Music
Going underground in Cardiff, a hidden hotbed of drum'n'bass energy
It's seldom thought of as a UK rave hotspot, but 20 years on from Human Traffic the Welsh capital is home to a thriving underground scene of DJs, producers, warehouse venues and raging free parties.
Photographer Aiyush Pachnanda had never listened to so much as a minute of drum’n’bass music before he came to Cardiff from London to study. Four years later he’s publishing a book – Rave To The Grave – focused on the city’s d’n’b scene.
“I wanted somewhere to take some pictures and someone suggested a Concrete Junglist night,” says Aiyush – or Ushy as he’s known to most d’n’b heads in the Welsh capital. “I took over 3000 pictures, loved them all and was hooked. I went to every night possible. I couldn’t get enough of it.”
An overnight convert, Aiyush spent his photojournalism degree documenting every d’n’b party he could. Rave To The Grave is the result – a 92-page collection of lively, visceral images that capture the Cardiff drum’n’bass scene in all its resilient glory. These aren’t just standard club shots – they also tell a story of an adaptable city scene that has had to think on its feet and be creative with venues.
MC XL on the mic, Disko Rekah at Jacob's Market, 2017
© Aiyush Pachnanda
MC Juiceman and Subzero, Concrete Junglists at Clwb Ifor Bach
© Aiyush Pachnanda
The mic takes a rest at Kings Of The Rollers, The Vaults, 2019
© Aiyush Pachnanda
Ravers share a moment at Jungle Jam Summer BBQ, Tramshed, 2019
© Aiyush Pachnanda
Due to the issues of gentrification that all westernised cities share, Cardiff has been stripped of its purpose-built club venues one-by-one. Instead it offers a strange range of repurposed locations. The Vaults, for example, is an intense subterranean cellar that once stashed gold bars for wealthy dockland merchants. Fluidity, meanwhile, masquerades as a rave spot at night but is a trampoline/sports park by day. Elsewhere small bars are flipped into impromptu jungle sessions, there are several major party warehouses – including Titan Warehouse, the biggest warehouse event space in the UK – and a healthy free party scene. It seems no matter how many obstacles the authorities put in the way, the city always finds a way to rave.
The city boasts a lot of d’n’b talent, too. Grammy-nominated High Contrast is perhaps the most well-known d’n’b artist from the city, but he’s certainly not alone. Quartz releases music on labels such as Warm Communications and Metalheadz. Jack Boston is signed to Break’s Symmetry imprint. Ransom is an internationally-booked DJ. Something Something, a prominent DJ who's broken through via lockdown’s livestreaming culture, is also based in the city. Cardiff is home to scene-certified brands such as fashion label Concrete Junglists, mega-rave promoters Bedlam, and for the first time ever the city is home to two contemporary d’n’b labels – Incurzion Audio, who were nominated as one of the top 10 Best Newcomer Labels in the Drum&BassArena Awards and Riddim Records, who’ve been putting on some of the city’s most musically explorative events. Both young brands are encouraging a new generation of South Wales talent such as Obsidian, Brave, Caaza, and Cauzer.
Meanwhile on the MC front there’s MC XL (who regularly works with popular London label Critical Music) and rising mic controllers such as Missy G, Comma Dee, and P.A.B MC. Plus, of course, Mr Traumatik, whose suspicious lyrical theories have been consistently delivered in a Cardiff twang for years. The city is also playing a key role in the push for diversity and gender balanced line-ups with Ladies Of Rage. Established in 2018, they’re a cross-genre collective of womxn artists who host events and run community workshops, jams and projects to inspire more female and non-binary artists – on the d’n’b front it comprises DJs such as Lubi J and Shanny Shan.
Promoters have had to be creative for things to thrive
Go much further back into history and Cardiff boasts heritage in the jungle and rave scene. High Contrast tells us of his education from the city’s only pirate station Bass FM where DJs such as T-Bone and Bongo schooled local listeners on the biggest dubs. He also highlights other artists who have been part of the city’s rave fabric since acid house day one and still remain part of it today. Lion UK is a relative of Jah Shaka, whose legendary soundsystem was a huge influence on the genre’s foundations. He co-founded the first dance music vinyl specialist record store in Wales – Looney Tunes – and was the earliest DJ to bring the jungle sound to the city, remaining highly active as a producer with releases on cornerstone imprints such as Kemet and Ruffneck Ting.
Apollo was another key d’n’b DJ who also came through at the same time as Lion UK. Active since the city’s acid house days, he remains just as committed to the cause. A prolific broadcaster, he runs a radio station called Dub Frequency, hosted regular events prior to the lockdown, and has had multiple releases on labels such as Siren Audio and Reformed Records.
The fact both Cardiff OG artists are still entrenched in the culture is just as much testament to the city’s resilient d’n’b spirit as Aiyush’s overnight conversion and the scene’s continued battle against club closures. There are many other examples of Cardiff’s fierce d’n’b energy, from the legacy of the city’s famous record store Catapult Records to its impressive, ambitious new labels and its formidable underdog status.
We caught up with a selection of Cardiff d’n’b heads earlier this month to understand more about the Welsh capital’s unique vibe. On the call are: Incurzion Audio founders Zak King & Obsidian, Riddim Records founder Mascot; DJ Ransom; DJ, broadcaster and Ladies Of Rage co-founder Lubi-J; Concrete Junglists/Aperture founder David Shaw; MC XL; and producer Jack Boston.
Where was the Cardiff scene at pre-lockdown?
Zak King: Community-wise, very strong. Venue-wise, awful. I’d say also there seems to be a split between Cardiff heads and the student side of things who tend to run their own events. But when it comes to venues, it’s shocking.
Ransom: Promoters have had to be creative for things to thrive. Finding places like Vale Warehouse and Fluidity to hold parties. I know someone who was thinking of hosting a rave in [legendary Cardiff science park] Techniquest.
The issue we have is that small-to-medium size venues are in short supply. The landlords want to make money, not support the culture
David Shaw: People have had to be creative, haven’t they? The city just keeps losing venues. When Hippo Club [legendary Cardiff rave hole] closed I thought ‘I can’t wait to see what replaces it’. Nothing came. Then Emporium closed. Nothing came. Vision 2K, Forum, all these places have been taken from us to the point where people are moaning about Undertone closing, which is a tiny little club. This is Cardiff! We had Human Traffic filmed here. We’re the capital city of Wales but we haven’t the venues to show for it. Swansea’s got a better scene than we have in terms of venues.
MC XL: Woah! I don’t know about that. We got The Vaults, we got Titan, we got Fluidity, we got the Students' Union, Kongs….
Lubi J: The issue we have is that small-to-medium size venues are in short supply. The landlords want to make money, not support the culture. They sell them for flats or office space that the city really doesn’t need. That, and the ones that are that size aren’t showing a willingness to support d’n’b.
Mascot: Or the venues that are the right size don’t want to support this music because it’s got a bad reputation or we’re not the venue’s “desired clientele.”
Chase & Status DJ set at Titan Warehouse, Splott, 2019
© Aiyush Pachnanda
Throwing shapes at Rave In The Church, July 2017
© Aiyush Pachnanda
Raver shakes hands with DJ, Undertone, 2017
© Aiyush Pachnanda
DJ Stygian live at Clwb Ifor Bach, 2019
© Aiyush Pachnanda
Has the scene had problems in that way?
Obsidian: It’s the stigma d’n’b has. Raving in general and the things some people chose to do. It’s never going to go away.
Dave Shaw: It’s wild to hear that. I know the last Concrete Junglist event I put on got a bit rowdy. I’ve probably done 1000 events prior to that and never had one fight or issue.
Jack Boston: Did you find the different DJs brought a different crowd who cause trouble?
Dave Shaw: I guess so. But I’ll hold my hands up and admit we got greedy in terms of jump-up. We had some very popular events. Hazard and Bassman sold out in five minutes. I’d never seen that before in Cardiff.
Would you say Cardiff is a jump-up city?
Mascot: It was jump-up central for a bit. I feel in the last few years we’ve seen more diversity in line-ups.
Zak King: You can push what you like, there’s still this dominant sound. Max pushes liquid. We push the minimal sound, but both sounds are still underrepresented in the city.
Lubi J: I think there’s a disengagement between the two crowds. There is a large crowd who love going out and dancing to d’n’b, but that’s all they’re happy doing. Going out, getting drunk, dancing to it. Most of them aren’t interested in following and supporting the culture on that level.
How do you change that?
Dave Shaw: When I started Aperture, Cardiff was a jump-up city with a lot of trouble. I wanted to twist it the other way. The first flyer I made was pink with poodles on it and we had John B down. We really pushed the liquid element and reached tipping point with it. When you reach that, people will come to anything you serve them. You only need 50 people to religiously go to your event and they’ll bring enough people to fill the venues we were working in. We’ve gone full circle again. It’s had its rowdy, jump-up phase and will take guys like Max and Zak to come together and really push it and we could be at the start of something beautiful again.
You only need 50 people to religiously go to your event and they’ll bring enough people to fill the venues we were working in.
Both Incurzion Audio and Riddim Records launched in recent years. The city’s never really had many prominent d’n’b labels…
Mascot: I never had any intention of having a label to begin with. I was running events and had such a passion from doing the shows I wanted to be more involved and represent more music and new artists and push our sound as a brand. That’s where Riddim Records came from. Then Incurzion came along and just killed it!
Zak King: I feel what we do is represent the city, but not the sound of the city. Incurzion Audio has more online listeners in Russia and Austria than it has in Wales.
Dave Shaw: It’s nice hearing that, though. We’re exporting. We take our product from Wales and push it elsewhere. It’s the same here with Concrete Junglists. I seem to have popular pockets in places like Las Vegas and Melbourne but I don’t sell much in Cardiff.
Raver at Disko Rekah, Jacob's Market, 2017
© Aiyush Pachnanda
Raudi TT on the decks at Switchmas, Undertone, 2019
© Aiyush Pachnanda
Going down low at free party in church, 2017
© Aiyush Pachnanda
Head in the bass bins at the Outlook Festival official launch party, 2019
© Aiyush Pachnanda
High Contrast explained how you can hear the influence of Cardiff in his music via the influence of Catapult Records. Where is Cardiff’s influence in your work?
Jack Boston: Catapult for me, for sure. Dabz would pull out some amazing stuff. He showed me how deep the sound goes, including Break who now releases my music. There’s a lot to be said for the influence for Catapult and how it woke me up to be a cool scene.
MC XL: Catapult was such an important hub. Not just for vinyl heads but for tickets and the whole community. You’d always see someone there.
Dave Shaw: I think being from Wales, it makes you a bit of an underdog. The promoters I took over from, Hustler and Bulletproof, they said "if you can make it in Cardiff you can make it anywhere in the world." I do believe that. If Incurzion were based in Bristol, they’d be ahead of where it is now, for example. Being based in Wales makes you stronger and that comes out in your work. Also, the city has so many wicked characters. It forms amazing characters. Catapult was a magnet for these people. Especially the staff. They were incredible storytellers and I think that comes out in my work.
Lubi J: I represent local artists on my radio show System Check, which I’ve been doing for years on Radio Cardiff. It’s a community station so it’s important to get local artists in, play local music and really champion the local scene.
Catapult Records was such an important hub. Not just for vinyl heads but for tickets and the whole community.
Let’s champion the scene for a final shout-out. Big up something special about the city…
Jack Boston: The people! Aperture made me feel so included. You get this loose balance of funny and weird and creative people and it makes it exciting. There are enough people to encourage creativity.
Dave Shaw: It’s just that bit nicer. You get on the train from Cardiff to London you can smile and have a chat with people going all the way through Wales, but as soon as you’re past Bristol that's not the case. Say "hello" to a stranger past Reading and they look at you like you’ve spat on them.
Aiyush: That’s how I grew up. Look at someone the wrong way and you’ll get punched in the face. I came to Cardiff and everyone was so friendly. People recommending me to go to different nights and recommending things to listen to and supporting my photography. In London it’s just business.
MC XL: It is a really exciting community that brings so many of us together. Everyone I know in the conversation is through drum'n'bass. The music’s brought us together.
Before lockdown we were starting to see more women on line-ups and I think that’s so important
Lubi J: I’m proud that Cardiff’s fighting for diversity. With Ladies Of Rage we’re trying create a better gender balance in the city’s scene and empower more females and nonbinary DJs, artists, and MCs. Before lockdown we were starting to see more women on line-ups and I think that’s so important. There’s a wider diversity issue in the d’n’b scene, but Cardiff is definitely on the map for doing its bit. We’ve been running for nearly two years, we’ve become an unincorporated charity and have a lot of exciting, community-based plans.
Ransom: I’ve been playing out for nearly 20 years and I’ve almost never fallen out with anyone. And that’s because we do this because we love it and there’s appreciation there. That’s why Ushy takes photos. People love his passion and what he does. That’s why people listen to Lubi’s radio show, or support Incurzion or Riddim or buy Dave’s clothes or turn out to watch us play. There’s no bullshit with this city, that’s what I love.
Pre-order Aiyush Pachnanda's photo book Rave To The Grave here
