The Pondering Blonde

Don’t Mind The Gap, Get Innit

Remember the day’s people went on a Gap year, returning with enough dosh to put a deposit on a house or buy a new car? Well, it’s likely those people never left their grotty flat share and ate baked beans on toast every day; kinda useless when you have one of the maddest, interesting cities at your fingertips! If you go overseas you’ve got to experience it and get your nails into the awesome, dirty, sexy culture and live it up! Well, in my almost 2 years as a party-chasing Saffa in London, I certainly did try! Here’s a scratching-the-surface summary of life on the nightshift in London Town.

London really is a melting pot of incredible culture. But you can’t sit in Wimbledon aka Little South Africa expecting it to come to you- you have to chase it and get involved. A round up of our regular (not necessarily all at once!) nocturnal team included several South Africans, a Brazilian, an Italian (and sporadically; her loud Italian entourage), a lone-ranging Turk, a couple of Aussies, two Spaniards, an American, a Welsh lass, and a good dozen curious Brits, among them! It’s a truly incredible thing to be surrounded by so many different people and never a dull moment on a night out!

It has to be said, South Africans aren’t the most stylish bunch; Saffa’s are more likely to spend cash on going out and getting hammered than on new threads, but this is a good thing… We just don’t look as good doing it. The locals are pretty lekker and accept- no, welcome- raving travellers who adopt their city and dancefloors- contrary to belief that they’ve been sulking about immigrants for decades (Those old farts moved to Cornwall ages ago anyway!) But as they say, everyone leaves eventually, and while it’s a bummer for residents to watch international friends come and go; when it comes to the London clubbing community at large, this constant shift and new energy is what keeps UK dance culture so alive and well!

The core club scene, aka those deemed the coolest club kids of all by no-one in particular- they’ve just danced up the year-miles to prove it, is actually kind of small when you elbow your way right into the thick of it- everyone knows everyone and supports everyone. And so you just have to go and party at everyone’s party every weekend- it would be rude not to. (No mean feat I tell you!) When they know you, they put you on the guestlist, let you skip the queue and coat check your stuff for free. It’s the little things that make it home, right?

If you’re still clubbing at Pacha and Ministry of Sound 6 months into your London Life it’s safe to say you probably couldn’t find the underground in a mine shaft- but hey, maybe next time you can tickle the Deadmau5 pantomime behind his ear even? Okay, big room shows are great, and the underground is not without its massive warehouse parties, but there’s nothing like an intimate shindig with your favourite dj just metres away- you can even pinch his bum if you want to… I’m just saying!

Experiencing The End before it closed and witnessing the power of its era in dance music history sucked me right in. I entered a world that crossed the border of Recreational clubbing into the 24/7 realm of Professional Party People. A community ‘headspace’ that speaks EDM- discussing venues, promoters and releases in beats per minute; the same way you might natter to your girlfriend about your day at work, the traffic and what’s for dinner. It’s something else entirely and privy to a well-networked and thriving music scene- totally worth trading your collection of pictures of The Queen to experience first ear and foot! London, you sexy vicious bitch; to be continued…

SAFFA Fingers On The London Pulse

BPM Magazine 2009

Some say they’re the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels but mostly, they’re the ones with the twin steel balls that took themselves out of their perfect sun-shiny South African existence to throw themselves with all abandon into the bottom of the Big Smoke party pit.

This is London; the dance music deity that got the globe started on Acid House, The Hacienda, M25 Raves and still owns the forefront today with the likes of cutting-edge super clubs, record labels and sub music genres. Think Fabric, Ministry of Sound and Garage – erm, scratch that last one – and switch off your beeper!

For many Dj’s and producers, this is where its at; the epicenter of all that goes bump in the night, the diversity driven melting pot of people, music, fashion, music, culture, music, lifestyle and music! Shane Watcha, Clint Lee, Sahin Meyer, Paul Bingham, Dave Impact, 2 Phunked Up, Sleazy G, Little Leigh, Hayley Hunter, Anton Kingsize and the Live Tech Rebelz are just some of the names you’ve heard making sound waves on the international EDM scene. They have no respect for the status quo; they’re the ones who saw things differently, followed the UV light and gave it all up for music and La La London land!

An amalgamation of sound in themselves, getting this bunch into a small dark room wouldn’t have been as easy as you’d think – they’d all want to be the bloody Dj! – so with a little digital word play, I picked their master-mixing minds to see if they really felt United in the Kingdom

Where to begin? It was agreed; no matter how big they were back home, when their two-step first hit the streets of London, they became the musical equivalent of a double size 0. It requires immense passion, dedication obsession – to keep up with the electronic rat pack in Europe. Its bigger, better and way uglier – you should see some of these people! And they attest to the notion that it’s all about who you know, as there are no hand-outs here. They’ve been nauseous from networking, even more so from not enough, been overbooked and way underpaid. They’ve burnt their ears, lost girlfriends, jobs and lots of sleep – they’ve even lost themselves deep within this avant-garde music anarchy and twisted in turmoil at the decadent choice of direction to tune into.

But what makes it all worth fist fighting their way upstream – another unanimous nod is being able to see their well-hung heroes live and in the flesh on a regular basis; there is no better inspiration! Being at touching distance from the likes of Steve Bug, Sven Vath and Loco Dice is right up there with owning the stage themselves – well, almost!- and so they’re quite content to watch from the dance-floor or lurk with a long eyeball from across the room.

Then there’s the actual clubs. There is said to be – but I haven’t quite counted yet – over 300 clubs and bars that drop a decent beat and with that in mind, consider the party-people patronage! There is a sound for every situation and an audience to appreciate it and feed their fanatical frenzy, on any given day of the week. Clubs heave even on Monday night, Tuesday night, Sunday morning and all afternoon – and you know, there’s nothing quite like a Sunday session of light-footing it to make you feel alive! This kind of scene support allows Dj’s to be creative and play exactly what they want! Between the lot they can pool an impressive playing alongside list which includes Axwell, The Swedish House Mafia, Brian Cross, Paul Van Dyk, Mr C, Booka Shade and then some, which proves they’re making some serious treads!

What about home? Some have long lost the will to look back, totally locked into their London lives – but they all miss that special South African flavour- it’s like Aromat, I’m telling you – and the incredible character of our county’s people. They’re happy to see the club scene is healthy and growing, the influx of young blood – dj’s and producers – making waves, as well as fresh sounds gripping deck space, which should give SA more recognition on the dance music map. They want to keep up with and be part of it as they are very much representing this side of the pond!

They’ve formed this intense and unbelievably bonded community of like-minded music lovers, who loudly follow and rally around their music mission and rather than see each other as nail-biting competition, they all for one in making name and give each other leg-ups all the way. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, glorify or vilify them. But about the only thing you cannot do is ignore them – the only way they’re going is up! Support your Dj’s in London, your country needs them!