The end of a Naai is nearer!!!

This is a follow on from my previous post called "The end of an era is nigh :'-("

Well, the day has finally come. As of the end of May I will no longer be working at SHiFT Interactive. I and the rest of the team all accepted our retrenchment packages over the salary cut. This means that there is no more staff to do work here and thus the company will have to close its doors.
It's been fun, it's been hard work, it's been 8 years, and now it's time to say cheers. I wish everyone all the best, it really has been fun.

:)

An interview I did for Music Industry Online

I've been going through my archives & that's why I'm posting all this older shit.
This is an interview I did back in May, 2002. It was done for Music Industry Online.

===============
Interview with DJP from the INISHI8 Drum'n'Bass Crew
Author: The MIO Team
Date: May 21, 2002

The sixth MIO DJ Q & A session finds us talking to Drum 'n Bass DJ, djP. He is part of the Inishi8 crew promoting and bringing high quality Drum 'n Bass parties to the masses.

What is your DJ Name?
Hmmm....Well. To be honest I never spent too much time thinking about it (hence the lack of originality:-). Although most of my mates have been calling me "djP" for years, so I thought "What the hell!!". Suggestions are welcome ;-)

Do you have a website?
Yes, check out www.inishi8.co.za. We are busy updating it at the moment, so please be patient.

What style of music do you play?
Predominantly dark, fast and furious tech-step Drum 'n Bass, although I do enjoy playing a number of different styles. Ultimately it depends on what's going to keep the dancefloor cooking at around 180º.

You're part of the INISHI8 Drum 'n' Bass Crew. Tell us a little more about it?
Yeah man, INISHI8 rocks!! Our primary objective is to promote South African Drum 'n Bass DJ's, producers, and up-and-coming artists, with the goal of elevating local Drum 'n Bass to an international level. INISHI8 started off under the Ambush Productions logo, bringing cutting-edge international artists to SA, and influencing the ever-increasing demand for Drum 'n Bass to the SA Massive. Among others, some of the more recent artists that we have brought out include the likes of DJ RED, and of-course the unforgettable performance of the US's own DIESELBOY two years in a row. Being part of a crew like this isn't easy, it takes a lot of time and effort to organise events of this nature. Apart from DJing, I help out with promotion, distribution, marketing and general admin. Stay tuned for more info on our next event - DYLAN @ SUBLIME 25 May - This event is also the launch of our bi-weeklies at Sublime.

Where do you think Drum 'n' Bass is going in South Africa? Is there a growing market for it here?
Drum 'n Bass in Johannesburg took quite a big knock a while back with the closing down of 206, and Reality changing their downstairs floor to House & Hip Hop. It's really sad to see that an entire genre of music can be so heavily influenced just by two night clubs. 9 out of 10 Advertisers and sponsors don't see the potential in the D&B scene, add to that the fact that you never hear Drum & Bass on radio stations which leads to a case of "Lack of exposure" and that's why it has become even more difficult to promote, and to throw really successful events. Don't fret! It is getting better. I personally think that there is HUGE potential for Drum 'n Bass in SA provided that dedicated crews like INISHI8 and our counterparts Way West Wreckordings stay in the picture. Take my word for it, Drum 'n Bass is going to be making a monumental comeback in the next few years. Watch this space!!

Do you have any current club, night or radio residencies?
I currently play at all the parties that INISHI8 throw. I'm also playing at the next Way West Wreckordings party at 115 Anderson Street on 11 May. As far as the radio goes, INISHI8 are organising a bi-weekly Drum 'n Bass radio show on 5FM. Stay tuned for more info!!!

Do you use vinyl, CDs or a combination and why?
Is that a rhetorical question? SL1200's are my weapon of choice, Vinyl is my ammo! Although I do enjoy having CD's as an option as well. I sometimes test tracks on the audience to decide wether or not to buy the vinyl. Nothing digital can compare with the sub-bass that you get when using analogue. Nuff said!!!

Do you find it easy to get the style of music you play in South Africa from the local record stores or is the majority of your buying from overseas?
Unfortunately there aren't many record shops in Jhb that stock D&B, and the ones that do aren't really into D&B, and therefore their selection isn't top-notch or even current. I buy most of my records on the net, Chemical Records is my favourite supplier.

What is your favourite track at the moment?
It's a toss-up between the storming remix by Stakka&Skynet of SUBSTRATA's "Airstrike" on Technorganic recordings, and the raving flip-side of a white label from The Giana Brotherz of Basswerk recordings in Germany.

Do you have any South African produced tracks in your record box? If not, why?
Not yet, but I'm keen to get my mitts on "Counterstrike's Pressure/Questions" release on Dune/Allied Recordings. Also keen to get a pressing of "Excessive Youth" and "Thunder" by INISHI8's very own talented producers AMBUSH & ORGANIC. The only reason I don't have any SA artists in my bag is because of the lack of record shops stocking local D&B. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, Counterstrike are the only D&B outfit in SA that have a full release out there. Go Justin & Eaton!

Have you produced your own track or considered it?
Heehee, yeah, but nothing finished. I have lots of bits and pieces of tracks that I have started, but nothing complete as yet :-(

What is your favourite venue in SA?
That's a tough one! I prefer once-off events that are in different place every time. There is a growing trend of promoters hiring unheard of venues, rather than hiring clubs.

What is the best event you have played at?
It would have to be the 2nd Dieselboy party we threw, TOP-NOTCH!!!

What DJ would you most like to play alongside?
Funny enough, I always aspired to playing alongside Dieselboy. As far as producer/dj's go, "Stakka & Skynet" and "Ed Rush & Optical" would most definitely be at the top of the list.

INISHI8 have brought out Dieselboy a number of times to headline a party and then backed him up with quality local talent. Do you think there should be more big events with only SA DJs? or is the big international name backed by SA talent the best thing currently?

We bring out international artists so that we can keep the D&B public out there up-to-date with what D&B is going down worldwide. The way I see it, is that there would be a bigger following of local D&B talent if advertisers, sponsors and other promoters could see their potential. It would also improve if there were more local producers and DJs's representing the scene.

Thanks djP
=========================

See the original interview on their website here.

A Drum n Bass Workshop I did for Spinout

A while back I did a Drum n bass Workshop for Bruce at Spinout. Here are some pics from the day as well as the material I handed out to all attendees.

Me demostrating the differences between certain sub-genres of DnB
Me mixing between different genres to illustrate how radically different Jump-up sounds from Tech Step, for example
Me in a really spastic pose while I explain how using Cutting & Chopping techniques is particularly effective with DnB

The attendees getting brainwashed

Hands on session with the girls
Some happy smiley future Drum n Bass DJ's (hopefully)

A hands on session with the boys (I still don't know why the girls wanted to go seperately)

Hands on session with the guy that "got it". He outshone the rest of the class and wants so badly to play DnB. One down, many to go.
Hands on session again.

And this is the cover of the Drum n Bass Mix I handed out to all the attendees. If anyone wants a copy, please get hold of me & I'll make a plan:

The course material I handed out was:
1. A brief history of Drum'n'Bass. Read it here.
2. DJP's Drum'n'Bass Genre List. Read it here.
3. Basic Guide to Producing Drum'n'Bass Tracks. Read it here.
4. DJP's non definitive list of Drum'n'Bass Record Labels. Read it here.

About Spinout:
SpinOut started back in 1997 with the idea of promoting the 'underground' and building good vibes in the dance music scene here in Johannesburg, South Africa. It's grown since then and become a project of the MilkyWay Foundation but kept it's non-commercial and outreach flavour. Their mission is to:

-Nurture and facilitate DJ talent and skills;
-Provide a venue for DJ's to play and explore the music that they generally cannot play in a commercial environment;
-Provide opportunities for DJ's to gain exposure to new music technology and access to equipment they would otherwise not have access to;
-Provide a means of introducing the punters to different styles of music, both at live SpinOut sessions and via recorded sets as well productions from time to time;
-Promote the positive spirit of dance culture in general, and provide a safe and secure venue for youth to enjoy music and dance;
-Build bridges between different cultures through music;
-Link in the promotion of cosmological Darwinian awareness via public astronomy and information & space technology, as well as demystify science where possible;
-Promote a culture of volunteerism;
-Attempt to do all the above with no commercial agenda, and above all with honesty and integrity;
-Add positive value to the lives of the SpinOut crew members and everyone associated with us.

They have lots of hings happening regularly at SpinOut:
* DJ Clinic Every Saturday
* DJ & Production Workshops
* DJ Skools during the school holidays
* They host SpinOut Sessions on some weekend evenings. Conditions permitting, (ie clear evenings) you can take a celestial trips through the cosmos with their powerful telescope.

:)

Messinian's Musings

At the end of last month we brought out DJ Dieselboy ^ MC Messinian out to South Africa for a mini tour.

Well, Messinian is one talented dude. Take a look below for some of his writings.

Check out his website here

or check out his page on Myspace here

==============

You are my slow exploration of warm, carressing energy
magnetic fields that transfer to selves hovering next to me
brushstrokes upon the canvas by spanish caravans
with ink arsenals and feminine contraband.
You are Atlas--the latitude of our long love
the gentle essence of "Forever", whispering from above
the reinvention of eternities through passionate trust
that reassembles compositions from the lingering dust.
You are the prowess of a higher power petaling tears
from brittle vacancies within my soul's twice-lived years
the reception of my everything that catches intrigue
from deep oceans that surround the shallow depths of fatigue.
You are a sun breathing life into dreams unlived
the conditions of a world that unconditionally gives
you are the instincts of the animals that rightfully rule
the masculine half of the mind when it's losing the duel.
You are the faucet in the dark dripping constant reminders
through alphabatized incisors in gnawed, bitten binders.
My heartbeat is your discovery, commited to bliss
you are the urge that makes me want to mic check like this....
You are the light in the attic where the sidewalk ends
the mix and blend of reality the media pretends
the underground that finds truth in innocence condemned
that's when you hemmed life's length through the heart of my pen.
Our pyramids embellished in golden dusk-frozen
by your Joan of Arc eyes- I realized I was chosen
(gravity unrestrained and a new shore sighted
you are my pandora's box- guided by me when inside it)
The Red Sea, the vessel, and the blood that had christened
the emissions of my love because you chose to listen
You're continuity and randomness- millenium cold
that rushes childhood feelings through the withered and old
the missing vitals of the biblical forever untold
and this king James won't edit knowledge to be bought and then sold.
You are B.C.,A.D.- reconstructing my time
making the loudest gun clap slowly pantomime
The second wind of the inner city running from danger
from the inflicting dark glance of a brother turned stranger.
You are oblivions obliterated, heavens repieced
attatching puzzled eyes-narrowly escaping the beast
You're the degrees of 180's from a Lady Euphrates
that freed the gifts that God gave me from the clutches of Hades.
My wilted lotus...when the eviction notice read "homeless"
you collapsed scared into these arms of mine- sadder than Otis
Your cinder-block shields- STILL guarded scars to my face
beaten unconscious by his demons- blood was all we could taste
You're the intoxicant my caffienated child couldn't sober
but you awakened under Earth to turn my first page over
You are the wheels of miscarriage with maiden name and no marriage
that turned nine months of grunts into my left shoulder's merit.
You are the universal Ohm- fuck having a home
symphonic noises in the night compassing me where to roam
Your mere survival turned to strength-a variation in tones
of my own melody that taught me that I wasn't alone...
You are all of this you've given me and little I've gave
or have I touched you in this way and this was all your repay?
You are every word I utter, every texture I touch
every hue that will ever bless the tip of my brush....

You are the blending of two colors battling over turf...
My purple lover...Violet Sister...Mother Earth.


========================


I am the endless energy that leaks combustible sound
the dying desert faults that impact movement of ground
the umbilical of ancient souls - shackled and bound
released in peace and set free through clairvoyance profound.
I am the stillness of innumerable planets contained
in galaxies built by bones of graveyard remains
I am the echo that refracts from packs of coyotes howls
the parasitic pain that lingers deep in the bowels
of urban landscapes that feeds off of rhythm and vowels
coughing the thick blood of bitterness- the prey of the prowl
I am the harvest from the red plateau of sleepless nights
the ivory casket that gasps the aura of fright
Jerusalem, Mecca, and the air that I breathe
I'm the eclipse of conscience in my moment of need.
The crusade of the massive's intellectual growth
I'm symbiosis of my feelings and my mind is the host
I'm the eternal equinox of a full moon's ghost
that boasts suffering and stardust when you needed me most.
I am the scent of deceit through a for-k tongued lie
the landslide of vision in a blind man's eyes
the climax of poetics when the mountains arise
the muffled voice of oppression's lost compromise
I am the beckon of reality that ceased to exist
...the target of an audience I probably missed.
I am Zen and the clamouring of mideval swords
the voice in white light that gently beckons you towards.
I am the juice of mic chords leaking through creaking blackboards
a bad impression of regression that moves rapidly fowards.
I am the steel that you front...or just the rep that you want-
a fatcat politician turned somalian gaunt
An unidentifiable flying cypher that grips
the beams of cowering monuments into a building's eclipse.
I am the remix of strategics when the ballad commences
the condensing of pretensious designer incenses
The architect of reconstructing Earth as we know it
the enertia of Fear's punch- before you begin to throw it.
The tsunami of Nagasaki and the death of Brazil
A CFC hunting layers with the intent to kill.
I am all skills in the form of your ecstacy pill
That's leaking deep into the tunnels of emotions you feel
A carnivore sea stranded with a vegetarian
the loaf of bread slicing heads of thief proletariats
The scale harmoniously balancing love and greed
I am the steel you now hold...and the rep you now need...
I am the quivering quintet of Cuban guitar strings
I am something....I am nothing... I am everything.
===============================


Now ain't that something!!!

:)

OH WHAT A NIGHT!!!!!

Well, I'm sad to say that our Dieselboy gig has come and gone. And what a memorable night it was! I will be posting pictures soon, but here's a review that someone wrote about the event. Bloody good review if you ask me :) Thanks DrumNutter!!!


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Dieselboy & MC Messinian @ Loaded - Friday 31 march 2006

When the almighty INISHi8 crew announced that it was preparing to host Dieselboy & MC Messinian again, everyone knew it was going to be something huge. Responsible for organizing some of the best & most impressive drum 'n bass line-ups in South Africa, it was obvious that Johannesburg was in for a special treat that could potentially change the landscape of the scene. Set to take place at Johannesburg freshest hot-spot, Loaded, the scene was set for a night of Drum n Bass debauchery.

The line-up promised a perfect balance of heavy beats and silky smooth melodies with the likes of Dieselboy, Ambush (INISHI8), DJP (INISHI8), Angie Summers (Junglettes, Australia) & Sonar (Reflex) on the decks and heavyweight MC's Messinian, Tasha Baxter, Heavy G & Tripwire busting the rhymes on the mic. Not only does that represent a majority of JHB's finest DnB DJ talent, it was also a nice spread of styles and flavours that ensured the crowd were never bored or without a decent tune to listen to. As the first beers of the night went down, a truly diverse crowd looked forward to an evening of the finest beats and baddest bass ever to come blasting out of a South African sound system.

All the DJs were on point from the get-go with DJ Trouble rolling it out nice and eclectic with a scratchy jungle warm up before Reflex's own Sonar stepped up to the decks, providing the gathered masses with their first taste of drum n bass of the evening. Accompanied with the vocal stylings of Tasha Baxter, he rolled out a hard and pumping set of fresh tunes to an appreciative crowd, kicking off the party in memorable style.

Next up on the decks was the one and only Angie Summers hailing from Australian shores who got things jumping from right off the bat. With the sound system now cranked up a few more notches, the massive Noisia vs Upbeats "Sacrifice" opener, which garnered an instant rewind, had the late arrivals literally running from the entrance to the dancefloor. Throughout her set she continued to pound out the grindiest tracks & hard-hitting bassslines that all in attendance were reminded of the fact that this party was only going to get better and better as the night progressed. Amid cries of "OMG!!" and "She's so hot", she took the crowd on an aural journey second to none, while lapping up the support from the crowd that Johannesburg DJ's have become accustomed to.

Representing the INISHI8 crew, Ambush (supported by MC's Heavy G & Tripwire) was next to shake the system and pollute the Jozi air with the dark & murky sound we all love. Blasting the crowd with tunes like Hex, he tore up an already heaving dance floor, doling out a selection of quality beats and fresh cuts with devastating basslines, after all they don't call him Ambush for nothing. By now the crowd were going nuts in anticipation of main event of the evening – Dieselboy & MC Messinian.

Never having witnessed him play I was kind of expecting something along the lines of his recent ‘Dungeon Master’s Guide’ mix CD, fast, techy / trancey kind of badness. However, he managed to switch between quite a few styles, a bit of Jump Up stuff for the old school crowd and some disgustingly hardcore Limewax and Evol Intent dubs towards the end. Anyway, his selection was sick, his mixing was sick, and I was nearly sick from all the bouncing around I was doing.

After the much anticipated carnage that Dieselboy had unleashed on the already weary dancefloor, the mighty techno-drum DJ that is DJP was next behind the decks, opening to a massive cheer, he decimated the crowd with bass lines so weighty, I thought I was going to faint. Those still inside & outside of the club found their way on to the dance floor, and rocked it with the rest of us. It is not hard to see why DJP is held in such high regard, his seamless mixes, crazy cuts and spot on selection kept the vibe alive and the people jumping as we passed the 6am barrier. He ended the night with Raiden's "Working Class Heroes" with the crowd still begging for more, but sadly it was time to close. To call the night anything other than a blast would be inaccurate and it is because of parties like these that INISHI8 reigns supreme as the drum and bass pioneers of the Jozi scene.

When I finally managed to get home I fell instantly into a bass-induced coma for the rest of the weekend, and god knows I needed it. If I was given one wish I'd wish to go back in time and experience it all over again. Mad shout outs must go to INISHI8's Ambush & DJP for making this possible & for making it the best night out I've had in over 5 years. R.E.S.P.E.C.T!!!

Written by: DrumNutter
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Stay tune for pics :)