Pirates, ahoy

Pirate Soundsystem - what a name. For those that don't know, tell us what you guys are about.

D: I'd say our overall approach to music comes from raves and carnivals. Any time we're in the studio and getting a bit too caught up in the sonics we come back to this. 

J: I think we used to be about combining elements of dance music. Trying to find a balance between the genres we liked that created a new energy. Now I think it's a lot more about rhythm exploration - finding mad beat patterns that make bodies move in new ways. I guess there is still that idea of combination, though, as we tend to always keep some classic house 4x4 stuff around which provides an interesting counterpoint to the crazy riddim stuff.

How did it start and where?

J: It all started around 2004. We wanted to start a night called 'Pirate Club' plundering all the bass from other genres so we needed a DJ name and both liked the idea of being a sound system. I have a memory of us being stoned, walking round a lake at the university I was going to.

D: We actually got booked for our first gig before we came up with a name and had to make a pretty fast decision before flyers went to print. 

Are you finding yourselves pushing a certain sound, or do you find your tastes are constantly evolving? What labels and/or artists are really doing it for you right now?

D: There's times when we're playing a lot of a certain sound, but we're never trying to be part of a particular scene. Being the type of DJ who just plays one sound and only the latest whitelabels is just too limiting.   

J: You can't really stop that evolution of musical appreciation. It's natural for me to just drift from scene to scene. I feel like an eagle. I just jam in the sky, checking out what everyone's up to from above and then go back to my nest with a few twigs and make something myself.

I'm really into some of the the moombahton stuff at the moment. Mainly the stuff that has less of the Dutch house synth, although I do like that, too. The moombahton that basically just sounds like reggaton and dancehall with big housey production. Loads of bongos.

MJ Cole is unstoppable at the moment. Breach, Hot City and the Unknown To The Unknown stuff, Mosca, Numbers...all that stuff is good inspirational dance music. I love the Crookers Dr. Gonzo album at the moment. Tight production, massive rhythms and bass.

D: Yeah there's some good moombahton coming through just now. I've developed a bit of a fascination with some African kuduro-meets-eurodance stuff like Cabo Snoop but not sure how to work it into sets just now, haha. Steak House and Senseless record labels are always quality. 

If you could take it back to one musical era, what, when or where would it be?

J: Probably when cavemen were first going wild on tree logs with bones. I could fashion a primative hi-hat and get the skippy garage movement off to an early start.

D: London and surrounding area, August 1991. 

Let us in on your secret weapon tune - the one guaranteed to get the crowd vibing nicely.

D: There's so many but when the vibe is just right to do it, dropping down from house speed and into Beenie Man - Who Am I is just too much fun. 

J: Nice vibes would be J Zoomba - Easy Blessings, which is coming out on out on Heavy Warper in next few months. It's a good example of that perfect struggle between polyrhthms and classic house influences.

I love the MJ Cole dub of Southern Electric though to get a crowd hype. Hard house garage madness.

Any juicy, funny or embarrassing anecdotes from a set you've played in 2011? Do tell... The worse the better!

D: We played at Hootenanny in Brixton in the summer and there were a lot of families in the outside beer garden. Having the dancefloor stormed by half a dozen 7 year old girls brocking out to Almighty Father by Sunship was a new one on me. 

So what can we expect from your set next Friday at Z-Shed's Hidden debut?

D: Unreasonable bass, tropical vibes and an entourage of toddlers.  

Tickets are available to see Pirate Soundsystem play alongside Star Key (Ninja Tune), Murderbot, Raffertie and the Black Butter Recs crew including L'il Silva, Greenmoney, RackNRuin, Warrior One and more, for just a tenner! Grab them here.

Z-Shed Lowdown

Hidden catches up with Z-Shed founder, Ben Pearson, to find out what goes on behind those shed doors. Plus an exclusive mix for download ahead of the show.

Hi Ben. Z-Shed's been around for a few years now. How did it all begin?
Hello! Yeah, the Z-Shed started on a rainy Tuesday night in a little pub just off Watford high street. I wish I could tell you it was storming success but it was actually quite the opposite. If I remember correctly nobody turned up. Maybe Watford just wasn't ready?

Apparently you've used some interesting and varied spaces - why do you keep switching it up?
I think it's important to consider your line up and the kind of sound you’re going for. Some artists need a huge space with a gargantuan sound system where others will work much better in a sweaty little basement. Also people/ I get bored and like a change. I think we are really lucky at the moment with the variety of venues on offer but I don’t think it will last forever. I reckon over the next couple of years the powers that be will clamp down and a lot of these places will disappear back underground. They’ll still be there but how people get access to them will be very different. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it’ll definitely be a different vibe to what a lot of people are used to.

And the name's great! Why the name?
Ha! I'm glad you like it. I actually have Noel Edmonds to thank for it. Pre Swap Shop days he did a phone in show for 'kids with problems'. Worried children would ring up and tell him about whatever happened to be bothering them and he would offer his advice agony aunt style. I'm not sure what that has to do with the Z-Shed, possibly bad jumpers and unruly kids?

I've got a Z-Shed flyer on my wall from 2 or 3 years ago now - a very treasured flyer indeed. How do you think the artwork and aesthetic of Z-Shed ties in with its musical ethos? As a promoter, do you think the aesthetic / branding is important?
Really? Which one? The logo is totally stolen from an old metal band who I won't mention and to be honest most of the stuff you see or hear at the Z-Shed has probably been nicked in one way or another. What I'm quite proud of is that, despite the amount of thievery that goes on, we've still managed to create something pretty unique that not many other people are doing. And yes, I do think the aesthetic and branding is important - but if you don’t have the substance to back it up you’ll get rumbled pretty quickly.

And finally, what (or who!) can people look forward to at next Friday's show?
All of it! Yeah, the whole line up is pretty steaming. Obviously Starkey and Murderbot, also Raffertie's latest productions have been more than heavy so I'm really looking forward to whatever he pulls out the bag. On a slightly different tip I think Riffs is going to totally smash it. He's some young dude from Bristol who makes kind of chopped up house with all sorts of different influences thrown in, loads of people have been picking up on his tracks but I think this is his first time in London so it should be pretty special. Oh and he's just done the latest Z-Shed mixtape which you can grab right here.

Z-Shed x Black Butter Records // Tracklisting
STARKEY // civil
RAFFERTIE // ninja tune
MURDERBOT // planet mu
LIL SILVA // night slugs
GREEN MONEY // fools gold
RACK N RUIN B2B WOZ & MC COAST // black butter
WARRIOR ONE // black butter
CINEMATIC & TAKURA // black butter
RUDIMENTAL & MC SHANTIE // black butter
WARLOCK // rag n bone
PIRATE SOUND SYSTEM // heavy warper
RIFFS // jigsore
MUSTARD GUNN // coin operated
SVNBVRN // destroy culture
BUMP N GRIND // dungeon bounce
DAS BOOT // the z-shed
JOSH WEST // dungeon bounce

Audio Doughnuts' 1st Birthday!

Hidden chat to Henry Moller, founder of Audio Doughnuts, ahead of the AD takeover of its arches this coming Friday 25th November. Plus an exclusive SoapDodgers mix to delight the dubsteppers.

Alright Moller! So the AD family is officially 1 year old - where did the whole idea stem from?

The idea for AD was in the back of my mind for years, I was hosting parties back in 2008 and 2009 and DJing in between. I started noticing the lack of entertainment value in a lot of the shows I was going to or even DJing at. After exploring  funky house, offsets of UK garage and dubstep for a few years the main focus was to start a label to put out the music  I was being sent. Running a label was  untrodden ground for me so I started AD as a club night in 2010 to cement both what the AD sound was, and the purpose of AD which is - crucially - good fun. Since then the label took a backseat until August/September this year when we started putting out some of the music I'd collected. To put it bluntly, I guess I wanted to create parties that me and my friends would want to go to, and create a label which put out music that we'd buy.

What sounds are you pushing now - could you put it in any particular bracket? Or do you think the ethos of AD has changed over the last 12 months, and if so, how?

You could've probably put the sound we were pushing into a bracket at the start of 2010; it was evident we were pushing a much more bass-driven sound. The ethos of AD has most definitely grown rather than changed throughout the year - we like to stay away from typical genre stereotypes and just focus on having music we love at the parties. Whether that's house, hip hop, garage, funky, it doesn't really matter to us. As long as we get a buzz off it, then belongs at our parties or on a release. We tend to book the artists which aren't always necessarily playing Fabric every week, or playing at every festival over the summer. It's essential for us to push forward the new sounds as promoters. Even labels are becoming more & more apprehensive and conservative about pushing new sound, as it's not always going to make the most money. So I guess us taking the risks in booking more edgy acts has become apparent this year. Even with the records we're beginning to put out.

Who have been some of your favourite artists to have down to AD?

Fantastic Mr Fox did an amazing set at our show back in June at Crucifix Lane. He's been a favourite on my producers list for a while and it was good to see him bringing so many different colours and sounds to his set. The crowd's reaction was pretty special, too. Other than that, it was pretty fun when Onoe Caponoe did a live set at Corsica back in August; I think he'd smoked his body mass in mary-jane and it was fun to see someone in their element talking to the crowd, rather than just a standard performance.

Can you give us an insight into the full spectrum of AD? We've heard through the grapevine there's also a record label and potentially tours in the pipeline...

Well I've probably given away the whole record label thing a little bit by now, our first two releases probably gave people an idea that there's a lot more to come in terms of the label. AD in 2012 is really exciting for us, we've got shows in Leeds, Nottingham, Melbourne and most likely Vienna, too, all happening next year, and obviously continuing the 'Presents' series in London. We wrote a wish-list of artists we wanted to play at the AD parties next year and the majority of them have been booked for at least 1 show next year. The label is a very key focus for us next year, we hope to be putting out the 12"s we never got to put out this year, and an album or two, which we're working on at the moment.

This Friday you get to blow out AD's first birthday candle - where do you see AD in ten years time!?

I just hope AD continues to grow throughout the next few years - it's been a special year for us especially to receive such a welcome response from people in the first year of our existence. Being asked where I see AD in ten years time is a difficult one. I can't really imagine where it will be in 10 years time. As long as people are still interested in the music, we will continue with what we do and continue to find new acts and divulging new sounds.

You can still get tickets here for this Friday's show - but be quick!

Butterz X Bullet Train

With the highly acclaimed Elijah and Skilliam Rinse CD released, it's little surprised the media's been going crazy for the launch this Friday 18th November, getting features in the Guardian and The Independent - hugely positive recognition for our underground scene. So this Friday sees an absolutely gleaming grime, dubstep and UK bass line up that features Zed Bias, Terror Danjah, Elijah & Skilliam and TRIM, Royal-T, Swindle and TRC taking over the main room, whilst Marco Del Horno's Bullet Train records invite Last Japan, The Living Graham Bond and 2SuckaDjs to show us how it's done. All this plus 'For Love & Money's Sessions bringing Klose One, Rattus Rattus, Ordio Kid, Knickerbocker Corey and Sai into the blue bar. All this for just a tenner advance. 100 free copies of Bullet Train Vol.2 are being given away on the night, too. We're spoiling you London!

FOUND & Days Like That present: Heritage

Garage, 2-step and house lovers beware. An absolute storm is brewing in light of this Friday 11th November's delightfully exciting showcase of one of the most influential and innovating sounds to emerge from London. The FOUND & Days Like That present: Heritage line-up is packed with UK garage originators that laid down the template for so much of modern bass music (and dubstep) in the process, from Matt Jam Lamont and Scott Garcia, to El-B, Slimzee, T.Williams, Noodles, Hot City and more.

Joining the dots between London's rich tapestry of pioneering garage-influenced dance styles, Heritage will cover the music from past to present - taking in original 2-step, UK garage and four-to-the-floor with today's bass-led incarnations. To check the full line-up, more information and tickets view the event here.

You can also listen to T.William's special garage mix here, and download the FACT Magazine Dusk and Blackdown mix here. Sizzling.

Crossfire

Crossfire brought their raucous skater-inspired energy and caused all sorts of flurry across all three arches for Friday 28 October's almighty Halloween celebrations, with the one and only Vans 'Off The Wall' and FRONT Magazine in tow. If you fancy getting a flavour of the night, take a look at pictures of some of the highlights here. 

Remember to check the club this Friday 4th November as deep and dark, rolling drum and bass courtesy of d&b stalwarts Sudden Def and the 170-bpm stronghold that is Tech:nology takes hold. Information and tickets here.