Drum and Basslines 4 - 24.03.2012 - The MX Review

Drum and Basslines hosted its 4th party in the space of a year at Xlib Club in Kyiv, Ukraine on 24th March.

To mark the 1st birthday we decided to go back to the beginning and invite a special guest as old as Drum and Bass itself Doc Scott.

The planning for this party was much more extensive compared to the first 3 parties. We had a Management Team ranging from designers, DJs, event organisers, as well as plenty of friends I knew who would help us distribute flyers and assist with the general promotion of the party, plus with me living in Kyiv it was easier for me to have a much more hands-on approach than before.

As always the biggest obstacle to get over was finding a headliner that would match a Ukranian budget. For 2 months I searched and asked but the egos in the DnB world were demanding huge prices when (no names mentioned) they were simply an average DJ or producer that was not going to pull me enough of a crowd to even stand half a chance of drawing level. And then on top of that the amount of DJs now running themselves through an agent just adds an agent cost on top as well. Most of these DJs are so fuckin tiny, and cannot even guarantee having enough of a following to fill a small pub in the UK, let alone a decent size club in Ukraine !!! Then on the opposite ends of the scale there are a few who think even talking to a promoter is just way too much effort for them. Therefore now all of these people have been removed from my list for all events.

Anyway after begrudgingly speaking to a few agents a slight glimmer appeared with Doc Scott. It was a long way from ideal, but I always try and look positively at things and his name has travelled the world as an ambassador for Drum and Bass and his price was the best I could get. His agent Caroline was helpful with any questions I asked, and apart from a couple of delays on getting a reply to an email I was quite happy that we had things sorted.

Meanwhile in Kyiv the first bombshell was about to hit. Mnial had been told he was about to be moved to work in Austria for a month. Mnial was the core of the management team and had linked everyone else together to make sure we had everything in place from people to look after sound, to flyer design, printing, and promotions as well. He left with everything looking good and flyer design (which was only a simple task of a change of colour from the previous party) all in progress. Then bomb 2 hit. The flyer design I got back was a completely new theme and layout. It was a cool design (with some cosmetic changes needed), but in my view it changed the whole direction of a successful brand and started things again. Something had to be done fast as it had taken far too long to get to even that stage and now I needed something printed. So back to my original designer Alex Rayden who had the templates from the first party and everyone agreed his design was spot on for the launch with Unknown Error in February 2011.

I knew Alex was busy with his 2 jobs in Georgia, but was confident that Bassmaja would be able to make the required changes pretty easily. Between us we had a flyer within about a week so things were back on track. More slight heart-attacks with a delay on the flyers being printed, and then missing logos which required more needed to be printed adding additional costs, and then internet promotion and we were there.

The unsung heroes in my eyes so far had been both Fade and Alina. Alina has always been there for me with everything I needed help with in Ukraine, and she worked tirelessly sorting apartments, calling taxis for me, and offering advice whenever I needed it. I can say exactly the same about Fade. He thought of everything that needed to be done on the party, assisted getting internet promotion out where it was needed, and sorting out every issue we had along the way. Without both Alina and Fade I would have been fighting a losing battle.

So the day was approaching... the rest of the UK DJs were all ready. I hoped I had brought something a bit different to the party by bringing Sparxy and his sidekick Reamz. And Breakneck and Richy were known quantities to me to keep a bit of english flavour to the main room. Looking back now it was a mistake to try and squeeze everyone into my apartment, as I do like my bit of space and quiet sometimes, and with Richy and Breakneck I should have known that wasnt going to happen. There was a few moments where everyones patience snapped that would have been avoided with a seperate apartment and a bit of space. It would also have saved me a lot of money as I could have just stayed with Alina and saved a months rent (with a bit of talking to the landlord..)

One line about the party itself.....it was good but not good enough. I think thats the basics of it, and with a lot of work from what has to be said a bigger management team than weve ever had before, it should have been better.

On the positive side the club was fine, soundsystems in both rooms perfect (although see note below..), Fade, Physical Illusion, and Crabbsteppa had by far the best sets of the night, Kiddik's visuals were amazing, my combination set with Zim went really well considering we had not practiced before the party, and everyone there really did have a good time judging by the comments people have sent me personally, or posted on the event wall.

Now the bad bits.... Doc Scott was a bad move now looking back. People have said to me since the party that his set was boring, and not what people expected. I have to agree with them as people started leaving halfway through his set. He was on at prime time so it was not a timing issue at all, but with people walking out I think thats all the proof I need. There seemed to be no energy in him and the style of tunes he was playing wasnt the jungle party vibe I was hoping for following on from Richy and Breakneck. Maybe his enthusiasm for DnB is fading over time, but it wasnt what I remember from times I have seen him before.

The second thing I wasnt happy about was the 'free soundsystem' that we added into the second room too boost the bass for Sparxy and Reamz dubstep set. Well free didnt exactly turn out to be what it was. Firstly at the start of the night I paid 300 UAH (approx £25) for what I was assuming was delivery of it to the club. I could handle that so it wasnt a problem even though quite a lot more than a taxi fare.... However then at the end I was asked for another 500 UAH (approx £40) for the costs which was never covered in the plan we had at the first management planning meeting. Then it all looked clear as Mnial said that was his fee. That would have been fine apart from Slavik (who really did help me a lot in the management side) had also paid Mnial his fee as well the day after the party. Ok its only £40 but its something I just dont understand or who did or didnt get more than they should have.

So thats it, party 4 done (3 in Kyiv and 1 in Minsk) so what happens next? Well firstly some time to think which is one of the reasons I had decided in advance to come to Tbilisi in Georgia. Some things definately need to change to make it financially viable, and I have ideas coming in my head slowly for how to make that happen. Im always open to ideas and I know Slavik has a lot of experience in putting on parties and is keen to help out as well. Fade will always be my stabalising factor so I think between us I think they are both positive I can take from the party moving forward.

My initial thoughts are that it is relatively unlikely there will be another Drum and Basslines in Kyiv in October/November at this stage, so it is more likely to be in the spring of 2013. In the mean time I am still travelling so the Drum and Basslines Tour will continue through 2012 hopefully in Georgia, almost certainly Finland, and maybe Belarus as well. Thats very positive from my point of view as a DJ as it will bring my number of international parties to be higher than the number I have played in the UK. For a DJ originally from the UK I think thats something very special and something Im looking forward to.


MX (Drum and Basslines, KrisisDnB, UK)
www.drumandbasslines.com
www.krisisdnb.com

MX 2011 Tour of Ukraine, Georgia and Belarus

Its started again ! 2011 and another few months out of the UK. After being hugely disappointed in May 2010 after not being able to sort the work visa I needed to stay in Belarus, ive had a few months back in the UK to sort my head out. Firstly starting work at Amelco which was a big opportunity for me to help build their helpdesk and automation strategy, test and implement their latest releases of software and to migrate to an offshore solution was an ideal situation for me to return to.

October 2010 and I met Viktor Ramonas ramdomly in London. I recognised the russian accent to his English and we instantly became friends. Nearer the end of the year I decided that with my forthcoming event in Kyiv, Ukraine coming up in Feb 2011, it was the perfect opportunity for me to make a second attempt to move to Belarus. It was not an easy decision to make as I was enjoying my work in the UK and had made a new friend who I had barely got to know properly yet. I wanted to stay at Amelco if I possibly could, and came up with a solution that I hope will work out for everyone.

Damian (Owner of Amelco) has been superb and given me the opportunity to do what I wanted, and I have promised him that I will always be part of Amelco. A sudden brainwave happened that it would be the perfect time for Viktor to take over my shift work at Amelco. Damian had always spoke about getting me off from working nights and into more of a central role, and Viktor has IT skills from his time at the University of Siberia to convince me he had the ability to learn the ropes in the same way as I did in June 2010. The only problem was going to be his English, but a mere 2 weeks after me starting my travels I have seen emails from him to various people that may not be perfect english, but are good enough for him to make a positive contribution to a small company like Amelco. I really would like to thank Damian and Leon for putting their faith in me and bringing Viktor in to assist.

Anyway the event in Kyiv was amazing. A busy club with plenty of happy faces was enough for me to say that my first event organised in the Ukranian capital was a success. Bringing Mr Gash (aka Unknown Error) couldnt have worked out any better. One of the most down to earth guys I have ever met. With a huge crew of KrisisDnB DJs from the station coming as well it was a perfect weekend full of laughs and plenty of vodka !

Monday 14th was a hard day to see Richy, Repul, Bartus, Projekt and Breakneck go for their flight back to the UK. Did I want to go with them?? Hmm maybe... but maybe not !!! I think on the balance of things they were the ones who were jealous of me staying here.

15th Feb and time to go to Georgia to finally meet with my good friend Alex Rayden. We have known each other for 3 or 4 years now and became good friends during the Russia / Georgia conflict a few years ago. I was so worried for his and his families safety. I decided then that one day I would visit and see Georgia first hand. What an amazing place with so much history ! I thought Russian was a hard language to learn (and it is!!!), but even reading the Georgian alphabet is so much harder. Fortunately a lot of signs in shops and streets are written in English which shows how international a country Georgia is. President Saakashvili has clearly spent a lot of time and money helping to make Georgia a place for not only tourists, but international businesses to find an attractive proposition. The only issue with Georgia is its disputes over South Ossetia and Abkazia. Hopefully those issues are sorted soon and Georgians can enjoy a peaceful life in their wonderful country.

6 days in the Georgian capital Tbilisi was so good. I had guided tour of the whole city by the staff in the hotel I was staying at, showing me the many castles, churches and monuments the city has, as well as the TV Transmitter and theme park that make the city stand out so much. And then meeting Alex was a mission accomplished for me after worrying about whether I would ever see him during the conflicts a few years ago. What can I say about Georgian food... WOW !!! ITS NICE !!! Dont ask me the names of anything as they al sound very similar, but what a variety of different styles of homegrown food they have!

Then it was the trip back to Kiev to then get my visa for Belarus. It was good to meet up with Alex Mnial before catching the train up to Minsk. Him and Fade have helped me and the Ukraine party at Cinema Club so much in the last few months and mean we will definately do another event at the end of the summer season.

I arrived in Minsk to meet Sergey. I had never met him before but we had spoke on Skype many times about the KrisisDnB Radio player. He had kindly offered to let me stay at his place near Minsk Arena with his brother Alex. I needed all the sleep I could get before my first headline event for this year in Bobruisk at Magnet Club where I played last year. Another wickid night with loads of girls all wanting their picture with me. Thanks to Oleg and Kieran (thats close to his name) for looking after me while I was there and for showing me around Bobruisk as well.

I have just got a text from Streamline asking me to run a few English classes for them today but I dont want to let them down and rush into things. They know my skills from a year ago, but a lot of that has been forgotten in the last few months so maybe start slowly and see how things progress. I cant wait to get back into the flow of things here but this year I want to do things differently and not be focussed just on getting the work visa like I did last year. I want to enjoy my time here and if I end up staying then all good, but if I have to leave I dont want the bad feelings I had in May 2010 when it was clear I couldnt stay.

So Andrew has now left to go to Germany for 6 weeks its all up to me to work things out here. I have always got Alex to help me and it will be good to meet Zeb again as well as everyone I met in Minsk last year. My next headline event is on 12.02 in a town called Novopolotsk which is somewhere I should have played last year if I was still here, so finaly I will get there !!!

More to come soon !!!

Pics from Georgia : http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?id=100001001114472&aid=37393

Pics from Drum and Basslines Kiev : http://www.basslineskiev.com/event.html

Pics from 25.02 in Bobruisk, Belarus : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=100001001114472&aid=38448

SKAR(RED) to Rave

SKAR(RED) to Rave
What a lovely morning ive woke up to !! Sun is shining, its nice and warm, and my work visa is getting sorted!

First laugh I had today was seeing what is supposed to be MC SKAR's birthday event on facebook. After Skar asked me to help him with it a few weeks ago, I was only too willing to help. He has been on the mic at a few KRISISDnB.COM events and I wanted to help him improve and get more exposure.
However it seems that he is now paying the DJ bill for the lineup and playing a cameo role, for what looks a Rollin Rave event. Flyer designer Ripraw has taken full opportunity to make it effectively look like his event even though its not costing him a penny, and presumably the 'put me on your lineup and you get flyer for free' has got past Skar easily.

That would have been criminal enough on its own, but not only has he managed to get himself on the lineup, but also the entire Rollin Rave crew from Mouldwick, DoubleMC (wannabe gangster, what a joke !), Kendall (who im sure will be all cool with his best friend DoubleMC on the night), and Hannibal who was recruited by Rollin Rave who saw another person who could be used to promote Ripraw and Mouldwicks brand because he beat Ripraw and someone else (cant remember his name) at a small DJ competition a few months ago.

Anyway the standard Rollin Rave flyer layout (slightly tilted with a rollin rave logo that takes up half the page) has been done (in probably 5mins as its the same as the last 4 or 5 flyers, not too bad to get on a lineup!!). I do feel sorry for Kendall though. Another puppet of Rollin Rave. He really does try his best to help and be part of it, but its very obvious that its Ripraw and Mouldwick who run things as they are so much higher up the pecking order than anyone else, if only Kendall could see that. Kendall is a good friend and he knows I helped him gain some experience and gave him the backing he always deserved.

So anyway, Skar did take my advice in using Empire Club in Bournemouth. Even though its not the best venue in the world by a long way, its not too bad. And considering the amount he has spent on a lineup then a cheap venue was always going to be the way to go. Skar wanted to be part of the KRISISDnB crew, but presumably as Ripraw made the flyer, there isnt even a small krisisdnb logo on it.

Im sounding all very bitter I know, but thats far from the truth. In the last few years Ive learned that there are so many people only in Drum and Bass to help themselves. I have never been like that, and have really tried to help everyone as much as I can. By doing that it has allowed me to give people an opportunity to get in the scene, but what it also does, is to show me when they get a little bit of fame then there true colours show through whether they are genuine friends, or just someone in it for themselves. Classic examples of people in it for themselves are DoubleMC, DJ Foxy (not the known MC.. a bedroom DJ i helped and gave an event to), Krogenik and Shakey, but the list is much longer than that. Its made me laugh at it all now, being over here in Belarus, I can watch them all arguing between themselves and licking each others arses to get a set here and there. I do hope Skar doesnt fall into that group as well as he is a cool bloke who can improve on his own without getting involved with the rest of them.

On a different note, the pirate radio thing in Southampton seems to have taken in the rollin rave crew as well as Kendall and Stamma (who will be off his tag soon I think) and probably more as well. I wonder how long it will take before it gets shut down again, and also before they realise that the handful of listeners on FM and the pitiful site that ukdnb.net has disappears. Personally I dont see the buzz with pirate radio on the scale they are doing it. Not only is it illegal, but everyone involved with it can be prosecuted if they are caught. Worth it for 5-10 listeners? Hmm.. let me think about that one hahahaha. With every FM station in the country now on the internet as well, they know its just a matter of time before FM disappears completely. Cars in the UK and abroad are slowly installing Internet Radios and as soon as that becomes more widespread then the drop off from FM will really happen.

So how are things in Belarus... well im loving it still !! I hit a small problem a few days ago in that my Vkontakte page got hacked so I lost all my friends and contacts I had, but im slowly building that back up now. My real problem is remembering everyones names ! Its still hard reading the language even peoples names, but im slowly getting there. Last weekends events werent as busy as I had hoped, but in the 10 weeks or so ive been here, ive played at some amazing events especially in Bobruisk and Gomel. Ive made some real friends here and the communication barrier isnt stopping me too much. Our weekly events at Reaktor Club had a quiet weekend last week probably because of the extended weekend break, but hopefully they will pick up again this weekend. I think I am also about to be booked to play in a town called Novopolotsk (think thats how its spelled) sometime in late April or May, as well as a return set to The Pocket Music Box event in Minsk in early May as well. Ukraine is looking likely for May, and it would be good to work with Tyke to organise my birthday event too.

Im gutted about the Czech Republic event. I had to extend my visa as you all know a few weeks ago but there was no way I could make it multiple entries to Belarus as I needed an invitation letter which I didnt know about. Therefore on a single entry there was no chance to get to Prague. Tony the promoter, did leave it till the last minute to even get the flyer out though which didnt give us much time to organise. At least AskArT is going to represent the station and after speaking to Tony, Red Catz, Yellow Int and myself will go to Czech Republic in the summer.

We have a load of new shows starting on KRISISDnB.COM in the next week. Some hugely talented DJs have shown a big interest in joining so im looking forward to hearing there first shows on the station. Shawshank did a 4 hour 'test stream' a few days ago which went well, Didz, Refix, Termz are all set up and will blast some Drum and Bass to the world, and or first dedicated Dubstep DJ Docta Blunt is ready to go as well. You can find there show times on the schedule page on the site.

My mini-website has had a little bit of a revamp with some new promo pics taken from my set in Bobruisk a week or so ago. Some fantastic pics I think you will agree. You can check them out on http://www.djmx.krisisdnb.com/

Following from past experiences, weve had more personal threats from Shedbass Radio who have continued in there quest to cause problems to the station and site. It appears now to be directed towards NeO, as its obvious that cant do anything to me being over here. I made an attempt to speak to them to clear things but got the usual form of response. Its been over 3 years now since we left and started KRISISDnB, so maybe its about time they just sorted there own station instead of harassing someone elses. Im the past I would never give them the promotion by even mentioning there name in a post, but now iv grown weary of hiding the fact. People can make up there own minds about what they are like and there station, it doesnt bother me in the slightest.
And lastly, after whats been around 2 months, NeO will finally have his internet connected back up in his new place next week !!! Then Phase 2 of the website really starts coming together. I think over the last few months the V3 website has gained us a lot of additional support from listeners around the world, so as we build on what is currently just a base of the potential the site has, then we should see that support grow substantially. You can check what is there already on the usual address : http://www.krisisdnb.com/. Please help spread the word by posting the KRISISDnB.COM link on your forum posts, blogs, websites, facebook, myspace or anywhere else you can think of. Let us know where you post our link and we will link to your page as well which helps you as well !!!