clubs
DJ Q
F.A.O. @ Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Thurs 3 Oct
Shollen Quarshie’s six-year stint as a
presenter for BBC Radio 1Xtra under his
DJ Q moniker came to an end last August.
In that time he also found mainstream
popularity among the bassline faithful
thanks to his 2008 single with MC Bonez,
titled You Wot! The Huddersfield born
talent has kept himself busy since then,
most recently teaming up with Louise
Williams for the single Let The Music Play
on his regular label, Local Action Records.
“At the moment I’m working on my debut
album for Local Action,” explains Shollen;
“that will be available in November. I’m
really looking forward to putting that body
of work out for the people to hear. As well
as that, I’ve also got an EP coming out via
AC Slater’s Party Like Us label. Summer
has been quite a busy one, juggling studio
time and bookings over here and abroad. I
played a few cool festivals which were fun.”
While life after the 1Xtra residency
might have given him time to focus on
other projects, Q also keeps his ear
to the ground when it comes to his
contemporaries, and he’ll also be bringing
their sounds to this evening.
“I’m really feeling Mella Dee from Mista
Men both as a DJ and Producer,” he says.
“Ryan James is another DJ to watch
out for. He’s from Leeds and has that
whole house scene up there on smash.”
Admission: £5/£4 adv. Info: 029 2023
2199 (RH)
BUZZ 42
TOTAL RECALL
Kaptive @ Monkey Bar, Swansea
Fri 4 Oct
Birmingham young talent and Raveology resident Darren ‘Total Recall’ Marsh’s busy summer
culminated last month with the launch of his and partner Dialogue’s own night, Camouflage. As well
as bringing the drum’n’bass scene to the main room, they also booked the likes of Night Movements
for the hip-hop sounds of the second room.
“Prior to that I had gigs every weekend,” explains Darren, “all over the country and across Europe. I’m
in the studio constantly throughout the week, making sure I’m always staying busy. I’ve just sealed a
sponsorship deal with clothing brand Weekend Offender and I’ve been taken on by major DJ agency
Bass Headz Collective for my European bookings.”
Not a bad progression for a lad who bought his first decks at 14 and set his sights on mastering them,
despite having been born without his right arm from the elbow down. Now aged 21, he is constantly
releasing material on a number of labels.
“Me and dialogue are very busy on the production front,” says Darren. “We have both just had a solo
track released for The Flavours EP Vol. 6 on DJ Hype’s Playaz Recordings label which is out now.
We’ve had other tracks released on DJ Marky’s Innerground Records, a co-lab released on Hazard’s
Radius LP that also featured on his award winning FabricLive65 CD. I’ve also had a track remix
released on Bryan G’s Chronic Records, on the Chronic Rollers LP Part 2. We’ve both had many other
releases on other labels such as Hangar and Gun Audio. As an artist I always try to bring something
fresh, varied, new and energetic so I can appeal to a wider audience than just the jump up crowd.”
Darren is no stranger to South Wales and looks forward to getting among the always lively Swansea crew.
“I played at Eternal Muzic in Cardiff [in 2012],” he says, “and I did a guest show on Cardiff Radio, so I’m
looking forward to coming back. Expect a very energetic set filled with exclusive beats from myself, Dialogue
and leading drum’n’bass labels and artists.” Admission: £5. Info: 01792 480822 RYAN HEEGER
DELANO SMITH
Delete @ Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Fri 11 Oct
After yet another successful summer of
messy Sunday gatherings over in the car
park at Gwdihw, the Delete collective make
haste from the descending cold and into
the capital’s most reliable venue for the
winter. The top floor at Clwb will be the
hub for many high-calibre nights over the
coming months, with this being among the
first and welcoming one of Detroit’s most
respected sons.
“Without Delano there would be no Derrick,”
is one of many testimonials aimed at
Delano Smith from his peers – this
particular one coming from Derrick May.
His early involvement in the Chicago scene
led to worldwide revere and output for
the likes of Third Ear, Sushitech and Still
Music. But it was with the creation of his
own Mixmode imprint in 2003 that he was
able to showcase his own sounds alongside
the likes of Tony Foster and Norm Talley.
His early career saw him mentored by
Motown don, Ken Collier, although in
more recent times he took time away
from DJing only to be brought back into
the scene thanks to a partnership with
Norm Talley and Mike Clark in forming the
Detroit Beatdown outfit. Newbies looking
to discover Smith’s sound ahead of
tonight can start with this year’s excellent
Precipice EP on Mixmode, or 2012’s
Partiter Reconstructed single release.
Tickets: £8. Info: 029 2023 2199 (RH)
KERRI CHANDLER
Memorex @ Solus, Cardiff
Fri 25 Oct
Those of you wondering if we’ve got
the venue wrong for this event (it was
previously due to be held at Base, the
establishment formerly known for aeons
as Club X) can rest assured that Solus
is now indeed the right place. If you give
a flying fig about Cardiff’s clubland you
probably won’t rest very assured by the
fact that Base has in fact already gone –
and to think they had Steve Lawler there
just two months ago. Yep, yet another
club bites the dust after a relatively short
space of time, following Aura’s demise
over on Mill Lane a while back. We could
pontificate until the next issue on the
reasons why, but hey – at least Memo rex
have found an alternative home for the
time being.
The music is what really matters, and
Memorex bring the best of it in spades.
Residents Soul Rebel and The Organ
Grinder are on tonight’s line-up, which
should make this worthy of your attention,
but in the headline slot and serving up
four hours of soulful house and spiritual
vibes is Kerri Chandler.
Kerri learnt his craft from his New
Jersey father, who was an old-school DJ of
the original soul and disco variety. By 13 he
was resident at Rally Record Club, which
led to output for Atlantic and Shelter and
more recently his own label, Madhouse.
Tickets: £16.50. Info: 029 2078 1456 (RH)
DIRTY KNEES HALLOWEEN
SPECIAL
Great Hall, Cardiff University
Students Union
Fri 1 Nov
The second of Buzz’s previews this month
to be moved from the hastily-shut Base,
and relocated to Cardiff University, was
only just given the all-clear in time for our
deadlines. Local old-skool rave collective
Dirty Knees say that moving this sizeable
party is costing them some £2,500 in
venue hire – but that they’d rather take
the hit than let their people down.
The lineup is peppered with
crowdpleasing DJs, including three
cornerstones of formative UK rave culture.
Ratpack [pictured], the DJ/MC duo of Mark
McKee and Evanson Allen, formed during
1988’s acid house detonation, and as
such have spent 2013 toasting their silver
jubilee. Blowing up in the 90s with the likes
of Searching For My Rizla and Captain
Of The Ship, they’re reputedly unmatched
when it comes to hyping a crowd.
Fabio & Grooverider, once Radio 1’s twin
ambassadors of drum’n’bass, have also
been in this game for over two decades,
and will be delivering one of their two-hour
‘history of jungle’ sets. Nicky Blackmarket,
fellow early-adopting junglist, is the third
big hitter name. Unless you also count DJ
Lomas, from Swansea and another early
90s survivor. He’ll actually be playing his
last ever set here, so expect emotion of
some kind. Tickets: £15. Info: 029 2078
1458 (NG)