In the shadier end of sunny Brisbane, lurks an underground night of elephant-sized proportions this Saturday night. With the Wooly Mammoth playing host to three Operatives and fellow beat-and-bass aficionados Dub Temple Records – it’s a beats scene landmark – the first time the Agents have teamed up with the Shaolins. You’ll already be familiar with director JPS, NAM and ‘Bass Maverick’ A13, but we thought we’d introduce you to some of Brisbane’s finest.
Dub Temple Records are Brisbane-based collective with a global perspective. Armed with a DIY ethos alongside some extremely talented musicians, artists, VJs and designers they have been releasing some extremely progressive, textured, electronically-produced music, which ranges in genre from head-nodding reggae, delicately arranged electronica to thudding and brooding bass music – and every element in between. The common thread in their prolific artists? It’s all for the love.
Get a hold of all of their back catalogue for name-your-price download here.
PROVIS
While of PROVIS’ tracks are some sort of dystopian Southern rap that’s OD-ed on the purple drank, his production is sharp, executed with a knowing precision. With crystalline synths and dark melodies his releases are at home in a club or admired for each detail on head phones. Not much is known about this mysterious producer other than his two EPs and latest collection of remixes.
VOODOO DREAD
Born in Mexico City to Haitian parents, VOODOO DRED (Vadim Juste-Constant) migrated to Australia in ’84. He was born into music through his father, a well renowned touring artist throughout Haiti and Mexico. Growing up around Sydney and Brisbane as a kid, then later moving to the Territory as a teenager. His experimentation with overdubbing layers of voices on his tapedeck, and teaching himself to programme his dad’s Yamaha Musicstation keyboard was the real beginning of his journey as a artist and producer. As a producer, he says his earliest influences were Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley, followed closely by Wyclef, RZA and Timbaland. In 1996 he was introduced to dancehall by a friend who brought tapes back from Trinidad, and introduced to jungle in 1999 when another friend use to get the Knowledge magazine subscription from the UK. That year he went back Haiti which inspired him to research the history and music of the Americas and it’s connection to Africa . Fascinated with finding the roots of all the African derived rhythms of the americas, especially the obscure undiscovered music of african roots in places like Honduras, Peru and Venezuela.
SAUCE
A stand out up and coming producer in the Brisbane beat scene, SAUCE’s productions are defined by a tasty combination of jazz, hip hop, and electronic elements. Sauce, a.k.a. Quinton Nicholson, is based on the Gold Coast.
Influenced by early drum n bass, Aphex Twin, Parliament, Mr Bungle and Digital Mystikz, Sauce started producing the occasional beat for his brother who runs a film production company in Sydney, and has since released tracks through Dub Temple, Ender Records and Phyla Digital.
Brisbane based DJ/Producer 8M∆N, otherwise known as Jad Dapat, forms half of Science Project and is a founding member of Dub Temple Records. Originally hailing from Cebu City, Philippines, where he gained notoriety playing rhythm guitar for prominent Roots/Dub band Jr. Kilat, Jad later migrated to Australia in 2005 and soon after started making beats, as well as playing in the rhythm section of Aussie/Afro hiphop crew Culture Connect. 8M∆N’s first Australian release was in 2007 as part of the Electronic/Hip Hop crew Kahibaloo, and went on to win SBS Aussie Hip Hop single of the year 2008 for their track ‘Fiesta’ with Ozi Battla from The Herd. In 2008, Jad formed Science Project with Grimes, and they released their first EP in 2010. 8M∆N’s solo beats first appeared on Dub Temple’s ‘Beat Tape’ series, and in October 2011, he released ‘Loops’; a short yet brilliantly crafted EP which is testament to the caliber of one of Brisbane’s great producers.
SAMEDI SOUND SYSTEM
Comprised of Baron Oneway and Vir Asan, who have been holding down Brisbane dance floors with undoubted consistency since 2002. Their DJ/MC sets cover everything from Dub to Dancehall to Footwork to Baltimore to Jungle, illustrating their love for bass pressure, kinetic percussion and Jamaican rhythms and culture.
You can follow them here for the latest Samedi news.
