To be a clear reflection of the island’s multicultural background, which is embedded in a ‘Let’s all live happily together’ model. (Electropicales motto)

VJ Zero and Blindoff

DJs/Producers feat. at Electropicales

Reunion FYI:

Reunion is a European island huddled under the shadow of France. In fact, flying to France is considered a local flight, the currency is euros, and there’s an ever-growing community of relocated Frenchies who have realised that 26 degrees in winter is something they prefer. Alongside its distinctly French culture, Reunion has a thriving skateboard scene, the world’s 3rd most active volcano; an ever-present exhibition of street art; and over countless music and art festivals each year. Often overshadowed by its neighbour, Mauritius, I was informed by locals that many foreigners are not even aware of this culturally-rich island, and perhaps even less about one of its most prized music festivals, Electropicales.

Electropicales: A 3-part series

We’ve taken it upon ourselves to be the foreigners that bring Electropicales to the rest of the world in a three-part series that brings the festival to life: Part 1 gives a day-to-day breakdown of the festival with our highlights; Part 2 is a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the men and women backing Reunion’s ever-growing yet somewhat ambiguous art scene, with a specific emphasis on the artists who coloured the festival and others who paint the streets of Reunion. Part 3 will be a number of interviews with some of the festival’s big-name artists, including Jeff Mills, Jazzanova, Culoe De Song, Niveau Zéro, SFR, Alex Rolland, Guillaume Lebourg, VJ Zero, Gorge-One, JACE and Blindoff. The Part 3 interviews will be put up online over a period of time — so keep posted to onesmallseed.com, our Twitter and our Facebook!
 

Teat Champ Fleuri, image: © Gwael Desbont

Koudlam, image: © Gwael Desbont

Thursday

 
Venue/s: Teat Champ Fleuri and Pot’Irons

Full Line-up:

Hiroaki Umeda
Koudlam
Django
Sal Paradise
Culoe De Song
 
 

art/performance highlights:
 
 
Hiroaki Umeda

Hiroaki Umeda, image: © Gwael Desbont

Diversely talented as a choreographer and performer, composer and video artist, Tokyo-based Hiroaki Umeda has developed his work into a visual sound environment with minimalist styling and radical imagination. Between projections and bright explosions of hallucinatory colours, Umeda uses videos and electronic music to transform dance and the human body. His work is an artistic pursuit that embarks on the discovery of a new hybrid art. The opening night of the festival saw Umeda deliver a 20-minute live cinematic thrill-ride that left the audience hypnotized and slightly unhinged. The only way to describe it is through comparison: think of the opening sequence of Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void and the mind-invasion that took place in Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, Clockwork Orange. All in all the performance was a show that I’m not entirely sure I would commit myself to any time soon.

Guillaume Lebourg

Guillaume Lebourg, image: © Gwael Desbont

Guillaume Lebourg is a self-taught artist who has pioneered a variety of techniques to generate different perceptions of an object, a place, and a situation. His use of unlikely materials is a challenge to the world and its crisis, questioning the structure and actions of society. As an artist, Lebourg has grounded his work with a message that offers audiences a new view of the world.

Guillaume’s exhibition premiered on the opening night of the festival, where he showcased larger-than-life artworks made up of wood, pen, paint and other materials. The simplicity in its form leaves room for the art’s underlying political theme. Messages like ‘Fuck art as decoration’ and ‘Think different’ leave little room for misinterpretation and, for Guillaume, art should be a statement rather than just aesthetically pleasing. Ultimately, it is cultivating discussion which Guillaume is most interested in executing through his art.

Aside from the exhibition, Guillaume was pivotal in the overall design of the festival: the artist was the ‘scenograph’ of the event and the man behind the incredible stage setups on Friday and Saturday. The inspiration for this multi-level arena was drawn from the infamous Joy Divsion Unknown Pleasure cover. The original conception revolved around themes of landscape, science, space and sound to create a multi-modal spine-tingling experience.

NOTE: More on Guillaume in Part 2 (stay posted!)
 
 

music highlights:

Culoe De Song

Culoe de Song, image: © Gwael Desbont

Since his arrival in the South African house scene in 2007, Culoe De Song has captivated music-lovers with his afrocentric and soulful beats. With a first name that means ‘Our Song’, one could say that Culolethu Zulu aka Culoe De Song was destined to make music. It all started in Durban when he was 16 and learning how to play vinyls with his long-time friend DJ Kabila, who introduced him to Black Coffee. Fast-forward a few years and this humble producer became a solid fixture in Black Coffee’s Soulistic Music family — a move that has helped Culoe transform into an international artist. With projects commissioned by Red Bull Music Academy and Germany’s Innervisions, he remains one of South Africa’s premier house icons and a global symbol of SA’s African-branded house. Taking the last set on Thursday night, Culoe was faced with an overwhelming and highly diverse mix of people — all were welcome in the entrance-fee-free festivities. Culoe filled the dance-floor with his distinct soulful, tribal rhythms that permeated into the crowd creating a potent energy that connected people in an atmosphere of loving, living and longing for more. Needless to say, the dynamic DJ was a proud showcase of SA’s talent.

NOTE: Interview with Culoe De Song coming soon!

Missill, image: © GWAEL DESBONT

Friday

 
Venue/s: Sports complex field

Full Line-up:

Matt Waro
Ziloub
Level Zero
Missill
SFR DJ
VJ Zero
Hakim Moindjie – Gorg One – Jace
 
 

art/performance highlights:
 
Hakim Moindjie – Gorg One – Jace

Gorge-One, image: © GWAEL DESBON

Featured on both Friday and Saturday night, the three graffiti artists — Hakim Moindjie, Gorg One and Jace — conducted live graffiti that followed the theme of the festival: ‘Landscapes’

Note: A more in-depth look at their work, including some interview snippets and footage, will come in Part 2.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VJ Zero and Blindoff’s Visual Mapping

VJ Zero and Blindoff

VJ Zero worked alongside Blindoff for two days during the festival, being responsible for the VJing and various visual mapping. Before his foray into the world of digital art, Blindoff worked as an ecologist with a specialisation in insects. He became inspired by Lille’s underground art scene and has since architectured the performance displays of Jeff Mills, Birdy Nam Nam and Carl Cox to name a few. VJ Zero and Blindoff worked collaboratively, using their imaginative skills to create a visual artwork that harmonised the music performances and showcased the often-overlooked world of digital art.

More on this in Part 2, stay tuned!

music highlights:
 
Matt Waro

Matt Waro, image: © Gwael Desbont

This young DJ and producer has already made his mark on the local electronic scene through being one of the first artists to have brought the Moombahton to Reunion. He took the stage first for the Friday night line-up, and was — despite his age — one of the best performers at the festival. Experimenting in various electro styles — from progressive house-based melodies to trap blends of hip hop combined with electronic sounds — this is one jack of all trades we’ll be keeping our eyes on this year.

Niveau Zéro

Niveau Zero, image: © Gwael Desbont

Moving from dubstep to breakcore, and hip-hop to metal, Niveau Zero is one of the most prominent artists in the French underground scene. He emerged with ‘Electro Revelation’ in Bourges in 2008 and has since signed a series of collaborations in the form of Drum Beating, Aucan, Balkansky, and Dubsidia. Zero’s second album Jasmine was released last October on the Berlin label Ad Noiseam. His technical skill and impressive music knowledge cultivated in a set that was uncompromising and full of force. Niveau Zero also stunned audiences with his explosive live performance that proved to be one of the show-stoppers of the festival. While many electro artists struggle to create absorbing performances, Zero displayed an energy and confidence that left festival-goers enthralled.

NOTE: Interview with Niveau Zéro coming soon!

SFR DJ

SFR, image: Gwael Desbont

Upon arrival, we realised that SFR was a local mobile company, making DJ SFR a household name! He played the last set for Friday night and it was a closing that set up the weekend for an outrageously exhilarating musical feast. For those of you that aren’t familiar with SFR, he has played electrifying sets across South Africa and has toured Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland and the UK on numerous occasions since 2007. His experience on these global stages was brought to the forefront at Reunion. The DJ gave audiences a teasing peak at what the weekend would bring, while delivering a set that had people calling for more. Having just released a new single on N-type’s Wheel & Deal Records, things can only get bigger for this South African talent.

NOTE: Interview with SFR DJ coming soon!
 

Âme, image: © Gwael Desbont

image: © Gwael Desbont

Saturday

 
Venue: Palaxa and Sports Complex

Full Line-up:

Alejandro Paz
Jessy
Alex Rolland
Prommer & Barck
Soul
Jeff Mills
Hakim Moindjie – Gorg One – Jace
 
 

music highlights:

Alejandro Paz

Alejandro Paz, image: © Gwael Desbont

Definitely one of our favourites during the festival was the performance from Chilean producer-DJ, Alejandro Paz. Paz has collaborated with bands like Genéricos and The District Union as well as remixed artists such as Javiera Mena, DJs Pareja and Auntie Flo. He is currently working alongside Avril Ceballos to produce ‘Ladrones’ – a radio show for Radio Cómeme. His most recent work includes his hit single ‘Callejero’ on Scotland’s Huntleys & Palmers label and his invigorating EP called Free released on Cómeme. He headlined the festival by taking over Palaxa’s intimate space. With the sun still shining bright, the charming DJ was welcomed by the crowd as a long lost friend. Paz’s performance stood out from the rest as the innovative talent performed tracks that mixed DJing techniques with his live vocals — it wasn’t rapping, or talking, or singing… But a bit of all! It created a new element of electro performance that I had never experienced before. Listen to the track above to get an idea of what I’m talking about. A one-man act that had the sound of a band… Awesome! http://www.musicacomeme.com/

Alex Rolland

Alex Rolland, image: © Gwael Desbont

Alex Rolland grew into the electro scene from the fresh, nostalgic tunes of the early ’90s. Immersed in the art of sound, he took to the musical lab and began experimenting with the chemical sounds of Detroit and Chicago. While finding his rhythm, he had the opportunity to keep close to the specialists of the genre: Eric Rug, Swag, Soldiers of Twilight, Ellen Alien and Jeff Mills to name a few. Unlike most artists, Rolland never chose between (deep) house and techno, and instead produced a sound that carries elements of both subgenres in an explosive mix of sonic dynamite. His spectrum of sounds and the emotions he evokes have inspired dancefloors across the globe.

The guy with the Scottish accent is also an avid air guitar player and one of the friendliest people you will ever meet! His approachable personality is a rarity in the DJ universe, shaping his music into something that can be enjoyed beyond the dancefloor. He also played a helluva fun set that sent us back to a time when all that mattered in music, was the music itself — feeling it, moving to it and leaving a place for it in your heart — rather than holding yourself down to its formalities or searching for acknowledgement by intellectualising yourself. Alex Rolland made music an experience for everyone, leaving behind the constraints of rationality, and tuning people to an airwave of pure, rhythmic musicality!

NOTE: Interview with Alex Roland online soon!

Jeff Mills

Jeff Mills. image: © Gwael Desbont

The festival’s highlight was definitely Jeff Mills; the music maven who is famed for using four turntables in his set. Mills began his career in music over two decades ago as a guest DJ on radio shows, and he has since risen the ranks of the techno hierarchy to become known as one of America’s most established techno creators. Hailing from Detroit, the DJ first made waves as a founding member of Underground Resistance – a Motor City music project. Since those early days Mills has moved to New York, created his own label (Axis), scored a contemporary soundtrack for Fritz Lang’s famed Metropolis, and taken over venues like London’s Royal Albert Hall, and the Vienna International Film Festival. From Detroit city to Paris, Jeff Mills has conquered the world of techno. We featured an interview with Mills in Issue 25, and were very fortunate to have the chance to speak to him in person, getting a glimpse into his extraordinary mind. Soft-spoken and focussed, this former architecture student is highly passionate and knowledgeable about exploring themes involving space and time, man vs. machine and the underlying ‘spirituality of techno’.

NOTE: Interview with Jeff Mills online soon!
 

Marion (Radio Nova), Quentin (Tsugi) and Laure (PR)

Sébastien Broquet (artistic director), Thomas Bordese (Chair), Jeff Mills, Bernard Feuillade (President of Dionysian XV)

Sunday

Venue: Barachois

Full Line-up:

Titus
1 Al-
Dani Llonga
Wave
Reworks
Jazzanova (DJ set)
 
 

art/performance highlights:
 
Student Graffiti

Student, image: © Gwael Desbont

Partnering up with Electropicales was the École Supérieure d’Art de la Réunion and on the Sunday the public was exposed to large live graffiti artwork by six of the art school’s students. Various other mapping and visual art by the students took place during the festival, with their involvement being directed by two teachers from the school, Florent Konne and Yohann Quelan de Saint Pern.

NOTE: Interview with Florent Konne and Yohann Quelan de Saint Pern and art students online soon!
 
 
music highlights:
 
Reworks

Reworks, image: Gwael Desbont

This young protégé of Sound Nights once again brought new sounds to shake up the Reunion electronica landscape. His deep house styles are laced with percussion rhythms and catchy melodies. A self-proclaimed geek and graphic designer, Reworks is known for his powerful and hypnotic live performances. After running the master-class session of Electropicales he joined the stage for a sunset showcase.

Jazzanova (DJ set)

Alex Barck, image: © Gwael Desbont

Jazzanova has taken over the electronica circuit for over fifteen years with their fresh mixes injecting funk and jazz into electro beats and vice versa. The eclectic collective met while roaming the Berlin nightlife in the mid-nineties, and began a journey of musical discovery and re-invention. Producing, composing, arranging, remixing, and DJing… Jazzanova does it all, and their musical input has helped define a new era of electronica.

Flanked by the darkening Indian ocean, the last day of the festival was appreciated not just by electronic-lovers, but the entire island. Alex Barck‘s remix of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ could not have been a better choice for the last day of the festival: it filled the air with nostalgia, smiles and celebration. Jazzanova was the ultimate finale to an electrifying experience, demonstrating some skills and tricks that had me truly appreciating the art of DJing. The end of the set was not just the closing of the festival, but an ode to the electro landscape and all the artists that work in dialogue to create an ever-evolving musical genre.

NOTE: Interview with Alex Barck online soon!

Keep posted for Part 2!
 
IMPORTANT LINKS:

Electropicales Website
Electropicales Facebook
Electropicales Twitter

images: Gwael Desbont
artist bio source: Electropicales.com
words: Sarah Claire Picton

Journalists and Artists

For this week’s #bottomrightcorner, we handed it over to none other than the Manyoba BOY$! Made up of Lesotho-born Big Space and British expat Jumping Back Slash, Manyoba BOY$ are the most swanking South African underground house and techno producers around; they got white meat and dark meat like a chicken and together they bring the Manyobane$$! We asked them to choose five of their favourite tracks, and so without further ado… Presenting the Manyoba BOY$’ #bottomrightcorner!

Bob James – ‘Nautilus‘
 

 
Bob James is a jazz keyboardist and producer who is recognised as one of the pioneers of smooth jazz. His silky tunes have awarded him two Grammy trophies and a lifelong legacy among jazz’s elite. He was also member of Fourplay – a jazz supergroup that spent numerous weeks at the top of Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart when their debut self-titled album released in 1991.

James’ tracks have had a profound resonance in hip-hop circles, with numerous rappers sampling his work. For example ‘Nautilus’, taken from the album One, can be heard echoing through the heavy beats of Eric B. & Rakim’s ‘Follow the Leader’, Run-D.M.C.’s ‘Beats to the Rhyme’, and Ghostface Killah’s ‘Daytona 500’.

Alaska – ‘Alaska‘
 

 
Alaska embody South African music culture in the kwaito rhymes they’ve spilled through local airways over the last ten years. The five-piece group is made up of Lucky Mlakana, Thabo Tsotetsi, Les Ma-ada, Andrew Moloisane, and Sphiwe Pica. Their music brims with socially conscious lyricism which resonates in a variety of African languages – isiXhosa, Sesotho, isiZulu and Sepedi to name a few. The group originated in Soweto, and the track ‘Alaska’ is taken from their first album, Cool As Hell.

Kenny Larkin – ‘Northern Lights‘
 

 
Kenny Larkin is a ’90s techno banger. The Detroit producer has been described as ‘massively influential’ on the rise of techno in both Europe and America. To many who run in techno circles, Larkin is a household name. In the early 2000s he embarked on a career in comedy – fitting as he sometimes goes by the moniker, Dark Comedy – but 2012 saw him return to the dance floor sounds.

‘Northern Lights’ is a track that was produced in 1995. The song is a cool, laid-back, house-like showcase of techno in the ’90s. For all the youngsters who missed the ’90s age, take a listen.

Virgo Four – ‘Let the Music Play‘
 

 
Merwyn Sanders and Eric Lewis are Virgo Four. The duo, also known as Ace & the Sandman, salute their hometown, Chicago, in their Chicago house sounds. Chicago house is much like the smooth dance beats of electro house, except that it’s based and created in The Windy City. Their career was short-lived with only three records released, but Virgo Four’s music helped reverberate the beat of house through the streets of Chi-Town. ‘Let The Music Play’ is a silky, jazzy sample of Virgo Four’s electric old-school flavour.

Wu-Tang Clan – ‘It’s Yourz‘
 

‘Machine gun rap for all my niggas in the back’ – the first words of It’s Yourz’ say it all. Wu-Tang Clan are street rap invigorators who powered through American hip-hop airways throughout the ’90s. The crew is made up of a dizzying group of talent in RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late ‘Ol Dirty Bastard. They are widely acknowledged to be one of the most influential acts to hit the hip-hop scene and have garnered both critical and mainstream success.

The New York-bred group became famous for their story-telling rhymes which challenged social injustice, promoted Black Conscious, and defended the hustle of those running on the periphery. Their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), placed them at the zenith of hip-hop triumph, with tracks like ‘C.R.E.A.M’ championing their arrival to the rap world.

‘It’s Yourz’ reflects the group’s focus on the harshness of the world by highlighting that regardless how insignificant man may feel; the world still belongs to us.

LINKS:

Manyoba BOY$ – Facebook, SoundCloud, Twitter
Big Space – Facebook, SoundCloud, Twitter
Jumping Back Slash – Facebook, SoundCloud, Twitter

words: Raeesa Pather
images: Manyoba BOY$

Audiophile 021 – Triola EP

soundcloud.com/audiophile021/

With Triola, Cape Town-based DJ/Producer, Audiophile 021, offers a meandering journey full of rich and textured sounds. The EP was released on the 25th of June on the Triplefire Music label.

The XX – ‘Angels’

clashmusic.com

In case you missed it, The XX were the biggest new thing in London when they burst onto the scene back in 2009. Their debut album was all soft beats and groovy melodies over which Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim would whisper sweet nothings to each other. Since then the young members have been doing their own thing, most notably beat-master Jamie XX’s remix album of Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here. This new track features the nocturnal lovesickness that was the motif of their debut and precedes the September 10th release of their new album, Coexist.

The Antlers – ‘Drift Drive’

pigeonsandplanes.com

2009’s dark and lo-fi Hospice was the breakout album for the Brooklyn-based trio, which they followed up with Burst Apart, one of the best albums of last year. The new single conveys the feeling of aquatic sedation that seems to be the theme behind their new 4-song EP, Undersea, which will be coming out on the 24th of July.
 
 
 
 

Meursault – ‘Flittin’’

sndcdn.com

‘Flitting’ is the new single from Meursault’s third album. They make the sort of heartbroken melodies leaning towards the folk side of indie rock that makes a lazy comparison to Frightened Rabbit easy and quite accurate. There’s a coarse honesty and melancholy in this song that cuts into you like a hot gulp of of whisky. Their new album, Something For The Weakened, was released on the 16th.
 
 
 
 

Errors – ‘Relics’

aaamusic.co.uk

Have Some Faith In Magic was an early contender for my favourite album of this year and in the months since its January release there hasn’t really been anything to knock it from its perch. Now we have the montivagant ‘Relics’ as a precursor to their new mini-album New Relics, with an ETA scheduled for October.
 
 
 
 

Dirty Projectors – ‘Gun Has No Trigger’

2020k.wordpress.com

The last LP by Brooklyn-based indie band Dirty Projectors, 2009’s Bitte Orca, showcased the band’s eccentric and experimental leanings. After a collaborative EP with Bjork in 2010 their new album, Swing Lo Magellan, is coming out on the 9th. The new LP finds them at their most accessible yet still offering an array of interesting sounds. ‘Gun Has No Trigger’ is the first single.
 
 
 
 

The Stone Roses – ‘I wanna Be Adored’

lyrdb.com

The reformation of Manchester legends The Stone Roses has been big news for nostalgic fans  and backwards-looking music magazines. However, to someone like me who was born in the same year as their famous 1989 debut a big reunion like this looks like more ageing rockstars are willing to kill their legacy and pick its bones clean. Cynicism aside, this reunion is something that means a lot to thousands of fans and makes this as good a time as any to remind ourselves why, more than fifteen years after they first disbanded, they are still adored.
 
 
 
 

Ill Skillz –  Skillz That Pay Da Billz 2

ill-literate-skill.bandcamp.com

Cape Town hip-hop trio Ill Skillz exhibit the ego, pride and partisan attitude of hip-hop, but with an explicitly South African heritage. Their 8-track album Skillz That Pay Da Billz 2 is available as a free download from their bandcamp page.
 
 
 
 

Big Space – Brown Bag E.P

facebook.com/pages/Big-Space

Big Space is from Cape Town. Aside from beats, he also shares some words on his SoundCloud: ‘I could just name drop all the famous people I’ve worked with who are waaay more famous than me but that would just be stupid. I make house music but I don’t make house music. I don’t think a lot of people like my personality but its okay… I love everyone. I also have an adopted cat and an E.P. coming out this summer on BOMBAADA records’ ALSO, I WILL STILL FUCK SHIT UP. CHENIN NON BLANC BABY! BOURGIE BOYZ!’ (Big Space, SoundCloud)
 
 
 
 

The Wave Pictures – ‘Eskimo Kiss’

imgur.com

The Wave Pictures make guitar music that’s familiar yet invigorating. The prolific London three-piece follow up last year’s excellent Beer In The Breakers with their new album Long Black Cars, from which ‘Eskimo Kiss’ is the first single.
 
 
 
 

Joey Bada$$ – 1999

pigeonsandplanes.com

1999 is the debut project from Brooklyn’s 17-yr-old Joey Bada$$. This 15-track mixtape features members of his Pro Era crew – a collective of 18 rappers, producers, graphic designers and studio engineers – such as Capital STEEZ, who makes an appearance on track four – ‘Survival Tactics’. From A$AP to BadASS, NYC keeps rolling out that old school hip-hop grit
 
 

Killer Mike – ‘Big Beast’ (Feat. Bun B, T.I., and Trouble)

musicya.net

The rapper Killer Mike (born Michael Render) released his sixth studio album called R.A.P. Music, produced by Definitive Jux’s El-P (Jaime Meline) and released by William Street Records. Spin mag’s Christopher Weingarten says it perfectly: ‘A child of the ’80s and a student of the Internet, Killer Mike is as exciting and wildly unclassifiable as hip-hop gets: New York noise and country shit, nods to when rap was punk and crunk was pop, Ice Cube before he needed hooks, David Banner before he needed to whisper, and Willie D before he needed anybody.’

Images from: soundcloud.com/audiophile021/; facebook.com/pages/Big-Space; aaamusic.co.uk; sndcdn.com; clashmusic.com; pigeonsandplanes.com; wordpress.com; lyrdb.com; imgur.com; ill-literate-skill.bandcamp.com; pigeonsandplanes.com; musicya.net

Juan Pierre Coleman is a rambunctious music man, master of all things creative and perhaps one of the hardest, most focused individuals you will come across. An analogue junkie, he has scourged the Cape Town electronic music scene with joyous abandon, composing musical banter and bristling, electronic dialogues.

Employing relentless fervour, he resonates with high-octane energy from his Woodstock studio, a space where day tends to flow unnoticed in to night. Juan is also an academic of the arts. He has mastered the tools of design, demonstrating, for nearly 12 years, an uncanny grasp of a kaleidoscope of design skills. But, this is about the music, so let’s stick to that. For now.

Known as JDL Quake, Juan is a beat maven who has been in the industry for 17 years. Originally from the Free State, he’s been living west coast since the late ’90s; adapting, evolving and managing to remain humble. He’s played alongside Scratch from The Roots, Luke Vibert from Ninja Tunes, Cut La Roc, General Midi, Krafty Kuts and Cypress Hill. Amongst, and one of, the big players, he stays true to himself and his beat-love. A guy to be respected.

Quake’s a sucker for slutty synths, playful scratching, turntablism and experimental mixing. And we’re a sucker for his beats. Musically malleable and versatile, Quake’s sets incorporate hip-hop, drum ‘n bass, breakbeat and funk. They’re as esoteric as they are intense, and as surprising as they are lucid. Ten minutes with this guy and you’ll be restless with creative desire, impassioned and rat-a-tat-tatting with taut, suspense-ridden drive.

In 2010 Juan started a radio show with DJ Microstripe called the XXXL BASS Show and for the last few years he’s been running 24audio with that crafty finesse we’ve come to love him for. After co-ordinating the DMC champs for many years, Juan handed over the reigns to the African Hip Hop Indaba in 2011. Juan’s been spending a lot of time in studio and on the decks; focussing on the study of scratching, learning more styles and perfecting old ones.

Sarah Claire Picton caught up with JDL Quake to find out a bit more about his latest in-studio and behind-decks endeavours

The DMC years for you, tell me about those.

I loved doing the DMC events, it was something very close to my heart. Tony Prince from DMC International was very kind to me and the DJs here by allowing us to host it officially in South Africa. It was a lot of hard work as I had to co-ordinate everything, speak to sponsors, work out budgets, and write proposals – all the not so nice work that was keeping me awake at night. Since we didn’t have huge budgets we had to do a lot of the running ourselves. But we had some amazing prize sponsors! The one year we had R65 000 worth of prizes. So that was cool for publicity!

What’s happening now that the African Hip Hop Indaba has taken over?

The Hip Hop Indaba crew run the African Battle of the Year (Graffiti and B-boy battles). There won’t be regional qualifying rounds anymore – they will in future be running an elimination round on the night of their events in Cape Town and sending the South African Champions overseas to represent South Africa

Post-DMC, what new things you been up to in the studio?

‘Well since I have been stronger on my right hand I have always concentrated on platter movements and minimal cuts with my weaker left hand and now I have moved over to the left on the record, with the stronger hand on the fader which cuts the sound on and off or changes the volume. So I can cut up the sound faster and more accurately basically…’
 

Kentaro doing tiger paw styles
 
‘I have been looking at developing some new styles. I for instance am working on an up-fader cutting style which allows you to cut different velocities and since my up-faders are usually set to a slow velocity curve I can create some awesome effects that sound like a wah-wah pedal. It is very similar to the up-fader delay style fade outs that some guys like Q-bert do or DJ Kentaros ‘Tiger Paw’ style (two hands on one up fader)’

City Lights – I Know The Truth (JDL Quake Drumstep Version) 192kbps FREE Download by JDLQuake  
The move to digital?

It’s been tough for me moving to digital. I have tried Serato and Traktor and Dj controllers but nothing has seemed to match vinyl for me as yet. I still own 5000+ records and yeah well… I will probably keep scratching for a long time still. It’s something I’m strangely addicted to. I have been trying to make the move to digital. It adds so many more possibilities to be creative. It’s just a matter of spending time and learning and developing new techniques and styles on that format. It’s a huge problem that 95% my music on analogue though but I am getting there!

 
Sound Squad promo

Tell me about Sound Squad events
 
Sound Squad, hehe, another love project. But you know it changed a lot of things when we started doing Sound Squad events there were none multi genre outdoor electronic events! I kind of feel like we paved the way… showed people the potential there was guys like Resonance started taking other electronic genres seriously and now they have a second floor catering for that. We wanted to come back with a big Sound Squad V

What happened with that?

We were building up to it but I had in the interim closed my Record Shop and was in the process of a lot of change in my life. So we never made it happen. We are always toying with the idea of doing another one. These days there are a lot of multi genre out door electronic events. They are all over… So competition is heavy now. We had fun, we went all out. It was all about the finer details. Our venues were tops, we always made a mish to get the best venues! But such huge events are a huge stress to organise. Wow its so much work, especially if you want to do it professionally.
 

Sweat X performs live at Sound Squad Revolutions New Years festival 2006/07. Cape Town, South Africa
The reaction?
 
We have people to this day coming to us saying ‘that was the best event I have ever been to in my life’ and having happened so long ago and going up against what not, that means a shit load – especially since we walked away from it without making much. But, yeah, major missions to make it happen. There was definitely a need for the Sound Squad thing to happen at the time I feel it served its purpose and I am happy it still lives on in the memories of some of those who attended.

Is there not a need for it now?

Like I said, we are always playing with the idea. Should we do this, should we do that? The Sound Squad are taking a deep breathe. Some production company in Johannesburg started doing New Years Revolutions as well. So we are probably not going to do that again. I cannot say too much about our plans as yet – but there are always awesome ideas on the table, very interesting and different ones. So be assured that when we come back, it will once again be something nobody has done before!

 
JDL Quake – Deep Dark Africa Vintage Vinyl Dubstep Mix by JDLQuake  
2012; what’s on the cards?

I am heading into 2012 with a very motivated and positive head…There are tons of projects in the pipeline. To feel my worth on this earth I feel the need to push boundaries and create new things. This is part of the reason 24audio is now moving into software development and away from retail. Oh yeah, and I am working on a new jdl quake website… it will be up at www.jdlquake.com in the very near future

JDL Quake slashes any misconception of South Africa’s electronic music scene lagging behind our overseas partners-in-beats. With blazing passion and unparalleled enthusiasm, Juan Coleman will continue to inspire and push the industry; in Cape Town, throughout South Africa and without a doubt, internationally.

Photography: Desmond Louw

 
 

It was hot outside and the beautiful 20-something’s that made up most of the crowd were not ashamed to show off their skin. The bottle store does not have as many six packs as were exposed on shirtless guys this weekend. The woman all rocked flat stomachs and sun-kissed skin. It was a spectacle: slightly intimidating for the lesser-confident wanderers. A man asked a couple that walked by him, ‘can I just kiss one, or both, of you?’ His friends chuckled and the couple smiled. There were many gorgeous individuals at Love & Light.

 
The event was only a 40 minute drive from Cape Town city center and, being only one day, would leave plenty of time for indoor Sunday-recovery time. After parking it was a mere stones’ throw, maybe an arrow’s launch walk to the music. The bass thumped in our insides as we approached. It was noon and we had considered ourselves the early birds throughout the drive. This was not the case. The music, the grooves and the positive vibrations were all in full swing when we arrived. The name of the game was mellowness and self expression, the metaphorical game. Like most trance parties, this party was void of any fist fights; that would have been totally out of place. Instead we encountered men and women alike grooving out as if no one was watching. The people, the artists were living in the moment. Dance moves carried on the waves of the beats, infecting most of the crowd, creating a distinct, shared harmony. Some swam and others grooved in the shade.

A partially enclosed tent and nearby trees protected the audience from the sun. The sweat of the crowd did not infect us; well placed misters calmed our nerves and cooled our foreheads. There was nothing to do at the Love and Light festival besides soak up beats, the rays an all the feel-good energy. The first DJ we saw performing, The Fog Show, rocked out with a live violinist. After that, Lox chilled it with his dreadlocks and attuned reading of the crowd. Each successive performer built up the energy by a gigabyte; each read our emotions.
 

Felguk – Do You Like Bass (Neelix Rmx) by neelix

After time on our feet and the knowledge that this 10-hour event, not including the afterparty that was hosted at Trinity, was a marathon and not a sprint we headed to the reservoir, separated from the stage by brambles. There we encountered floating dolphins, blow-up beach balls and warm but refreshing water. Speakers pumped next to the water, making the swimming game part of the festival action. If one needed a moment of silence all you needed to do was hold your breath and take a dunk. A lifeguard was on duty, or at least someone sporting a ‘Lifegaurd’ tee.
 

Symphonix DJ Set by Symphonix

Frequent trips to the car to ‘stay hydrated’ kept my buzz going. In addition, Red Bull had a tent and there were two full service bars, one on the water’s edge, the other under the tent near the stage, at our disposal. All the vibes were good. A pretty blonde waved to the swimmers from the window of a cop car that drove up into my periphery. They had kindly given her a ride, sparing her the thirty second stroll. She jumped off the police truck and joined the party. The cops had no one to bust that I could see. Who needs fear or confrontation when there is love and light? Pardon the cliché.
 


 
Neelix played a thumping set that I don’t think the crowd responded perfectly well to. But Connecto got everyone going again and shade begun to arch onto the scene. Overall the festival was a success, liberating and filled to the brim with eye candy. Symphonix tore it up and unfortunately I didn’t last to see Killer Robot. It had been a long day.
 



 
Photos: Paul Ward
www.diaryofward.com
 
Words: Jason Shark

one small seed (OSS): Tell us more about yourself. A little background, what do you do?

Andrew Miller (AM): I’m a writer. I was born in PE, and I’ve been living in Jozi since my folks moved up in 1998. And aside from the writing, my wife and I run Unity Gallery. And that’s a full-time gig.

OSS: Tell us about unity gallery. When did it start and how did it begin?

AM: It’s very organic. My wife’s an artist, and I’m a writer/poet. When we first hooked up and moved in before we got married or anything we were dead broke, so we needed to earn a living from our writing and our art. So we set up the company, and in the first few years it was kind of learning how to earn money. After that we steadily came into contact with more artists and writers in the city. We were working from home, and then we decided to open up a gallery because it’s kind of a natural evolution. So Robyn found this place in Vrededorp, this abandoned place we could get for a very low rent, cost us quite a bit to fix it up, but it was a nice gritty kind of urban space, and we set up the gallery from there, then everything else kind of followed in a natural process. People walk in the door, and if you, as a creative space, are willing to say hi, the rest grows from there, I mean that was like 6-7 years ago, and yeah it just evolved.

OSS: Unity gallery… What’s that all about?

AM: In its current incarnation, it’s a gallery space, it’s a creative space so it caters to writers and artists, and it’s got a social folk, so as much of the Joburg art scene does, it’s got somewhat of a collaborative intent. It’s a place where people can come and share things on a philosophical or creative level, and/or share on a business level, because a lot of artists need to learn how to make money. Once you’ve left the training institution it’s really hard if you’re not born into a wealthy environment, it’s really hard to figure out how you’re gonna make a living. I think Unity’s one of the few spaces where you can access resources, internet, stuff like that, and get access to fellow artists, and start to talk about your career and how you’re gonna turn a buck. That’s in a nutshell.

OSS: What type of art do you guys display?

AM: We are underground, we represent a lot of emerging artists and that means artists who are making their way up. That said and now that we’ve been going a while, some of the people who were initially emerging artists have now emerged, so we are lucky to have now a good range of people who qualify as investment artists. People come in to buy their art not only because they like the art but also because of the financial value that it will grow.

OSS: Tell us about this industry, negatives and positives.

AM: I’ll start with the negatives. It’s who you are or the kind of life you were born into, as with the rest of South Africa, that’s a defining factor. So if you’re born middle class and you’re kind of pushed into that university channel, whether you are a writer, artist of whatever, then it is a relatively straightforward thing to make a career as an artist. But if you are born into the township, or born into an environment where you don’t have access to money or the social networks that are around, it can be extremely difficult to make money from your art. Regardless of how talented you are. And that is something that we experience all the time:

who you are, who you know and all those kind of things can define who you’ll end up being as an artist.

OSS: Is the art scene in Joburg big? Do we have a real movement?

AM: I think we do. You can split into the larger half, the formal university-oriented scene on the one hand, which is a big scene here: there are a lot of artists who are high profile and bridge into the international scene. And then we have an underground scene that’s growing fast, and for me that’s where the interesting stuff is happening. The formal university-orientated vibe is quite predictable, whereas the underground scene is edgy and vibrant, and you don’t know what you gonna get there, and there’s some very interesting stuff happening, and there’s a very interesting overlap between music, and fashion and art.

More and in the last couple of years I’ve heard advertising people and the like referring to Joburg as kind of similar to Berlin, in its intensity of art, and the stuff that’s going on here.

OSS: What do you think is the future for art, particularly underground art here in Joburg?

AM: I think we are headed the right way. I think it’s very important that as a city we get our head around how important the online world has become. For me, the bottom line is if you don’t have access to broadband high-speed internet you are severely limited in your career as an artist. So young people of an equivalent age in other countries in the world have free access to high-speed bandwidth, and we don’t have it in the city, and we certainly don’t have it in the townships.

If we don’t get that right, there’s a danger of us operating in almost our own parallel universe.

And conversely if we do get it right, I think more and more opportunities can open up for our artists to prove that they are amongst the most dynamic around in the world. But if you can’t access a line, life is hard. So that’s the one area that we need to look at as a city really carefully, to see what kind of access we are giving our artists to digital technology, and then what kind of digital training. Because people need to understand the open source movement, what software is out there on a creative level and how to use that for their careers and that’s what I see as a development point. If we can get that right I think recognised as one of the more dynamic art cities in the world – because of our cultural cross over, the kind of different references we’ve got going from the kind of whitey European thing all the way through to the kind of multicultural black setup, so the potential is there to be very dynamic.

OSS: Tell us about the Prince of Newtown.

AM: He makes jewellery out of knives and forks, and spoons and assorted cutlery. I think he’s one of the most important people around Newtown, people call him Prince of Newtown, he’s an interesting figure because wherever he goes in Newtown people know him and welcome him. He can walk anywhere into any restaurant, big or small, and people give him love, and maybe a bit of food, and then buy his jewellery, and he brings a lot of light and a lot of laughter with him. He’s a very eccentric guy. For me, the important thing about Prince is that when everyone left the city and ran away, you know that time it was about 10–15 years ago, where it was literally abandoned, it was people like Prince who were still in Newtown and kept the atmosphere of Newtown alive so that when people came back they could turn it into this quite Bougey artsy-fartsy scene that there is now, so it’s important that someone like Prince is recognised and represented. So he’s not considered to be a street artist, but what he does is given a higher value, and that value is always manifested through PR, through magazines and interviews. So in our work what we tried to do was to get him exposure in the media and to ensure that he has a place as an important member of Newtown art community. That he has a place to work from. A formal space for a very informal person.

OSS: So what is Joburg to you?

AM: That’s a tough one. For me, Joburg’s my home, Joburg is people. I haven’t been around a lot but I’ve been around enough to know that Joburg’s got a particularly special thing, in the kind of confluence of people. That people from all over Africa and all over the world who mix it up in Joburg with such a happy heart.

You go to other places in the world and you don’t get people willing to meet and greet and share and collaborate and for me that’s what defines Joburg.

When I say that I’m talking about the city, as you head out into the burbs, it’s a completely different thing. That for me it’s just strip clubs. For me personally that’s what Joburg is – it’s people.

OSS: Looking into the future, what does Unity gallery have in store? What’s coming?

AM: We’ll get back into spoken word a bit, we used to do a lot of spoken word, and a lot of live recording and music sessions, which we haven’t done in a while. We’ll probably get back to that now that we’ve got a good space to be in. And otherwise we’re just looking to make our growth really count. I think the danger for any arts organisation – in 2008 for example – I think 6 galleries went under when the recession hit, so not only do we want to survive, but we also want to prosper for our artists. It’s important for us that artists as they grow earn more money and are able to buy houses and cars and all those kind of things. And not be caught up in that South African thing where you’re a famous artist but you’ve been broke your whole life. So I think for us that’s gonna be our focus and I think we will look at developing our shows more, having funky Saturday shows and good art during the week.

OSS: Any last words?

AM:

Act on a dream, rather than dreaming all the time, you know because it’s a big jump to make to actually act on your passion. And you will face so many failures along the way, but if you can master the art of just sticking at it and practically acting on your dream, you’ll be amazed at how successful you can be. Conversely, if you’re just sitting and letting your mind drift, it’s just gonna keep going like that, so act on it. Find people who are doing similar things to you and start earning some money.

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