Tonights show is to all about the brand new Pilot Project website – which aims to showcase music from midland’s artists of all genres. Its a project from radio legend Robin Valk, and i was fortunate enough to be asked to be on the board of finding music for this initial phase, so tonights show will feature 2 hours some of my favourite music submitted to the archive.
Suffice to say there is a huge amount of music, so there will be definately be more shows, but for now i present our first one. Obviously I wont be mixing the music as a whole piece this evening, but will still have all the flow as standard, starting with acoustic, world sounds, into some indie, alternative, rock, then some ska, and back down again, before going into a little funk, reggae, hip hop, and then some electronic artists to finish.
Our shows been on hiatus for a little while after some gremlins got into the scheduling system at rhubarb. There’s still more to do to get it sorted but thanks to the efforts of Phil Coyne, things are up and running and back on track.
If you like any of the artists you hear tonight, you can check them out from the weblinks below, and if you’d like to keep in touch with the show, then links are underneath the tracklisting.
Amazing vibes and inspiring performances from everyone involved, Mr Elephant is full of good vibes after last night.
Massive love, props and gratitude to all who bought the vibes and all who made it happen.
Together we raised just over £300 for Haiti, and created a night we wont forget.
Here’s a little video of some footage of a few of the artists caught on camera last night, until the “proper” footage shot by our man Jack, gets edited together.
Mr Elephant Presents “Live & Free Haiti Fundraiser” – Friday 26th Feb @ Adam & Eve – FREE ENTRY til 4am
Its one month ago today that Haiti was struck by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Obviously a collossol disaster with 200,000 killed, 1 million homeless, huge international response…everyone is aware of the details.
Something that the quake has thrown up is that there is an urgent need, now moreso than ever, to address the fact that Haiti as one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries is in a very vunerable position.
The long history of oppression by dictators has markedly affected the nation and so as well as provding aid, we must also work towards enabling the people to create a sustainable infrastructure that isnt at the mercy of big businesses or powerful governments, like many previous reconstruction attempts have been (and shown).
Haiti needs rebuilding from the ground up and local economies need to be built in small towns and villages. Local people need to be trained and equipped with skills so that the economy can be built from the ground up, and not the top down.
herefore for this fundraiser, we are looking at 2 (Now 3) organisations, who are setting up long term solutions – http://www.earthship.org/haiti-disaster-relief & http://www.haitifoundation.org/ If you can suggest any other options please feel free to let us know. (UPDATE : We have emailed earthship to define their position, as we werent clear on exactly how the money would be used & are looking at http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti as an alternative)
This is a totally free event and on til 4am. Musicans and Djs from Birmingham & Bristol are coming together to produce a quality line up. All costs of the gig will be covered before the event, so that 100% of donations can go directly to two organisations
There are more artists being added to all the time, and the set times and more info will follow next week, but here are the confirmed artists so far.
————————————————————————————————————————————————– DUB MAFIA(Live jazzy drum n bass & dub) – http://www.myspace.com/officialdubmafia
Coming all the way from Bristol, and with one of the most played videos on youtube, this band features seriously talented Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Drums, Bass, Turntable, Percussion, Saxophone, musician and are set for very big things. Possibly the only chance to see them (for free) in Birmingham before they go on their big festival tour in the summer.
World fusion at its finest, with spanish guitar, latin percussion, and 2 vocalists. The Hidden Half always go down a storm at our Live and Free Events. Check our website for past videos
EVA LAZARUS (Acoustic and vocal) – http://www.myspace.com/evalazarus
Making a huge storm in Bristol, the vocals are quite simply jaw dropping. Another artist you may be more aware of via a you tube vid that went viral, this exclusive solo performance is going to be something very special.
A legend on the live scene in brum and the man behind many bands from Dr Dan Blues remedy to the ever impressive Playing Django. If you are in anyway interested in guitar or musicianship then very special live looping performance will be a treat.
Another live looping performance but this time in a very different one man band style with human beatbox, acoustic guitar, vox & xylophone. Smiley mic has rocked two of our previous Mr Elephant events and recently supported De La Soul, so if you havent check him out yet, get there early as he’s opening the live sets, and you prob wont have heard anything quite like him before.
Inspiring singer, guitarist & part of some of Brums finest bands over the last ten years from the Starries to Baxter, this guy made his solo debut last year at our 4th Live & Free and was literally that good, he caused 2 reviews to be written the very next morning! Another probable early performance as he has two gigs on that night.
A poet that is making big waves in brum and london at the mo, witty, honest and charming poetry delivered with personality. Just back from a string of special performances in London don’t miss this.
Host of the Beat Suite, Resident at Trigger and here at Mr Elephant, Kipp is one of the most versatile and talented djs. We couldnt find any video footage of the turntablist style he’ll be playing on the night, but you can rest assured you’ll be treated to a very special scratch set from one of the city’s best djs.
We’ve said it time and time again, but Jam Jah sound is something to beholden in Birmingham, and is why we at Mr Elephant never fail to get them playing wherever possible. Legends. (Again this footage doesnt do them justice, but gives an idea of the sound at the start of the vid)
Jibbering for over 10 years have been bringing bands to Birmingham, the majority of which have gone on to be huge. Tastemakers in their own right with each core member a dj and blatant music devotee, so any opportunity to hear their record collections is always a treat. Tangawizi has a huge spectrum of music and while the vid below is all we could find at the mo, expect funk, soul, reggae, hip hop and maybe even some more underground bizness as he surfs the decks with Jam Jah til 4am.
A huge part of Mr Elephant ever since the 2nd event where he bought the indymedia films for the chillout room. Now one of the leading vj in Birmingham3 years later, and a promoter in his own right, with his own cinephonic event going from strength to strength and his managing of the party rockin mammal sessions over the last 6 months. Footage adorns many mr elephant videos, but this is one that doesnt get seen regularly, with soundtrack from another bristol guest from our 2nd birthday mr dub fx.
VENUE – http://www.theadam.co.uk
Located on the 50 route at the top of bradford street, in Digbeth, and a short walk from the city centre, the venue has been putting on music events every week for years. A place to chill and chat, as much as it is to see quality local and international bands and / or dance til 4am. There’s a cool heated smoking area, pool table and chilling areas, quality bar and proper friendly staff, great in house engineer and just they’ve spent loads on new bassbins, so expect the sound to be even bigger and crisper than every before.
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Final note. (Sorry this has been such a loooong event page!)
We moved this event to a Friday as there as there is another haiti fundraiser on from subvert on the Saturday. As we normally do Saturday - http://www.mrelephant.com/category/events/live-and-free we were a little aprehensive, so if you can help spread the word in anyway it’ll make a big difference and be very much appreciated by all involved.
Obviously everyone is coming together to put on a great free night in the hope to raise money, but also we hope will appeal to a wide range of tastes and make for a proper memorable one, so if you’re in birmingham, and can drop by for a beer, drop a few quid into the donation buckets etc, it should hopefully be another night to remember….and raise plenty of cash for where its needed.
Mr Elephant favourites Munchbreak, (this time with multi genre skills of Home Cooking djs) & the mighty Jam Jah once again showed us why Birmingham is packed full of flavour with 2 inspiring live performances and 4 dj sets which kept our last live and free event of 2009 nice and toasty all the way until the 4am close.
Here’s a little video of part one of Munchbreak where they took us back to their seminal jam session days.
Despite being probably the wettest, coldest night we’ve had thus far, nothing seem to hinder a whole pub full of revellers. Robin from Jam Jah kicked things off with their unique blend of roots, reggae, and dancehall.
Followed by some choice genre hopping funk style crowd pleasing cuts from Maxwell from Home Cooking
Then it was time for the headline live act of the night in the first of two sets. First the Jam session you can see above, and then their full live set. Here’s a little more footage this time from their 2nd set.
and if you want more, do go check out their album. It’s well recommended
P.s there are more photos here and our mr elephant facebook group is here.
This week on the Mr Elephant Radio show we’re with Marc Reck who’s taking us through 2 diverse mixes, some brand new promo’s and a whole host of genres.
Hope you enjoy the show, please check out any artists you like with the last fm links below and hope you can join us next next monday live on Rhubarb Radio at 6pm – 8pm
Mr Elephant Presents – Party Rockin’ Mammal Sessions 1st Birthday – 2nd October 2009
The Party Rockin’ Mammal Sessions have become synonymous with playing floor filling underground dancing music, guaranteed to make your tail feather shake, and a reliable way to find some of the best underground djs in the city.
Celebrating it’s 1st birthday, and final party at the Bulls Head, great vibes were in full effect, with balloons, kazoos (& those lighty up things) adorning a lovely and well up for it crowd, whilst superb sets were thrown down with celebratory style from Marc Reck, VJ Blendstate, DJ Lopan, & The Beat Suite, all of which kept the birthday mammals stomping with a dancefloor journey through hip hop, glitch-hop, funk, breaks, drum ‘n’ bass and jungle!
New residents, The Beat Suite, are a Birmingham-based duo, who can scratch, genre hop, and rock the party, joining the Mr Elephant collective at the 2nd Cinephonic. Comprising of Skeleton and Dolhasz, these two DJs began their journey at the venue filling (and much missed) Open Beats events alongside Skeleton’s residencies at Trigger. Now they host their own radio show live on rhubarb radio every Wednesday at midnight, and watch out for big things from the new 4 way partnership in 2010.
DJ Lopan was welcomed back with his record bag full of party breakbeat, and dirty electro, with some fine turnatablist skills, alongside fellow resident VJ Blendstate who delivered without doubt the finest visuals yet seen at the venue.
whilst resident sock-rocker Marc Reck once again brought his magic to the turntables with a massive crowd pleasing breaks and drum and bass set,
followed by The Beat Suite’s 2nd set of the night with some huge jungle which set the place on fire.
One of the 4 regular nights from the Mr Elephant collective, the next Party Rockin’ Mammal Sessions will be on Saturday 14th November. Sadly saying farewell to the Bulls Head, but happily taking up a new Saturday night residency at the Hare & Hounds, where it will be on rotation with Cinephonic every 2nd Saturday of the month (though the next Cinephonic will be on Friday Dec 11th for a xmas movie mashup!)
Look out for other nights belonging to the Mr Elephant family including Live and Free @ the Adam & Eve, (great live music til 4am for free!), the return on Intermix in 2010, the bi yearly festival style events, and of course the Mr Elephant radio show live on www.rhubarbradio.com every Monday evening from 6pm – 8pm.
One year after the start of our Party Rockin Mammal Sessions and almost 3 years since the birth of Mr Elephant we have combined the two to bring you the best dancefloor rockers under one roof to celebrate our 1st Birthday Celebration @ the Bulls Head in Moseley.
Party Rockin Mammal Sessions is a night of party rockin dancefloor music, building through party style underground dancefloor genres featuring funky hip hop, phat ass funk, a lil monkey swing, party breakbeat, old school jungle and big room drum and bass.
We need people who can rock the party and thats why we are pleased and excited to be welcoming our very first special guest from 2007, the breakbeat, electro and drum and bass heavyweight turntablist, Mr Dj Lopan, who will be recreating that huge VS battle from our first event back in Epic Skate Park in Feb 2007 with our resident sock rocker Marc Reck. And our new residents the very versatile and talented duo – The Beat Suite.
You may remember the Beat Suite from our very last Cinephonic event and their performance was so good, we are very pleased to be welcoming them as our two new residents. Skeleton and Dolhasz can scratch, they can genre hop, and they can sincerely rock the party.
Vj Blendstate will also be stepping it up back with the multi screen visuals and we have live percussion and a very special turntablist battle to kick us off.
If you get there before 10pm its free entry (£3 after) and for the first two hours until 11pm, you can enjoy these drinks promos courtesy of the upstairs bar.
2 bottles of beck for the price of 1 !!
Glens Dark Rum / Imperial Vodka Double £2!!
A bottle of house wine for £8 !!!
And shots of Tequila for £1 !!!
Aside from knocking a tenner of your night, it also means you you will get to witness 2 real turntablists battling it out dmc style with funky hip hop, big bottom funk, and classic breaks.
Free Kazoo on entry, Streamed Live on Rhubarb Radio, Filmed Live for Mr Elephant T.V. More attractions to be announced and if you’re on facebook, here’s the event page if you’d like to attend – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=134749128924
Little feature on Mr Elephant appeared in the recent Night Times publication which gives a little overview of what we do as Mr Elephant.
20, 000 copies of the Night Times have been distributed this month to showcase the best of brums underground and music nightlife to our new arriving students. Copies can be found for free at your local music venues in Birmingham and for those that havent come across the paper, its a must follow publication in our opinion and we lucky to have it in the city, featuring music reviews, events and local information. As far as we know its funded only by advertisting and the fact they make the advertising really affordable and really useful to underground nights and local people who dont have much money, means its something that needs supporting, so get in touch with them if you have something you want to share with the birmingham masses.
Here’s our little biog, and click here to read a bigger version
After kicking off to a great start with Quantic back in June, Cinephonic well and truly settled into its groove with it’s second outing this month. It was a monster weekend with the Mr Elephant team also ramming the bull’s head the night before with a funk flavoured Party Rockin Mammal Session. A little sleep later and we’re back again at the Hare and Hounds for a very different animal.
Video by Jack Brabant
As always with Cinephonic we base the visuals of the night around a theme. This time around it was all about the road movies. Marc Reck opened us up with a great bit of chilled trip-hop, the room nicely filling up to the warm sounds of artists such as Kruder & Dorfmeister, Thievery Corporation & Barry Adamson.
Rhurbarb Radio favourites Skeleton and Dolhasz perfectly translated their radio show ‘The Beat Suite” http://thebeatsuiterhubarbradio.blogspot.com/ into a live environment. Covering a massive range of genres just like a certain resident of ours loves to do, the experimental pair seemed a perfect match for Marc and the night.
The Beat suite’s 1st set saw some great scratching from Skeleton & some seamless blending from Dolchasz. Taking it from the trip hop into the hip hop and building up into choice dubstep and big room breaks, their style, vibe and mixing was 2nd to none and kept the tension building and the party rockin vibe flowing!
Despite the soaring temperature the place was nice and full by 11:00 and our DJ’s responded accordingly cracking the tunes up and getting everybody moving. The visuals hit overdrive with some feedback powered cliff driving, motorcycle acrobatics, and Lawnmower action for good measure.
Midnight came and it was time for Marc’s 2nd set. Starting from breaks and switching it up with each track, it seemed our resident was looking for what was the crowd wanted in order to set the place off.
After breaks, a little swing, it was the huge bite from the liquid drum and bass which set the place on fire and took us into a great hour of crowd pleasing jungle & drum & bass!
Blendstates visuals were creating a filmic visual narrative that bought the cinema to the dancefloor with impressive skill and inspiring imagination! Skeleton & Dolchaz took to the decks for their 2nd set and displayed why they are two of the moste versatile djs in brum, effortlessly jumping from jungle to drum and bass, from breaks to dubstep, dropping in some cheeky numbers and keeping the floor locked and jumping all the way through.
Massive thanks to all those who came out and created a truly lovely vibe creating a proper night to remember. Also special thanks the venue for staying open an extra half hour allowing our DJ’s a unanticipated B2B set at the end!
Cinephonic will return on the 10th October with details to follow soon. If you’d like to keep posted automagically, please subscribe to the rss, or join the facebook group (invites for each event)
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Cinephonic returns with its blend of party tunes and big screen movie visuals, in room 2 of the Hare & Hounds on Saturday 8th August 2009, and this time around we’re be taking you on a journey with a road movie theme.
We have some very special guests in the form of Skeleton (Trigger/Open Beats/Secret Wars) & Dolhasz (The Beat Suite) who will be journeying with a varied set of beats and breaks ranging from dancable funk and hip-hop to glitch-hop, breakbeat and dubstep.
They will be joined as by resident dj Marc Reck, who will be revving it up on the decks with party breaks, classic jungle, and big room drum & bass, and VJ Blendstate who will be crashing you through the road movie theme with a visual mashup of films you know and films you don’t.
We’re also celebrating a big birthday from one of Mr Elephant’s collective so head on down a join us for the audio visual celebrations.
Catch Skeleton & Dolhasz experimental collaboration live every Wednesday at midnight on http://www.rhubarbradio.com
Sometimes it takes a hard slap in the face (or your average out-of-body experience) to realise that you’ve been doing the same thing week-in, week-out for about four and a half years. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? The number 50 bus to work, the same over-priced warm beer accompanied by unobtrusive house music or the majestic trips to Cannon Hill Park to feed the only duck left in the city.
Now, my friends, is the time to inaugurate Random Monday’s Club with your buddies, Sexy Thursdays with your capably sexy neighbour and Weird Weeknights with your mum– they’re all bloody good options!
Summer is about to get eccentric and there’s plenty of tomfoolery to be had in Birmingham whilst you’re learning to love the rain. Here’s a list of some juicy activities to get your teeth into:
Now, to the modern dyslexic out there this may seem like a frightening thought, but this club is a sociable affair and fun can be had by all. Beginners and professionals alike are welcome. The aim is to play three games between 7.30pm and 10pm with a break for tea and Penguin biscuits.
This week saw a fight break out between Ralph and Mavis over an illegal double word score.
The Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath, last Tuesday of every month
The widely acclaimed (and featured in the Daily Mail) Stitches and Hos monthly meet has encouraged even the most sceptical swines to have a go at all things knitted, crocheted and stitched. All are welcome – you don’t even have to know your cross from your fisherman’s rib stitch!
Stechford Cascades Leisure Centre, 8.45pm every Monday
You won’t believe it, but you can actually go diving with blue fish tuna, great white sharks and barracuda, right in the city – they’re rectangular and made of foam, but that’s fine. Birmingham, sometimes mistaken for Barbados, actually has a diving club to which anyone is welcome to join and learn to dive with friendly and qualified coaches.
The Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath, starts Tuesday 1September
Ever laid awake in bed and thought about what it feels like to beat your older brother at Street Fighter? Yes? Well this is going to be right up your garden path. On offer is a menagerie of arcade games, arcade theme tunes, game inspired music, robotics, hacking and circuit bending, along with a collection of games consoles for you delight from the 80s and 90s.
Free, yes free. Sorry did you hear that? Free adult guitar lessons are starting in September. Places are limited, so get booking or forever hold your peace.
Midlands Arts Centre, Cannon Hill Park, from 11am onward on 16 August Find out what, and who, lives under the surface of the ‘secret pond’ at Cannon Hill Park. The event is again free, but you may have deal with some pesky kids asking how snails have sex or something, actually that would be quite interesting eh? Nets provided, wellingtons advised.
In fact, the much-loved park has community events on most weekends over the summer.
New Elizabethan School, Stourbridge, 5pm onwards on 29 August With pre-movie entertainment from the local radio station (maybe skip that bit) starting at 5pm, Moonwalker will be screened at 8pm in loving memory of Mr Michael Jackson to commemorate what would have been his 51st birthday.
This summer, kids (and grown-ups) will have a chance to feast on film. Inspired by the classic Saturday matinee experience, the Travelling Picture Show will be popping up in arts centres and community venues all over the region with a lorry-load of short films, animation and features from across the world.
Other nights to look out for this summer include: the swing based Sugar Foot Stomp, the excellent Coffee & Cake by The Other Woman’s Cluband Mr Elephant’s very own Cinephonic/Intermix; all offering a twist of lemon and some ice in your warm lemonade. And one last thing, keep your eyes peeled for ArtsFest running from 11 to 13 September.
Synonymous with bringing anything to the table, Supersonic Festival offered willing musos experimental delights from around the globe. This three-day miscellany of music brought together folk, breakcore, metal and chaotic beats – a daunting task for some, but not Supersonic.
The Capsule gang: the masterminds and curators of the festival, now into its seventh year, took over the Custard Factory in fantastic style – utilising the factory and outside spaces for not only music, but cheeky pockets of artwork and film.
It had been passed down the grapevine that 2008 was going to be hard to beat, but Capsule seem to have recreated the perplexing balance of eclectic and experimental. The weekend seemed to offer a platform for new and emerging Birmingham talent, alongside established and international acts.
People came from all corners of the UK to descend on a not-so-sunny Birmingham, almost selling out the festival on all three nights.
Friday’s highlights
Friday saw the bemusement begin in supersonic style with Drum Eyes belting outpsychedelic soundsin the Factory Club. Scorn followed shortlyafter with stirring downtempo minimalist beats and deep baselines. The former Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris served a unique fusion on trip-hop and dub revellers.
The Custard Factory outside stage, inhabited by a 300-strong army of hardcore Sunn O)) fans, were treated to their juxtaposition of ambient sounds and black metal. Accompanied by only their guitars and what seemed like an unnecessary amount of amps, Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley couldn’t fail to make an impact.
Smoke filled the outside stage through which droning guitars, feedback and other sound effects could be heard at an incredible decibel level.
Thirty minutes into the performance, still with no discernible beat, body numbers had reduced significantly; the mob of hardcore fans persevered in classic style.
Sunn by J D Robinson
The only endurance test which could follow the might of Sunn O)) was Venetian Snares, aka Canadian mind-bender Aaron Funk.
This legend could be described Aphex Twin meets your little cousin f**king around with your old breaks records, whilst drumming a skip with chop sticks. He seems to have mastered experimental electronic blending anything from reggae to classic techno at around 4000 bpm!
Saturday’s highlights
Saturday saw an arcane line up, with Nisennenmondai welcoming the evening on the outside stage. These fine Tokyoites gave definition to Japanese punk, with the female three piece enticing the crowd into a frenzy.
Staying in East Asia, Japanese band Corrupted played their first gig in the UK and offered Space 2 (the Custard Factory’s warehouse space) a bleak and forceful sound. The band demonstrated brutal riffs-drones, as well as a drummer who maintained an unbelievable striking force on improbable slow tempos.
Bobby Previte and VJ Benton offered a fully immersive audio-visual experience straight from New York. Zu, scheduled slightly awkwardly afterwards, shifted down-gear and left the crowd somewhat indifferent.
The reminder that music festivals shouldn’t be taken so seriously came in the form of Monotonix.
Easily the hairiest men at the festival, the Tel Aviv trio closed the Saturday night on the outside stage in unparalleled style. By far the most energetic performance of the festival, these guys sported some courageous shorts and offered some old-fashioned entertainment.
The equipment, originally set up amongst the crowd, moved to all four corners of the venue throughout the performance (with kit being passed everywhere, it’s a miracle if they got it all back). As the drum kit and singer edged the crowd further away from the stage, enticing havoc at the back, VJ Blendstate and the front of house team were almost taken out.
The crowd numbers soon doubled, then tripled to a full house. The crowd sat down thanks to the singers barking instructions and one guy almost got a clout round the head – carrying the debacle on for a further ten minutes.
Banned from most venues in Tel Aviv, hopefully, they’ll be frequenting the city a little more often.
Monotonix by J D Robinson
Sunday’s highlights
A credit to Capsule’s programming, Theo (aka Sam Knight) worked his one-man magic on a rainy afternoon. To see this talent live is something of wonder with his looped layers of delicate sounds echoing on the factory walls.
Each song moved effortlessly to the next as his impressive guitaring and drumming baffled an attentive crowd. His rhythmic melodies and beats induced a trance like state as he improvised and worked off the crowd.
The Black Country’s finest industrial export, Head of David, played their first live show in 23 years as the original line-up. Sunday’s headliner, Italian legends Goblin followed with nothing out of the ordinary.
Goblin by J D Robinson
Old Supersonic favorites Caribou closed the outside stage offering building blocks of divine melodies. Programmed as a “perfect slice of bedroom psychedelia from someone for whom melody and emotion are ten times as important as collectible obscurity”, they certainly didn’t disappoint before bed time.
Time and time again, Supersonic gets described as the best organised music event in the Midlands by gig-goers, crew and artists. Everyone seems willing, friendly and this creative hub becomes a place where metallers meet the folk fairies.
And don’t forget the cake…
You can listen to this tomfoolery and genius on Rhubarb Radio and catch a look on the Flickrgroup.
For anyone who is interested in trying out the free mr elephant workshops on saturday here’s the programme.
All workshops are FREE, and are aim to give you a taster of various creative artforms in a grassroots stylee.
Some are drop in, Some are tasters, and some will enable suitable participants to perform on the night.
If you want to try out any of the workshops, booking will be on a 1st come 1st served basis from 2pm as from the drop in workshops.
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Main Room : (These workshops must be booked from 2pm on the day)
3.15 – 4.15 – LYRICS and LOOPS – Laura Louise – All Ages
4.30– 5.30 – DRUMMING – Jon Elliot – All Ages
5.45 – 6.15 – BEAT BOXING – Bass6 – Adults
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Room 2 : (These workshops must be booked from 2pm on the day)
3.00 – 3.30 – V.J WORKSHOP The Lab/Blendstate – Adults
4.00 – 4.30 - V.J WORKSHOP The Lab/Blendstate – Adults
4.45 – 5.15 – D.J TASTER WORKSHOP – Marc Reck – Adults
5.30– 6.00 – V.J WORKSHOP – The Lab/Blendstate – Adults
6.15 – 7.00 – D.J SCRATCH WORKSHOP – Jerome Hill (t.b.c) – Adults
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The Garage : (Drop in workshops from 3pm and 7pm – no need to book)
ANIMATION – (to be shown as part of the V.J set on the night) – Claire Evans – All Ages
MASK DECORATING – (Decorate a card mask/elephant flyer) – Jen Commins – All Ages
POODLE PUPPETS – (Poodles will be part of the performance) – Pyn Stockman – All Ages
POI SPINNING – (Festival style poi in the Sun) – Alice Branston – All Ages
(All ages welcome (children must be accompanied by an adult at all times)
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The sun is shining, and the forecast for saturday is hot, so here’s the evenings entertainment for our 12 hour 2nd birthday this Saturday @ the Hare & Hounds.
Please note the Acoustic & Live Stage will be in Room 1 & the Osmosis Room & Dance Stage will be in Room 2.
For the acoustic sets (9pm – 10pm) we will have tables and candles, so please arrive early in order to get a seat and relax with a beer, so you can see the very special acoustic gig from Rich Batsford & Laura Louise.
Acoustic Stage (8pm – 10pm)
8pm – Doors Open (Live Stage) – Soundtrack music
9pm – Laura Louise (Live Loop Pedal / Flute / Beatbox / Vocals)
9.30- Rich Batsford (Piano & Vocals)
Live Stage (10pm – 3am) (Hosted by Bass6)
10pm-Jam Jah (Reggae)
11pm – Circadia (Live Instruments, Electronics, & Skankin)
11.30pm – Marc Reck (Monkey Swing Set)
12pm – The Mr Elephant Midnight Parade (Hosted By Bass6) – Parade Your Mask & Promenade Your Poodle – Prizes for best mask and poodle plus the Percussion Jam (Drummers welcome), Interactive Performers (Their Dogs may bite) & the return of the Kazoos.
12.30 – Dub Fx (Amazing Orchestral Beatbox!)
1.15 – Alphadrive (Live Dub, Breaks & Drum & Bass)
2am – Marc Reck, Bass6 & Mike Freer Celebration Rinseout.
3am – Banana Boat Song!
Dance Stage (10pm – 3am) – Hosted By Osmosis
10pm – Hijacker (Osmosis Resident )
11pm – 32DM (Very Special Birthday Set)
12.15 – Jerome Hill (International Techno Breaks Legend)
1.45 – Dk Roon (El Presidento)
3am – Just one more!
As always if you’d like to get involved with Midnight Parade and/or win a prize, then make sure you make your mask (Cut out/Decorate Mr Elephant flyer) before midnight , or create your Poodle in the day.
If you are a drummer and want to have a jam at midnight, then bring your drum or email us at mrelephantpresents@gmail.com
N.B – Please note that this is a Not for Profit event, and tickets are (always) based on the venue’s maximum capacity to cover as many of the costs as possible.
NB 2- Entry into the the event will be from the back of the Room 1, (which you access from the “rear smoking garden”) & there will be a steward on the stairs to guide you if you haven’t been to the venue before.
Hope you have a huge bank holiday celebration whatever you do, and the doors always open if you want to get involved with the next Mr Elephant event or workshops – mrelephantpresents@gmail.com
P.S In order to thank everyone for the huge amount of work that has gone into this event, we will be having a free party the following week at the Adam & Eve on Sat 30th May til 4am, so please look out for the invite.
Project X Presents was, and continues to be a huge inspiration to Mr Elephant. Some of us have been involved with Project X from the start, and Mr Elephant was born out of the experience of the first Project X Presents Event, the early Rockfall events, and a lot of what was going on in Birmingham at the time.
One of those things that was going on in brum was the noise abatement orders Our first home for the first Project X Event, and the first Mr Elephant festival style events – Epic Skate Park, ended up being shut down due to one obsessive complainer. Then followed the first home for the Mr Elephant Family Events – The Prince of Wales, which Keith & Diane were again really keen to use for arty and community events, but yet again they are facing more and more restrictive legislation, which pretty much stops them doing anything.
All of the above events were very safe, full of lovely people, incorporated both family events in the day and music events on the evening and generated a wealth of positive response from all ages, yet both events were not able to continue at the venues, because of the restrictions imposed upon them by the council. Its worth noting that our 6th event host – the fabulous the Rainbow Beach for Celebrate Birmingham’s Underground was also under scrutiny, and it seems that all these venue owners, (promoters and collectives) are all just trying to do great stuff for Birmingham, always at great financial risk, but seem to be constantly limited by the very council who is looking to put Birmingham on the map with the big city plan!?
Following some initial conversations with John Tigue and John Mostyn, the stirrer and created in birmingham was the first time we read about all this online, and it inspired 3 investigative reports from Ruth Robinson on Digbeth (who herself has a deep interest and experience in the development of areas). They raised an interesting question of whether the complaints were also linked in with the developers plans, and whether the intention to close venues down was not because of any real problems or issues, but to develop the vision of splitting Digbeth in quarters, as part of the Big City Plan, regardless of the impact on business and the city.
We’re not sure, but it leads really nicely onto this insightful Project X Presents video – Music Is Not Pollution, with interviews from John (Spotted Dog), Keith (Epic/Prince), Kent (Rainbow), and an abacus resident, all of which raise some very interesting points. One of which being why would the council want to stop such venues when there is such a huge support for them and only a handful of complaints, and when they are wanting to put Birmingham on the map in such a big way.
If you have anything to say, please feel free to comment. Now we’ve got the website going again, this video has inspired us to follow up some interviews we did in 2007. We’ll post links to any further debate from the Project X Presents collective, and anything else we can find, and feel free to add links yourself in comments
After 2 years and 14 events at 6 of our favourite Birmingham venues, the time has come to celebrate Mr Elephant’s 2nd birthday with our biggest festival style celebration to date, featuring lots of interactivity for all ages, the launch of Elephant Workshops in conjunction with Dramask, and the community based Elephant Tv project in partnership with The Lab.
On Saturday 23rd May 2009 @ the Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham, we have a 12 hour, 4 room event over 3 stages, featuring a great lineup and a 3am license. Alongside some groundbreaking international artists, we will also be shining a light on some grassroots workshops and inspirational birmingham artists, promoters, bands, djs, vjs, and local orgs, with plenty of ways for everyone of all ages and tastes to get involved with the festivities.
A Live Stage, A Dance Stage, An Acoustic Stage, A programme of workshops, and local stalls will be the main focus of the 12 hour celebration at the award winning Hare & Hounds venue in Kings Heath Birmingham. As always local artists, and local promoters will be the main feature, though this time we’ve invited a few international artists too.
N.B - Here follows a little background on the workshops, so scroll down if you’re more interested in checking the music side of things
At the first event back in 2007, we invited all to get involved by either playing percussion with our Samba guests, decorating a mask and parading in the midnight parade to win some booze, dressing up and interacting with our interactive performers aka The Tourists. A year later, and the percussion parade, and interactive performance is now totally made up of Da’locals, with local organisations, the midnight parade has grown with each big event, and local shops and creatives are hosting stalls, with many friends of the elephant now developing their own creative practices by being more integrally involved with the events in whatever their area of interest is, mainly on the events side and workshops side.
The main addition/difference this time will be the evolution of the mr elephant workshops. The workshops began as decorating card masks, followed by 2 family/all ages welcome days, which featured a range of drop in activities for all ages from mask making and djing to drum skinning and juggling.
We always wanted the workshops to enable the participants where suitable to perform at the events in a more involved way, so we are very happy to say that this will be a part of our 2nd birthday with a range of free workshops open to the local community of all ages. Drumming, Beatboxing, Poi, Vjing, Animation, Mask Decorating, Juggling, and of course poodle making will all feature from 3pm – 7pm in our workshop area from a host of great workshop facilitators, with the masks and poodle making materials available on the evening too.
The poodles have been so well recieved that they will also feature in the performance (another open door for any budding performers, no experience necessary) with all poodles being judged in the midnight mask poodle percussion parade. Masks will also as always be available to decorate (the flip side of the flyers so keep hold of them) with materials (and masks/flyers) being provided for all.
Participants of the animation workshop will see their creations live in the visuals on the nights on either the live or dance stage. Participants of the vj workshop will get the opportunity to capture, and perform live in front of a full audience, with online support after the event, and the drummers will be invited to perform in the midnight parade (providing we can find enough drums), and there will be range of other interactive workshops and demonstrations to give the local community an opportunity to try out these various creative practices, all for free in a grassroots, comfortable and accessible environment.
We are and have always been not for profit collective, and are currently not funded in anyway with all of us involved with the event,( including all workshop providers working for free, with costs of the event at just under £2000.
We have a commitment to keeping the entry fee at the minimum, as want the event to be accessible to as many people as possible so there are some £5 early bird tickets available for people on low income, with the main advance ticket price at £7. As the capacity is around 300 at the hare and hounds, there are only 50 of these available.
Grassroots approach seems to be working though, as we’ve already had already a huge interest from workshop providers and people wanting to get involved with the next event, and we will be applying for our first funding to support another full programme of workshops at the next big mr elephant due for the summer.
This is kind of an elephant experiment and can only work with the support of the local community, so if you do like what you see, please think about passing on the email to 10 friends, and if you are on facebook, we really appreciate inviting as many facebook friends to the event, and/or the group as you have time to click on… Really does make keeping in touch with interested or local people a whole lot easier.
Alongside the workshops (3pm – 7pm folks) there will be stalls from local people from reflexology to local art, sone fine drinks promos courtesy of the hare and hounds, interactive performance from james, dom and the crew, the mr elephant midnight mask poodle parade featuring local percussionists (with prizes for best mask and poodle made), multi projector visuals from Vj Blendstate & The Lab, and a whole lot more….
We are more than excited to have this guy down from Bristol on the 23rd May 2009. He’s one of the best beatbox and loop pedal artists we’ve seen, and just check out his youtube videos for what you can expect. On heavy rotation on the mr elephant radio show, and one of Bass6’s recommendations, Dubfx is an inspiring artist, and we are going to be making a lot of noise about his incredible skills. He has a new album out on May 30th, and his last cd is available from his website… well worth a tenner.
An introduction to what he does (worth watching these through)
Jamming on the street
At Glastonbury Stone Circle
At Glastonbury on stage (Apologies for sound quality)
Our other headliners for the 2009 may bank holiday gig on sat May 23rd, these guys are quickly gaining a reputation for being one of the freshest live dance acts around showcasing “a perfect fusion of danceable dub, breaks and electronica” (Raise the Roof Festival”. Following a string of high profile appearances at UK festivals and club nights, this up-and-coming live trio have supported acts such as: Atomic Hooligan, Beardyman, The Bays, DJ Deekline, Tayo, Rogue Element, Scratch Perverts, and DJ Yoda. Definitly one to watch.
What can we say about the beatboxer Bass6, a true grassroots star in our opinion. With superb hosting skills, a inspiring attitude and a huge range of skills from beatboxing to workshops, this guy really brings the vibes, with his own productions are opening doors all over the country. He hosted our Midnight poodle parade on the beach at Celebrate Brums Underground, and he’s back for our next big event on Sat 23rd May 2009…not to be missed.
Hosting our last mr elephant midnight poodle parade competition
These guys have really come into their own this year, and one of the reasons why we are chuffed that they will be performing at our 2nd birthday. They house a great line up of talented musicians, which include multiskilled instrumentalist Jon Elliot has been one of the percussionists since our 2nd event.
Osmosis is a a co-operative run by a group of people who are passionate about their music and sharing it with like minded people. Each member of the crew has given their talent, equipment and time freely with any money made being ploughed back in to improve lighting, decor, sound, produce free CDs, and if we’re really lucky, buy us a couple of drinks.
Supported by the vibrant and eclectic venue, Rootys (rip), Osmosis has developed a reputation for it’s atmosphere, music and support of local talent, with names like Paul Damage (1881 Recordings/House of God), Sir Real (House of God) , and Sub Citizen (Resistor Records/Inukshuk) joining Residents and local heroes DK Roon’, Mack, Dr Pepperspray, HijACKER and M-AK.
A huge techno and breaks artist, and an international legend in his own right, we can’t quite get our hat on that he’s going to be headlining the dance Osmosis stage! Prepare yourselves.
Live at Glade (Apologies for Sound quality)
Scratch Practice
We couldn’t find any footage of their residents aside from the osmosis myspace link, so will be looking for mixes to help promote in the next week or two. Suffice to say Osmonauts need no introduction, and their programming and residents skills are hugely respected in the Birmingham Underground. Osmosis have organised legendary packed out parties from day one, and always attract the friendliest crowd of people you could hope to meet on a night out.This will be their first outing at the hare and hounds, so we look forward to a lot of warmth and phat music on the evening.
The other dj appearing is our own resident Marc Reck who will be playing either swing or a live eclectic set on the main stage, or a big room breaks techno, and drum and bass set on the dance stage. Here’s a recent clip of the end of his gig at the Night Times at the Custard Factory.
A core member of Project X Presents, one of Birmingham’s finest piano players, and all round top bloke, Rich Batsford is one of Birminghams’s musical treasures, and his music has been compared to that of the great steve reich, Keith Jarret, Michael Nyman, Claude Debussy, and Brian Eno. His debut album is currently free to download on his website, and his live performances are not to be missed. Check the valentines day Mr Elephant Radio show for a live recording of a gig from 2007.
Rich Batsford – Namaste
Live at Project X Presents
Laura Louise – www.myspace.com/lauralouiseowen – Hailing from New Zealand, Laura is a huge talent, and somewhat undiscovered on these shores. An amazing voice, and multi instrumentalist, she creates beautiful layers and well crafted songs with her loop pedal and a microphone. She performed a great set at the gigbeth fringe show, and we look forward to welcoming her back for our our 2nd birthday.
Cover of Fat Freddy
Laura Louise – So many days (Apologies for first 30 secs of sound ..worth watchin past)
So thats an overview of the eve, more to be added so feel free to subscribe to the mailing list, or facebook group for updates and info over the next fortnight.
All that’s really left for this post is to invite you to come and join the celebration. Its free til 9pm and tickets are needed for main stages entry upstairs
P.s here’s a little footage hashed together of our last 3 bigger events to give an idea.
On Rainbow Beach in 2008
At Hare & Hounds in 2008
At Epic in 2007
Oh and if you want to take part in any of the workshops please get in touch via email, or get there at 3pm. Timings will come soon, and workshops will be Beatboxing, Drumming, Animation, Vjing, Juggling, Poi, Mask Decorating, and Poodle Making. Seperate blog posts will give more details so subscribe to mailing list, facebook group, or the rss feed for instant notification.
We are pleased to announce that Mr Elephant now has a new live music home! Following a recent gig with the mighty Mama Matrix, we’ve been asked by one of Brums longest running live venues to host a monthly event, and will be showcasing a diverse lineup on the more live side of Birmingham’s music scene.
The venue is the Adam & Eve, and it oozes warmth, charm, and a party atmosphere, regularly playing host to some of the live circuit’s most exciting bands, and some elephant favourites, including Cracked Actors, 360, Mama Matrix, and Friendly Fire Band.
Not only do they have a 4am license, but they also have a pool table, a great selection of booze, and are one of the few venues that support the promoters and artists they work with.
Which means that we will be hosting a FREE Mr Elephant style party each month, starting with Friday April 24th 2009, featuring at least two live acts and with our resident dj Marc Reck, playing funk, soul, reggae, ska and swing in between.
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 Claire (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!
Bass6 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 absolutely 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 Bass6 (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 Bass6 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.
Bass6 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 Bass6 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 beautiful autumn season.
With the big day just 24 hours away, we feel the need to feature not 3 but 6 promoters/residents that you can expect to be shaking your touche too this saturday. Everything is shaping up really well, and i’ll be posting the schedule of treats we have in store in the next couple of hours.
For now however its over to 2 more guests repping their connected brummie events on the beach.
Up around 2am on the beach will be one you’ll all know -
Drop Beats Not Bombs, the online presence for the bi-yearly anti war event that donates 100% of its profits to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Campaign Against Arms Trade.
Our aim is to educate the people on these important issues whilst they have a good time. So from the start we have made it our mission to put together an event that comprises of a broad spectrum of sounds and styles.
From Drum & Bass to Techno to Indie to Hard House, we aim to leave you breathless as we relentlessly seek out the cream of up coming talent as well as established acts/artists. And we hevent even mentioned the incredible visual displays at every event. This truly is a full on assult on the senses.
While head honcho Boogie Dave will be representing with his other event My Bass in the mini warehouse, up and comer DJ R Caine will be representing the breaks stage on the beach. Here’s a little bit more about the stage and him
Rcaine runs the breaks stage along with Nuskoolbreaks.co.uk owner Jimmy Brayks and the next event on 08/11/2008 promises to be one of the best to date.
This time the breaks stage is under the arches of adderley street with a line up bigger than ever including Napt, Baobinga, Tom Real, The Beat Assassins, Subsource (live), Ben & Lex, Richie Balboa and Rcaine vs Doc Vin. Visuals will be supplied by VJ Air and all will be broadcast live on NSB Radio.
D-Joust
D-Joust is one of the biggest DJ competitions out there covering the whole of the UK and now Europe. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the local rising talents to make a name for themselves on the circuit and gain exposure all over the UK and Europe.
There are 3 categories in this year’s competition consisting of the London/South, Midlands/North, and Europe.
Rcaine is behind the midlands and northern side of the competition and is confident with the talent on offer up here; we will have someone go all the way and take the crown in London November 15th.
The DJ’s already through from the midlands/north are Mogs, Tom EQ, Miss B and Enigmatik.
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Before Russ you can expect to hear our very own resident dj – Marc Reck who will be representing the dj side of inspired Project X Presents.
“Project X Presents is like nothing else you ever experienced, and was started back in 2004 by 5 friends, including local musician and comedy promoter Rich Batsford, and Birmingham Based Dj and Event Promoter Marc Reck.
The one off 8 hour shows are a culmination of about a year of work for each one, and feature around 100 participants, including a range of musicians, bands, VJ’s, Dj’s, comedians, engineers, dancers, choreographers, costume designers, make up artists, performers, and set designers, all working together to create a omnimedia wonderland of sound, light and performance.
The main body of the event takes place in the main room – in which the audience is surrounded by three stages housing a seamless procession of music, spoken word, visuals, performance and dance – all carefully sequenced and woven into an 8 hour journey, with participants comprising of some of the most talented in the region, each producing work specific to the event and it’s theme.
Expect to see experimental electronica through to balkan gypsy jazz, from mesmerising piano through to big breaks and drum and bass. From energy fulled ska to impovised dance, from interactive performers to intelligent experimental visuals, Project X Presents draws on all of Birmingham’s creative talents to take you on a journey like never before.
A separate room offers a change of pace and the chance for the audience to interact with giant toy-like installations from Object – X, alongside some cutting edge djs, and weird and wonderful suprises.
Project X Presents is, as one reviewer put it – “Simply like nothing else out there” – More details can be found at our website, and feel free to get in touch if you would like get involved – www.projectxpresents.com
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Inside in the Night Times mini warehouse you can expect to see these guys :
Mybass began as the brainchild of three underground DJ’s who sought to conceptualise the element of bass for the purpose of a single night. What came to pass was the launch of a rave filled with an eclectic range of open-minded revellers intent on feeling, if not hearing, Dubstep bass weight. The legendary Loefah and Emalkay more than accommodated the basest of these ravers desires! Since this phenomenal initiation, the likes of Komonazmuk and Headhunter have graced Mybass events, demonstrating the promoters’ endeavour to cater for the whole spectrum of the Dubstep movement. The fluid nature of Mybass has led to its founding deejays throwing free parties incorporating genres such as D&B and Breakbeat, whilst remaining zealously true to the Dubstep sound. Upholding their nonchalant form, the three often unite with other promotions to host events showcasing the best in Birmingham’s underground talent, amalgamating the Mybass style. This night is the epitome of an ‘anything goes’ ethos.
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We are formerly co-promoters of the legendary night Urban Disturbance, which continues to grow in success. We now present to you a new night of heavy bass coming from musical genres across the board focussing on reggae, dubstep, old skool and drum and bass. For the time being we are exclusive to the venue set in the spotlight of live music and DJ’s, the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath, thereby offering an alternative site to come and have a great night out. Bringing a party vibe to one of the suburbs of Birmingham, never charging more than a few quid entry and having a reasonable finishing time of 2am, [sic]… allows you to escape the confines of the city centre and listen to some of Birmingham’s finest DJ’s, in an intimate environment. [sic]…acts as a brilliant warm-up to what the rest of the night may have in store for you or you can get boozed up, have a dance and leave feeling happy and satisfied. Transforming the inner space using an assortment of artwork, VJ artists and weird but wonderful moving images demonstrates that we want the evening to be a multi-sensory experience.
Our next party called ‘[sic]…in ya Hare’, takes place on Friday November 14th with DJ-X summoning sounds from the darkside, Escape mixing Jungle and Pace incorporating insatiable old school beats into the mix.
It’s wrong to mention Christmas when we’re only in September, but we should let you all know that we’re putting on a fancy festive fandangle on Boxing Day called ‘[sic]…on Santa’. So, if you need an excuse to escape the family then this is a very good one.
So, come and be [sic]…with us!
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And on the warehouse, the Night Times are also showcasing House to Drum & Bass
The Ultra+ brand is known for producing quality events with a party atmosphere that’s second to none, the music styles range from Techno, Tech House, Underground Electro & Breaks or D&B, but the main focus is House & Techno.
The music heared at Ultra+ events is always supplied by the worlds best DJs and its some of the most cutting edge and up front dance music around.
Ultra+ was created by Ben Nott and it began in the States in 1997, at the time Progressive house and trance was the sound at these events and they where usually held in warehouse type venues, these events where a huge success and a handful had over 5,000 people in attendance.
2001, Ben moved back to the UK and started the Ultra+ brand so he could book his favorite DJs but also used it as a platform to regularly promote and play the tech house and techno sound he loves. The events were scattered until 2004 when Ultra+ was finally made a monthly resident at the now legendary Custard Factory in Birmingham.
Moving forward to 2008 onwards, Ultra+ now has residency’s at the Custard factory & Rainbow Warehouse in Birmingham, the Royal in Derby and joint ventures with brands at other venues such as Excentric, Ministry of sound-london, Honey Club-Brighton, Arches-Glasgow, Sankeys-Manchester and overseas events for 2009 include Hacienda & Ultra+ festival in Croatia, Ultra+ in Bucharest, Sofia and Ibiza.
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Drum and Bass, Jungle, Old Skool, Breaks, Dubstep……Birminghams music for the headz. A little something for everyone who likes to go just that little bit deeper.
Today we are featuring two legendary techno events who will be appearing in the warehouse at our Celebrate Birmingham’s Underground Event, and from the beach, a custom made event that already developed a reputation for delivering quality events in Birmingham.
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In the main warehouse (probably around 2/3am) prepare yourselves for the might of
HOUSE OF GOD
House of God was started in January 1993 by Chris Hog, Surgeon, Sir Real & Paul Damage. Named after a seminal electro 12″ by D.H.S., House of God was intended to be an antidote to the cheesy hardcore and house nights that relied on fashion or star DJ’s rather than musical content to make a good party. Over the years, this became the core philosophy behind the HOG, using residents in all of the rooms, supporting the developing UK Techno artists and not relying on star DJ’s for the sake of their names. When HOG moved to the city centre of Birmingham in the summer of ’93, it quickly developed into a seminal night-out for ravers. No dress code, cheap entry and cheap beer created a loyal and large following at the HOG nights in the Dance Factory. These first few years helped develop the core HOG sound of Techno/House alongside Drum n Bass and Breaks rooms overseen by DJ-X which became the template for many other nights around the Midlands and the UK. Always with an innovative music policy and some huge productions, HOG has provided the Midlands with legendary parties of all sizes at venues ranging from the 2,000 capacity Que Club to Subway City and the Sanctuary. HOG has also been responsible for most of the big names in UK Techno playing their first events in the Midlands, with Dave Clarke, James Ruskin, Neil Landstrumm, Billy Nasty, Tim Wright, Andy Weatherall, British Murder Boys among them and also helped to launch the careers of artists such as Surgeon & Louis Osbourne.
15 years on, HOG is the longest running club night in the Midlands and continues to return to haunt the Midlands underground on an irregular basis.
HOUSE OF GOD 16th BIRTHDAY – 30th January 2009 @ the Rainbow Warehouse
And in the mini warehouse room, check out one of the cities most friendliest and most vibrant techno events
Osmosis
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the missfits, the rebels, the trouble makers.
Here’s to the roundheads in square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of the rules, and they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, dissagree with them, glorify or villify them.
The only thing you can’t do is ignore them, because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see them as genius,
because the people that think they can change the world, are the ones that do“
Osmosis is a a co-operative run by a group of people who are passionate about their music and sharing it with like minded people. Each member of the crew has given their talent, equipment and time freely.
“Any money made is ploughed back in to improve lighting, decor, sound and to produce free CDs.”
Supported by the vibrant and eclectic venue, Rootys, Osmosis has developed a reputation for it’s atmosphere, music and support of local talent, with names like Paul Damage (1881 Recordings/House of God), Chris Finke (Atomic Jam/Split/Flux), Sir Real (House of God)and Sub Citizen (Resistor Records/Inukshuk) joining Residents and local heroes DK Roon’, Mack, Dr Pepperspray, HijACKER and M-AK.
The unique decor was specially produced by Birmingham artist A-109, and is complemented by the incredible light and lazer show by Brad. With a Funktion One state of the art sound system you can truly feel the clarity of sound.
They have also added a Smokers Retreat; no shuffling on the street for Osmosis‘ esteemed members!
In the end though, the night is all about the crowd.
“You can have the best sound, decor and lights in the world…. until the people turn up, it’s just a pretty room.”
Osmosis comes out to play the last Friday of every month at Rooty Frooty, The Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Birmingham B9.
Dress Code: Be yourself. If you can’t be yourself, be someone else, you’ll always be welcome.
Respect your fellow party goers. Bad Attitudes must be checked at the door. You’re welcome to have them back when you leave.
And on the Beach, we welcome the eclectic party rockin maestro’s
Custom Made
The aftermath of a Custom Made recipe is barmy! A unique carnival atmosphere of shiny happy people, soaking up a no nonsense party vibe. Expect loud music, dirty twists and a big dollop of goofball behaviour.
The events are a law unto themselves. Think a boutique snacksize festival – GOOD music of any genre and stimulation for the eyes and ears. Definitely quirky and always seriously good beats. Make of it what you will!
There is no attitude at Custom Made and a very open minded music policy – it is a complete melting pot – if it’s good, it can go in! The tunes are dished out by a massive amount of folk. Past friends and guests include DJ’s Mixmaster Morris, Unabombers and Biggabush, through to crazy raucous underground ska bands like Yes Sir Boss and Royal Gala.
The vibe definitely errs on bouncy ass boogaloo beats: electro, dub, and breaks – but the melting pot has no boundaries.
A typical event is indescribable, but could see people chilling on sofas and deck chairs to the likes of Brian Eno and Tom Middleton through to hanging from the rafters and going bananas to breakbeat, old skool jungle and The Muppets theme tune!!
Add on top anything and everything: graffiti, mad visuals, maracas, bubbles, beach balls, face paints, character dress, limbo, everyday people celebrating the Glamour of Average; and you have gone someway into biting into the sexy pie that is Custom Made…Scoff up!
So in the run up to our big Celebrate Birmingham’s Underground, we’ll be featuring a couple of brummie promoters each day, so you can navigate your way on the night, or in the maze that is Birmingham city centre (dependant on whether you’ve just jumped off the train or not).
Due to the amount of biogs we’ve currently got we’ll be featuring two promoters from the the beach on saturday and one who you can see play in the warehouse. You can also find them in one of the 16, 000 copies of this week’s Night Times.
If you haven’t already please invite your friends.. It’s free for 6 hours and drinks are £1.50 before 11.30pm!!
On the beach from 5pm you can find :
Loafers Lounge
DJ’s and promoters Jon Harris and Justin Bond formed Loafers Lounge in 2006 based on their shared love of chill out music which encompases many music styles. At the time there were no dedicated chill out nights in Birmingham or rooms at other events catering for the genre considering how popular chillout rooms were in the 90′s. Between them they started nights at various bars and clubs around the city including The Bull’s Head in Moseley, Atticus in Bearwood, and The Yardbird in the city centre to name but a few.
After 12 months of promoting and performing at these events the guys started to get requests from various promotors of club events to come along and host their secondary rooms at The Rainbow and Custard factory etc… These gigs led to organising the first ever chillout zone at Drop Beats Not Bombs with friends Custom Made with musicians, artists and DJ’s from all over the world appearing. Both events were hugely popular with all who attended.
They are currently booking acts and DJ’s for the next Drop Beats Not Bombs event in November which will hopefully prove to be bigger and better than the first two so keep em peeled! www.myspace.com/loaferslounge
Friendly Fire Music / Jam Jah Sound
Friendly Fire Music is a reggae collective which includes a soundsystem, the Jam Jah Sound, a backing band, the Friendly Fire Band, a record label, Friendly Fire Music, and organizes reggae events in Birmingham.
Jam Jah Mondays
Each and every Monday night, upstairs @ the Bull’s Head, Jam Jah collective play a strictly vinyl selection of roots, reggae, one drop, dancehall and dub on the Bull’s Head’s bass heavy soundsystem, with able vocal assistance from Friendly Fire MCs.
With free entry, and nuff drinks promos, Jam Jah Mondays is the most inclusive and longest lasting reggae night in Birmingham – the best way to kick off the week, or end the weekend in niceness.
More info: www.myspace.com/jamjahsound
Friendly Fire Sessions
Every third Friday of the month, Friendly Fire Sessions is the only regular live reggae event in Birmingham, showcasing upcoming and established reggae and ska acts from across the UK, with support from the Jam Jah Sound and live visuals by Keyah, at South Brum’s favorite live venue, the Hare and Hounds. Bands that have performed last year include The Beat, Makating, Pama Intl, YT, Daddy Freddy, Friendly Fire Band, Hayeeryah, amongst others..
join the mailing list, download live and studio recordings, and find out more on the website: -
Human Hologram Interference Project. Our mission is to advance conciousness through low frequency bass driven music, enabling you to connect to a higher awareness of yourself. Feel your connection towards it. 2012.
Trigger was born out of Serotonin Sounds, which was formed in 1994 to bring to inner city Birmingham the ethos of the UK’s fading free party scene, due to the introduction of the criminal justice bill which was enforced that year. Trigger offered a unique, mind bending alternative to the often uninspiring ‘club’ experience, and went on to be named Trigger Your Serotonin before becoming Trigger in the summer of ’98, as it remains to this day.
Trigger Recordings was started in 2003 to allow a greater audience to be part of the Human Hologram Interference Project through Electro Breakbeat music, and began with ‘Holographic Bassforms’, a 14 track double CD with nine exclusive tracks on CD1, and CD2 mixed by Ksmknl with an additional five Trigger classics. The release was accompanied by four double A side 12″s featuring exclusive tracks from Tipper, Si Begg, Lawgiverz, Ksmknl and Cold Fusion Mafia.
Trigger continues to utilize the most innovative DJ’s and producers from both the UK and international Electro Breaks circuit, continually pulling large crowds at allnight events, providing a unique experience unrivalled within the scene, with their Funktion One sound system and full technical support from Funktion One, to create the ultimate environment for the Trigger experience to be heard and felt as the sound travels through you, with the likes of Tipper, Si Begg, Son Of The Electric Ghost, Jnr Hacksaw and many many more conducting their experiments in sound alongside Trigger residents Lawgiverz a.k.a. R-Kidz & Noize, Jnr Hacksaw, Ksmknl, Nobody, Iytal and Skeleton.
Here is the first of 3 reports on the digbeth regeneration from investigative artist Ruth Robinson
Report #1
Industrial belts like Digbeth that were once the guts of our nation, now lie in states of limbo as Government and private developers grapple with the complexities of regenerating spaces and local identities.
Investment should not disregard existing ways and means of living and would be advised to support rather than engulf active communities. Realistic planning benefits from grass-roots intervention as the professional consultation process remains disconnected from communities and isolates individuals.
Walking, talking and standing still are important to the outcome of my work and in the influence we have on the fabric of our communities – finding commonality and sharing experience reliant on our contact. Today’s pace of life often leads us to forget the power of a smile or spoken word.
Development of up-market residential zones and the expansion of all considered ‘Creative’ and ‘Cultural’ threaten the growth of independent economies outside these sectors- loud and lively elements discouraged in favour of appropriated art. Digbeth High Street seemingly split down the middle into a ‘Creative side of the street’ and a potential residential zone. The suppression of popular entertainment and activities will only extinguish the vibrancy that already exists.
As an artist I should be rubbing my hands together. Instead I am concerned that yet again the activities of an existing working community will be disregarded in favour of preferred bourgeois lifestyle options. The research and outreach in Digbeth will focus on the workers of the area. Responding to current debate and the predominant issues surrounding the invention of a place called Eastside. (RHR April 2008)
Feedback
Best night i’ve been to in ages. More than just a terrific breaks night – dances, masque parades, mask making, samba carnival, free veggie food. absolutely amazing. Rich (Project X Presents/Metro)
WHOOOAAAA, what a f***** bad bwoy night last night. Muchness big ups and massive respects. Soon come the next one. Kelsang (Producer)
What a fucking crazy mashup! That was totally badass! Everyone played killer sets and you could really hear the difference in style, then that last hour was fucking CHAOS! Thanks again – Captain Smithers (Crash Repeat)
Yes Phatty, thanks for the pics, that was a wicked party, man! One love, Robin (Jam Jah)
Yo Mr. Elephant man, saturday was proper good. everyone was swinging their trunks like there’s no tomorrow. – Dj Olly Boon (Phonic)
it was a really good nite, the samba band was great and the final hour with Marc Reck and Dj Lopan on the decks was superb – Toby (Sexual Allstars)
Was a pleasure working with you. Had a wicked night. Jock (Evolve)
What a night… really enjoyed playin with you dude, hope we can do similar stuff in the future. peace Mooncup (Percussionist)
Wicked night, I had a brilliant time, samba central rocked. Thanks Mr Elephant!
Party Rockin Mammal Sessions is a night of party rockin dancefloor music, building through party style underground dancefloor genres featuring funky hip hop, phat ass funk, a lil monkey swing, party breakbeat, old school jungle and big room drum and bass.
