This month’s 10Ton event at The Fat Fox saw SDM, Sekklow and headliner Jakwob throw some much needed trouble and bass at the crowd on Saturday night. Due to the flying difficulties Jakes was unable to transport from America for this one and was replaced by Lynx instead. Check out the visuals below.

Photography – http://matthewmaber.com/

LISTEN TO THE LASTEST 10TON RADIO SHOW AIRED ON BRAP FM WITH DJ’S SDM & SEKKLOW: http://db.tt/hLbwOY

For a small and intimate venue, The Fat Fox in conjunction with 10Ton certainly know how to throw one heavy party. Outside, the bass driven vibrations are being sent hurtling half way down Albert Road. Inside, the industrial fire from the speakers sounds as if it were made by wild and vicious cannibals as they plan their next meal. The jaw dropping synths should feel more at home in a gruesome horror flick, but over the hellishly galloping and stomping backdrop of filthy electronic beats they are perfectly suited.

10pm and the place is split into two contrasting moods. One side quite laid back with groups of people using the throb of bass from next door to chill to. The other side, a dark and moody dancefloor pulsates and jerks to the showering concoction of dubstep, drum n bass and grime, delivered in fine style by Sekklow and resident SDM. Arms flail, heads nod and bodies bounce as an awesome mechanical aroma is pumped from the speakers. Jokers ‘Tron’ and his remix of ‘Cruel Intentions’ both spark frenzy on the floor, his tunes are shining out across the UK right now.

More and more bodies are led to the dancefloor by the hypnotic and grimey flavour flying through the air, and as the time approaches for Jakwob to take over it seems that he will have quite a warm up to follow on from. The crowd surely have high expectations, Jakwob aka James Jakob is fairly new on the scene but his sets and remixes have quickly become associated with a certain flamboyance. As he takes the helm he is greeted by a flock of wide eyed avid support, arms held high in admiration with the odd spontaneous yelp of ‘JAKWOB!’ projected up towards him.

The floor attracts even more new and excited faces. Some people felt safest lurking around the edges in the light looking genuinely afraid that the sound might actually attack them, whilst the majority are swallowed up by the pounding rhythm of the crowd. The electric onslaught raining down sounds capable of doing some serious damage to brain cells as spikes of random ‘Wob’ and glitch begin to mentally pierce peoples skulls.

Jakwob is on form, firing out an arsenal of some of the finest electronic treats right now. He proves himself a versatile force, spinning a lot more than just dubstep. It’s refreshing to see such a young talent incorporating influences from outside the genre. Of course ‘Starry Eyed’ and ‘Under the sheets’ remixes are present, but its his darker trim that is so exciting. Tracks like Breakage – Together and his own ‘Back and Fourth’ were on fire and made the night for me.

As Jakwobs set comes to an end the crowd are still not willing to disperse and the night is polished off and wound down with a set from Lynx, spinning dark delights from the likes of Alix Perez and Spectrasoul.

Photography – http://matthewmaber.com/

Mike Roberts

Drum and bass in Portsmouth will never die. The amount of DJ’s seem to grow every year with local talent supporting the smaller nights in Southsea. James Dorn, aka JD, is one such DJ, growing up in Portsmouth and developing his taste in drum and bass. He started Dj’ing at the age of 16, playing hard house, garage, funky house and trance. It wasn’t until a few years later he discovered drum and bass.

When I was about 17/18 my mate started buying and mixing drum n bass tunes, he invited me round his house for a mix. I was a bit sceptical at first, as drum n bass was al ot faster and the drum patterns where totally different to anything I’d mixed before. He gave me two tunes to take home with me and have a mix with, after about half an hour I was hooked! I just smashing the cross fader back and forth and messing about with the eq’s. I love the fast pace of drum n bass and the music itself is very versatile and a lot can be done when mixing it. Pretty much anything goes when you mix drum n bass and I’ve never looked back since.

JD still has his first ever vinyl, Bandwagon Blues by Twisted Individual.

It was the style of drum n bass I was into most into at the time, great tune.

There were a few drum and bass events happening at the time but the one that really stood out for JD was Breakneck.

When it was at the pier, I absolutely loved it. They had some great acts there. The first one I went to was Dillinja presents the Valve Sound System, when he dropped Shy FX / wolf (Dillinja remix), the crowd just lost it! I was buzzing so much and I just wanted to give that buzz to a crowd. I knew that’s what I wanted to do from then.

He started playing out in venues around Portsmouth such as The Lounge, The Loft, The Pier, Spitbank Fort, The Atrium, Drift in the City and Bar 8 to name a few, and supporting nights Battle Arena, Chevron, Krisis, Dark Drum &  Bass, Funktion, Breakneck and Menace. JD also popped up on various radio shows, Twisted Frequency, Express FM, Pure FM, Sub Bass and Bass Junkies.

I’ve only entered one competition, that was Vinyl Meltdown. I came 3rd two years running, they stopped doing it after that.

When asked how important it was to support the local drum and bass scene, he added…

The Portsmouth drum n bass scene at the moment is doing very well. You have such night’s as Funktion, Bassed Out, Analogue, also the Up DnB crew are doing wicked things for the scene in Pompey, and of course the daddy of all nights still going strong as ever… Breakneck. Also Up DnB have done some wicked nights in conjunction with Breakneck and are sure to do more, which means more nights to be had. All of these events have seen DJ’s from other night’s supporting big acts and playing at the smaller events. Everyone helps each other out which has made the Portsmouth drum n bass scene what it is.

JD has also delved into production drum and bass, his latest effort entitled Dub Pirates, can only be descibed as ‘dark tearing style drum and bass’ from the man himself. Taking guidance from a range of artists like Ram Trilogy, High Contrast, Camo & Crooked and Netsky to name a few, he started the production path three years ago using Reason and ultimately getting hooked like he did with Djing.

I’ve been working on a few tracks at the moment, Alone in this World, Blade Runner and Dub Pirates (which is mastered). I’m having the other two mastered at the moment so the finished versions will be up on my Sound Cloud soon. If I had to pick one artist to collaborate with it would defo be Nero. It’s gotta their ability to make epic tunes that will never get old.

//////////DOWNLOAD JD’S APRIL MIX VIA SOUNDCLOUD/////////

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GIG LISTINGS:
INTERVIEW @ PURE FM 29TH APRIL 9-10PM
BASSED OUT FANCY DRESS @ THE FAWCETT INN 7TH MAY
DIGITAL POLLUTION VS VITAL NIGHT @ THE BARN 15TH MAY

Photography - http://matthewmaber.com/

Bionic Dubstep Punk – Subsource

Yea, that pretty much sums up their sound. Stu Henshall, Paul Frazer, Dennis Ng and Neil Shervell front Subsource. Quotes like ‘This is so up my street’ – Eddy Temple Morris (XFM), ‘Amazing vocals’ – Liam Howlett (The Prodigy) and ‘The best cyberpunk riot since The Prodigy’ – The Metro, it’s not  hard to see what impact this four piece band has made with their hybrid sound (and it DOES work!). Proper Serious gets some PROPER SERIOUS  questions answered ahead of the band’s gig next month…

PS: Hey guys! You’ve already played in Portsmouth before (The Wedgewood Rooms), what lasting impressions did you take away from the city if any?
That was an amazing gig – we were supporting the amazing Dreadzone that night, the Pompey crowd seemed well up for the party – really friendly and buzzing vibe. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of the actual town itself but we’re looking forward to be back.

PS: What was the driving force behind creating Subsource when you first started?
The plan was to be in clubs thrashing out beats and be tearing up dance floors. We wanted to take the beats the DJs would be putting out and have the added energy of a live band giving it that much more power and impact. Judging from the number of festivals we’ve been asked to play at this summer, I think it’s safe to say that we’re successfully earning our reputation as the live electronic act we wanted to be.

PS: You’ve just released your new album Tales From The Doombox, how long did it take to complete the production process, and what was the direction you all wanted to take with the sound (having already been tagged as the new Prodigy and references to Pendulum)?
The complete production process took about 4 years! Some of the tracks on there we’ve been doing in our live sets for this long and we’ve wanted them on the album for the sake of our fans who have supported us since then. Now we’re older and wiser we have a better idea of where we want our sound to be heading. Before we never really had an exact sound in mind, our focus was always on just making it captivating for the live show.

PS: Why Doombox and not Boombox? Huhuhuh?
We love the boom too but we come from a darker place so it’s a doombox instead. But definitely not gloom. I wonder if kids these days even know what a boombox is.. it’s all about hanging on the street corner with your phone cranked up these days, I keep yelling at the kids they need more bass.

PS: What comes first during production…bass or beats?
Both usually get done at the same time in tandem, starting with a bit of drums.. then a bit of bass, then back to drums.. then back to bass.

PS: How important was it in getting the artwork for your album right?
Luckily we didn’t have to go too far before the perfect artwork dropped into our lap thanks to Faith47 – a friend of the band’s. She’s like the South African Banksy – if you’ve walked through Cape Town, the chances are more than likely you’ll have already seen her work.

PS: What other bands do you consider that are really pushing the boundaries in dubstep, metal and electro?
Reso, Gallows and Far Too Loud.

PS: What will you all be having for dinner before your gig on the 7^th May at The Kraken Wakes?
We’ll see what dineries are in the vicinity of the venue when we get there, but we have a no-curry rule before we play. (Foul smells aren’t conducive towards a good performance). Plus there was once an unfortunate incident with a goat curry at a festival but we really should have seen that one coming.

PS: Talk to us about The Ides (released 29^th March), what was the idea behind the lyrics?
It’s based on a feeling of foreboding for our media-incensed gluttony for more, at the detriment of positive progression with regards to humanity’s survival.

PS: I did some light research into the title and discovered some deep shit, turns out it’s a day in the Roman calendar that marks the middle of a month, commonly referenced as the Ides of March…did this influence the release of The Ides last month?
I’d like to be able to say that we did it deliberately but another track was originally going to be the single and it got changed to The Ides last minute so it was a bit of a fluke! Also originally it was going to be called, ‘Like An Omen’ but another well-known act put out a similarly titled track just after we wrote it.

PS: What producers would you want to be remixed by?
Noisia would be pretty phenomenal.

PS: Last words of wisdom please….
That which you resist will persist.

Catch Subsource headlining Awesome Noise on the 7th May at The Kraken Wakes alongside Lighthouses and DJs Will Chump, Udy, Fotza and Phil Harvey.

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Hailing from Cardiff, James Ellaway brings the bass in the form of Lung. A youngster in the game, he’s amongst the heavy weights in the newly released This is Dubstep Vol.2. Signed to DJ Alley Cat’s Kokeshi label, Ellaway has already had digital and vinyl releases and continues to support his residencies at a few club nights in Cardiff. This is Lung…

PS: Not many people know of your name, how would you set the tone of your musical style?
To sum my tunes up, I guess you could say I make bass music around the 140bpm mark, heavily influenced by big atmospherics and melodies. As a listener I like music to move me, take me some place else, I guess that’s what I’m trying to do for other people with my music.

PS: You’re still quite young as far as producers go (19 years), at what age did you start making beats?
Well, I played in a couple of bands throughout high school, I’d occasionally record me and my friends on garage band… I just got increasingly more into production from there on and wanted to learn more! I think I started producing more seriously from around 17.

PS: How did you get snapped up by Kokeshi?
I was sending my tune ‘Afterlife’ around to a few people and I’d had Alicia as a friend on Facebook, I just sent her a link on the off chance she might listen to it and enjoy it, I didn’t know she was setting up a label until she later messaged me saying she was interested in it! – came as quite a surprise – was pretty cool!

PS: What genres of music have influenced you in your style of production?
I think more so than any genre, at least in electronic music, house has been the biggest influence for me. I’ve also been listening to alot of old UK garage and techno too, to be honest there’s not much dubstep that influences me at all. I’m not a huge fan of the tear-out and wobbly dubstep sounds, some tunes are great obviously, but it’s mostly the house influence.

PS: What set up do you use in your studio?
It’s pretty basic, I run Logic 8 on a macbook and have a pretty basic midi controller. I don’t have any plug-ins, so all the sounds are made within logic itself. And as for monitors I’m just using these cheap DJ monitors, they’re not the best by any means, but I’ve been using them long enough to know how they sound if that makes any sense? I know what changes need to be made in the mixdown as speakers can lie When I have some money I’ll probably upgrade to some Genelec monitors.

PS: How many lumps of sugar do you have in your tea/coffee?
Zero! And I like my tea strong! Not a huge coffee fan at all lol!

PS: What artists do you really admire the most and who have had an influence on your music?
I’m a big fan of Scuba. I absolutely love his sound. Also loving Instra:mental’s stuff right now, Ramadanman, Joy Orbison, Will Saul, but most recently, I’ve been listening to a lot of pretty commercial house, and have a new guilty pleasure in the form of Inna, haha!! I love vocal tunes, and I think there should be more within dubstep. House has always been able to make amazing use of a vocal ‘hook’, I’m gonna try bring that in to my productions somehow, just perhaps not in such a cheesy way

PS: What social networking sites do you use for promoting your work?
Facebook, Soundcloud, Twitter, MySpace – I love them all, and use them way too often! Soundcloud in particular is brilliant. So much easier to share music with people!

PS: What tunes are you listening to the most at the moment?
A few faves at the moment are: Inna – Amazing, Floating Ponts – Vacuum Boogie, Doc Daneeka – Drums In The Deep, Liquid People – Son Of Dragon, I:Cube – Falling, Will Saul – Jen, Mosca – Gold Bricks, I See You.

PS: How did it feel to be included in the Get Darker Presents: This is Dubstep Vol. 2 compilation, amongst some of the biggest names in the scene?
Absolutely the most surreal thing ever! I remember Alicia telling me about it, so weird!! It’s just mad being on a CD alongside names like that, Benny Page – Pan Pipes was basically THE tune that really got me interested in dubstep, so to be on the same CD as that is just the weirdest thing ever! It’s an amazing feeling! Hopefully people going out to buy the album for the bigger names will like ‘Afterlife’

PS: What do you tend to do when you’re not in the studio?
Well I’m studying music technology in university here in Cardiff so a lot of my time goes into that, to be honest I’d love to just sit at home and make tunes everyday! Other than that alot of my time goes into djing at my residencies at the Aperture and Neuropol nights here in Cardiff! But it’s alot of fun, I love playing out.

PS: What can we expect this year from Lung?
Hopefully a few more releases but I can’t guarantee anything yet…

For more info click:

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