“The S, the U… the P, the E, the R” – jumping around to DJ Zinc’s ‘Super Sharp Shooter’ in dark rooms 20 years ago ’til your clothes were wet through are some of this writer’s happy memories of underground drum and bass clubs in the 90s.
The jungle beats are still happening in the city today with a night of Oldskool and DnB at Wardance this weekend.
WARDANCE Limerick is the club night in the city dedicated to the sounds of Jungle, Drum n Bass and Oldskool. The club celebrates its third year with a birthday party this Saturday in Kasbah Social Club. On the decks will be residents Deepcut, Code, Bee and Flynn.
This crew have played a major part in the drum and bass scene in Limerick for almost two decades. This night is a celebration of an underground scene that has happened in the city since the 90s.
Code played his first DJ gig at $kint Club in Limerick in ’97, since then founded the highly regarded Subtle Audio record label, hosts a regular online radio show and organised the Nu Killa Beats club night which ran for 10 years in Limerick.
Limerick Post had a chat with Code (aka Conor O’Dwyer) this week who said that the aim of the Wardance club was to “keep the music alive with positive vibes and energy.”
Tell us a bit about Deepcut and the Wardance gig this Saturday?
Deepcut’s been involved with the D&B scene in Limerick since day one – he used to be one of the residents at Nu Killa Beats and then when that ended he got involved in running his own nights.
There were a few ventures and one-offs before he came up with Wardance. It’s been a great success and he seems to have aroused the interest of a whole new generation in this music locally.
He’s brought some great guests to Limerick over the last few years including Jungle legends like Ratty, Torchman, Dextrous, Stretch and Equinox as well as giving young up and coming Dj’s a chance.
It’s also been great for local DJs like Bee, Flynn and myself to have somewhere to play beats regularly. On Saturday.
It’s the 3rd Birthday of Wardance, but it’s a continuation of what we’ve been doing collectively for 17 years.
What is the current state of Drum n Bass in Ireland ?
It’s kind of like the music itself, not as big as it was, but still alive! Before you had one big crew in each city whereas now there seems to be lots of small crews all doing their own thing which seems to have splintered the crowd a bit.
It does seem to have become a lot more accepted around Limerick in recent times though.
I remember when you couldn’t really hear it anywhere except at Nu Killa Beats or [more recently] Wardance and now in the last year or two there are quite a number of other nights that cater for the sound like Output, Flow and DIE for example.
Is there new talent coming into the scene here in Limerick / Ireland?
Yes, for sure – there are loads of young new DJs/ producers getting involved in the scene – the likes of Marzataq in Dublin, Romeo: Butcher in Cork and even in the Limerick area there are DJ’s like Ben Swan, Anccy, Socky, Digital Aum and KVN coming through. There is a monthly DnB radio show on Limerick City Community Radio hosted by Brian Hartnett (The Evil Grin) called ‘The Event Horizon’ that regularly features up and coming Dj’s, so if anyone out there is looking for exposure, that could be a good place to start.
The 2nd birthday show is on Thursday July 13 @ 8pm, for anyone interested in tuning in!
Your last Subtle Audio Radio Show focused on 1990s oldskool – is there a lot of respect for the tunes made over the last 20 years that defined the sound?
I certainly have a lot of respect for that sound because of what the producers achieved with such limited equipment. It was such a creative sound – something so new and different at the time.
Recently it seems to have enjoyed a resurgence with the younger generations, alot of the young guys getting in to D&B and Jungle seem to be doing their research and checking out those original D&B / Jungle tunes from the 90s.
Do popular bands and festival favourites like Chase & Status and Rudimental introduce a new generation to DnB – or are they considered pop and sellout?
They are considered ‘sellouts’ in some circles but it is undeniably DnB music – though not my personal cup of tea! I guess they help to get the term ‘Drum N Bass’ out there which can’t hurt.
It’s hard to know if it’s positive or not, because they might turn some people off that would actually like Drum & Bass if they heard a different strand of it.
Overall, I would have to say that this wide variety of styles within DnB is one of the scene’s great strengths and one of the reasons it has survived this long.
When did you start DJing? Best gigs/memories so far for you?
I got my first set of turntables at the end of 1995 and went on from there.
Warming up for DJ Hype when I was just 19 at Costellos one Saturday night in ‘98 was an early hightlight for me.
The early Nu Killa Beats gigs at the Dog House were nuts – we really weren’t expecting the response to be so good. The last Nu Killa Beats / 10th B-Day gig at Baker Place was crazy.
Playing at the Bassbin gigs in Dublin and the Jungle Republic Weekenders on Valentia Island were always amazing experiences.
Maybe my favourite of all was playing at the Technicality night @ Herbal in London back in 2003. It was my favourite D&B night at the time – THE night to play for the kind of D&B I like. It was even better because there was a big posse over from Ireland for the night and people like DJ Bailey (Metalheadz / BBC 1Xtra) were in the crowd.
In recent times the Warance nights at the Boat Club were amazing – I’d been away in Canada for a few years and came home to see all the great work Deepcut had been doing on the Limerick circuit !
Can you explain the buzz and fun of a drum n bass party to a full dance floor?
It’s mayhem. The funny thing about a Drum & Bass night is that if you look at the people on the dancefloor, no two people dance the same way to the same tune. It’s a very free-form style of music and you can really let loose to it.
This Saturday sees the launch of two new vinyl releases on Subtle Audio featuring music by Dub One, Nebula and Enjoy.
There are plans to launch a sub-label called ‘Treaty Treats’ later this year to release music by Code and Bee on vinyl. See their Soundcloud pages to checkout their new tracks.
The duo have also finished remixes for Cork band ‘Audrey & The Icons’ and those should see the light of day on the new sub-label. There is also a Wardance collaboration track in progress between Deepcut, Bee, Flynn and Code which they will, “hopefully finish someday!”
Wardance and Subtle Audio present a joint night celebrating the third birthday of Wardance at the Kasbah Social Club this Saturday July 1. Entry is free.
