Skream Profile

Crossover Star and Renaissance Man Dubsteppin' to a Maverick Beat

Considering the boy is barely out of nappies, Skream has a long line of achievements to quote already. Aside from being one of the pioneers of the more modern, less dark dubstep sound, in terms of getting it recognised by the masses, he also has quite a few years' experience considering he's been making music since the age of 15. As a teenager he worked for Big Apple Records in Croydon, a place that was quick to pick up on the new sounds coming from emerging artists on the dubstep scene. His 2005 track 'Midnight Request Line' was quickly hailed as "dubstep's most recognisable crossover hit". He hosts a weekly slot on the infamous Rinse FM called Stella Sessions and is about to hit up Electrowerkz and Plastic People. He also comes highly recommended by artists as far ranging as Wiley, the grime maestro, and minimal techno boy Ricardo Villalobos. It'd be rude (boi) not to check him out!

Commix Interview

Dancefloor or Tea Room?

Kings of Eclecticism: Not what you’d usually expect from D&B, COMMIX offer up a unique alternative

Drum & bass duo Commix have produced an eclectic new album which fuses elements from a huge array of genres ranging from fresh D&B beats to ambient coffee-shop chillisms. We caught up with George Levings, one half of the pair, to get to the root of their sound.

Describe the perfect environment to listen to the album in.
We'd like to think really, that you could listen to it over a spliff and a cup of tea but you'd also be able to listen to it in a club environment – although a lot of it's broken up with tracks that you wouldn't really hear in a club but there is an element of dancing to it – I'm just being idealistic really!

What's your favourite track on the album, Call to Mind, and why?
For me I think my favourite track is 'Japanese Electronics'…I just think it's really conceptual, we spent a lot of time working on the different elements of it and making it really techno but sort of soulful at the same time.

Describe your best gig to date.
We played at Womb in Tokyo recently – that was just amazing, everything about it was amazing. The visuals, the soundsystem, the crowd – it was just a real great experience as a DJ.

What's the best thing about playing live?
Watching the reaction to stuff you've done. You might write a track during the day and play it in the evening and it's great if you've done something and it really works on the dancefloor – it's great to see it go off and get a rewind. It's basically what keeps us doing what we do really.

Dream gig?
On a rooftop in South America next to a swimming pool; or on a boat.

Is there a Commix based label in the pipeline?
There is yeah, it's definitely our next big move. We’ve always talked about it and how we could be different to what else is out there. We’ve come up with some really cool ideas for it that I’m not gonna let on about but you can definitely expect that later in the year.

The future for Commix?
There’ll definitely be another album. We’re looking to do a four four techno album. We’re strong believers in reinvention – we don’t wanna flog a dead horse y’know. So we’re just gonna be looking into doing totally different things, working with new and interesting vocalists and trying to be as original as we possibly can.

Words: Naomi Misquita-Rice

Serj Tankian @ Astoria, November 22, 2007

Roll up! Roll up! Serj Tankian's in town tonight and he's dressed in a wonderfully smart white suit and top hat which are reminiscent of a circus ringmaster's garb. In accordance with his usually playful manner, Tankian is bursting full of beans and he demonstrates this surge (!) of energy in his enthusiastic leaps and jumps across the stage. The venue is rammed to the walls with a multiplicity of excited onlookers, who are just as excited as the man himself, to be seeing him back on the live scene again.

Current single 'Empty Walls' features very early in the set tonight and there's not a mouth in the room that doesn't spout the lyrics to the chorus out of their thirsty heads with a fascinated and encouraging demeanor. In fact, considering the material he's showcasing tonight from solo album Elect the Dead is relatively new, it's surprising to see that avid fans manage to regurgitate full lyrics to almost all of the songs he plays.

There's quite a restrained and emotional tone to the evening as a whole, where at some points Tankian sits down to his keyboard on stage and croons through a few of the songs with a poignant intensity. Atop this emotional backdrop, there are also moments of intense energy and heavier, pumped up rock flirtations, which ring true to previous form.

As any Tankian fan will know, the man is very heavily involved in promoting political awareness and tonight is no exception; wedged in between each song he has a chat with the audience, throwing out bold statements such as: "All empires are fucking greedy and eventually die" – these are unsurprisingly received to mass applause from his eager followers.

To lighten the mood he serves up a couple of exciting and unpredictable covers in the form of 'Girl' from The Beatles' Rubber Soul album and 'Holiday in Cambodia' by the Dead Kennedy's. The high pitched screeching vocals he adopts for the latter work astoundingly well with the tune and are an indicator of his keen eye for providing a well-rounded and engaging performance.

The evening is a perfect opportunity to highlight the range and skill this talented individual possesses and undoubtedly proves that there is much more to come from this unique and imaginative soul. Critics who were quick to dispel the solo project as a mere poor mans version of System of a Down are proved entirely wrong tonight as we see a set which beautifully demonstrates the quality material Tankian has produced at the beginning of what should become a long and successful solo career. It's all the fun of the fair, and then some.

Words: Naomi Misquita-Rice

Popof - Alcoolic

If being induced into a coma via music with repetitively bland, uninspiring beats where you sit waiting for the drop which neglects to ever appear, is your 'thing', then great. The intro begins minimal, with a booming bass drum beat, this continues for almost a minute, then you get a few techno forays in the form of electric bleeps, which sound like someone blowing raspberries. From here, it sounds like Popof has selected a few random sounds from sample CDs and hashed them together, employing no sensical reason whatsoever. Please, stop. Now.


Label: cr2 Records
Release date: 19.11.07
Genre: Techno

Azzido Da Bass feat. Adrian Holtz - So Wrong

Kicking in with the type of uninspiring straightforward beat a production-line attendant would sombrely groove to in the mundanity of their thankless job; accompanied by vocals that can only be described as some sort of ode to Marilyn Manson à la Mechanical Animals; this single spits out a mish-mash of sounds and genres which teeter on the edge of bursting into something bold and brilliant, yet never quite manages it. 'So Wrong' seems to be an apt title.

Label: Luscious Sounds
Release: 01.10.2007
Genre: Dance

The Big Reunion: Twisted Circus @ Butlins Resort, Skegness, November 30 – December 2, 2007

For two weekends this winter, the Butlins resort in Skegness played host to Britain's answer to their very own mini-Ibiza – The Big Reunion: Twisted Circus. base.ad headed up for the second weekend of raucous celebrations and full-on debauchery to check out some scorching DJ sets from the cream of dance music.

Friday night began with a bang as rampant partygoers from all corners of the UK came out to play in huge hoards. In keeping with the Twisted Circus theme, people spared no expense in their elaborate costumes and were decked out in all manner of weird and wonderful clothing, including superhero get-ups and circus animals. Many of the ladies were sporting no more than a bra and knickers and considering the weather was less than warm, with spells of drizzle consuming the grounds, everyone partied with huge smiles on their faces and a positive fun-seeking atmosphere ran throughout the first evening.


Judge Jules hit up the Judgement Sundays stage (one of six put to use over the weekend), appearing in some geeky specs and playing out to a huge and ravenous crowd with his standard floor fillers which were lapped up with hungry chops. On the stage behind him was an extravagant show consisting of hellish stunts, including a bed of metal spikes, motorbikes and evil clowns with sparking chainsaws.


Lisa 'Queen of Hard Dance' Lashes was up afterwards, raising the stakes as she thrusted behind the decks in her huge red stiletto heels and provided a more intense and involved set where interaction with the crowd ensured that everyone braved it to the end and danced their derrières into oblivion whilst watching scantily clad military dancers on the huge stage flex through their perfectly choreographed routine.



The best sets of the weekend however, were saved for Saturday night. After a hard night of partying you might have thought the crowd would be less than eager, having spent all their energy on Friday. Not the case as we hit the Trinity stage to check out DJ Luck and MC Neat where there were so many re-e-winds it was like travelling back in time. Anyone that thought UK garage had bitten the bud would be forced to eat their words as the packed out room writhed with bodies very much keeping the spirit alive. Hit after hit was played out, including 'Sambuca' 'I'm Sorry' and 'Chopper' most of the lyrics of which could be seen dripping from the mouths of everyone in attendance.


Packing a more than satisfying punch with his scuzzy electro breakbeat house offerings, Slipmatt was joined by MC 3Flow on the Helter Skelter stage for an energetic set which never let up. From the opening Slipmatt and Bunter remix of Ida Corr and Fedde le Grand's 'Let me Think About it' there was a pulsating vibe, with hands raised and arms assaulting the air. Slipmatt's set was the highlight of the weekend as he banged out tune after tune of dirty rockin' beats and even chose to take it back to the old skool with a savagely appreciated cheeky play of Baby D's 'Let me be Your Fantasy'. As he wrapped up, staff in the venue found it difficult to move the eager jaw-chewers from their spots, as they refused to accept that it was all over.


Last up, it was off to the Tidy stage to catch Anne Savage as she treated us all to a commercial set of tuneage which was perfectly placed for the masses in attendance. Banging out an Erol Alkan mix of Josh Wink's 'Higher State of Consciousness', followed by Prodigy Vs Pendulum's version of 'Voodoo People' had everyone in state of euphoric shock and excitement, with a few indie chart-toppers from the likes of Strokes and Bloc Party thrown into the mix finishing off a beautifully realised set.

As the weekend drew to a close and the hoards reluctantly vacated their accommodation, it was almost impossible to imagine that the overcast surroundings of Skegness had been the setting to one of the most hedonistic and dramatic festivals of the year. Next year's party can't come around soon enough in our opinion, but we reckon it should be three days because it was all over way too quickly. 'ave it!

Words: Naomi Misquita-Rice

SE:SA Interview with Serhat Sakin

Uniting Nations

SE:SA talk about their Spicy Oriental Ragga Deee-Lite's

What's the story behind SE:SA?
Producing-wise it’s me, Serhat Sakin; as DJs I team up with my partner and second half of Syke’n’Sugarstarr – Matthias Weber. My partner Matthias and I met first in 1998 when we started our project Syke’n’Sugarstarr. In 2003 we had so many releases that I decided to set up a new project, which I named SE:SA. There were several releases under this moniker with huge response across the board but the current release topped it all.

How would you describe your sound?
We’d say it's funky-ass shaking-electro with spicy oriental influences.

What was the inspiration behind the new single, 'Like This Like That'?
Together with my cousin, we passionately collected Oriental vinyl records from the 1960s and 1970s. While listening to one of these we heard this short sequence which sounded like the intro to 'Groove Is In the Heart' by Deee-Lite. We were extremely inspired to use this idea for one of our productions and combining it with a cool funky groove we finished the track in a very short time. Our friend Mousse T felt that the tune had loads of potential and he subsequently asked the vocalist Sharon Phillips to come and work on a song for the track. We recorded the vocals together and wrote the lyrics with her. We tried to achieve something unique, which stays in your head for a long time. An anthem.

What was it about Sharon's vocals that caught your attention?
We weren't looking for typical cheesy female vocals; we had something in our minds with plenty of energy and this Missy Elliott style 'cause we thought it could perfectly fit to that playback. Mousse T and Erroll [Rennalls] from Peppermint Jam [Records] came up with Sharon and we were impressed by her from the first minute. We never had someone like her in the studio, it's unbelievable how fast she understood what we were looking for. Her ability to perform Ragga gives the record the ultimate touch and we think the result speaks for itself.

Tell us about the other remixes
The range is pretty wide and they’re all very different, as most of them don’t contain the parts from the original mix. Alex Gaudino delivered a bigroom mix, while the guys from Sinden and The Count of Montecristal provided an uplifting electro mix, which is based on very dirty loops. There's a funky R&B version from Dudabeats in the pipeline too.

Explain the concept behind the video
As you can hear in the lyrics it’s about bringing the world together with our music so the video pictures different dancers from different countries. Asian people, European people, Bellydancers. One thing we have to mention though – not every German is wearing the typical Bavarian pants!

What do you plan next?
We will definitely continue releasing under the SE:SA moniker and a follow-up single is in progress already. And – for sure – we’ll tour the world as a DJ-Team: SE:SA aka Syke’n’Sugarstarr!

Words: Naomi Misquita-Rice