and ‘Slow Down’ are both wicked UK garage vocal throwbacks, but the standout is the tropical UK funky banger, coproduced by Toddla T himself, ‘Power Riddim’.
Del ta H ea vy f ul l y j usti f y thei r a ddi ti on to the Ra m r oster wi th a n equa l l y i nventi ve f ol l ow up to ‘Spa ce Ti me’. ‘Over k i l l ’ bui l ds into euphor i c pa ds l a ced wi th a n el ectr o hook a nd del i ver s a na sty dr umstep dr op tha t then swi tches up to a mor e tr a di ti ona l D& B gr oove. Swi tch si des a nd the tempo dr ops to 140 a s ‘H ol d me’ l a yer s a g-f unk l ea d over mea ty bea ts a nd ba ss.
JOKER ‘The Vision’ (4AD) Wh a t’s p ro b a b l y th e mo s t h o tl y a n ti ci p a te d b a s s mu s i c a l b u m o f th e ye a r fi n a l l y d ro p s , a n d l o o k s s e t to ca ta p u l t o n e o f th e u n d e rgro u n d s b i gge s t n a me s fi rml y i n to th e ma i n s tre a m. Du b s te p i s n o s tra n ge r to ma s s a p p e a l th e s e d a ys , a n d a fte r a ye a r th a t’s s e e n Fre s h a n d Ne ro h i t th e to p o f th e ch a rts , th e re co u l d n ’t b e a b e tte r ti me fo r J o k e r’s d e b u t to d ro p . Ma n y w i l l h a ve a l re a d y h e a rd th e J e s s i e Wa re co l l a b o ra ti o n a n d ti tl e tra ck ‘Th e Vi s i o n ’ – a tu n e th a t e xe mp l i fi e s J o k e rs a b i l i ty to fu s e u n d e rgro u n d cre d i b i l i ty a n d co mme rci a l vi a b i l i ty, s o me th i n g th e re s t o f th i s a l b u m fl a u n ts i n s p a d e s . Wi th a s e t o f s o l i d , p u re i n s tru me n ta l s , o f w h i ch 2010’s b a s s a n th e m ‘Tro n ’ a n d th e Ma ri o 64 s o u n d i n g ‘Mi l k y Wa y’ a re h i gh l i gh ts , a s th e LP ’s b a ck b o n e , vo ca l tu rn s fro m th e l i k e s o f J a y Wi l co x, Wi l l i a m Ca rtw ri gh t a n d J o k e r’s o l d cre w K H K a re gi ve n ro o m to re a l l y s h i n e . E s s e n ti a l .
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
R E V I E W S 06
0 61
FOREIGN CONCEPT
MARCUS NASTY ‘We R Bass’ EP1 (We R Bass)
‘Mob Justice’ / ‘Show You’
(Critical)
KAHN ‘Illy’ / ‘Tehran’ (Punch Drunk)
UK funky’s affect on the wider bass music scene, and in particular dubstep, cannot be underestimated. The ‘post-dubstep’ movement owes a great debt to the Afro-rhythmic, dancehall and grime influenced house music that sprang from London’s streets. Marcus Nasty is the godfather of the scene, and this first EP on his new label provides stark evidence to prove that traditional UK funky is far from dead.
Re ce n t ye ar s h ave s e e n Cri ti ca l e ar n a r e p u tatio n as o n e o f j u s t o f a h an d f u l o f lab e l s co n siste n tly r e le asin g q u a l i ty, f o r w ar d -th in kin g D& B. Th i s l ate st b o u n d ar y p u s h i n g 12 co me s f r o m n e w tal e n t Fo re i gn Co n ce p t. 'Mo b Ju sti ce ' i s a d e e p an d mo o d y ste p p e r fe a tu ri n g th e su p r e me ly tale n te d MC DRS, w h ile o n th e f lip , lab e l b o s s K asr a le n d s h is skill s to th e d a rk an d su ltr y 'Sh o w Yo u '.
Kahn returns to Punch Drunk with two heavyweight cuts that once again assert his talents and suggest that there’s a lot more to come from this young Bristol producer. Built on a stumbling drum line, ‘Illy’ plays colourful synth strokes and auto-tuned vocals off against penetrative bassweight, while ‘Tehran’ gives a nod to early dubstep experimenters with an incisive force and stripped-back structure.
RIDO ‘Twisted’ / ‘Core’ (Metalheadz)
MALILONE ‘La Push’ / Von D Remix (Lutetia Dubs)
The latest 12 on Metalheadz sees Rido turn out another two incredible tracks for Goldie’s label. Much like his Prague Connection release, ‘Twisted’ carries an epic, cinematic quality but this time adds a welcome element of soul, courtesy of Thomas Oliver’s brilliant vocals. The flipside, ‘Core’, is an effortlessly slick roller, alive with mind-bending sounds and detail. Another huge release from one of D&B’s rising talents.
Fo l l o w i n g tw o s i n gl e s fo r Argo n , P a ri s i a n p ro d u ce r Ma l i l o n e b ri n gs h e r s i ze a b l e ta l e n ts to Lu te ti a Du b z fo r h e r l a te s t o ffe ri n g. ‘La P u s h ’ i s a fl u o re s ce n t s l i ce o f e l e ctro n i c fu n k th a t ti e s a s k i p p i n g d ru m l i n e a n d s w e l l i n g b a s s to p l a yfu l b o o gi e s yn th s a n d s l i ck vo ca l ch o p s . Vo n D s te p s u p o n re mi x d u ti e s , e mp tyi n g i t o u t a n d b ri n gi n g th e b a s s fo rw a rd a s th e o ri gi n a l ’s fu n k me l ts i n to th e d i s ta n ce .
MAVADO ‘Settle Down’ (Overproof Riddim) (Ja Productions) Danceha l l moves s o f a s t th at a tune tha t f i r s t a ppea r ed i n August thi s yea r ca n a l r ea d y border on a nthem s ta tus . Mavado, one of the na mes at th e pinnacle of the da nceha l l w o r ld , returns wi th a gul l ys i de l ove song over the ha unti ng s trin gs and hea vy s ub of the ‘Over p r o o f Riddim’. Thi s i s a tune tha t, bashment f a n or not, you w ill b e hearing a l ot mor e of .
VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘Way Of The Warrior’ (Shogun Audio) There are very few better labels in drum & bass than Friction’s Shogun Audio. The exclusive home to a bunch of the genre’s most interesting and credible producers, it’s become hard to imagine D&B without the Brighton-based imprint. ‘Way Of The Warrior’ is a celebration of both Shogun’s notoriously refined take on D&B, and the pool of talent that calls the label home. Perez’s heavy-weight ‘Exemption’ and Rockwell’s glitchy ‘4U’ sit alongside Spectrasoul’s lesson in liquid ‘The Gift’ and Icicle’s techno inspired ‘Alien Groove’, to provide perfect examples of Shogun’s resident artists’ styles. Elsewhere, scene heavy-weights Break, dBridge and Phace also appear, while Icicle collaborates with Distance for a sole dubstep moment in ‘Exhale’, and the lost classic ‘Ultra Clean’ completes a very special fiftieth release.
TERROR DANJAH ‘Full Attention’ EP (Hard Drive) ‘Full Attention’ reminds this reviewer of the short lived R&G (Rhythm & Grime) period of around 2005 and that premise, of a female R&B vocal over a hard-bodied grime track, is executed perfectly here. The vocal builds to a reload-ready drop, with jungle amens and enough bass weight for any dubstep fan. Backed with a Roska remix and the over- hype ‘East Village’, this is an essential purchase.
06
BASS PO I NTS
06
CLUB LISTINGS
0 64
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
NOVEMBER 2011 THURSDAY 3 NOVEMBER PERCULATE @ THE CROFT, BRISTOL Ras h ad , DJ Spinn, Dub Boy + more.
TRIX
F R I D AY 1 6 D E C E M B E R FOUND, LONDON
FRIDAY 4 NOVEMBER DOLLOP @ STEALTH, NOTTINGHAM J ami e Jo n e s , Br ea ch, J ulio Ba shmore, Ko re l e s s + mor e.
TECTONIC & CRITICAL @ FABRIC, LONDON Scu b a, P i n ch, Addison Gr oove, To tal Science b2b S.P.Y, Ad ri an Sher w ood I n Dub, E d Rus h b2b Break, Ph ace , U M, dBr idge, Dub Phizix, Loxy, Synkro + more.
METROPOLIS BIRTHDAY @ WHP, MANCHESTER Su b Fo cu s , Knif e Pa r ty, Tr ue Tige r, Hype, Friction, Flu x P avi l l i o n , 16 Bit, Vir us Syndicate, North Bas e, Bro ke n E n glish + mor e.
ANNIE MAC PRESENTS @ IN:MOTION, BRISTOL. An n i e Mac, Toddla T & Ser ocee, 2 Bears , Emalkay, Do n ae o , Se i ji, Ma r telo, Br ea ch, Du b i o u s + mor e.
SATURDAY 5 NOVEMBER
Si n ce co mme n ci n g o n 30 Se p te mb e r, FOU ND h as i n s tan tl y re i n vi go rate d s o u th Lo n d o n cl u b H i d d e n wi th th e fi rs t in s tal me n ts o f i t i ts s e ri e s o f 13 we e kl y p arti e s . As we l l as in vi ti n g th e l i ke s o f Bu tte rz, Bu l l e t Trai n an d Re d u x i n to h o s t p arti e s , FOU ND al s o b o as ts fro m s o me s tro n g i n house events too, of which Trix is undoubtedly the pick for us. Afte r Octo b e r’s e ve n t, Tri x re tu rn s to FOU ND o n 16 De ce mb e r wi th a d e ad l y l i n e -u p s trai gh t fro m th e cu tti n g e d ge . Bas s -d ri ve n d u o Dark Sky h e ad l i n e , al o n gs i d e SWAMP 81 p ace -s e tte r Bo d d i ka an d th e i n cre as i n gl y ve rs ati l e an d accl ai me d Ro ckwe l l , s te p p i n g as i d e fro m h i s u s u al D& B d u ti e s fo r Sh o gu n Au d i o fo r a h o u s e an d te ch n o se t. Th o s e th re e are j u s t th e ti p o f th i n gs – Do c Dan e e ka a n d X X X Y p l ay i n ro o m two an d mo re arti s ts are d u e to b e co n fi rme d as th e e ve n t ge ts cl o s e r. w ww. fac ebo ok .c o m/fo u n d s er i es
DIRTY BIRD @ FABRIC, LONDON Clau d e Vo n Str ok e, J ustin Ma r tin, Eats Everything, Kyl e H al l , Ter r y Fr a ncis, Cr a ig Richards + more.
HOT WUK BRISTOL @ BLUE MOUNTAIN, BRISTOL Th e H e atw ave, Stick y, Dub Boy, Fyah Napa + s p e ci al gu e sts.
REGGAE ROAST PRESENTS:JAMDOWN S AT U R D AY 1 9 N O V E M B E R PLAN B, LONDON
FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER SKREAM & BENGA PRESENT @ FABRIC, LONDON Skre am & Be nga , Da vid Rodiga n, Roller Expres s , Bo d d i ka, H atcha & N-Type, Ma r telo, Seiji, Monki, Scratch P e rver ts, Dr ea d, J a k es, Hijack + more.
RUN 012 @ IN:MOTION, BRISTOL Ru s ko , An d y C, Scr a tch Per ver ts, Grooverider, Al i x P e re z, Spectr a soul, E lija h & Skilliam, GQ, In te rface , Ge mini, D*Minds, J a k es + more.
HERITAGE @ FOUND, LONDON H e ad l i n e r TBC, Ma tt J a m La mont, T .Williams , No o d l e s , H o t City, Dem2, E l-B, Slimzee, Dus k & Blackd o wn , Hor sepow er Pr oductio ns + more.
BASSLACED @ STEALTH, NOTTINGHAM P Mo n e y, P l asticia n, J oy Or bison, Girl Unit, Redlight, Mid l an d , Drea d MC + mor e.
Lo n d o n -b as e d p ro mo te rs an d re co rd l ab e l Re ggae Ro as t h ave h ad q u i te s o me s u mme r, p l ayi n g Gl as to n b u ry an d Ou tl o o k fe s ti val s , h o s ti n g a ro o m at Fab ri c an d re l e as i n g th e i r b ri l l i an t ‘Li ck I t Back’ co mp i l ati o n . An d e ve n th o u gh re ggae d e fi n i te l y s o u n d s b e tte r i n th e s u n s h i n e , th e Re ggae Ro as t gu ys are n ’t i n te n d i n g to l e t u p fo r wi n te r. Satu rd ay 19 No ve mb e r s e e s th e l au n ch o f Jamd o wn , p ro mi s i n g th e b e s t i n ro o ts re ggae , d u b , d u b s te p an d j u n gl e at P l an B i n th e h e art o f Bri xto n . Th e fi rs t e ve n t fe atu re s a rti s ts wh o ’ve al l re l e as e d s e ri o u s tu n e s o n RR o ve r th e l as t co u p l e o f ye ars , wh i ch make s fo r a p re tty i mp re s s i ve lin e -u p . Mu n go ’s H i -Fi , RSD an d K e n n y K n o ts & Ru b e n Da Si l va wi l l al l b e s h o wcas i n g th e i r s o u n d , wi th s u p p o rt fro m RR’s E xe l & Mo o d i e an d Du b H u n te r. w ww. reg g aeroas t.c o. u k
TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
065
BASS PO I NTS
06
CLUB LISTINGS
NOV / DEC 2011
IN:MOTION
OCTOBER – DECEMBER MOTION, BRISTOL
SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER FIELD DAY NIGHT @ IN:MOTION, BRISTOL E ro l Al kan , Fri e n d l y Fi re s , Was h e d Ou t (l i ve ), H u d s o n Mo h awke , Bo d d i ka, Al e xan d e r Nu t, Fati ma + mo re .
FRIDAY 18 NOVEMBER CHEW THE FAT 14TH BIRTHDAY @ THE NEST, LONDON Fo amo , Arti fi ci al I n te l l i ge n ce , Marco De l H o rn o , Warri o r On e , Th e Li vi n g Grah am Bo n d + mo re .
BASSLACED @ CABLE, LONDON Shy FX, Redlight, The Others, Greenmoney + more TBA.
HOT WUK LONDON @ EAST VILLAGE, LONDON Af ter k ick ing off in ea r ly October, the In:Motion s eries really gets into its gr oove ove r the next couple of months . There ar e too ma ny a ma zing p arties to pick from, but there are a few you def initely shouldn’t mis s , no matter what your musica l inclina tion. De cember’s Shit The Bed! is one rave th a t Tr a p w ill be a t in force, with Dillon Francis , Mele and Brenmar taking care of room two and Skream and Jackbeats h ea dlining the ma in a r ena, while US drum-machine god ar a a bMU ZI K ma k es a rare appearance, and new Clear Skyz s igning Cr itica l I mpa ct brings the D&B in room three.
Th e H e atwave , Sti cky + s p e ci al gu e s ts TBA.
w ww. b ristolinm ot io n.com
FABRIC LIVE PRESENTS
SATURDAY 19 NOVEMBER METALHEADZ HISTORY SESSIONS @ CABLE, LONDON Go l d i e b 2b To tal Sci e n ce , E d Ru s h b 2b Do c Sco tt b 2b Bai l e y, Sto rm b 2b Di gi tal , Bryan G b 2b Di e , Le e b 2b Fl i gh t, Marl y Marl b 2b Cl arky, Ju s tyce , GQ & Mo o s e .
@ WHP, MANCHESTER
CRAZYLEGS 3 R D B I R T H D AY F R I D AY 2 1 O C T O B E R
B L U E M O U N TA I N , B R I S T O L
An d y C, Ru s ko , Bre akage , Be n ga, Ro s ka, Jami e Ge o rge , Lo ad s tar, Martyn , Lo e fah , Ch u n ky, d Bri d ge , H ye tal , Th ri s ti an + mo re .
SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER R&S RECORDS @ WHP, MANCHESTER Jame s Bl ake (l i ve ), Mo u n t K i mb i e (l i ve ), An d re w We ath e ral l , P ari ah , U n to l d , Bl awan , Sp ace Di me n s i o n Co n tro l l e r, Lo n e + mo re .
FRIDAY 2 DECEMBER THE ZED-SHED / BLACK BUTTER @ FOUND, LONDON H e ad l i n e r TBC, Mu rd e rb o t, Li l Si l va, Raffe rti e , Gre e n mo n e y, RackNRu i n b 2b Wo z ft MC K o as t, Warri o r On e + mo re .
SATURDAY 3 DECEMBER SHIT THE BED @ IN:MOTION, BRISTOL One of the best sma ll line-ups you’ll s ee anywhere this year d r ops dow n a t Br istol’s Blue Mountain on Friday 21 October for w ha t w ill be a ver y s pecial birthday party. After three yea r s in oper a tion, Cr azylegs is celebrating by gathering to gether some of the mos t innovative artis ts from the more ref ined a nd f a shiona ble quarters of the bas s mus ic world, and cr ow ning it a ll w ith booking of a genuine living legend i n the f or m of U S ga r a ge god Roy Davis Jnr. If you’re in Br istol, do not miss this . www.we a re c ra zy le g s.com
Skre am, Jack Be ats , 16 Bi t, Araab Mu zi k, TC, Bre n mar, Di l l o n Fran ci s , Me l e , Du ke Da Go d , Bao b inga, Basher, Critical Impact, Negus, Koast, Texas + more.
FRIDAY 9 DECEMBER MODESELEKTION @ WHP, MANCHESTER Mo d e s e l e kto r, Sq u are p u s h e r, Skre am, Fo u r Te t, P e ars o n So u n d , D/R/U /G/S, Jackmas te r, H u d s o n Mo h awke , De ad b o y.
GET TRAP DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YO U R D O O R!
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2011
06
FREE
E V E RY B A S S C O V E R E D
SPECIAL 1ST BIRTHDAY E D I T I O N
M U S I C I FA S H I O N I A R T
BODDIKA
JOKER
L I F E A T 1 2 8 B PM
L I L S I LVA
F R O M U K F UN K Y T O T H E W O R L D
OUTLOOK
FIVE PAGES OF PHOTOS FROM THE B E S T B A S S F E S T I VA L O N E A RT H
CAM O
&
KROOKED
HO S P I TA L’S N E W E S T S I G N I N G S D I S C U S S THEIR BRAND-NEW LONG-PLAYER
ALIX PEREZ
&
NO FO O L I N G A RO UN D
RO CKWELL
THE SHOGUN AUDIO DUO TALK WAY O F T H E WA R R I O R
+ N E E D FO R M I R RO R S AP P LE B L I M ONEMAN
WIN
T I C K ET S TO LOWPASS WEEKENDER
WWW.TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK
*£20 FOR 6 ISSUES *UK PRICE ONLY
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
COST
MISSED OUT?
and receive a free limited edition
A six issue subscription will cost
Back issues are subject to
white ‘I Love Bass’ tee and an
only £20.00 in the UK & £25 for
availability at £1 + P&P each.
assorted ‘It’s A Trap’ Sticker pack.
the rest of Europe (EU).
Check the website for details.
WWW.TRAPMAGAZINE.CO.UK/SUBSCRIBE
FABRICLIVE COMING SOON
16BIT ADDISON GROOVE (LIVE) ANDY C ARTWORK BODDIKA BREAKAGE BRENMAR BROOKES BROTHERS CASPA CONSEQUENCE CULTURE SHOCK CUTLINE D DOUBLE E (LIVE) DBRIDGE DC BREAKS DELTA HEAVY DILLON FRANCIS DJ HYPE (2 HR SET) DREAM ED RUSH B2B BREAK EMALKAY
FABIO FRICTION GEMINI GOLDIE HARRY LOVE HATCHA & N-TYPE HAZARD HIJAK JAKES JOE SYNTAX JUNE MILLER KASRA LENZMAN LOADSTAR FEAT TEXAS LOGAN SAMA LTJ BUKEM & MC CONRAD MARTELO MELE MISTAJAM MIZZ BRATT (LIVE)
MJ COLE MR THING PASCAL PHACE PINCH RESO ROLLER EXPRESS SCRATCH PERVERTS SCRATCHA DVA SCUBA SEIJI SHORTEE BLITZ SHY FX SKREAM & BENGA SPIN DOCTOR SUB FOCUS (DJ SET) & MC I.D. SUBSCAPE TC TOTAL SCIENCE B2B S.P.Y WILKINSON