As you probably know we are taking a break from all the monthly events for the forseeable future, to concentrate on other projects, so until we return, we just wanted to say a massive thank you on behalf of the whole Mr Elephant crew for bringing the vibes to our last 41 events, and to everyone who has been part of any Mr Elephant event, workshop, radio show, or website.

We’ll really miss the events, and each one has been a truly inspiring experience, but the time feels right to move on to other projects until next year.

It was really important that we left things on a high, and we’re forever grateful to all the venues that have housed us throughout the last years, the Adam & Eve, Hare & Hounds, Epic Skate Park, Rainbow Beach, the Bulls Head & Prince Wales.

When we return to do events we will certainly be looking to promote local talent through smaller regular events, but there was a unananimous decision that we all wanted to return to another reason why we started Mr Elephant in the 1st place, and that is the larger more festival style events. Like the 1st 2 at Epic skate park in 2007, the family days at the Prince garden, the 12 hour celebration pf Birmingham’s Underground on the Rainbow beach/warehouse, and the workshops & multistage 2nd Birthday at the hare and hounds. Events that are one offs and that encompass all the areas of Mr Elephant in one cohesive event, or to put it another way, a balance of all the events over the last 3 years, and pushing some of the Mr Elephant ideas forward.

We’ll still be hosting our radio show on www.rhubarbradio.com with Marc Reck every monday evening at 6pm & Mr Elephant residents Skeleton & Dolhasz will be hosting The Beat Suite every wednesday from 11.30pm. However to avoid the whole website being taken up with the radio shows, it seems more appropriate for these to exist on their own websites & of course the rhubarb ones, so that the artists & events can remain on the front of this one. One of the main aims of Mr Elephant is to shine a light on great stuff, and so hopefully the videos of the events housed on this website helps further that.

There are many ideas and goals that we have as Mr Elephant and while we’ve achieved so much more than we hoped, (due to the ever expanding platform of talented contributors) there is so much we have yet to explore.

We have always been totally unfunded, and, as most will know, it becomes difficult to devote such a large portion of your life when you have to cover your own costs, and have other ambitions to explore. With that in mind we are looking at ways to fund future events so we can realise their true potential, and we’ll be taking time out to further our own interests in order to bring them back in bigger and brighter. We all want to keep the free party ethos alight wherever possible, simply because it allows the most accessibility to people, regardless of financial status, and therefore the most diverse mix of people, which is always a good thing… The logisitics of sorting the time and resources we can work out.

Anyway, once again, thanks to one and all for a truly inspiring 3 years, and on behalf of all the Mr Elephant crew, we wish you a beautiful hot summer.

One love
Mr Elephant.

Mr Elephant is 3 years, and almost 40 events old, so we are celebrating with 2 final free parties at our 2 favourite homes

Here are a few photos from the event

and a little bit of video (sorry about the sound quality) before our cameraman sorts the well shot footage out.

Update & here’s Jack Brabant‘s video

Massive thanks to all who came down and bought the vibes. Great night and one we wont forgot.

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Part One will be the phat underground floor shaking party rockin mammal sessions with 5 of Birmingham’s most versatile party rockin djs & the return of a new vj.

Headliners are the massive Doctor & Malicious ak the Brotherhood of Filth, and pioneers of http://www.bassoperations.co.uk/

DOCTOR http://www.bassoperations.co.uk/NewerTheDoctor.html plays many musical genres including Hip Hop, Dnb, Reggae, Dubstep, Oldskool & Breaks. With a massive reputation from his residencies at Scratch Club & Heducation, and his forthcoming releases, its safe to say you can expect the unexpected, with a host of genres cut up in his individual scratch style.

Malicious Dj – http://www.bassoperations.co.uk/NewerMalicious.html is another genre hopping turntablist who continues to create a floor filling party experiences for a wide variety of audiences across the country. Long time resident for Scratch Club and Heducation, Malicious dj has developed a unique scratching style mashing up his love for hip-hop, reggae and drum and bass during his versatile and creative sets.

MARC RECK – http://www.marcreck.com has been taking 6 months off djing to work on a brand new setup for May, but will be giving a sneak preview on the night alongside celebrating his own birthday. Coined as the Dj with no barriers by the Night Times and winner of best local dj in Dec 2008, Marc has 6 residencies, a radio show, and has supported a huge spectrum of live bands and headline djs, so expect peak time party rockin genre hopping.

THE BEAT SUITE – http://www.rhubarbradio.com/programmes/beatsuite/ has been going from strength to strength, both behind the decks and on the airwaves. Here’s the men behind the show.

SKELETON – http://www.myspace.com/skeletonskratch is a diverse turntablist party rocker, with bookings every weekend, and an ever growing armoury of styles. A keen ear for dynamics and superb deck skills, expect everything from dubstep, glitchybreaks through to rolling jungle and phat drum and bass.

Dolhasz – http://www.myspace.com/dolhasz brings the party to the decks and the bass to the airwaves. Host of two radio shows, a producer with recent releases, and a dj who can drop the biggest tunes at all the right moments, Dolhasz’s party rockin style of bass music will be in full effect for our last session.

This event was created by our resident Vj monsieur Blendstate, but as he will now be in Japan on the date, we will be welcoming back our last guest at cinephonci.http://www.mrelephant.com/events/featured/cinephonic-5-photos-review . All the way from Italy, Vj Delsyd will be adorning the big screen with her beautiful blend of visuals, keeping our vision enthralled throughout the evening.

And our crew will also be bringing you Elephant Crafts to get your creativity a flowing when you need a sit down from the party rockin tunes.

As a little way of saying a big thank you to everyone for their incredible support of Mr Elephant and the events over the last 3 years, these parties will be free all night and the venue have kindly given us an extra hour til 3am.

NB a lot of people have been asking why we are stopping Mr Elephant events at a time when they are seemingly going so well, and so in answer to anyone who may be wondering the same, it’s mainly because the regular events, while hugely enjoyable, take up a lot of time & with us all working for free, there was a consensus that we need to drop them for a while in favour of moving back to the original reasons to why we started it, which is the bigger festival events, and various related strands. Plus this year some of the core members need time to focus on other areas.

We will still be running the odd free event, and our radio show will continue every week, but for now we just wanted to leave things on a high, so these will be our last two for the forseeable future.

You can check all the associated video, photos and blog posts for every single event on our website http://www.mrelephant.com by clicking on the events menu item.

One love
Mr Elephant

This Saturday is our 2nd Party Rockin Mammal Sessions at the new home at Hare & Hounds. 1st one in January was off the hook (see pics and vid below) so we’re excited about this one.

Check the details & the pics and vids below

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=347708168379

Party Rockin Mammal Sessions is back with another free party following January’s large launch. We were blown away by the response and the vibe at the last one, so we’re going for another free entry all night.

This month we are very pleased to be welcoming DJ Reaction as our special guest. Heading one of the leading drum and bass events in the city aka Break Thru, and the man who bought us the infamous underground nightlife newspaper – The Night Times, Ric aka DJ Reaction has supported a wealth of big names, including Goldie, LTJ Bukem, Calibre, High Contrast, and London Elektricity. Expect a journey through lush sun kissed liquid drum and bass all the way through to those massive peak time club bangers. Not to be missed.

Joining Ric are our residents Skeleton (Trigger/Secret Wars/The Beat Suite) & Dolhasz (The Beat Suite) taking their killa radio show on rhurbarb radio to the live environment with a diverse party rockin set of beats, breaks and basslines. It always goes off in a big way when they step up, and music wise it’ll range from from turntablism to glitch-hop, all the through to phat breakbeat, dirty dubstep, and lashings of peak time jungle & drum & bass. Blendstate visuals will be on VJ duties making the place look the part, and resident charm offensive Emily will be hosting with the most.

As mentioned it’s Free entry all night long, and have a gander at the little vids of our last party rockin mammal sessions below.

Some footage from Jack B from Jan’s Party Rockin Mammal Sessions Free Party

Last Saturday the Hare and Hounds saw one hell of a party! The place was buzzing all night long, the venue was rammed, the vibes were great and the tunes were massive : )

Here’s a few photos from Emily’s new Slr :

And a short pre video from our cameraman Jack Brabant

Mr Elephant’s Party Rockin Mammal Sessions launches at its new home in the Hare and Hounds with a huge free party. We’ve gone all out and brought together as many of our guest DJ’s from last year as possible. Nowhere else will you get such an eclectic, quality line-up of Brum’s underground DJ’s for absolutely nowt, so come join us for a night to remember!

Lineup:

Boogie Dave

Dr Pepperspray

Lopan

Mark Smallman

Sam Redmore

Skeleton and Dolhasz

Smokedog

Subcitizen

+Blendstate Visuals & Elephant Crafts!

9PM – 2AM – FREE ALL NIGHT!!

Boogie Dave (Drop Beats Not Bombs)

A man who needs little introduction, Drop Beats Not Bombs founder Boogie Dave has rocked several of our parties with his crazy dubstep sounds, no doubt he will deliver the goods once again. Look out for his latest venture, a full scale DBNB festival this year: https://www.theticketsellers.co.uk/buy_tickets/events/?id=10007162

Dr Pepperspray

Long running DJ and producer, Dr Pepperspray always brings his unique style & sound to Mr Elephant for a set of strangely brewed breaks, tech, funk, bass & humour!

http://www.myspace.com/doctorpepperspray

Lopan (Sexual AllStars/Sumo SoundSystem)

Member of Birmingham legends, the Sexual Allstars, and more recently resident for Sumo Sound System. The breakbeat, electro and drum and bass heavyweight turntablist Mr DJ Lopan, will be once again bringing it for us.

Mark Smallman (Custom Made)

Mark is one of the few DJs who can play chillout all the way through to drum and

bass. He knows how to rock the party, and his (and Shona’s) award winning custom events are testament to his wide musical tastes and party rockin style.

http://www.myspace.com/custommadeevent

Skeleton (Trigger/Secret Wars) & Dolhasz (The Beat Suite)

Skeleton & Dolhasz of the Beat Suite (Rhurbarb Radio) impressed us so much as guests earlier last year we installed them as permanent residents! As always they will be journeying through a varied set of beats and breaks ranging from danceable funk and hip-hop to glitch-hop, breakbeat and dubstep.

http://thebeatsuiterhubarbradio.blogspot.com/

Sam Redmore (Leftfoot/Freestyle)

One of the hottest DJ’s in Birmingham, Leftfoot and Freestyle Resident Sam Redmore, plays a special blend of funk, soul, hip-hop, disco, reggae and more together with his many custom edited tracks. A man going places…

http://www.myspace.com/samredmoreone

Smokedog

With over 15 years experience, Smokedog is a familiar 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.

Subcitizen (Resistor Records)
Subcitizen has spent years searching for the most experimental edges of any electronic genre he can find. The most glitchy elements are always on show whether he’s playing techno, electro, electronica, drum and bass, dubstep and much more. Expect to hear many genres you’re familiar with, but chopped and hacked up in ways you didn’t think were allowed!

http://www.myspace.com/subcitizen1

Yes another year is almost passed and as we enter a new decade we would like to whole heartedly wish you all a very happy 2010 on behalf of the Mr Elephant crew.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who bought their vibes to any of our 25 events this year, lent their ears to any of the 16 radio shows, or took part in our community workshops back in May.

And of course a big shout to the 50+ artists who delivered their magic at the various Mr Elephant events, and the 100 + people who came together behind to make it all happen, and platform and share their unique skills, with us (and each other.)

You may have noticed that this year we wanted to focus more on showcasing as many Birmingham artists as we could (hence the 3 very different monthly residencies at 3 great Birmingham venues) but we haven’t forgotten why we started Mr Elephant, and in 2010 we will be looking to hopefully bring a balance to both with slightly less regular events and slightly more of the larger events.

Because they require so much time we have had to look at how best to move forward so we will be playing the next quarter by elephant ear, but suffice to say there are plans already in action for another festival style event with the return of the mr elephant midnight parade and featuring all the trimmings of the 1st 2 at Epic from 2007, the 12 hour celebrate underground from 2008, our 1st birthday also from 2008 and  our 12 hour 2nd birthday from 2009. We are also aiming to grow our regular monthly events and showcase some great live artists,underground djs, and forward thinking vjs at two of our favourite Birmingham venues.

Our Party Rockin Mammal Sessions will be the first to return with a new home @ the Hare & Hounds room 2 on Saturday Jan 9th (http://www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/party-rockin-mammal-sessions-free-party/) with a huge free party featuring around 10 of our favourite underground djs in brum, and will of course be on rotation 2nd Sat of every month thereafter with our Cinephonic A/V cinematic dancefloor sessions both bringing you a host of great djs, vjs, and live electronic artists.

Along with his unique visual talents, Vj Blendstate has taken over the promoting reigns of both of these events since mid October, along with our super skilled elephant residents the beat suite (aka skeleton & dolhasz) rocking the decks, and Liam has some big plans afoot, so if you like underground dance music and quality visuals, keep it locked.

I’ll be continuing with our live and free residency at the Adam & Eve which will feature more great live bands, eclectic djs and solo artists on the last saturday of February and each month thereafter, and will of course remain free entry til 4am, and will be returning with our eclectic radio show each monday to its home on rhubarb radio from 6pm – 8pm – (Check out/hear all our past shows and artists here) . – On a personal note i’ll be returning to the decks in around April/May with something i been working on since having a break in October.

Along with Jack and friends we will continue to capture and post footage of all artists as best we can on this website and make a loud elephant noises about the wealth of talent that exists in the city we live in. BIRMINGHAM! and our resident journalist Emily P will be continuing her cool column on the news and reviews front, and is rumoured to be bringing her interviewing prowess to the site in the new year.

The website (like the events, workshops, and of course radio) is totally unfunded, and features over 140 posts, many of which with video, photos, and of course links to all artists, so please have an explore round the various posts, check the videos and support any of the artists you enjoy by following their links and making a noise about whatever you’re into.

We would like to work the site better, so if you know about websites or have any ideas, feel free to let us know on how we can improve the community side of the website, or by dropping a comment. (We’ve had major issues with the mailing list plugin which has now been discontinued, hence no mailouts for almost a year now, but we are migrating to another option in jan)

And finally we would like raise the collective trunk and make a huge elephant noise to everyone who is, and has been, involved with Mr Elephant thus far, (which deserves a post in itself!) Whethers it’s bringing music and events this great city, using the platform to showcase and develop a creative passion, or trying a creative interest with experienced artists in hands on situations, the shared grass roots ethos that seem to run through all people who get involved with the phat mammal, is a testament to the abundance of opportunities that it continues to create.

Whatever you are interested in and however you celebrate, may 2010 bring you all you wish for, and the decade be an evolution of all that interests you.

One Love

Marc  (on behalf of Mr Elephant as a whole)

Party Rockin’ Mammal Sessions at Jibbering’s 10th birthday

Mr Elephant Presents gave a giant birthday trumpet to Jibbering in in honour of their 10th birthday at the Hare and Hounds.

Jibberings main room was full of great music from start to end, featuring artists like Mc Xander, Dj Rubbish, and Smerins Anti Social Club

In room 2, it was the first Mr Elephant Party Rockin’ Mammal Sessions in the Hare since moving from the Bulls Head last month. The venue seemed to suit the diverse vibe granted from the great line up of DJs. At the tender age of one, Party Rockin’ gave its all with our mighty residents Skeleton and Dolhastz (The Beat Suite) whilst Roy Roastbeef was welcomed back by Mr Elephant, playing a fine blend classic funk.

A sneaky selection of Jibbering’s residents also took time out from the main venue to seduce the room with some cutting edge and vintage hip hop, funk, reggae, jungle and dubstep.

Skeleton and Dolhastz did their usual duty of playing floor filling underground hiphop, glitch-hop, funk, breaks and drum ‘n’ bass – with some skilful scratching which made people’s ears twitch.

And the mr elephant room also featured some arts and crafts, with the “Best Dressed Elephant Competition” keeping many occupied for hours.

Over 70 elephants were dressed up with glitter and rags, and the winner came in the form of an Elvis elephant wearing some impressive shades. A year’s free entry to all Mr Elephant events was the generous prize from the elephant pride.

To close off the evening everyone was herded into the main room for a live set from Gentleman’s Dub Club. This awesome Leeds based 9-piece filled the room with an electric energy, and their heavyweight dub and roots reggae combined with the band’s larger than life stage presence made for a mesmerising experience.

Our camera had unfortunatly ran out by then, so here’s a little footage of Jibbering Jon mixing it up with some dubstep and our Liam Blendstate’s visuals

Catch Cinephonic vs Party Rockin mammal Sessions xmas special at Hare and Hounds on Fri 11th 2009