Mention drum n bass and images of ghetto pimps with flashy cars and hot
women will come to mind. Not so for the scene in our country unfortunately. What we have here is a handful of youngins sporting trucker
hats and AF1s. Of course the description excludes the people that are
actually driving the Klang Valley's drum n bass scene.

All the above was clearly visible at Chinamax for their monthly drum n
bass session. Upon arrival, the sound was a random mix of moody and slow, intense beats. This was to serve as the warm-up because the place was still with an absent crowd, probably due to the early hour. The DJs were still taking turns to drop tunes and making talk at the console. By
10.30p.m., Low took over the decks and turned the beats up, just as a
small crowd walked in and promptly ordered their drinks. Within minutes,
it was obvious that they were there for the booze instead of the sounds of
bass.

After about 25 minutes of pumping basslines and vocal samples, Nujita took over with some smooth synthesiser-laced tunes , keeping the tempo up until midway through his set. One particular tune had samples of Chinese gongs instead of cymbal crashes and it certainly suited the club's décor, further embellished by an evil cackling laugh emitted by someone in the crowd during the song's breakdown. More people trickled in but breezed through the main room to the balcony, perhaps to catch the closing moments of the Manchester United vs Leicester City football match on television.

After the brief break and cackling, Nujita began a slow transition into
harder and darker beats. In the meantime, the who's who of the local drum and bass scene was gathered on the dance floor, exchanging phone numbers as though it was an old high school reunion.

DJ Siv came on slightly past midnight and launched into some complex drum breaks with plenty of vocal samples. The volume level was raised
significantly to show the crowd that he meant business. Despite his attempt to put on a full-scale assault, people were still standing by the sidelines with hands in pockets and just nodding to the sound.

This all changed when Andrew dropped the all too familiar opening riff of
D.Kay and Epsilon's 'Barcelona' resonated through the speakers, cheers of
approval erupted from the dancefloor. This triggered a whole slew of crowd favourites which sent the pent-up punters into a frenzy. Siv and Andrew took turns behind the decks spinning easily digestible chart topping hits back to back.Although one might have though things couldn't get much
harder, Jordan took the next slot and unleashed more fury at the closing
after the drum n bass version of 'Top of the Pops', going into massive
junglist hardstep pounders.

However, one couldn't help but notice the absence of breakbeats on this
particular night, as these two genres have gone side by side like peas and
carrots in events over the past year or two. Are we then experiencing the
rebirth of independent drum and bass events without its equally struggling
cousin? Whatever the case, the 'souljahs' battle on.

 

-Kelvin