We launch our new series of club nights with Scuba in Glasgow and secretsundaze in Sheffield…
We’re branching out to bring you a special series of parties over the coming months. We’ve got a string of nights lined up in our hometown of Glasgow, put a few extras around the UK. To get things started, we’re heading to Sheffield to team up with Downlo to bring you a secretsundaze party in the company of Giles Smith and John Daly on November 26. And in Glasgow we’re bringing Scuba to Chambre 69 on December 9.
Scuba is on a massive roll at the moment, with his new EP Adrenalin shaking dancefloors all over the world and his addition to the DJ Kicks compilation series about to drop. His label Hot Flush, meanwhile, is busy with an album from Sepalcure and a collaboration between Paul Woolford & Psycatron. Scuba also has his third artist album in the pipeline…
Originally from London, Scuba – aka Paul Rose – relocated to Berlin in 2007, a move which influenced his critically acclaimed debut album, A Mutual Antipathy. The stylistic synergy of the album cemented his position as one of the most forward-thinking producers around. The project was subsequently completed with a series of remixes by Surgeon, Substance, Jamie Vex’d, Martyn, Marcel Dettmann and Paul himself under his SCB guise.
His second album, Triangulation, was released on Hot Flush in March 2010 to universal plaudits. An amalgamation of disparate styles, from house to experimental drum and bass, the album has been noted as a landmark in the genre-blurring trend of contemporary dance music. He also runs the massively successful Sub:Stance night at the legendary Berlin club Berghain.
As for the DJ Kicks comp, here’s Scuba himself with a few words about it. “It’s loosely based around the last couple of sets I’ve played at my club night, Sub:Stance. It’s the last set of the night. It’s longer than the other sets. We tend to have lots of people playing for 90 minutes. But the last set is at least three hours or more, so you have more freedom. It’s really varied. You can play more or less anything and people will stay with you. That’s so special. A key thing I’ve been doing in those sets is starting off faster, say 138, and slowing down. It’s really gradual, slowing each tune down a little bit. The idea was to condense that three hour set into an hour. It drops about 12 bpm over the hour, from 136 to 124. Each tune is a little bit slower. I don’t like mixes that jump around, I prefer things to flow.
“As a DJ one of my primary aims and motivations is bridging the gap between what I guess people call the ‘urban’ or ‘post-dubstep’ scenes in London, although I hate both of those terms, and the more straight house/techno mainland European sound which obviously resonates most from Berlin. So much great music comes out of both of those two places and actually I find them very compatible sonically. As a producer I wouldn’t say I fit into either particularly well though.
“It’s been a while since I felt part of the dubstep thing. I’m still friendly with a lot of the guys in London who were around it from the start, but it’s moved on so much since I was really involved as a producer or a DJ. I guess I would fit better into the techno thing, but I wouldn’t say that’s a perfect match either – both in terms of what I’m doing as a producer and a DJ, I just flit around too many styles really. I guess you could see that as a positive or a negative…”
In Sheffield, Downlo will be taking control of Dan Sane for a party to help celebrate the 10th season of secretsundaze, one of the most innovative, exciting and fun parties in the UK. Not only have their parties become one of the most successful events in London, they’re also found hosting packed arenas at popular festivals such as TDK Cross Central, Lovebox, Wildchild and Bloom.
Head honcho Giles Smith will be taking over the Downlo decks accompanied by Ireland’s John Daley, the Feel Music label boss and a favourite with the likes of Plak Records, Drumpoet Community, IRR, Mule Musiq, and Francois K’s Wave Music.
Born into a musical family, John has been composing music since his early teens, starting out in bands, but moving quickly on to the studio environment, and working with machines, a love of which he retains to this day, still preferring to work with real instruments as opposed to virtual ones.
A product of Cork’s vibrant club scene of the 90s, and drawing from a broad range of influences, his music seeks to break down the barriers between House Music, Disco, Dub and Techno. These past five years have seen him take this sound to dancefloors across the globe, from NYC (Cielo, Sunday Best) to Berlin (Berghain, Watergate, Tape), London to Tokyo (Air), Sydney to Moscow (Propaganda) and in between.
In addition to launching a second label, One Track Records, focusing more on peak time sounds and alternate versions/DJ tools, 2010 saw him debut as a much anticipated live act. He now spends a large portion of his studio time making music exclusively for these live sets, with it’s focus firmly on the dancefloor. Often tailor made for specific events/venues, much of this new material will never be released, in an attempt to create a real world experience in an increasingly digital, online age.
secretsundaze @ Downlo is at Dan Sane, Sheffield on November 26. Advanced tickets £7 + booking fee. More on the door. Visit https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=261102413935574
Scuba @ Chambre 69 is on December 9. Buy limited £8 early bird tickets from www.eqtv.ticketbud.com – pay by PayPal or debit/credit card. No booking fee through ticketbud. Tickets can be also bought in person at Tickets Scotland in Glasgow
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