Proper Serious are proud to support Jelly Jazz presents Night of the Dead in aid of two awesome charities, Down Syndrome Education International and Rock Challenge. This one off charity event will be held within Southsea Castle and have a stunning range lined up of DJs, live visuals, face painting, Poi Poi and juggling action plus a special theme bar by Bamboo. Built upon a massive club night success, Jelly Jazz isn’t just about Jazz! Expect to wiggle to a healthy dose of funk, hip hop, soul, drum and bass, funky breaks and latin beats. Ending at midnight, the after party will then be hosted by Bamboo bar which will be offering free food for ticket holders and music from DJs till 2am.
‘Dress up! Just search for Mexican Day of the Dead in google for inspiration!’
LINE UP
PETE ISAAC (Jelly Jazz, Phonic FM)
GRIFF (Rambunctious Social Club, Jelly Jazz)
BONEBOOKBANG (Soul Cellar, Tape Club Records)
MISS FUNKY FOX with live sax
live percussion KING KONGA
live visuals and set design LEE HODGES (Rambunctious social club, Micasamovi)
PLUS…
Mel and Jen from RASPBERRY DESIGN will be at the Castle all night to do special Day of the Dead facepainting.
SATURDAY 30th OCTOBER
SOUTHSEA CASTLE, Clarence Esplanade, Portsmouth
7pm – 12am
Tickets £10
AFTER PARTY @ BAMBOO Southsea, Palmerston Road
FREE entry and food with your castle ticket!
12am – 2am
GET YOUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE FROM BAMBOO +442392820288
MORE INFO +447872455866
Proceeds go the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth’s Appeal, which is raising funds in aid of two charities, Down Syndrome Education International (Charity Number 1062823) and Rock Challenge (Charity Number 1077291). Proceeds will be split 50/50 between the 2 charities.
Bringing his creative flair to the Jelly Jazz presents Night of the Dead event on the 30th September in Portsmouth, visual artist Lee Hodges, talks to us about his influences and current projects, plus his involvement with The Rambunctious Social Club…
Hi Lee! What’s your overall artistic style for the work that you produce?
Chaos mixed with Artful play.
Who and what are your influences?
I love street art and Graffiti, it has a sense of spontaneity and freedom that a lot of art sometimes lacks. I love anything that is playful and inventive, which gives a sense of wonder. I’m really into lots of the old Zoetrope/early animation techniques at the moment. I’ve always liked the surrealists but mainly I’m influenced by the world around me and what weird and wonderful ideas it can give me.
Were you always good at art when you were a kid?
Yep, I was an incessant scribbler at school, I covered everything I could get my hands on, I’d fill my exercise books with full page doodles instead of words.
Since you’re known to be multimedia taught, which format do you enjoy being creative with the most?
I can’t really say that there is one particular medium I enjoy most, what’s fun is seeing how 2 or 3 different mediums can marry together in unusual ways, I experiment a lot. I’m enjoying fusing old style animation techniques with a modern twist, I’m also getting more and more into creating stuff for set design/visual extravaganzas.
What organisations have you worked for in the UK?
The Eden project, New Perspectives theatre company, Real ideas organisation, Exeter Phoenix and Aim Higher.
Can you tell us about any projects you’re working on at the moment?
A Mexican themed shop window display, plans for developing more live antics including more live turntable visuals….oh and I’m writing and illustrating a picture book about a sofa.
You also do freelance tutoring and host workshops, do you find it rewarding passing on your own knowledge to other people and how do you help them tap into their own creative ability?
Yeah, people forget how to play, we are all creative so it’s cool to see or help them get back in touch with that. It’s great to see people of any age realize their potential and gain confidence, being creative is a big healer and a fantastic conduit for us all to express ourselves, something like that should never be under valued.
What’s your involvement with The Rambunctious Social Club?
Myself and my good friend Glyn (DJ Griff) created it together. We wanted to create a club night that was interactive and fun. I’ve dubbed it ‘clubbing for the creatively curious’. As well as being co-host/organiser my involvement is the visual side of things (although I do like to DJ too!) I’ve been penned as the ‘Art Wizard’!! – so film/animation, posters, the over-all make and design of each night, live’ non-VJ’ visuals. We theme each gig, which inevitably fuels my obsessions and I get carried away making and coming up with ideas, we did a sci-fi B movie the other month and I made a robot, amongst other things…so each gig I appear with a load more inventions and my house gets messier! We like to think of Rambunctious being quite unique in the south west scene.
Do you ever get writer’s block when it comes to producing your own material or is there always a consistent flow of ideas?
I love, love ideas, they are pretty non-stop, I keep falling over them in my house all the time!
Is there any pressure when it comes to producing commissioned work?
I guess there is always an element of that, but it’s also kind of counter productive in some ways, so I try best to avoid that and just enjoy it!?
The Halloween charity event in October sees your vision of the ‘Day of the Dead’ come to life as you’ll be doing the set design and live visuals to compliment the sounds of Jelly Jazz, how will you be working with textures to enhance your ideas and the atmosphere?
The Mexican Day of the Dead is bright and colourful, it’s a celebration – so no Halloween greys or blacks anywhere! So I’ll be thinking bright colours, smiling skulls, a fusion of folk and street art mixed with the funkiness that sits with Jelly Jazz. I’ll probably end up listening to loads of Mexican funk and ska while I’m doing it, plus some Mariachi -hop (made up genre), that’ll get me in the mood.
What else do you like to do aside from being creative?
I like to take my imagination on frequently long walks!
And finally, what costume will you be wearing to the Halloween charity event, or are you keeping hush hush about it till then?
Well…hmmmm…I’m not giving too much away, but let’s just say it involves shrunken heads!
MICASAMOVI
THE RAMBUNCTIOUS SOCIAL CLUB
lee@micasamovi.co.uk
Download // Disco of Doom0
Posted In Electro/Bass
This pair of filthy producers/remixers have made an impressive dent in the electro/bass front, most recently dropping official remixes for Kele and Fenech Soler which can be downloaded for free!
KELE – EVERYTHING YOU WANTED (DISCO OF DOOM REMIX) 320mp3
FENECH SOLER – LIES (DISCO OF DOOM REMIX) 320mp3
If you like/download Fenech Soler remix please visit their website and sign up to their mailing list.
DJ Pinch’s Tectonic dubstep label releases 12 remixed dubstep rhythms including Kode 9, Mala , Shackleton and Loefah on the 29th November 2010 by legndary dub engineer, Scientist. Established in 2005, this Bristol label has been responsible for releasing some highly acclaimed albums, particularly 2562 – Unbalance and Pinch – Underwater Dancehall.
A year in the making, Scientist puts decades of tactile, hands-on experience to work, deftly transforming the killer originals into living, breathing dub music with his most sacred of black arts.
The effect is most radical when he renders the ultra modern surfaces of Guido’s ‘Korg Back’ or Pinch and Emika’s prescient stepper ’2012′, realigning the dance’s depth perception with the skill of an electro-acoustic mastermind. No less, when working with vocalists such as Dokkebi Q’s Hitomi and poet Roger Robinson in King Midas Sound’s ‘U’ or the dread vibes of Spaceape on Kode 9′s ‘Abeng’, he enhances their duppy potential tenfold. Perhaps most spooky of all is his version of Shackleton’s ‘Hackney Marshes’, morphing the original’s Nyabinghi-like percussion into a subtly spiritual and psychoactive slab of riddim minimalism. However, for many the highlights will be the dreadnaught overhauls of Mala DMZ’s bassbin punishing ‘City Cycle’, and Loefah & Sgt. Pokes‘ ‘Dog Money’ respectively, realising many dub-fiend’s most feverish dreams in ultra-heavyweight fashion.
Noted as being hugely influencial amongst mainstream chart and the ’backroom sessions of London’, Jamican Scientist remains close to the ‘rooted principles of bass and space’ whilst laying down much emphasis on physical bass weight and aesthetics shared by contemporary dubstep prodcers.
Interview // Pete Issac of Jelly Jazz0
Posted In Club
Founder and resident DJ of Jelly Jazz, Pete Isaac, will be bringing his legendary club night to Portsmouth for next month’s special Halloween charity event in aid of the Down Syndrome Educational International and Rock Challenge. Having run the night for many years, Pete has taken Jelly Jazz across the UK booking live bands as well as DJs that bring that ‘soul’ factor to the dance floor with a mash up range of genres. Pete tells us what the club night is really about and that old time classic format called vinyl…
For those who don’t know, what’s the concept behind Jelly Jazz and how has it grown since you first started?
Jelly Jazz has always been and still is about great music that you know and don’t know. We play music from anywhere in the world from any period over the last 40 years, just as long as it’s funky! And that’s the rub, not everything is ‘jelly’, we have developed an ear to almost instantly recognise what will fit and what won’t. No genre, within reason, is out of bounds, so you’ll hear funk, jazz, soul, latin, beats, hip hop, cumbia, swing, D&B, disco, real R&B, 4 to floor and so on. What you won’t hear is chart, cheese, R&B and indie electro!
This musical concept has sustained Jelly Jazz for almost 18 years now. The concept is timeless so won’t go out of fashion, and for the individual out there that doesn’t need to be told what to like, it’s the perfect choice!
In those 18 years the club has seen many changes, from it’s weekly 14 year Wednesday night run, it has spread out to host events in many venues around the south west of England and beyond. From intimate sessions in pubs to massive venues, we move all over the shop!
Another way Jelly Jazz is gaining yet more international recognition is through the Jelly Jazz Radio Show. Apart from it’s broadcast on Phonic FM in Devon, I also put the show out via the Jelly Jazz web site, iTunes, Mixcloud and Podomatic as a podcast. Listenership figures have grown amazingly well with the most downloaded show getting around 4500 plays, not bad in this day and age! It’s so great to get messages from Oz, USA, Canada, across Europe, Japan and so on from people enjoying the Jelly sound. It has also meant more DJ gig offers from people checking out the show, so I’m off to Holland, Poland and France this Autumn all through the radio show.
What guest DJs have played at the club night and is there anyone you’d like to see behind the decks?
Almost everyone in 18 years! Well at least almost all of the old guard that is! There are lots of new faces around now. I’m not going to list everyone who has played, but a few that always impress are Quantic, Chris Goss, Russ Dewbury, Dom Servini and Florian Keller. There are more of course! As for people that have not played at Jelly, Nick The Record, Hugo Mendez, Frankie Francis and Cut Chemist spring to mind, would like to have these guys play.
Any favourite sets from these guest DJs?
Both Chris Goss and Quantic have played at Jelly Jazz many many times, the reason why? Because they never fail to rock it!
What songs always go down well on the dance floor?
Blimey there’s a question with many answers! Rock solid up tempo funky soul always works, Margie Hendrix, Otis Reading, Betty Harris, etc etc, as does good old funk 45s. One of my all time favourite tracks that always works is ‘Got To Get Your Own’ by Rueben Wilson, we have been playing this track since day 1 and still not bored of it! Right now there’s a lot of great latin/breakbeat crossovers that are going down amazingly well, labels like NYC Trust, Bastard Jazz and Lovemonk in Spain are all putting out dancefloor gold.
You’ve just hosted the Eden Project arts cafe 2nd birthday in Cornwall, how did that go down and what live acts did you book for it?
Arts Café is not exactly our gig, rather we are booked each month as resident DJs. We don’t book the bands, that is the lovely Beth at Eden who does that. But we do of course put our suggestions in. Arts Café is great though, always different, lots to see and do and get involved with, and loads to learn which you don’t get to do in many nights out.
What was it like to have legendary saxophone player Lou Donaldson play at your club night, as you described the atmosphere as being intense and attracting a diverse audience?
Lou’s gig was a top 3 all time Jelly Jazz highlight for sure. Backed up by my personal favourite band, The New Mastersounds from Leeds, Lou played the perfect soul jazz set from his massive repertoire with NMS cookin’ the grooves, an audience made up of young ravers, funk freaks, old school jazzers and true music lovers, and an atmosphere that is elusive and rare. That special vibe that everyone feels, an attention span that never wavers, it was so amazing, one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever witnessed at any gig, mine or otherwise!
What other venues have you taken Jelly Jazz to and is there any in mind that you’d like to use?
We’ve played at many clubs across the south west, too many to list. As for new ones, I don’t know really. I’m more interested in the people than the venue, you could throw a party in a shoebox and it’ll be brilliant if the right people are in it. One of the best gigs I’ve done in recent times was in Lodz in Poland with The Soul Confectionery guys. Basically WOW! Great contemporary venue, awesome guys behind it all, much drive and passion for the music and presentation and above all, an absolutely awesome crowd. It was like the UK was in the mid 90’s, i.e. open the doors, everyone piles in straight onto the dance floor and has a rockin’ party till the very end.
How long have you been spinning records for and is there any temptation to turn to digital mixing?
I’ve been spinning records for 21 years, and yes, I have succumbed to the digital new world order. After a few years of being purist in my attitude I finally started using Serato, mainly because mostly all DJ promos are sent out as digital files. The days of getting vinyl promo are over! Anyway, I hated having to burn cds to play upfront music, I just never got on with CD decks, so to get a digital file and be instantly able to play it from a Serato vinyl disc is brilliant.
I like Serato as it seems to be made for old school DJs who want to get into digital, it’s very much a vinyl thing. Traktor seems less like that and other software, especially software that actually beat mixes for you are still on my snobbish list. And I can’t see that I’ll ever use them. I still love my vinyl though, even though it is languishing on my racks! There are still gigs I do that I take vinyl for and not the macbook.
Roughly how many records do you own?
Around 7000 I suppose at present, but I’ve owned many more! I generally had a yearly clearout otherwise I’d be drowning in vinyl now.
Finally, what record are you the most protective of?
There’s a few that mean a lot to me and not because they are particularly rare and expensive, although some are!
The Pipe ‘Wade In The Water’ (RCA 45), this was a discovery for me, in the fact that no other DJs knew it. A rare latin funk version of the spiritual classic that I found in a book shop in France for about £2.
King Earnest ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ (Sonic 45). I picked this up for a $10 or so whilst digging in the USA, not knowing it was £150+ record. Massive Northern Soul belter with a heavy funk edge, love it so much!
Johnny Sedes ‘Mama Calunga’ (Fonseca LP). Again, a super rare one and a crazy story in getting it. We had DJ BNX from France at Jelly in Plymouth who played it, I freaked out and the next day went to Really Good Records in Plymouth and asked if they had it, of course expecting 100% that they wouldn’t. They did, I couldn’t believe it, £25 quid too, it was hard keeping a straight face!
I could give you many more examples, but this will do!
Supporting
