Bassdrop.co.nz

Posted on on 23 March 2010 by Andrew Thompson

Bass Frontiers nights are one of the oldest in the New Zealand Electronic Music scene, and it gives me great pleasure to announce that they are once again reaching another year old, hitting their 11th year.

With previous birthdays being a solid international affair, this time however, the BF crew are going back to their local roots, with a huge local line up likely to pack Sandwiches out as per usual.

Read on to get more info, and Happy Birthday Bass Frontiers.

BASS FRONTIERS 11TH BIRTHDAY

SAT 27 MARCH – SANDWICHES

IN THE CLUB
DDOG
B-LINE
JDM
STONYA
SENSE
LEGOMAN
SWANKY
RYTHMATIX
ROWZY

PLUS IN THE LOUNGE:
MAREK
KAVA
DANJAH
DUNSTA
EXCELLE

HOSTED BY DELUXE & WOODY

$10 PRESALES FROM WWW.SANDWICHES.CO.NZ OR SAMURAI STORE, 151 WILLIS ST

INFO: www.bassfrontiers.co.nz / Future Funk every Friday 9 – 11pm Radioactive89FM www.radioactive.co.nz


Eleven years ago, a fledgling Wellington event promoter known informally as DDog (Government Name: Darryl McGown) made the switch from throwing exuberant cross-genre warehouse raves to entering the nightclub world, with a fortnightly drum and bass (d&b) party held at Studio 9 down Edward Street way. That party was, and is, called Bass Frontiers.

Over the next decade, Bass Frontiers would go on to define the benchmark for high-end nightclub oriented d&b events. In the process developing one of the most loyal niche dance music audiences in the city, Bass Frontiers eventually went on to not only set the standard for d&b parties in Wellington, but set the standard for nightclub events in the capital city.

Beginning in 1999, when DDog approached Auckland event promotion company Subtronix, and asked what it would take to get access to organise Wellington dates for the stream of international d&b DJs touring through New Zealand (but generally skipping out on Wellington dates due to poor past attendance), Bass Frontiers growth and development was intrinsically keyed into a wider upwards trajectory the genre was experiencing across the country.

Currently one of the most popular electronic dance music styles in New Zealand, d&b has become intertwined with our own musical culture in exactly the same manner as dub, reggae, soul, rock and hip-hop have all become as pervasive as fluoride in water. And, as the above paragraphs have alluded towards, Wellington's wholehearted embrace of bass-heavy breakbeat culture, alongside other key centers like Christchurch, Auckland and Dunedin, has been a key factor in this incontestable, yet rarely publicly acknowledged cultural shift.

These days based at Sandwiches Nightclub (Bass Frontiers home base since the mid 2000s), over the last eleven years, Bass Frontiers has seen numerous classic repeat appearances (perhaps offences should be the word given the nature of the parties) from the likes of: Doc Scott, Calibre, Marcus Intalex, DJ Marky, Ed Rush and Optical and Zinc amongst many others (over the two-hundred plus events Bass Frontiers have held since inception). Additionally, Bass Frontiers has worked as a functional Wellington launch pad for the careers of internationally-respected New Zealand based d&b acts The Upbeats, Trei, State of Mind, Concord Dawn, Bulletproof and so on.

At the end of the day though, music regardless; performers regardless, Bass Frontiers has ultimately always been about the audience, the vibe and most critically – the party. With more insane (and literally unprintable) antics then a carnival freakshow, Bass Frontiers has yielded countless unforgettable nights.

On Saturday the 27th of March, Bass Frontiers will celebrate its eleventh birthday with a local line-up uniting a selection of classic Wellington d&b DJs with the pick of the litter of emerging DJs. And let's be honest here, sure, it's good to have the big acts from overseas. But when it's all said and done, when you're got one of the healthiest drum and bass scenes in the world, you can make your own party, with your own people, and it will still be – hype as fuck.