9.3.07

DMZ





photo credit: Peter Melus

First up apologies for my slackness on the blogging front. This blogging business is hard. You get into the mindset of wanting to post meaningful, considered thoughts, which obviously takes time. So when you're going through one of those periods with work, when every second of every waking hour is accounted for, the blog suffers. So that's my excuse, lame as it is.

Anyway, meet DMZ. For me the most exciting, friendly and musically forward thinking clubnight I've been to since Metalheadz at Bluenote - and the birth of jungle/d&b - over a decade ago. DMZ is the spiritual home of dubstep. But what is dubstep? Everyone seems to have heard of it. Last night a house DJ with a residency at Turnmills told me it was slowed down drum&bass. Really? Dubstep is many, many things, and its genesis is particularly interesting, but I haven't got time to get into it here. So I would describe it as 21st century electronic dub, that draws on techno, d&b and UK garage. It's hard bassline music, that is also emotional, stirring and dancefloor. If you like dub, grime, d&b, UK garage or techno, you will get it, no questions asked. And if you're looking for somewhere to start, I would recommend Skream's fearsome Skream LP which is at one end of the spectrum, at the other end is Burial's Burial LP or Kode9 & Spaceape's LP Memories Of The Future, which you would be unlikely to hear played out in a club as they're more contemplative, esoteric examples of dubstep.


DMZ - the club night - is best summed up by their motto 'come meditate to bass weight'. Their soundsystem makes Dilinja's Valve Soundsystem sound like a home stereo in comparison. Ok I'm exaggerating, lots, but you get my drift.

Here's an interview with the DMZ boys, that appeared in London Metro yesterday. apologies for the lateness in posting this.

DMZ is our sound, we started the record label and the night basically for the same reasons: to promote what we are dealing with through sound,’ explains Mala co-promoter, with school friends Loefah and Coki, of cult club night DMZ.

The night, regarded as the spiritual home of dubstep, has become hugely popular (infamously moving to a larger space in the same building, mid proceedings) and marks its second birthday on Saturday. Meanwhile over the same period dubstep - the bass-heavy sound that draws on UK garage, techno, jungle, drum’n’bass and dub - has been in virtually every newspaper, style and music magazine in the country.

It might be possible to attribute DMZ’s popularity to column inches but that would be doing Mala, Loefah and Coki a massive disservice. DMZ’s success is down to a trio who are serious and focused about their music, and equally, how it should be heard and experienced.

‘Someone once wrote 'the sound we make demands to be heard on a proper sound system’,’ explains Mala. ‘We deal with extreme levels of low end and sub bass, so putting us in a room without a proper system doesn’t make sense.

‘Most people always talk about the bass but it’s important that a sound system can deal with all frequencies because every sound in a track relates to each other,’ continues Mala. ‘We always preferred going to venues - whether that be a warehouse, a hall, a run down building - that has a big rig at one end: we never cared about fancy lighting and visuals. A dark room and a big rig is all we need.’

And essentially that’s what DMZ is, but despite Mala’s protestations, the first thing you notice is the chest-rattling bass, shaking your core. Bricks and mortar, fixtures and fittings aren’t safe either: toilet cubicles, windows and the toilet attendant’s array of aftershaves wince and judder to each blast of low end bass.

The towering sound system, dark room and deliberate lack of lighting and décor adds to the sense that at DMZ the music comes first. So much so that although the music DMZ champions is hard and intense, it's also the least pretentious and friendliest club in London. There’s a sense of togetherness, awe and excitement in experiencing original, groundbreaking music evolve before your ears - something that perhaps happens once in a decade.

There’s also a hint of irony in DMZ carving a popular, successful night by going back to basics and employing the no frills principles of dub dances or early drum’n’bass nights such as Metalheadz at Bluenote (both of which Mala cites as inspirations).

‘Maybe it is going back to the future but we are dealing with progression,’ says Mala. ‘DMZ is nice and decent people from all different walks of life coming together for one thing. Coming to DMZ is like being invited into our home.’

Sat, DMZ, Mass, St Matthews Church, Brixton Hill SW2, 8pm to 6am, £10, £8 members. Tel: 020 7738 7875. Tube: Brixton