The Drum & Bass Thread

[Smile on Impact]

Then you have the hip hop crew usually a little older and in uni, which aren't into the whole clubbing thing but more into bars and the like (St Jerome's). While these guys are more inclined to like dnb, chances are they couldn't deal with a whole night of it.

I reakon this is where our potential crowd is.

what's a bet, if you took a hiphop fan to see, Roni Size and Dynamite MC they would loose their fuckin mind.

?
pretty certain.


I think the Idea would be to have Hip/DnB nites no breaks no Electro no house.
Just bustin out, trading sets, halftime/doubletime.
bring the hiphop crowds in with Dexta or any of the big hiphop DJs, even local hiphop DJs and work in some Large DnB to a new audience.

I think the underground thing has been so easy, because you don't need a crowd to be underground..
but the potential to be a giant scene is massive..


E.....Zeeee.

[mixtress]

Word Fents, fucking word. I was in heaven playing for Scubar. The crowds started really slowly and over the 2 or so years it was happening, the crowds peaked and it became 'the' place to be on a Saturday night.

I look back on Just Rite as being my glory days, my salad days Loki Lockstar is da man

[valuetime]

the music's not going downhill, to me it's getting better. artists fade in and out all the time, but for every don that loses the plot or crew that burns out there are 4 newcomers who keep things afloat. the music is not the problem.

the promoters are dedicated and talented as any promoters have been in melbourne's dnb scene. the promoters are not the problem.

the DJs are enthusiastic, varied in style and all good people with few rivalries or grudges. the djs are not the problem.

the crowds, however, are waning and have poor male/female ratios. if you want to get people to gigs, women need to be there - see the pendulum gig at the hifi last year.

the crowds are what's wrong with drum'n'bass. there are a small group of people supporting almost every gig (i'm not tooting my horn here, because i'm not one of them) but you can't have a scene of 50 people. that's a bingo night. not a music scene.

anyone know where it all went wrong?

[huge]

Klute & Zinc at Prince of Wales was the first big internatty I went to...drank water all night and had a ball!

klute played a corker of a set that night. had me in a trance. and i hadnt even had any acid yet! huhuhuh.

something extra special also happend that night <3

[Scholtzy]

the music's not going downhill

Couldn't agree more. People that say DnB is dead are not listening.

anyone know where it all went wrong?

Nothings gone wrong man,...its the youth culture these days. There aren't enough 18-22 year olds entering the scene. Its the popularity of electro / commercial house scene and the promotion budget it brings.

[DBoy]

I think one of most memorable gigs was that Skylab one at word bar. Tunes were impecible.

LTJ and Conrad at a rave at mitishibshi factory, and being on white mitzi's and smoking the mother of all j's with conrad after his set. deep.

I can not really seperate the memories of the Tekstep parties i went to, besides style wars, was a bit of a messy time for me. apparently they were awesome.

There was a time when Roln, Atom1 and crew were smashing gigs with such enthusiasm, brought a lot of people into the scene.

[SoulWhiteMan]

it hasn't been said yet, but making love to liquid drum and bass is the best thing on this planet!

[JAMESSSS]

I love DnB. I think I found it in 97 or something, then peaked out when I started buying more breaks in 2002. It doesn't get much of a look in these days, but I still listen to a fair bit.

I think of any music I've ever heard it's the only type that gets you right there in your stomach with the bassline.

Best Party ever was Storm @ Ministry in Christchurch on the Tour just after Kemistry died.

First time anyone had heard All Aboard and she teased it in like 8 times over 5 hours. Sometimes you just got the bubbles at the start, sometimes right up to before the drop. By the time it dropped everyone went absolutely mental.

Then finished off with triple rewind of the melody from Kemistry VIp lighter in the air massive.

Growing up in Christchurch was awesome for DnB, Point Blank with Pots, B-Line, Mosus, Pylon @ Base was insane on a thursday.

Parties at the Ministry often got 600 heads, some got up to 1000 or at Civic (Bad company Shot down on Safari in particular). Massive given the population was 450,000 or something then.

Anway still love DnB, have the same attitude as Fents to a tee now though.

[downtime]

the music's not going downhill

Couldn't agree more. People that say DnB is dead are not listening.

I am constantly surprised by the number of quality releases, i like the way dnb is heading.

anyone know where it all went wrong?

I'm not worried, its a big scene in the scheme of things, all around the world, there are a lot of very talented people pushing it forward, and above all, its still the best way to smash up a party.

[mecka]

i can thank atom1, dj SS and soulaar for getting me into dnb back in 2000/2001 or so. i haven't been around for as long as some people but goddamit the passion will be with me for the rest of my days.

[Direkt]

The scubar / Just Rite days...

CJ's Bass in the hood partys at 101...

Damn straight... fuck I loved Just Rite.

[DBoy]

Werd Mecka, your a champ!

[Direkt]

I think one of most memorable gigs was that Skylab one at word bar. Tunes were impecible.

Skynet?

LTJ and Conrad at a rave at mitishibshi factory, and being on white mitzi's and smoking the mother of all j's with conrad after his set. deep.

You lucky bastard!

[FoundationStepper]

yep chch had some good parties

people talk about that storm gig in such epic terms!

loved some of the bush parties around south canterbury/north otago, dreadford played at a few which if loved... (something to do with monkeys? was the party name).

records at that small basement shop near/round the corner from ministry - got my first drum and bass record there - john b jazz and bass remix i think.

jbs - go to johnny and jacobs (phlex) jungle parties at all? 42 ounces i think and others around linwood...

of course drum and bass in the background at scummy old java and also that venus? bar again down the road from ministry (cant remember names of streets anymore)...

wasnt there a nifty d+b radio show on RDU thursday nights? after the fabulous rotate your state

[DBoy]

I think one of most memorable gigs was that Skylab one at word bar. Tunes were impecible.

Skynet?

yah, thats the one. Has not been back since so my memory failed.

[FoundationStepper]

actually hard to remember parties so well - was the time i got into ganga i guess

lots of hours of bucket bongs and old jungle/drum and bass tapes from the radio at my friend tony's place

[huge]

skynet was rad as. i still didnt know anyone at that stage, was there with my housemate ET. remember the crazy dancing bar guy? huhuh.

[mixtress]

I remember the crazy dancing bar guy. Tipped him good too, if I recall. Talk about adding to the vibe of the place

I think that was the first time I heard the Nexus system...can't be sure...drugs

[Direkt]

I remember him too (dancing barman)... was like he was all 'geared up'... funny times...

Bass Addiction crew representing on that gig.

[JAMESSSS]

yep chch had some good parties

people talk about that storm gig in such epic terms!

Nothing has matched, trust.

loved some of the bush parties around south canterbury/north otago, dreadford played at a few which if loved... (something to do with monkeys? was the party name).

Yeah there were heaps. I totally forgot all the jungle dudes too, used to love the jungle Fridays @ some bar I forget the name of.

Highlight outside gig (from a mate I wasn't there) = Bad Company in the bush cutting down to the dog barking in Dillinja's remix of Babylon echo'ing out. I've got a tape somewhere you can hear the vibes.

Highlight for me was Bryan G outside smoking so many spiffs that everyone in the front row was blazed. He dropped Who told you for the first time. Mental.

records at that small basement shop near/round the corner from ministry - got my first drum and bass record there - john b jazz and bass remix i think.

Yeah Mosus worked there. You'd walk in and he'd go nuts. First time I went in he put Whats My Code Remix on so loud everyone in the shop disintergrated into blows to get a copy.

jbs - go to johnny and jacobs (phlex) jungle parties at all? 42 ounces i think and others around linwood...

yeah one I think?

wasnt there a nifty d+b radio show on RDU thursday nights? after the fabulous rotate your state[/quote]

Mosus had Scientific first with Pylon then when that ended with the other scientific crew, yeah.

[JAMESSSS]

I'm so going home for a mix.

Been too long, I'm gagging for dnb now I've stopped and thought about it.

[dust]

I'm so going home for a mix.

Been too long, I'm gagging for dnb now I've stopped and thought about it.

Trust me, you'd love some of the music thats coming out at the moment. Really really deep.

Have a listen to this http://melbournebeats.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9048














I'm not just being biased either

[ulyssian]

we have had the same discussion over there *points to melbdnb.com* too (but on a liddler scale) about what's cracking in melb scene.....
http://melbournednb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=680
& why or what we love draws us to DnB....
http://melbournednb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=618
some interesting bits and pieces raised by all, but at the end of the day we are all in it for the way it makes us feel I guess (Yes/No/Comment)

[cj the taniwha]

The scubar / Just Rite days...

CJ's Bass in the hood partys at 101...

fuck yeah the scubar just rite partys were awesome,

FMF gave me mixing lessons and my first go at mixing to folks in a club, will never forget that.

The Bass in the Hood partys were pretty wicked too, gonna do one last one for my 30th on the 28th of April.....Dirty Bass in the Hood....

[Broken Beat Assault]

there is no local scene.

we rammed laundry on a monthly basis with locals at spindry in recent times, BBA sessions was the same intention but just happened that international acts fell into place that all turned out to be wicked shows - John B, mindscape, State Of mind. We'll be seeing a lot of local sessions upcoming, and yes it will be rammed and vibin, come see for yourself.

100% Drum N Bass, no boring buffstep

as mentioned in this thread already , we are lucky to have a scene as opposed to some places around the world, enjoy it whilst you can.
BBA & ESC present Matrix @ HI FI in a few weeks, now thats big BUD.

[shepherd]

my fond memories of drum&bass in melbourne are

System and atom 1 at DMC - getting tunes, being intimidated. I remember once having a discussion with Sacha about the credentials of Puff Daddy - no shit. I also remember Neptune when he worked there basically telling me every record was the 'best record'.

1LC and Groove Therapy - I really looked up Steve and he was a great guy and became a good friend. I loved how he went about doing parties - from design to production to acts. Most of the shows at Lounge between 01 and 04 I had a hand in (SS, Marky, Bailey etc) and they were such fun nights. Marky and Gee at Lounge was the best night I have ever had at a club. It was sad to see him drop out of the scene so quickly - but I understood why he did it as I did the same thing a few years after!

Realtime - the early ones were big events and everyone fired up. Rux is a crazy motherfucker who could just as easily hit you as hug you but him and Lex knew how to throw a party ... I had massive respect for Realtime .. especially for the Jolimont billboards.

Midnight in Melbourne launch at Lounge - fuck this was such a cool night. Knew everyone there (or so it seemed) and the film was great and it was such a cool document of a scene I really liked and wanted a document of! The interviews of all the dudes in the studio made everyone look like a don!

Bailey at Tatou - I think this was 99 ... but it was a joint thing between Boemo and Dan Feary (when he was called Scarlet) ... awesome set from bailey - I was at this party and thought 'fuck, this is where I want to be' ... it was when loads of girls loved drum&bass and you'd get all the hot chicks that studied at RMIT or worked at Fat ... as a student it appealed to me.

Lounge - I think this place is really the home of drum&bass in Melb and really hope it can fire again as I know Michael and Carlo and Con etc have a soft spot for it. I remember Michael losing it during Marky and for days he was saying it was awesome .. and the guy is hard to please. working with Dan and Steve, through to Rux and Lex, and then dudes like Fickuss and Fents etc was really great - such enthusiasm. I think Fickuss is one of the best promoters I have ever come across - awesome guy, passionate about music and works like crazy.

[mrj]

Drum and Bass hey.

My first D&B track that I liked was 12-10 Series MK 1 - All That Jazz, and is still one of my very fave tunes.

but in general Drum and Bass has been a pretty recent addition to my life (past 3 or so years). I've always picked up a track or two there, as I have always been open to new music regardless of genre (like all of us on here), but its only been in the more recently that I have sought out Drum and Bass. My Drum and Bass gigs have been very limited though.

Nu:tone and High Contrast give me the booty shakes. In fact most Hospital records stuff I find really great. Not that I get to hear it all, but that labels pumps out an amazing amount of wonderful music.

I like D&B yes I do.

[mixtress]

I think Fickuss is one of the best promoters I have ever come across - awesome guy, passionate about music and works like crazy.

Agreed with everything you said but that last comment deserves a :lighter:

[David Bass]

Iv been heavy into dnb for bout a year now (after moving down from qld where there was no such thing as dnb n all dance music was classed as 'Techno')
I firstly listened to breaks then found dnb....now there is no end to it.....
I listen to it on the train goin to work, i make my staff and customers listen to it, i listen to it on the way home, and hopefully have a mix when i get home.
Im constantly thinking about it (to my girlfriends discuss) or its just stuck in my head whomp whomp whomp.
there are so many different styles, liquid, jump up, neuro......so many differnt sounds.
Nother better than getting a full body chill from a phat beat. my latest was Phace-Tranquilizer.

[TheBrains]

I remember seeing Dom&Roland one New Years with Matrix at Billboards (of all places). Dom damn near took my head off. The whole night was absolutely crazy. Such a hard and dark sound - I'd never heard anything like it before. Before that I was swinging glow sticks at Gatecrasher... Then I heard Dillinja and it was like waking up.

I used to take people who were into trance and acid and watch them get all fucked up trying to dance - converted quite a few of them too. So many people don't get this kind of music until they hear it absolutely pounding in a decent venue and then when they do they're hooked.

Classic gigs: Saw Mickey Finn at capsule / Doc Scott at lounge / JMajik at lounge / Grooverider at tatou (Brilliant) / saw Bukem at some totally outta the way shed in South melbourne and saw bailey so many times - awesome... Dom at NYE was a classic though.

I actually haven't been to a night in ages (since Dillinja & Lemon D at POW) but I'm breaking the dry spell with ED Rush and Optical on Sunday so if anyone sees an old fat sweaty pasty guy who looks like he should at home dreaming of his new garden shed rather than leaning up against a wall from exhaustion say hi or give him a kick if he nods off.

[mixtress]

I actually haven't been to a night in ages (since Dillinja & Lemon D at POW) but I'm breaking the dry spell with ED Rush and Optical on Sunday so if anyone sees an old fat sweaty pasty guy who looks like he should at home dreaming of his new garden shed rather than leaning up against a wall from exhaustion say hi or give him a kick if he nods off.

Respect

[PeACheSsS]

LOVE DNB...unfortunately cant get nuff of it but l found that the chill on ice and funk bar play alot of it..

[fikuss]

the music's not going downhill, to me it's getting better. artists fade in and out all the time, but for every don that loses the plot or crew that burns out there are 4 newcomers who keep things afloat. the music is not the problem.

the promoters are dedicated and talented as any promoters have been in melbourne's dnb scene. the promoters are not the problem.

the DJs are enthusiastic, varied in style and all good people with few rivalries or grudges. the djs are not the problem.

the crowds, however, are waning and have poor male/female ratios. if you want to get people to gigs, women need to be there - see the pendulum gig at the hifi last year.

the crowds are what's wrong with drum'n'bass. there are a small group of people supporting almost every gig (i'm not tooting my horn here, because i'm not one of them) but you can't have a scene of 50 people. that's a bingo night. not a music scene.

word dave. spot on there. nuff said

thanks method and mixi for the shout. i'm having a bit of a break at the moment but i ain't done yet that's for sure.

in regards to memorable times and gigs....

Vin down at Soundboy bigging up all the tunes on the wall. Adam givin me tips on what tunes to listen to and chatting about cricket. Great times... those early tunes I bought I still love and hold dear.

Soulaar Bailey Gig and many many other Soulaar Sessions. Used to rock down with Bridge, jam down a can of V and dance til the wee hours before driving home listening to tapes of Adza's Kiss shows or Future Unknown from RRR and be shabby as hell the next day at Uni. Those early days were awesome... didn't know anyone... so much fun. Started helping out with promo and a seed settled into place.

Matrix & Dom NYE 2000/01
Sideways and met up with my bro and his crew for the first time out at a gig proppa. 1LC played the smoothness (MIST's Sincere Remix etc). Lazers for Atom 1's midnight slot. Matrix played a good one and broke into Stakka & Skynet's remix of The Sea by Morcheeba - was flying and nearly crying all at the same time. Dom was dark and heavy and awesome then we cruised back to my bro's and rinsed it out for hours and hours more.

Teebee @ Hi Fi the first time he came out - played utter darkness, fresh and different material. Most of which none of us had ever heard. Haven't seen him play a set that was even close to being as good as this one since.

Tekstep 13 - Ray Keith let us know what the word bad means. I've had many chats with Jono, Justin & Sean about this gig... it was the inspiration for their Krachmacher parties... Renegade - Terrorist (Dom Mix) at the end of the night and then back out to my folks place where I cained that tune on a CD for most of the morning.

Andy C @ Hi Fi back in 2001 or so... sweat dripping from ceiling. Nuff said.

Too many nights down at Just Rite @ Scubar to mention. Golden times with Fred, Ash, Lok and loads of others. Props to those guys for giving me my first propper set... and to Suzanne for giving us a truly memorable last session. More than anything a place in time that I will always look at with rose coloured glasses. Special.

KB & Blazin gigs have been a huge part of my life over the past few years... always stressful and time consuming but always worth every single moment.

...trying to help Rux with 40Hz at Lounge... Krachers parties... BBA parties... so many parties. Too many parties to mention.

Big ups to all those who keep it alive... on the dancefloor and behind the scenes in any and every way.

[kronz]

I LOVE DRUM N BASS

[fooishbar]

i was seriously bored with dnb early-to-mid last year, which is where i picked up dubstep. one of the things i love there is that people aren't constrained and do whatever they like, which produces a lot of awesome, and a lot of utter shit.

so maybe i was just listening to much too much of it and expecting too much, or not listening to the right stuff, but that wasn't the feel i was getting from dnb. but the stuff i've been hearing lately from seba & paradox, fracture & neptune, valuetime, bungle and others is slowly restoring my faith. i'm listening to a hell of a lot more now. and of course my love for breakage has never faded.

(and still rinsing that inperspective set at blazin' a couple of times a week. best set i've ever heard him play imo.)

still many a great memory of shocking out to dnb. being absolutely pummeled by every bass note with raiden & robyn chaos at hi-fi. watching dean do his crazy indian squat dance across the floor when mayhem was finishing up at laundry. random shonks (much fewer memories there though) at blazin. dust's set before el hornet at ba (i was about ready to propose to you when you played prophecy).

[mixtress]

Great thread Mecka

This has been such a trip tp read. I wanna comment on every bloody post (hell yeah, I remember that!! etc)

It truly is amazing how a simple genre of music can get so many people together, introduce you to lifelong friends and change the course of your life. I'm so glad to be a part of it Glad to have come into it when I did and glad to still be here.

And I can also credit Melbourne Beats (or Melbourne Jungle?) for hooking me up with my boy

[calstro]

gonna do one last one for my 30th on the 28th of April.....Dirty Bass in the Hood....

dope!

[killeye]

Pity all "DJ's" stop dancing and start head nodding when they start getting gigs. Maybe now im a punter i can boogie more.

Hehe...I think one of my first posts on MJ was asking what the go was 'all the dudes standing around the back of the room..and asking, "is this music not dance music?" I think you or Fikuss replied!

I remember going to a dnb party at Seven when I first stared going to parties (i think it was a Vic Vs SA thing) and I saw a dude that I'd seen around at other gigs. Being new to the scene and wanting to make connections, I thought I'd say hello etc...so I said, "Hey do you go to many dnb parties?" to which he replied "I've been going to drum and bass parties for five or six fucking years," and walked off. To this day I still make reference to this character as 'fuck off drum and bass guy,' and sadly its an attitude that I have come accross a lot.
So the other week at Visionary when a random asked me if I liked "this music" and 'how the hell do you dance to it?" I said, "Yeah I like it a lot," and and kinda showed her how to find a groove on the half beat,cos I ain't no fuck off drum n bass chick

[flippo]

great thread.

first time I heard rum n bass was actually shapeshifter would you beleive. Had always been a metal head, so loved big fast rythems and big bass. I also always loved dub and reggae, went to see salmonela at the corner, and this suport band shakeshifter came on. They were absoluty mental. Saw them the next 3 times they came out, one time of which was with concord dawn. First time I had heard . Opening track was Ram Trillogy - screamer. Not a great song really, but if you are vibing out of your brain, 30 vodkas deep, and it's the first studio produced DnB on a big system..... it blew my fucking head off. I thought the heavens had openend up. This was about 2001?

Went out and bought some tunes, Chris SU Angel I remember cranking that over and over.

Then I find melbournejungle.com. Sign up, download every fucking set posted, listen listen listen. Became obsessed.

Found out about Kombatt Bass parties, so just rocked up by mylelf. I met Mecka, Fenton, Tim and Cammo. I was mostly into the hospital records style. Loved every bit of it, hassled mates to come up to lounge. Came up from Ocean Grove as much as I could on a thursday night. If I lived in Melbourne I would habe been there every week, garuntee. Pretty much took over my musical tastestes for about 3 years. Then I went to teebee, met Arunas and Schizo, thought that was awesome. Got into the really hard stuff, counterstrike, raiden etc. Then I got into Seba paradox inperspective, all the drumk funk. Loved it. Mates used to get so fucking sick of hearing me talk about DnB.

Last year I don't know what happened. Just started getting bored. Then I heard a paul rose mix and got swallowed by dubstep. I think the thing was the lack of vibes at parties? I used to be high for a week after ramming the dancefloor at a party. I'd come home and want to listen to more, i'd listen to it all week, still running off the vibe. Then I think a few times in a row I went to parties that were just dead. 4-5 people bopping up and down on the dancefloor because they thought that was what they should be doing. Thats the thing with DnB, it takes effort to dance too. It's either make or break really. If the vibe dosrent quite build, then you get a handful of diehards having a mild dance, but if it just tips past breaking point, the energy that a room of people going nuts DnB just snowballs, it becomes like a feedback loop. Everyones endorphins and sereatonin starts pumping, everyone starts jumping, then it's mental. It's either that, or no one can be fucked. And that energy transferes from night to night perhaps? Have a few nights that don't manage to break the 'vibe barrier' in a row and it just becomes pushing shit uphill. Untill an internaty comes and gets everyone out of the shadows.

Best parties though for me in my short time of loving DnB, KB boat party, fucking awesome, Yui and Cardz @ lounge (wasn't really my style of music, but just had an awesome time), first teebee party @ platform 1.

Big thanks for Fents and Tim though. Had some great nights at lounge, some hilarious stories. I loved the music enough to go to my first night by myself, but if it wasn;t for everyone being so freindly I probably wouldn't have come back.

I listen to DnB maybe twice a week now though? It's not that I don't like it, I think im just not finding good new material. Cranked counterstrike this morning though \m/

[mecka]

gonna do one last one for my 30th on the 28th of April.....Dirty Bass in the Hood....

dope!

Fuckin sick!

After having a lengthy conversation with kronz over beer & coffee tonight I realised (from a punter's point of view) where some of the problems lie in Melbourne DnB.

The question of "what got us into dnb?" started it all. When I first got into parties there was a fucking banging local scene, with AWESOME lineups, packed rooms and good times to be consistently had. We had Soulaar on thursday nites, Just Rite saturdays, Bass in the Hood monthly etc etc. Heaps and heaps of us came into the scene around that time. One thing that is sorely lacking in the scene currently is the injection of new blood into it.

Why is this so? kronz believes its to do with the rise of house in Melbourne. This a small part of it. In my eyes the biggest problem is that we no longer have any awesome weekly parties to go to. I'm talking about another weekly on a Friday/Saturday night at a great place with good sound and friendly bar staff. One that has the support of both the older members of the scene and the kids who are looking to get into dnb. One that is well promoted across a broad range of media as opposed to via internet forums and gayspace. That's how I got into dnb, and I have a feeling it would be a great method to draw new blood into the scene.

Its all well and good to cite the fact that we've had massive parties like Andy C or Pendulum - which do bring out the new kids in droves. But the problem is that once they've realised they've had an awesome time listening to "drums and bass" they have literally no where to turn to. We don't have weekly international parties for a majority of the year, and as a result they tend to go "oh yeah we had a mad night but we couldn't find another party like it", and they go back to house.

The biggest problem with saying all of this is that we are locked into a catch 22 of sorts. The oldschool have moved on to stable lives with families and whatnot - and its becoming increasingly difficult to get them out to parties to recapture the fire that used to burn in Melb. Promoters in Melbourne still refuse to band together to push the local scene in a positive way. What the fuck happened to Plus: One? Was that not supposed to be the start of something new and positive for Melbourne?

We're all so dizzy about which internatty is coming out next that we forget we have an incredible amount of talent in Melbourne that is essentially untapped. Look at these djs : Scholtzy, AC23, Seven, Dust, Valuetime (soon to be gone), Sean, Motive, JPS, HOOVES, Keir, Fickuss etc etc (apologies to anybody i missed). I would fucking kill to have a party where all of these guys got to play. And I'm not just talking at the Espy on New Years Day or at Easter.

I suppose I should insert a disclaimer here: I am a punter. I don't mix, I don't promote. I know it is fucking difficult for each and every promoter and DJ here and big massive fuck off ups to each and every one of you for the work that is done to keep the local scene going. But it is dying a long slow and painful death and I've been seeing it for years.

It's the local scene that needs to be bolstered in order to grow DnB in Melbourne. Its the local scene that brings in new blood, its the local scene that offers great opportunities to promote new parties. Its the local scene where new talent is discovered and I've noticed that it is getting harder and harder to find it in this city - probably another reason why the locals get neglected (see the catch 22?).

I wish all of this could change overnight. I like to believe I still have the same wide-eyed awe and passion running through my veins as I did five years ago. I'm fucking naive, I'm dreaming, I'm an idealist and it fucking breaks my heart to write this post because I know i've been feeling it for years and its only now I have put it into words.

Take this as a plea not just from me but from all the headz, past, present and future.

Sigh. Sorry for the rambling. Feel free to pick apart my post sentence by sentence. You all know things need to change.

Looking forward to the future, always.

[Hatsudai]

Great thread, so many memories of fun nights from the past making me all teary!

I got into D+B (like so many others I suppose) in late 97/early 98. The album that did it?

Roni Size and reprazent- New forms.

I listened to this CD heaps of times before actually going out to a party and after I did That was it for a while I was addicted.

Some good times:

*That Ink party Fents mentioned at ZOS or whatever. To be honest I liked D+B in the side rooms of big parties (not to say I dont like it on its own). I liked seeing people who had never really heard it before brock out for the first time. I like the mix of ravers and heads

*When SS played at the prince and they turned all the lights on.

* Seeing Storm at some little basement bar (dunno what its called nowerdays) prolly round 99/00

* Probably my favourite party ever though was when Red One played on Cammos rooftop. I still get shivers thinking about that party. The vibes were so running. Back when Tali actually spat and wore her cap over her face. When the heavens opened up and it started raining on everyone. Not the biggest party or best DJ but a great night none the less.

* Congo Natty at Fuji rock last year. Bumped into 2 random mates I hadn't seen for about 2 years and danced out asses off to a proper jungle set.

too many more to mention so I'll leave it at that.

As for drum ad bass nowerdays. I still listen to mixes at home and on my ipod. I go out probably once/twice a month socially (ie not VJ gigs) to see my mates more than anything I suppose.

I always feel bad to slag off Drum and Bass, I am guilty of doing it from time to time, but for a genre of music that has probably given me more than any other I guess it feels abit dirty to say too much negative stuff.

[mecka]

The biggest problem with saying all of this is that we are locked into a catch 22 of sorts. The oldschool have moved on to stable lives with families and whatnot - and its becoming increasingly difficult to get them out to parties to recapture the fire that used to burn in Melb. Promoters in Melbourne still refuse to band together to push the local scene in a positive way. What the fuck happened to Plus: One? Was that not supposed to be the start of something new and positive for Melbourne?

Yout making some pretty huge assumptions there.

It's quiet obvious - nobody turned up.

Money doesn't grow on trees.

Of course. And I reiterate that I am probably dreaming when it comes to all of this, innit?

Sigh.

[mecka]

I love it to absolute peices, I know its cliche, But I really do
live for this shit.

truer words have never been spoken.

[JAMESSSS]

There needs to be DnB / Techno parties.

[DBoy]

A mate of mine came out on Sat night to check out fire-aid. He comes from a different world to me, but our lives cross in some places.
He noted that he had not seen me this way before, but thought that he understood me better having seen me in that environment.


I have my work life.
I have 1 or 2 friends I have known since before we had hair under our arms.
I have my family.
Then there is me when I am with my music, be it at home, or most especially at a club, listening to tunes. THAT is when i feel most comfortable.

[huge]

probably my most listened to album ever.



absolutely essential listening. this is what i love about drum & bass.

[Smile on Impact]

There needs to be DnB / Techno parties.

Come to brown alley this friday..

[Direkt]

probably my most listened to album ever.



absolutely essential listening. this is what i love about drum & bass.

Haven't played that one for a while, picked it up on vinyl second hand a year or so... Tonight's the night me thinks!

[system]

probably my most listened to album ever.



absolutely essential listening. this is what i love about drum & bass.

The mix CD from this is up there in my all-time played albums list.

[Broken Beat Assault]

Seba & Lotek - Universal Music!!!! wikd track, whole album is all class