Glasgow’s Sub Club is unarguably Scotland’s most famous electronic music venue. First opened in April 1987, The Subbie has always been a huge part of Glasgow’s musical landscape packing in crowds week after week thanks to homegrown stars and global luminary guests.
In five weeks time Sub Club will launch Sub Hub, a brand new venture, taking place throughout the month of April in a unique loft space in Glasgow’s City Centre. This will bring together an inspired aesthetic concept with a cutting edge calendar of one-off workshops, events, and creative experiences with the added bonus of an on-site cafe serving quality food and a fully licensed bar.
What is it? Sub Hub is a fantastic opportunity for interested people, especially those in and around the electronic music and club community, to engage with artistic people from related creative-industry backgrounds and to take part in workshops, watch films, socialise, network and hang out in a relaxed and inspiring environment. All this situated in an extraordinary loft style studio space looking overthe central stretch of Glasgow’s Style Mile. For four weeks the Subbie is bringing together a range of the city’s most cultural, musically relevant and cutting edge artistic institutions for a unique pop up experience. A roll call of recognised and highly respected brands and creative partners will be showcasing their skills and experience alongside an impressive array of new talent and upcoming tastemakers from our world famous music scene.
Who is involved? Along with local collaborators across the artistic spectrum, our good friends at Red Bull Music Academy are in town during the opening weekend and they will be hosting the official RBMA Radio broadcasts live from the Hub. For the first time ever they will also be introducing the RBMA Breakfast Club on Sunday March 29th with an inviting and enticing mixture of cultural titbits to accompany your breakfast rolls and coffee.
Keeping the radio airplay going throughout the month of April, local broadcast specialists Sub City will also be pitching in, streaming live over the four-week period.
To keep us all fed and watered we will be teaming up with one of Glasgow’s best local eateries, offering a unique food and café experience for the duration of Sub Hub. We will also have a fully stocked bar with a portfolio of world-famous drinks brands on offer, for those who like to enjoy a light refreshment. Full details to be announced soon.
How to get involved? The Sub Club is inviting promoters, artists, labels and other interested parties to help programme and curate the event and join in this home-style celebration of Glasgow’s creativity and musical originality. Alongside the music industry components, The Sub Hub will incorporate shows and exhibitions, workshops and talks from innovators across the wider spectrum of art, design, fashion, photography, spoken word and any other relevant art form.
Anyone interested in submitting any ideas or projects for consideration in the program should please send full details to hub@subclub.co.uk. For Glasgow’s creative souls, this is an opportunity not to be missed.
Meantime, it’s also worth a mention that during our launch weekend, Red Bull Music Academy are also joining us in hosting Subculture on Saturday 28th March, where Harri & Domenic are delighted to welcome back one of the genuine originators of the Detroit Techno sound, the legendary Derrick May. Surely destined to be the highlight of RBMA’s Glasgow takeover, this event will also showcase a live performance from the very excellent Paranoid London. Full info and tickets on sale HERE.
Keep an eye out for more details and exciting announcements regarding the Sub Hub events programme over the coming weeks! We hope you can join us…
We are delighted to welcome Kaidi Tatham of Bugz In The Attic for Modal!’s first date of 2015. After a successful first instalment back in June with JD Twitch, Modal! will now take place bi monthly at Sub Club, a series of guests who are perhaps better known for their talents within electronic music but all share a real passion for music with its roots in black culture will be playing. A unique opportunity to take a journey through some of the best record collections in the country.
Bugz in the Attic is an all-star broken beat crew of DJs and producers based in West London. There success includes “Booty La La” which reached the UK Singles Chart, as well as remixing for Amy Winehouse, Basement Jaxx, Brazilian singer Ruben Blades, Rosin Murphy, Jazzanova, Amp Fidler, 4 Hero and more. They ran the infamous club Co-Op for many years in London and have played there infamous sound all over the world for many years.
Kaidi Tatham (also known as Agent K) is a member of the Bugz in the Attic collective, keys player for The Herbaliser Band on stage and involved in many projects, most notably his collaborations with 4hero’s Dennis McFarlane: 2000Black, DKD (with Daz-I-Kue), Silhouette Brown and Da One Away (with Ian Grant aka IG Culture). Kaidi has been working with his Bitasweet label-mates on various projects, including Neon Phusion (with Alex Phountzi and Afronaught), blakai (with Mark Force), Misa Negra (with Daz-I-Kue), afro force (with Afronaught and Mark Force), but also with broken beat innovator IG Culture as Likwid Biskit. Gilles Peterson recently called him the UK’s most gifted temporary keys player, which he proves constantly in live-performances like the Freesoul Sessions with Mark de Clive-Lowe. We sat down for a chat ahead of this Thursday’s Sub Club event…
What did you listen to as a child, when you were growing up?
“As a child I listened to Earth Wind & Fire, Shalamar, Michael Jackson, Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, lots of lovers rock, Tribe called quest. There was so much music around me at an early age.”
What influenced you musically ten years ago, and now?
“Ten years ago I was influenced by a lot of Brazilian music – Egberto Gismonti,Tania Maria, Jorge Ben, Burnier & Cartier, Ana Mazzotti, Tim Mala. Now, there is so much. Snarky Puppy, Dego Ranks, Akwasi Mensah, I still listen to Dilla everyday, and go back to the 70’s and 80’s. Kaytranada is dope, Eric Lau, Elbernita Twinkie Clark. If I could list them all, I would be writing all day!”
Do you still collect records? If so, what was the last record you bought?
“I still collect records. Not as much as I used to. The last record I bought was The Sylvers 2”
If you had to choose five records you could not live without, what would they be?
“5 records i could not live without!!!! A tough question. I think it would be:
1. Herbie Hancock – Chameleon
2. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going on
3. Earth Wind & Fire – That’s the way of the world
4. A Tribe called Quest – Peoples’ Instinctive Travels & the Paths of Rhythm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXzmp9KUWSo
5. Freddie Hubbard – Red Clay”
What has been your favourite year for music and why?
“My favourite year for music is the 1970’s. Music was very experimental across all genres. It seems to me to be an upbeat decade where music is concerned.”
Tell us of a memory that stands out in your mind as a night you would never forget?
“A night i will never forget is when I was on tour, with Mark de Live Lowe. About 12 years ago. He took us to a night club where DJ Spinna was playing. We were very merry lol.”
As we took to the dancefloor, I was showing of some moves. I could dance good back in the day. I’m getting on now. I remember going to get a drink from the bar, then a group of people circled me while i was dancing, then I was just surrounded by the whole club. With my Black Kangol and white shirt, and arms in a v shape. Good Times!”
What styles of records will be in the bag for Modal?
I” will be bringing Funk, Soul, Brazilian, Boogie, Hip Hop, House & some Broken Beats I’m looking forward to it!”
Modal! Will take place Thursday 26th February at Sub Club with Kaidi and Rebecca Vasmant. Expect an eclectic evening of Jazz, Latin, Funk, Electronic, Afro Beat and more. Advance Tickets on sale from RA. Facebook event for further info HERE.
Nick Höppner is a longtime Panorama Bar/Berghain resident, and until 2012 he was the label manager of the club’s in-house imprint, Ostgut Ton. Ahead of his Subculture debut we sat down to chat about the residents, label tips, vinyl pressing plants and his upcoming debut solo album ‘Folk’…
A few of the Subbie crew saw you play in Panorama Bar back in 2013 and couldn’t help noticing you had a few releases on Subculture resident Domenic’s ‘7th Sign’ imprint in your record bag! Whats your favourite release on the label?
My favourite is Lil’ Jazz “Sound Of The City” (Hutt’s 2 For 1 Mix). I really have to restrain myself not to play it all the time. I also really love Keith Tucker’s, Detroit Saved My Soul“ EP and more recently Marcellus Pittman’s EP.
The term “house music”. There are almost as many stories about its genesis as there are records that fall into that “genre”. What are your thoughts on where it came from? What does it meant to you?
I still like to think that House is the mother of them all. In a way it can be argued that Techno for example is just a sub genre of House. House music has this long standing historic significance but of course it has become a genre with thousands of sub genres, which all have their own set of rules and sounds and its own aesthetics. Of course you still have local scenes, which might have a local sound or local hits which haven’t been big anywhere else, other than in that particular city, club or region. House is more about styles than locations these days.
You’re often described as a truly dedicated figure in today’s electronic music world. Do you ever feel you have “been there, seen that, done that” by now? Are you still fortunate to have a passion for it?
Oh definitely, especially over the last two years as my situation has changed quite significantly. This is the first time ever I am relying on my DJing and production only. I am flying alone for two years now, before that I always had another job on the side or daytime jobs which provided the certain safety on the one hand, but also took up a lot of time. So I always had to divide my time and couldn’t really focus on one particular thing. That situation is still pretty fresh and has been very enjoyable to be honest. Just being responsible for myself and digging for records, playing out a bit more, and spending a lot of time in the studio. This has kind of rekindled my love for the music and the DJing, more than it did the opposite.
How important is the role of the resident?
Very important, I think it’s probably the same at Sub Club. It wouldn’t be what it is without the residents and the same goes for Berghain and Panorama Bar. I think it’s pretty important in establishing a relationship between crowds and the club. If you have great residents they arguably become more important than the actual programming of international headliners, or at least as equally important. This inspires a deeper connection or level of loyalty that you wouldn’t get if you had a club that was only booking international people.
Tell us a bit about your residency at Berghain, how often are you playing there now?
At Berghain I play once a month (That’s the rule for everyone.) Mostly it’s Saturday or Sunday and it can be like warm up at midnight on Saturday or the closing set way into Monday morning. Everyone once in a while plays on a Friday too. Mostly Saturday or into Monday.
Up until two years ago you ran Ostgut Ton, the in house label for Berghain/Panorama Bar – how is this label run differently from the traditional label format?
I was managing the label up until the end of 2012. When we started out it was meant just for the residents as a platform and an extra opportunity for the residents. At the beginning there as no ambitions to look outside of that core of residents, and because it was part of that bigger company who were running the club maybe the financial pressure was not as important as it would have been for a completely independent small label which was starting out.
We were lucky enough to use the infrastructure, the office, the computers, the internet, whatever. I guess it was more care free with regards to what freedom the artists were having. Usually we were happy to release anything they were bringing to the table. There was no A&R’n in a conventional sense. We never sat down with them and said “we need a hit” or “we need three hit singles on the album” or “do this do that.” We tried to keep it as open and as free as possible for the artists. As for the working environment the top level of the Berghain building is the office floor. It has everything an office needs, couple of rooms, toilets and kitchen. Actually because it’s pretty high up, there is nice view over the area. Sometimes when people were coming into the office on Monday mornings the club was still going downstairs.
The label wasn’t set up for pure economic purposes. I don’t wanna say that all other labels were set up for that reason, but they have to think about that harder. As a small label if you have a couple of releases which aren’t selling it can be the last nail in the coffin. When you’re running a label you obviously have to think about money and what sells at a certain point, if you don’t you won’t be able to release a lot of music. That was something we didn’t really have to worry about as it was already embedded.
With the label’s 10 year birthday on the horizon, have you got any big celebrations lined up or any special releases in the pipeline?
All of the residents/label artists got an email from Jenus who is now managing the label asking for music for a 10 year anniversary compilation which is coming out in autumn. We have a deadline for April/May and everyone is working on it right now. I hope Tama Sumo can be convinced to do her second solo track for that one. The first time she’s done something solo was for the 5 year anniversary.
Do you have any all time favourite tracks which were signed to Ostgut Ton?
I am really fond of LB Dub Corp 12 inch, (Luke Slater’s more house synonym) is definitely one of my favourites.
Also like Prosumer’s 12 inch with Tama Sumo called Rarified.
And finally ‘Shedding the past.’ Even if I wasn’t managing the label I would still say this was a classic.
If you could give someone a few tips before starting a record label what would they be?
Don’t expect to make a lot of money. There is no money in releasing music. Those days of making big money are over. I really believe that. I still think that you can make a modest living running indie labels. This could work for small ones run by one or two people who do it cleverly. If that’s what you wanna do, there is ways to make enough money to get by.
Don’t listen to too many people from the industry, as much as there are people, there are opinions. Of course you have to know about the basics about running a business, that’s obviously important. Don’t listen too much to so called seasoned members of the industry or managers. Trust your gut feeling and release the music you love and try to make ends meet.
This is your first time playing Subculture. What are your expectations of heading to Glasgow and of Harri & Domenic’s weekly party (The longest running one in the world.)
I am super looking forward to this. It’s one of the clubs on my DJ bucket list. I have a lot of friends who’ve played there already and they’ve been always raving about it, and I’ve seen a couple of videos on YouTube of people slamming the ceiling and totally going off. To be honest I have high expectations and I am super excited to be finally playing there and also meeting Harri & Domenic. Should be a good one.
I’ve been to Glasgow once before, only in and out. I really liked the vibe of the people, the way they engage with the music is really nice and exciting.
We are always interested to hear what other music artists are listening to at the moment. Any tracks or producers that stand out for you recently?
I just got some really nice promos actually. One project called Liit and they will be releasing a record very soon on Deep Mover. These are two guys based in Berlin, usually affiliated with Lack Rec. A nice relatively new label which does as a lot of good stuff. That’s my local tip.
Another one I really enjoyed was from two Dutch guys. Jasper Wolff & Maarten Mittendorf. Their track is called Stellar Cult and it’s out soon on Indigo Aera. It’s very emotive, Detroit-y kind of Techno.
You’re releasing your debut solo album in Spring. What have you got lined up for this and and how is the tour diary looking?
The album should be ready for March. We submitted the music before Christmas time but all the vinyl pressing plants are so busy these days with all the fucking major labels who are repressing their whole back catalogue for the 100th time, so the waiting times are insane. Vinyl is coming back round but if you put it into relation to the high times of vinyl sales I think it’s still relatively small, but after the crisis of the last decade sales have been much better lately.
I’ve also got a label tour and series of parties lined up here in Berlin at Panorama Bar, then Corsica Studios in London in April, Lyon in France and hopefully one in Paris, most probably heading to Japan and somewhere else in South East Asia in May, then later I hope to play South and North America.
Nick is one of the pillars of the scene that Berghain built, an excellent producer and remixer but also an obvious master of his craft. We’re pleased to bring him into the fold on Saturday for a night to remember.
This Thursday RUBIX returns to Glasgow with two of their favourite local selectors. Fergus Clark & Ruaidhri McGhee known for playing together at nights such as 12th Isle and So Weit So Gut, amongst others.
The duo are known to take listeners on a journey through a melting pot of music styles, so, ahead of the night, Rubix asked the boys to pick out 5 tracks each which best represented the diversity of their DJ sets and to explain a little why those particular records stand out for them…
Fergus:
This is on a 1975 french lp that could be considered prog rock but for this particular track I guess we can settle with the term ‘ambient’. It’s a very lovely piece of synth music and one that I actually uploaded to youtube about a year and a bit ago after discovering it was missing.
Short vocal version of Chicago classic ‘Make Me Want You’ – no messing about house music. Not really much more to say than that, other than that I think this one works better than the extended club mix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7_YXIP2jm0
Tail end of the 70’s dub wizardry from the legendary Joe Gibbs. The sort of dub you can play a little into the night just before taking it in a more house or disco orientated direction.
Carla Bley is an extremely well known jazz composer, and this album was released in the UK by Virgin in the 70’s (seems I have a thing for that decade) and can often be seen in secondhand record shops. The last time I was in London I spotted two copies. The full thing is a good listen but this opener with Gato Barbieri on sax and percussion is the definite stand out, a big jazz fav.
Some musique concrete from French musician Jean Schwarz, who did some stuff on INA GRM and the Chant Du Monde Percussion series. This is the really stripped back and rhythmical concrete sort of sound that I’d love to hear in a club on a giant soundsystem. Very rare to find on record this one.
Ruaidhri:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvguZckaXTM#t=46
An amazing track off of an amazing album, with a pretty crazy group of people that worked on it (Alvin curran plays the synthesizer on this song for example.) Don’t really know what genre you would call this, maybe prog folk, but that sounds really shit…
Been listening to this track loads recently. Another fairly minimal track that’s strangely hypnotic, drum machine on this does it for me completely but her voice tops it off perfectly.
up there as one of the best vocal samples in a house track for me. Bring vogue-ing back to dancefloors, for real.
My kind of disco right here. Simple, with not that much going on but mad hypnotic. I’d lose my shit if i heard this in a club.
UK techno at its’ finest.
Catch them down at Sub Club this Thursday February 12th. £4 Door Tax All Night. Full event info over on Facebook.
With teeth cut on the smoothly abrasive planes of Rubadub and Numbers and now chewing up Berlin like it ain’t nothing, this weekend we welcome Spencer home for a prime-time set at Subculture. Calum is an expert as far as his DJ skills go, from growing up with Jackmaster and the Numbers party collective as well as co-hosting Detroit techno legend Claude Young’s radio shows back in the early days, he’s already got quite an impression collection of merits under his belt. More recently he’s toured across the globe delivering killer mixes on and off the dance floor.
He knows a thing or two about how to pick a tune so ahead of Saturday we asked him to empty the contents of his own record bag on to the Subbie floor…
The track you’ll be opening your next DJ set with?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIecpXLQOcE
The track you can always play to rescue a dance floor?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqeWQPPllcY
The track or mix you would listen to on a beach in Australia?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcLNT5aVfPA
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCkd46hcRag
The track you would play if closing a soundsystem at the Rio Carnival?
The track that currently gets the best reaction for the crowd?
Minus a few upcoming things I can’t link to yet, this probably went off the most recently… just one of those tunes that creeps up. Floating Points never disappoints me.
The track you’d play at your auntie’s wedding?
An all-time track you wish you’d signed to your label?
It’s not on YouTube, but Prince – I Would Die 4 U. Heard it?
The track/album which you would listen to on your iPhone in an airport?
This during take off – and make sure no-ones watching your weird head bobs, which is pretty hard for me cause I’m too tall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNgbBUsT1sc
The ideal festival track?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyAfBh1-zdo
The track you’d play at sunset in Ibiza?
All about 3.30
The track you want played at your funeral?
Wouldn’t want to narrow it down but this could be one of the 50
Your ideal Sunday listening soundtrack?
This + tea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQt4e3Odc2c
If you could pick any movie from the past, what one would you love to have recorded the soundtrack for?
Clink Clink Clink…
What was your first impression of Harri & Domenic’s Subculture?
I’ve known Harri since I was about 12 via Jasper as we used to hang about a bit in the park with Jack and his brother Sean. The first real impression was when I got to go to the Subbie unders when I was was 15 and went to see DJ Jean. It was to honour the week The Launch came out. Got his autograph on a 2 for 1 pass which I still have somewhere… [Jackmaster was also there but never got an autograph] I should probably get it preserved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3bDqBK9x8Y
This is your first time playing Subculture alone. What are your expectations of returning to the the party?
Think the last proper Subculture I did was with Levon Vincent, then there was a joint thing in the Sub with Optimo not too long ago – so not short of memories or expectations. I’m living in Berlin at the moment and always happy to be back with people banging on the side of the booth, even if it’s so loud you mistake it for snare drums. I’ve been picking out a lot of stuff for it anyway, counting down the hours…
We are always interested to hear what other music artists are listening to at the moment. Any tracks or producers that stand out for you recently?
I listen and buy a lot of old music in amongst the new – my discogs bill just hit a personal best. Feeling a lot of stuff from Philadelphia this week, always New York disco – keeping the winter blues at bay I guess. Always doing a bunch of edits, fixing up bits I don’t feel from old songs… chopping out choruses and bridges that take it too far.
I just got Spotify after years of shunning it too, so Biggie, D’Angelo, Raymond Scott and Joni Mitchell been entertaining me there. All those Aphex Twin demos on Soundcloud are a welcome surprise of course. The new reissue of this Ata Kak thing on Awesome Tapes From Africa is amazing. Then there’s loads of demos for Numbers, and I’ve been finalising an album with a new artist Kool Clap from Paris, in between breathing and eating. This was the last thing I listened to today, but don’t expect to hear it on Saturday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlTT2mPA5BA
For Saturday advance tickets are on sale HERE then more on the door from 11pm.
Just in time for you to get the detox done and dusted and out the road, Show brings Tiga back to Glasgow to take you right back to square one. Turbo’s top man makes his Sub Club debut and we are certainly excited for it.
Tiga has always been an international man of mystery. From being there at the start of what was once known as electro clash to playing back to back at Melt Festival with top man and DJ Seth Troxler.
He has gone from being on German top of the pops glamming it up to making tracks with Mathew Dear as Audion. To say he is somewhat of a chameleon wouldn’t be far off the mark. His return to Glasgow has been beyond overdue and after most of last year trying to nail a date, it’s finally here. After reading some interviews with him and checking out his now infamous Twitter and becoming completely enamoured by him, we thought we should catch up with him and give him some questions about where he’s at right now…
A Resident Advisor article described you as a techno evangelist and a synth pop heartthrob 5 years ago. Which of these would you say is closest to being on the money today?
That’s so 2010. lately i’m gunning for Techno Pop.
As with a lot of people in your position, the standard move is to pack up and move their shit to Berlin, Barcelona or London to further their career. Why was this not your buzz? Going by the success you have had this seems like it was the right move. Was this unbelievable foresight or a testament to the talent that is Tiga?
As is often the case it was a mixture of genius and accident, in unknowable proportions…. so lets just go with genius. Truth is I always liked being apart, and I always liked the idea of leaving the party. I think on every level it is crucial to remain somewhat isolated, and it always felt natural to me to keep a foot in my home town. I also love Montreal. I also despise moving.
Reading an article, it would seem you were in to ‘rave’ back in your younger days, How did that filter through to Canada? Obviously it was huge in the U.K, was this the case across the pond?
In Montreal it hit hard around 93. We had a strong club and warehouse scene before that, but it was 93 that really saw the rave scene explode, and that was my youth. I could not have possibly been more involved. I think it was probably very similar to what happened in the UK…I think the acid house and rave evolution followed almost identical patterns in those years.
You have almost reinvented yourself a couple of times and stayed absolutely relevant without changing too much or moving away from who you are. Are you conscious of this and is it difficult to do so?
The difficult part is coming up with good ideas. If you can come up with good ideas, everything else is kinda easy. Its vital to truly care very little about how people think of you. Confidence is super important, and the confidence to be yourself. also, luck plays a massive role. and dont take yourself too seriously. Tis is like a self help manual.
Do you prefer (smaller) clubs or larger venues when you are playing?
It changes with the times and the style of music. I tend to like smaller clubs more, just because for me they tend to be better parties…. But obviously a massive party where everybody is going nuts is great as well. It depends on what you want to play. It’s hard to get 8000 people all heads down trippin’ to some deep acid….. and it would be borderline offensive to try and slam a room of 200 with mega hits.
How is Turbo looking at the moment? Do you have anything exciting upcoming? 3rd album?
Yes I have a third album but it’s so late that I stopped talking about it. Should be this year…everything with Bugatti kinda sidetracked me a little. I should have a new Tiga V Audion soon as well, and some techno singles, as well as a follow up to Bugatti, then the album. Turbo we should have another Clouds 12inch soon, a new Duke Dumont, and some new signings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-YLiryqWDM
How sexy is Mathew Dear’s voice?
You mean when he says things like “Tiga, let’s redo that hi hat pattern baby”
How does someone who’s job entails lots of late nights and potential over indulgence stay looking so young? Is it the influence of French culture?
No guilt. No nostalgia and sleep like a baby.
You haven’t played the Sub Club before, as far as any of us can tell, but you have been in Glasgow a few times. Whats your take on the city? Have you heard anything about the Sub Club?
I thought I had? Anyway. I love Glasgow… and I’m not just saying that. I have a minor obsession with Scotland: from Annie Lennox to Simple Minds…and Glasgow is my fave city (and fave accent in the world.) Hard to explain why exactly…but I love it.
This long-waited return to Caledonia is well overdue and with the boy wonder Theo Kottis returning to his home away from home after a wee month off and Illyus for the warm up duties, we’re all set. Last of the advance tickets on RA or at Tickets Scotland.
Tonight Vicious Creatures are back in the house with special guest Job Jobse from the ‘Dam earning his first Sub Club cap. Mr Jobse has been a firm favourite of the Vicious Creatures crew for the past 6 months.
Those pesky creatures pinned him down to chat over Trouw memories and Holland’s clubbing partijen..
What made Trouw so special for you?
It is the place that taught me everything I know. The owner, Olaf Boswijk, was the first person that ever gave me a chance. My Drukpers night was the opening night of the club and my first official gig ever was actually at Trouw… But besides working and playing there, it was also the place where I went out whenever I had a free night. I’ve spent so many nights there. I’m quite sure that in the first year I didn’t miss a single Friday or Saturday.
February 26th 2010. It was the one year anniversary of Drukpers. Glasgow legends Optimo played all night long. It was maybe one of the worst nights for the club when it comes to the amount of visitors, but it was definitely one of the very best ones in terms of atmosphere. Keith and Jonnie are, and always will be, my favourite dj’s in the world and on this night they played exactly in the way why I love them so much: Everything Goes. From starting in the most beautiful way with Arthur Russell, to making everyone go crazy with 80s Hi-NRG at the peak of the night to finishing off with the symphony of the Swan Lake, with just a handful of people doing ballet moves on the dance floor.
Track that defines Trouw for you?
Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence (Hands and Feet Mix)
This is the François Kevorkian version that appears on the original 12-inch. It was my last record in my first set ever at Trouw and it was my last record in my last set ever at Trouw. It’s one of my all time favourite songs and since I played it there so many times it will always stay connected to the club for me.
What’s next for clubbing in Amsterdam?
I don’t know, to tell you the truth. I guess we all don’t know. Time will tell. Of course there is life after Trouw, but it will definitely be missed. However, I’m sure the future will be bright. The club left a great generation of clubbers, promotors and dj’s behind. People who were inspired by Trouw and will now move on to do their own thing somewhere else.
Besides the huge group of new and enthusiastic promotors and dj’s, there are also a lot of new promising venues popping up at the moment. Radion, Closure and De Marktkantine all opened their doors in last few months. But time has to tell how these places will turn out.
What other clubs are worth visiting in the Netherlands?
Besides the places mentioned above there are also a lot of good things going on outside of Amsterdam. Rotterdam is one of my favourite places to play, as the crowd is always super enthusiastic. BAR and Perron are always a lot of fun. Paradigm in Groningen is also great and Doornroosje in Nijmegen just opened its new location.
Some artists live and breathe what we believe in here at the Sub Club. Job Jobse is one of them. This is a guy who learnt his trade at the early days in Club 11, completed an internship at Innervisions, booked parties at Trouw, and is currently the label manager at one of our favourite outputs – Life and Death. With appearances at the likes of Burning Man & Panorama Bar, this is indeed a long overdue Subbie debut!
Tonight support comes from Vicious Creatures resident Lárus. Listen Up…
The last of the advance tickets are on sale HERE, then more on the door from 11pm.
Ahead of his Subculture DJ debut this coming Saturday, we caught up with Neville Watson to chat over his favourite music that’s came out of Glasgow…
Any serious music fan worth their salt will know that Scotland has always been a haven for great music. Glasgow in particular is as famous for it’s discerning music tastes as it is for it’s hospitality and architecture, most notably it’s taste for black American dance music. From jazz and blues to soul, disco and reggae through to house and techno, always eschewing fads and trends and focussing steadfastly on quality. No boring retro fetishism but instead a constant acknowledgement of lineage. It’s one of the many things that makes a night out in the city such a brilliant experience.
But it’s not just the consumption of music that is done to such a fine tee here, there always has been for me some of the finest music ever produced in the city. That same stringent quality control that goes into a night or record shopping also goes into production and running a label there. As a sassenach DJ I will automatically check any new record or label that comes out of Glasgow like some people do with Detroit. Here is a very small selection of some of my favourite jams to have come out of Glasgow…
1. Hutton Drive – Push It – (Soma)
This had to take the top spot as not only is it my favourite record to come out of Glasgow, it’s one of my favourite records ever! Sub Club’s own Domenic Cappello in his Hutton Drive guise, funked up rolling snares, subterranean chords and a Salt & Pepper sample. Doesn’t sound like much but the simplest ingredients are always the best, and when that change happens around the two minute mark, I’m ready to wet my pants. Then the strings come in and it’s game over as the track just continues to ascend. A criminally underrated record.
When deep house was more than just a chord stab with some delay on it over some whack drums. This is a proper piece of music, full stop. Kevin Mckay and Andy Carrick’s Glasgow Underground put out some stellar, pardon the pun, records in the mid to late nineties, but this under their Muzique Tropique alias is perhaps my favourite. All woozy strings and fizzy hats, perfect for when the sun is coming up or going down.
3. DJ Q – My Kinda House – (Filter)
Man, I could do a whole list and more of DJ Q records. For those who don’t know, this is Paul Flynn, the original DJ Q. He did so many killer records in the mid to late nineties and early 2000s that I had to just pick one quickly otherwise I never would have finished this little piece. Raw before it was the buzzword, and really raw too! A disco loop fed into a sampler and smashed to pieces over the top of crushing drums that just keep rolling and rolling, pure, unadulterated dance floor devastation. Also check his remixes too, especially Schlamm Me. You’ll have to dig for it though, as it’s not on Discogs. Not the one I’ve got anyway.
4. Slam – Stepback – (Soma)
Another from the behemoth that is the Soma stable. I could have been obvious here and chosen Positive Education, I’ve certainly had more mileage out of that over the years, but the dark brooding menace of Stepback sends shivers up my spine. Especially when I think of the lunacy that would ensue whenever I used to drop it at Checkpoint Charlie.
5. Jared Wilson – Challenging Shadows – (DABJ)
Some new(er) shizz here from the ever ace Dixon Avenue Basement Jams stable and the only one on this list not by a Glasgow producer. Lush sub bass tones and electro drums push and pull against arpeggios and a crystalline lead. Might not be directly from the city but it has the city’s vibe all over it.
6. Gypsy – Varisuvia – (Limbo)
This is an absolute monster of a record. Although Limbo were primarily known as a Prog House label, I would say this has a much darker New York flavour to it, not sounding a million miles away from some Xpress 2’s darker moments from that time. Thunderous drums and bass underpinning a phasing, filtering synth line and tasty little breakbeat, it’s a proper head melter. But whatever happened to Graham Drinnan (Gypsy)? He was rather prolific at the time, then he just disappeared.
7. Truffle Club – Gone Blue – (Dissident)
Italo leaning jam from Andy Blakes now defunct Dissident label. Always really love the bells and choir on this track.
8. Naum Gabo – Dino – (Throne of Blood)
The sound of Glasgow stretches to NYC with this beautiful piece of soundtracky ambience on Throne of Blood. From a duo that includes one half of the the mighty Optimo.
Proving that the sounds of dub and reggae also pulse through the city. Reggae is never easy to pull off for white boys at the best of times – not everybody can be an Adrian Sherwood – but here dubbed out flutes and slick basslines leave you in no doubt that the person making this music has a deeper understanding of what they’re doing past just chucking a software delay over some samples they got off a covermount CD.
10. Leeon – Rest & Be Thankful EP – (Nord-Sud Recordings)
Brand spanking new label and this first release is faultless to me, it has a sound that I strongly associate with the house and techno that comes out of Glasgow. This is partly due to an Essential mix from Slam back in 1994 featuring tracks from Terrace and Carl Craig which I wore a hole in. It has a filmic quality to it yet is still perfectly suited to the dancefloor, it features the kind of dreamy synth lines that fire your imagination and the kind of bass and drums that feed your hips. Perfect.
Neville has previously graced the Subculture booth alongside sometime production partner KiNK, but this time he’s flying solo for your aural pleasure. Rounding out the first month of oh-one-five, this promises to be the perfect pitch-perfect DJ session to set the tone for the year ahead.
Entry tax is a January friendly £5 before midnight.
Bigfoot’s Tea Party are in the Sub Club this Friday for their first event of the year – kindly making it free entry before midnight. We caught up with the crew to have a chat about their plans for 2015…
Let’s pick up where 2014 finished – your last party of the year was the Bigfoot’s 6th Birthday with Radio Slave – he’s been key figure in house and techno for a long time now but hadn’t played Scotland for nearly 4 years – did the night go how you expected?
Wrick: We’d spent much of the early evening having a freak out though when his flight was delayed and then he missed the connection in London. For a while it looked like he might not make it, but everything worked out fine. Things like that end up adding to the experience eventually, once we knew everything was cool and we could start enjoying ourselves.
Chris: Yeah I really enjoyed it, his set was on a perfect vibe for that night and it was great to warm up for him. Always a pleasure to play music with your favourite DJs.
George: Half of Glasgow had been out on a big one all weekend, but as Chris said he pitched it just right. A really nice guy too, as professional as you would expect from someone who has been at the top so long – basically after a whole day of travelling, being shoved out of the arrivals gate and into the back of a car, raced across to Sub Club and into the DJ booth – he just went with it, not a single complaint – he obviously still loves what he does. We were on a roll last year of seeming to only invite DJs that were actually sound to hang around with as well.
Can you pick out some other highlights of 2014 – there were Bigfoot parties in Aberdeen and Stirling too, right?
Wrick: Definitely. There were so many though… last January to start with, when Chris and I played the Sub Club ourselves for the whole night – probably one of my favourite ever gigs – that’s why I’m looking forward to this weekend! We’re normally warming up for guests on a Friday night so it gives us a chance to play some of the bangers we’ve been accumulating over the years. I think all our nights at Subbie have to get mentioned as highlights really. Mr. Ties and nd_baumecker have been two stand-out DJs for me the last couple years, so managing to give them 3 or 4 hours sets at Subbie was great
Chris: For me, Mr. Ties was probably my favourite guest. I’ve seen him play a few times and he always blows me away – you really don’t know what he is going to do next. Giving him the full four hours and hearing him play the first record with nobody else in the club was a cool experience.
Wrick: Outside of Glasgow the Stirling Old Town Jail with Harri & Dom and Sensu was ridiculous. That was a collaboration with Creative Stirling who did a great job – on top of a hill in Stirling Town centre – then there was the after party inside the jail! Probably the most poignant highlight of 2014 though was having Floorplan play the last ever Friday at Snafu in Aberdeen – quite possibly the craziest night we’ve had in there (and there have been many), what a send off!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHCsK68hr9Y
Has much changed in Aberdeen since the closure of Snafu?
George: It’s obviously going to be difficult to fill the shoes of a club that was so important to the city such a long time – almost a decade. And personally – most of the people originally involved in Bigfoot’s met at Snafu, so it was a tough one to swallow when news broke that the club was closing. There are still a lot of great people in Aberdeen who love good music, so that is why it’s important that The Tunnels is building a new family.
Chris: Yeah there wasn’t anywhere else like it in the city, and it was the club I spent my student loan in – I met a lot of close friends through working and partying there. Also it’s where I first got to DJ, so it was horrible to see it close after so many good years. We are looking forward to getting back up there though and hoping to avoid any jail time!
Wrick: For all of us, definitely. I mean we were doing regular parties there for the several years. It was such an important part of the city’s music scene, so yeah, it’s definitely going to have some affect but the city certainly hasn’t lost it’s appetite for good music. With The Tunnels being taken over now there’s still a lot of promoters putting on quality nights. After Robert Hood, we only did two other parties in Aberdeen – Move D and Nina Kraviz with Minival – but they were both excellent and I think we’re all looking forward to what’s in store this year.
You have plans to host parties out with Glasgow again this year then?
Wrick: Along with Aberdeen, we’ve got plans for Edinburgh, Stirling and Berlin.
George: I’m living in Berlin at the moment so we are planning to do some over there throughout year.. Our Aberdeen 2015 series is taking shape as well, with The Tunnels starting to kick off we’ve got some exciting DJ bookings and a few big residents parties planned.
Tell us a bit about Farbfernseher in Berlin, will that become a regular fixture in the Bigfoot calendar?
Chris: We hope it will be a regular fixture for us. We’ve always liked going to different places to put Bigfoot’s parties on, this carries a little extra weight though being in Berlin.
Wrick: It’s our first party in the city, so it’s very early days but it would be amazing if we manage to start something regular there. George can maybe fill you in more about the club; I’ve not actually been yet myself, but I know it’s got a great reputation, and with such a small capacity and so many friends coming over it’s going to be wild. We’ve also got a guest who’s album is forthcoming on Dekmantel – so it’s shaping up pretty well.
George: It’s a great little spot, only fits abut 100 people, split over two levels with a decent sound system. Each time I’ve gone down there things have been going off, so it’s the perfect place for us to start in Berlin I think.
This Friday is your first date of the year what can we expect from the Bigfoot’s Sub Club residency in 2015?
George: It’s actually fairly strange – we have pretty much everything for the year locked down already. Things have been going smoothly lately. There are still one or two things I want to tie up though, but better to not mention them…
Wrick: Yeah we’ve got most of our guests for the year agreed already, and although I think 2014 was one of the best years we’ve had in terms of the quality of guests we’ve invited (baumecker, Mr Ties, Makam, Flugel, Kraviz, Move D, Floorplan), 2015’s going to provide some pretty stiff competition. We’ll have a mix of live acts and DJs, with several more Scottish debuts. I’m looking forward to it all kicking-off on Friday
Take note, for Friday there are no advance tickets and it’s FREE ENTRY before midnight then £7 after.
The Sub Rosa clan sat down with their pals from Too NICE. Having just recovered from their immense 1st birthday celebrations, Too NICE are teaming up with Sub Rosa tonight and going on a journey through the relics of Rhythm & Blues. Admittedly a different sound to what we’re used to hearing at inside on a Wednesday, but after they witnessed the energy at recent events, Sub Rosa felt they had to invite them down. As well as being great party starters, it turns out the Too NICE boys are actually quite nice as well.
It’s win win, then…
You seem to be breaking the mould a little bit by starting a night with this ethos and music policy. Glasgow is famous for it’s House & Techno, so what inspired you to do something like this?
I think we all just really wanted to be famous rappers and live the whole lifestyle but the bold Glaswegian accent made this dream impossible. So we guessed a great solution was to start organising events and take it from there…
More importantly, there was a severe lack of tasteful and dedicated hiphop/r&b nights in Glasgow (and Scotland). It was a rare occasion we would hear the tracks we wanted to on a night out. The culture of this music is very extensive and open to interpretation. We’ve got loads of exciting ideas cooking up at the moment; everyone involved keeps each other inspired I guess.
What have the highlights been so far & who have you “worked” (partied) with?
Last May we organised a live show with GSM for two rappers from Miami – SpaceGhostPurrp and Yung Simmie out of the ‘Raider Klan’ collective. They’ve both worked with major figures in the game and hearing their inside stories was very interesting. We’re all huge fans so the whole day was unbelievable. Looking out my mate’s back window to Yung Simmie lighting up a massive stinky blunt in his garden was surreal.
On two occasions, we worked with Yung Lean and the Sadboys from Stockholm. They’re all very humble and charismatic guys; partying with them was a very enjoyable experience. After the first visit, we read Glasgow was in their top 3 favourite European cities out of the 20+ they visited during their ‘White Marble Tour’. They’ve since toured the U.S twice so I hope they’ve spread the word of TN and how great a city this is. We also joined forces with FreakyFreaky on ‘Sky’s The Limit’. The level of promotion and production (props to the Art School tech team) we achieved together was a major highlight. It all paid off as nearly 900 people turned up.
My personal favourite night was our valentines special last year ‘The Love Chapter’. Playing with the whole emotional romantic theme was a lot of fun. Our visuals had the famous Jack and Rose ‘flying’ scene from Titanic chopped up with R Kelly videos etc.
We were down at your first birthday and we had so much fun we thought we had to get you along, how did you guys enjoy it?
Perfect, everyone had a great time. We handed out free bubbly to the first 100 guests. All old and new friends were out in full force celebrating!
Just Like Diddy ;)
Although we like to dabble, we’re probably not as clued up as you when it comes to this sound. Can you give us some tips on some of the best hip-hop r n b that’s coming out at the minute?
First of all, listen to PartyNextDoor if you haven’t already! The projects he released last year ‘PARTYNEXTDOOR 2’ and ‘PND COLOURS’ are next level. He’s the capo of an emerging sub-genre called ‘RnBass’.
Other hot tips are: Ty Dolla $ign, Travis $cott, Dej Loaf, Tinashe, Denzel Curry, Majid Jordan, GravityBoys/Sadboys, Robb Bank$, June (Teddy Walton) and the Champagne Papi aka Drake (and his loyal producer “40” ) never fails to release great music. Also, I wouldn’t underestimate the old dogs! D’Angelo is a prime example, his new album ‘Black Messiah’ is a masterpiece. And of course, keep an ear out for the TooNice boys Jon L, Bessa and Heckter. They all produce their own music and currently have projects in the works! For any genre, spending hours exploring Soundcloud will pay off. There’s so many unsung internet artists out there who are amazing. Most notably, DJ Smokey.
I’ll be honest, the depths of my UK hip – hop/R & B knowledge stretches to Dizzee’s Boy in Da Corner. What’s the health of the UK scene at the moment?
I’m not sure about UK ‘HipHop’ but UK Grime is very healthy right now! It went off in the wrong direction for a few years but it’s definitely back on track. Boy Better Know, Newham Generals and platforms like Boiler Room are giving it a massive push. We all witnessed Skepta live at the Art School last November and the atmosphere was incredible. Personally, I think the freestyle aspect of it is untouchable. I can sit for hours watching guys like D Double E, Joe Black, Big Narstie, Devilman or any of Faith SFX’s old videos. Someone needs to make a Grime fighting game, there’s so many good characters.
Guestlist list entry for tonight now open. Click HERE or pay 5 dolla bills on the door.
