Mr Elephant Presents

The second of our Party Rockin Mammal Sessions was a history lesson, a fabulous evening, and a proper party, all rolled into one thanks to special guest Dj Smokedog, and our residents.

We kicked off with some downtempo Elephant radio style music, as the place quickly started to fill up while it was free entry. A birthday surprise was among the guests and just before we started the dancefloor action, we dropped the music to a rousing crescendo of happy birthday sung by everyone in there!

Marc Reck and Liam Blendstate kicked us off with some breaks, a little techno, and some dancing santa clauses, while our normal performance artist and workshop host, Pyn Stockman hosted the door with a welcoming smile, and a professional style!

Then it was time for our special guest and birthday boy, dj Smokedog who was playing the first of his two sets, with a bag of classic old school. For someone that is a relative newcomer to our local scene, he seemed as  excited as we were to have him play, and he didnt fail to deliver.

A blistering set, and plenty of shaky hand people as Smokedog took us all back to the early 90’s, with the multi screen visuals from Liam Blendstate, at times completely transforming the venue, creating a magical environment for a really responsive crowd.

At around midnight it was back to Marc for his second set of the evening, this time switching it up into the drum and bass, and totally rocking the floor, with a huge amount of energy from behind the decks and an arsenal of tracks.

Back over to Smokedog, for his final jungle set, and by now the friendly crowd and electric atmosphere, had the whole place proper excited, as we all explored the other side of the old school.

A truly momentous night, and a really awesome crowd who created something very special. Hats off to those that came in fancy dress, those that bought light sabers, and to everyone who created such a party rocking atmosphere.

Also big shouts to the venue hosts, and to the bouncer on the fire escape door who got well into the music and looked after the crowd, after one stray started to mess with the light sabers !

We’ll have another party rockin mammal session for you on the first saturday in february 2008 (with a very special guest and a new style of music) and our next big mr elephant will  be around April/May.

One love

Mr E x

This Saturday is the 2nd installment of our Party Rockin Mammal Sessions upstairs at the Bulls Head in Moseley, and, inspired by the recent Atomic Jam, and memories of the old days at the Que Club, this month we’ve got a special guest who has the skills (and the record collection) to take us back!

This month we are going for an all out assault on the dancefloor with birthday boy Dj Smokedog, who simply put, has a relentless passion for what he terms “proper old school” and “classic jungle”

With over 15 years experience, Smokedog is a familliar face in the festival and free party scene, and no stranger to rockin hoards of party mammals with a record collection that is brimming with music from the days before the criminal justice bill came in.

(Days when it seems you could very literally go and dance with 1000 people in birmingham’s rag market!)

To keep things muxed up, our resident dj Marc Reck will be balancing the old school with the nu skool and party breaks, and the jungle with the drum and bass with a hint of classic techno thrown in for good memories.

Our resident Vj Mr Blendstate will be bringing his dual projector light magic for your visual stimulation, and our veritable door host Pyn will be on hand to welcome you our party, and we hope that by 2am you will be feeling extremely warm and somewhat fuzzy inside.

For anyone thats as skint as us please get there b4 10 as it’s free entry, otherwise its £3 after 10pm to cover the costs.

This is our last Mr Elephant event this year, but keep an eye out for the next full scale festival style ones, (when the weather starts to warm up again) which will feature the return of the poodles, the ever growing midnight mask percussion parade, local djs, bands, vjs and performers, stalls from local people, workshops from the mr elephant crew, and more than likely those tourists will be dropping by with tales of their caravan club once again!

We also have 2 new community style projects which are set for early next year which we are hoping will appeal/be useful to mammals in brum, and we’ve got some local artwork, handmade drums, custom made workshops and some speciailly designed t-shirts which should be available from the website very soon.

If you’d like to keep updated with any of the above please keep in touch via the mailing list, the rss feed or of course feel free to email us at - mrelephantpresents@gmail.com

One love

Mr Elephant x

All went remarkably well and trunks up to all those who made it happen! The first half (6-9pm) saw 3 half hour showcase sets for some visiting student reps, as part of the afternoon gigbeth conference, and despite it being an early eve performances, Smiley Mic, Mama Matrix and our very own Dj Marc Reck and Vj Liam Blendstate, all demonstrated in full effect what they do.

From 9pm was the aforementioned gigbeth fringe show organised by Consider it Done, with a little input from us. Apparently, and thankfully for us, it was one of the busiest venues, and turned out to be a really fantastic evening attracting a truly ecletic mix of people.

First up was Laura Louise, all the way from New Zealand, and with a  truly stunning voice, she delivered a magical set using her acoustic guitar and flute all going through a footpedal to create lush harmonic layers coupled with emotional lyrics.

Next up were Mr Elephant favourites Mama Matrix, who delivered a blistering set of Balkan Gypsy Jazz from start to finish and left only a handful of people sitting down. A truly amazing band!

Smiley Mic was up next and showed us what a real one man band looks like with his firsr gig in Birmingham. Easily switching up styles from acoustic layers, to star wars, culminating in a prize winning sugar hill gang remix, Smiley is one face you need to keep an eye on (and a thoroughly lovely bloke)

And then our very own Marc Reck was seeminly up to finish the night with as many styles as he could fit in, and even a live jam! Starting with breaks and house, and switching into a myriad of drum and bass styles, the space which had previously been occupied by all the instruments and p.a was quickly replaced with a room full of smiley dancing people. After a brief dj mc jam, he finished up the evening with a stack of soul, indie and shameless crowdpleasers resulting in hour and a half extension til 3.30 am!

You can catch some of the sets on www.rhubarbradio.com (plus other gigbeth shows), and you can read about it on the consider it done blog, or Smiley Mic’s, or number one digbeth blogger Nicky Getgood’s who was seen tearin up the dancefloor til the wee hours!

We are very excited to be working with the inspiring John Mostyn and his new Consider it Done agency on their gigbeth fringe gig @ the Rainbow pub next friday (7th November 2008) as part of this years Gigbeth Fringe festival.

Not only is it free all night (from 9 - 2), but the line up is full of really talented musicians and legendary bands! (Updated on November 6th - News just in - Capital Letters are unfortunately not able to play :()

Here’s some links if you want to have a listen for yourself :

9pm - Laura Louise (Beautiful Acoustic with footpedal and flute)- http://www.myspace.com/lauralouiseowen

9.45pm - Mama Matrix (Energetic Balkan Gypsy Jazz) - http://www.myspace.com/mamamatrix

11pm - Smiley Mic (Incredible One Man Band avec footpedal) - http://www.smileymic.co.uk/

12.15pm - Dj Marc Reck (Dancefloor Action)- http://www.marcreck.com

And if you’re on facebook and feel like telling anyone about it, the event page is - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=47795435235

Should be a great night of music, so hope you can be there.

One love

Mr E

Last saturday was the first elephant call to the local party rockin mammals, when we inhabited the Bulls Head in Moseley. With our resident vj Blendstate at the helm of his multi screen visuals, and our resident sock rocker Marc Reck at the sonic controls, we expected it to go off elephant style…Quite how much though we really didnt expect!

There was so much great stuff on last week, we weren’t sure how many party rockin mammals there would be around, and with a capacity of around 100 upstairs at the bulls head, we weren’t expecting any more than that, so we were pretty astounded that around 200 people came out to rock the party!

To be fair we did also have special guest and leftfoot resident Sam Redmore playing for the first 3 hours, who warmed up the room (on a particularly cold october eve) with a very soulful selection, playing classic and re-edited funk, soul and reggae cuts.

While it got many asses in motion, and was the perfect diverse build up, Party Rockin was the calling of the night, and as the name implied was what many of the guests were shouting for. Straight into the breaks with the classic Higher State of Consciousness, our resident dj Marc Reck took to the decks, and with his first solid outing of scratching, he built up the energy with every track, dropping tech house, party breaks, techno and nu school breaks, alongside Liam Blendstate multi screen visuals, until unleashing the last 45 minutes of drum and bass to a very responsive crowd.

It was a great atmosphere and paved the way nicely for the 2nd Party Rockin Mammal Sessions to be held on Saturday 6th December 2008, with a very special old school guest joining our dj and vj residents.

Heres a few video clips of Vj Blendstate & Dj Marc Reck courtesy of Liam D’authreau (and stuck together in quicktime).

Next Saturday we’ll be taking a new residency at another local venue. This one has another animal in the title, and will see Mr Elephant host a smaller yet equally party rocking stance on the second saturday of every two months starting next week on Saturday 11th October 2008.

It promises to start chilled and end frantic, and alongside our own resident Marc Reck, we’ve also got one of the hottest djs in south brum, Leftfoot and Freestyle Resident Sam Redmore.

He rocked the beach party a few weeks ago, so we cant wait to hear what he pulls out the bag next week.

In elephant style it’s free in, until 10pm, and a couple of quid after. Here’s the poster, and hope you can make it.

We’ve just been sent this at Mr Elephant Hq. A proper review by up and coming event journalist Domonic Brotherton and photographs courtesy of the very talented Alina Ha.

The Night Times & Mr Elephant Presents:

“Celebrate Birmingham’s Underground”

(Saturday 20th September, 5pm till 5am @ Rainbow Warehouse & Beach)

It’s all in the Mix

Magnetic, Evolve, Trigger, Breakthru, Osmosis, Drop Beats Not Bombs, Jam Jah, Mr Elephant, House of God, Custom Made, My Bass, Broken Minds, the list goes on…

It reads like an elaborate and complex cocktail of contrasting ingredients that bears the danger of becoming explosive, much like the often schizophrenic face of the Birmingham underground. However, like the coffee of Kahlúa that binds the unexpected combination of vodka and milk in a White Russian, the mash up of genres slipped down wonderfully thanks to the open mindedness of the spectators: the key ingredient so core to the prevalence of the Birmingham underground scene.

Attracting such a crowd, as disparate as its line-up, the plethora of different backgrounds the night drew on was reflected in everything, from the faces at the bar to the moves on the dance floor: a spectrum of styles, but consistent smiles. The smooth production of the event also lies in the contributing organisations that themselves embrace a wide range of styles. Custom Made, Drop Beats Not Bombs, and of course, Mr Elephant are no stranger to exhibiting genres such as samba, break-beat, ska and hip-hop on the same stage.

Aside from the eclectic range of DJ’s which kept the herd dancing, there were some amusing quirks which got the crowd involved too, such as a selection of craft stalls, a truly bizarre poodle making competition and hilarious performance art from map-bearing characters known as The Tourists, who could be seen roving around the dance floor asking for directions to their hotel, picnicking on the beach, and commenting on the friendliness of the locals.

Once again, club favourite and skilled beat-boxer, Bass6, was in control of the mic, filling gaps with banter, beat breath and being an all-round brilliant host of the beach party, which it must be said, was certainly the epicentre of the joyous occasion, leaving the Night Times’ hosted Rainbow Warehouse a little under-populated at times.

R-Caine stole the show, however, with a flawless B2B appearance with fellow Drop Beats Not Bombs representative, Boogie Dave; never letting the beat become monotonous, sustaining the audience’s energy with quality break after quality break, and never a sloppy drop.

There aren’t many raves that offer the chance to make sand castles with tourists, get your fingers messy making masks, witness a hand-made poodle parade, try a selection of organic curries, buy clothes (I purchased a fantastic purple shirt which I am sure to don at the next elephantine event), and learn how to turn an old juice carton into a functioning wallet, all in one night.

For the parties of birthday boys and girls present, a member of which told me they “didn’t usually go out to these sort of things”, it must have been the most wonderful fiesta to walk in on, and I am glad they didn’t miss it. Even better was hearing from those involved in the curation of the event, for whom there is usually little time to frolic, that they too had enjoyed themselves. Last Saturday, Mr Elephant and The Night Times were without doubt hosting the best party the second city could offer.

As the 5 O’clock finish line got closer and closer, co-curator Marc Reck stepped up to the decks to provide a perfect concluding set, bringing the curtain to a close with the sublime lyrics “daylight come and we wanna go home” echoing around the venue. An idyllic outro, if not somewhat ironic, as it was clear that no one was yet ready to become bed bound. The rare pleasure of an encore at the end of the night is a true testament to the success of the celebration, and we will certainly be asking for more where that came from.

Dominik Kai Brotherton

to all of you that came down on saturday!! It totally exceeded all of our expectations, and the response to the poodles, the music, the visuals and the performance has blown us all away, so first off a huge and very sincere Thank You, from all of us at Mr Elephant Presents and on behalf of Ric and Nik from the Night Times who have been two of the most hardworking and easy people we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.

So for anyone that wasn’t there what happened?

Well we began at 5pm with Loafers on the decks, 2 huge video projections from Liam Blendstate, and with a host of local creatives hosting their own stalls, all expertly handled by our very own performance and arts co-ordinator Pyn Stockman of Dramask fame.

The stalls featured local alternative fashion designers Youth Decay, recycled tetra purses and charity shop clothes from Lentil aka Lyndall Fitzgerald, and of course our very own Poodle Making Parlor, expertly hosted by our very own Pyn, and a very talented and lovely animator called Kate (website coming soon)

A little later in the eve we were joined by the ever friendly Martha, who runs our favourite local shop on Poplar rd, and who bought a host of traditional Jamaican food. We at Mr Elephant like to feature different local businesses at each one, but i think Martha will have to be at the next one as it worked really well in that venue.

Jam Jah were up next in the beach hut, playing on one deck (until the replacement had arrived) with their residents Robin and Damo on the deck, and mc on the mic, and with effortless class played a blinding set as the sun delivering some of the best music this side of jamaica!

Bass 6 also started flexing his hosting mc muscles, and from start to finish proved himself as one of the greatest hosts you could ever hope to have at your event. Really vibing the crowd up and effortlessly switching from music styles to happenings in the event.

Next up was local legend Sam Redmore representing Leftfoot and his own ecletic night Freestyle. Switching it up from reggae to funk, to soul to house, he got the whole room a shaking with some amazing mixes!

By the time Matt Tilley from Bunka had taken over, the beach was nicely full and his minimal house took the levels up and got those asses shaking. Over in the warehouse things had started kicking off, with the Night Times awesome line up, but to be fair we can’t report on that as we were busy all night with the beach.

The poodle making parlour was in full swing, and the vibe was ecletic to say the least, with a really diverse crowd of people and an infectious festival type vibe. Obviously one of the aims  was to introduce crowds to other events and it was so nice to see really happen.

All of the 10 drummers had by now arrived and a stack of djembes some of them hand made by a very talented man called Rich, (who you will soon be able to purchase your own from, through the forthcoming Elephant drums nonetheless), all ready for the customary Mr Elephant Midnight Masked Parade, this time with poodles and scratch club at the controls.

Before then however it was Funkatronic’s Dani C who absoultly rocked the crowd with some big breaks and beautiful basslines! One of the sets of the night, and an extremely talented and versatile dj.

By 11.30 the Mr Elephant performers had come out, featuring Pyn and Lucy who last week performed at Project x Presents, and this week teamed up with other Mr Elephant performance resident Adam Skerrit and after her first fantastic performance at our birthday bash, the inspiring Izzy/James, all appearing as the Tourists.

The normal chaos and interest ensued, and the crowd got right behind the interactive characters, not only helping them to find out where they were on their map, but also playing beach games and paddling in the pool!

Then the clock struck midnight and it Bass 6 (who’d been rocking it alongside the djs) stepped into his own, and announced the start of the midnight parade. The drummers congregated by the beatboxer and drummer, and laid down the beat while Automaton and Bass 6 rocked the glitchy hip hop sound you can find at their seminal scratch club events.

The sound of the live drummers by our local favourites along with the electronic sound of the decks all tied together with the elegance and energy of Bass 6, created an experience yet unmatched in the midnight parade. If you look back at the previous events you will see how the parade has evolved, involving more and more local people and elements. Each time the crowd has got right into it, but this one it was great to see the crowd joining in on the djembes themselves!

12.30 and it was time for the poodle promenade, with the call the the creators to step up, and parade their pooch. There were some great entries and through a process of audience voting/shouting, the rosettes were awarded with the top winner also winning some customary Mr Elephant booze!

The venue was now packed out with smiley happy people from all walks of life, and the vibe was getting postively commented as we walked the venue. Blendstate’s visuals not only further created the festival environment, but were generating more comments from the audience, and even got him a rock gig residency from one of the party goers!

The man puts so much work into his craft, and we are very lucky to have him as one of residents, and we have big plans for the future so keep an eye on his work via his site - www.blendstate.com

Next up on the decks was Custom Made maestro Mark Smallman, an extremely talented promoter and dj. Despite more technical problems from the venue equipment, he effortlessly built up the vibe reaching a crescendo which had the whole crowd rocking.

Bass 6 was still on the mic rocking the crowd, and the dj passed over to Russ Caine, who was reppin Drop Beats and Dj Joust, and someone we’ve been wanting to get down to mr e;ephant since seeing him play back to back with our resident Marc Reck at the Anti World festival.

Russ was also one of the co-promoters of Marc and Boogies breaks night Rockfall so it was great to see Boogie join Russ behind the decks, and Mr Elephant favourite Vj Chromatouch jumping on the visuals, and destroying the dancefloor with a huge b2b set.

By now Bass 6 had had to retire due to almost losing his voice, but the packed beach crowd and amazing atmosphere remained. On the decks it was down to our resident and music curator Marc Reck, to finish off what had been one of the most amazing events we’ve ever had the pleasure to be involved with.

Effortlessly switching from techno, to all manner of phat breakbeat, and then taking us into a proper mashup of old and new drum and bass, the energy and dancefloor went off in proper party style, finishing with the perfect end of night track (Harry Belafonte’s classic Banana Boat Song)!

All in all we feel that we really did celebrate Birminghams Underground, and not only that, but celebrated ourselves in that true Mr Elephant carnival style party. The Night Times will be taking the idea into a regular thing, and we are working on the next big Mr Elephant for 2009.

You can catch a new little elephant night at the Bulls Head in Moseley from October 11th 2008 (with the next on December 12th 2008 for your diaries), featuring some of our Mr Elephant friends, and the diverse party rocking style you’ve come to know, and alongside the local family events, we will also be launching some more local creative opportunities, working with our network and local people over the next few months, so as always feel free to get in touch at mrelephantpresents@gmail.com.

If you’d like to keep updated, please join the mailing list, or subscribe to the rss if you are familiar with that, and check back for the radio shows, reports and the forthcoming Share to Create.

Oh and there are loads more pics and videos from the night, which we’ll be posting very soon.

If you were at the event we would REALLY appreciate any feedback or comments you have in the comments section of this post, and we wish you a beauiful autumn season.

One love

Mr Elephant