Scene Report: Bristol, February 2008
By: Sian Norris, Envelopes
January. It is cold. It is dark. No one has any money. Even in places as lush and plentiful as the West Country. So unfortunately Bristol kind of went in to hibernation and didn't feel like partying.
I made it out though, in spite of all the above, to some excellent rock and some techno via reggae via dubstep via party tunes as Normalise 2.0 was launched.
First up was My Own Flag (pictured) at the Louisiana. The Louisiana is one of the most respected gig venues in Bristol, hosting acts as luminary as the White Stripes - a gig I will never forgive myself for missing. My Own Flag offer up thrashing rock with guitar riffs that tear through the audience, aggressive vocals and songs that never compromise on melody or talent. They're a three piece who have stripped music back to the basic elements of guitar, bass, vocals and drums, bringing the instruments together to create an incredible volume of sound. They make a big noise, but unlike some heavy bands, they don't destroy the quality of the music by turning the amps up so loud that it all becomes lost in the distortion. Local press has described them as 'bruising' and 'muscular'; fair adjectives for a band that push their instruments to the limits, whilst maintaining a clarity of sound and songwriting skill. Currently working on the follow up to I Think I'm Made Out Of Robots' with a record titled Rat Set Sail For The Elephant's Soul, My Own Flag are looking forward to big things. They're also on Six Feet Deep records with Countryside, whose interview you can read in the November scene report.
Tight Fit (pictured) seem to be playing every respectable Bristol venue recently, from supporting Simian Mobile Disco and the Klaxons at Beef in November, to playing regularly at Monkey!Knife!Fight! at the Thekla. This month the girls dj-ed at the Moshi Moshi lable night at the Thekla, and Pig Attack at the Croft, and I caught up with them to see how they got started, and what it's like being a pair of girl djs.
"We met when we both worked at the Thekla," Katie explains, "And, watching people dj, we thought, we could do this, and have loads more fun! We're both music nerds, and so it was a natural transition."
"We were just really excited about dj-ing!" chips in Sarah.
This excitement is obvious to anyone who has seen or heard the girls behind the decks. Their enthusiasm is infectious, as they pull out banging party tunes and look like they're having the time of their lives.
"We're having fun ourselves, so the audience have fun too. It makes a huge difference," says Katie. "We play what we like, and what people want to hear."
"You never get over hearing a track you really love," interjects Sarah. "And when that's reciprocated by the crowd - it's amazing. If you don't enjoy what you're playing, then no one else will too."
Eclectism rules the day for Tight Fit, which makes their sets really exciting.
"We like to be eclectic," explains Sarah. "We'll play booty shaking tunes, and tunes people don't know they love. That's always good, as the crowd will be shocked, but then they'll love it!"
"Obviously it's important you don't just play for yourself!" she continues. "You have to keep the music in tune with the rest of the night, but it is always good to drop in a little surprise."
"We like to play really filthy music, a bit of MIA, a bit of Outkast, not stuff that people always expect girls to play," Katie adds.
Ah yes, the girl dj question.
"It's interesting," muses Katie, "as we still get boys being shocked by the fact we have musical knowledge, that girls can be music nerds too."
"It's so easy for girls to shy away from showing off their music, because dj-ing is still really male dominated," explains Sarah. "Especially when you don't play music that people necessarily expect girls to play. We do play a lot of women artists though, MIA, Kid Sister, Salt n Pepa...It's gone past girls being exotic, and we're finding we get lots of positive reactions. I think people always appreciate it when someone really goes for something, and I find other girls find us more approachable, which is a good feeling!"
"We play for girls because we are girls, but more than that we just play to get everyone dancing," laughs Katie.
Tight Fit always dj together - a mini dj collective.
"Because we like each other!" they giggle.
"It's amazing - you get to go out with your mate and play tunes you like," explains Sarah. "We communicate really well when we work together, and we enhance each other's sets. I don't think you could do that with someone you didn't feel comfortable with. You counteract each other's nerves, and we bounce off each other, one of us will play a tune and the other will know what to follow it with."
"And we like to shake our asses!" laughs Katie.
Being a girl dj in a city with a rising population of girl djs has its advantages too.
"We communicate," says Sarah. "We don't all have to like each other, but when there's a community of girl djs, you like to support each other."
"It's a bit like we're all in this together," explains Katie. "We all want to do similar things, so it would be nice to build strong links and bring everyone together. It would be good to have a night where all us girl djs get together."
"It's still hard for girls to promote, but it's getting easier," muses Sarah. "What I want is to get really technically proficient, to the point where no one cares if you're a boy or a girl."
Finally the month ended with the re-launch of Normalise, moving from Sundays in Hush Hush to Saturday in Cosies, as Normalise 2.0. Luke Malcher, Puffin Jack, and a host of guests launched the new look night, with a blissful mix of techno, dub, reggae, pop, guitars and really the best of every type of music out there. Normalise is the brainchild of, among others, Tape's Puffin Jack and Underscore's Luke Malcher, and has always been an opportunity for Bristol's top djs to get together and play the tunes they love. Playing early on was Puffin Jack's Big Ting partner, DJinLove, keeping a nice continuity from Big Ting, which Normalise has taken over. The place was rammed, I bumped into Wedge from the Hench crew who has been making big noises in dubstep, and everyone was dancing and chatting, with a large contingent of smokers outside.
And that was all this month. But loads to look forward in February - the Vice gig featuring Black Kids, the Friendly Fires and Ipso Facto; Robots in Disguise at the Academy (and an interview!); Bass Clef making two welcome visits and much more besides no doubt.
But until then...!