Author: jesseniajay

‘We are walking for the women who have no voice’ – Manchester’s walk for women march 2020

Saturday the 7th of March 2020 marks the day that hundreds of women took to the streets of Manchester to show their support for various causes prior to international women’s day.

The march began at 12pm at Manchester Cathedral where people of all ages and backgrounds gathered together to listen to the encouraging speeches, which varied from young children to the likes of Abid Latif Chohan, the Lord Mayor of Manchester.

After dancing their way through Manchester to St Peter’s Square marchers then made their way to the Central Library, where there was a series of events and networking held to carry on celebrating unity, advocacy and action and to reflect on the social, political and cultural achievements of women.

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Q&A: DJ Westman

Thomas Jebson also known by stage name Westman is a 19 year old student at Salford University, studying acoustic engineering. Despite being a hard working student he also has a passion for DJing, and would like to pursue a DJing career in the future.

Toms passion for DJing started when he visited his older sister in Ibiza, one of Europe’s biggest music scenes. Following his fascination Tom began to put his passion in to practise when he was given his first set of decks at the age of 15. Tom was exposed to house music at first with Ibiza being heavily dominated by the genre at the time, although as he slowly progressed and began to feel comfortable he eventually drifted away from house and found his feet in drum and bass, hence where his passion lies today.

“I saved up and bought my own speakers, lights… and started charging to DJ at all types of functions. I carried this on for a few years until I eventually reached a point where I really wanted to focus on a specific genre as I understood this was the only way to develop a proper career in DJing.”

TOM

Q: Is drum and bass a genre you want to stick with throughout your career?

Yes, I think after experimenting with many different genres I have finally found a genre which suits me, and I am best at. So, unless there is a drastic shift in taste I will probably stick with it for the rest of my career.

Q: Do you hope to start producing your own music?

Yes. It’s something that I always put off for not having enough time to devote towards it, but I need to realise that it will always be the case and I just have to start doing it. The main issue is the barrier of entry through the extremely high standard of knowledge needed to do it and it often becomes frustrating when you can’t put your ideas to paper and everything sounds awful. I think the key is persistence and I hope that I’ll be able to overcome the initial hurdle and start properly producing this year.

Q: In this day and age and the impact of social media there has been a huge rise in amateur DJs, how will you try to make your mark on the scene?

As a result of the large amount of bedroom DJs it has become very hard to distinguish yourself from the crowd. Consequently I’ve decided the most efficient way will be to start organizing my own Drum and Bass events. This is because if you’re successful in doing this and start to do bigger and bigger events, you can start to book more well-known DJ’s and therefore, as it’s your own event, you can put yourself on the line up and support them. This then helps with your publicity and lets you network with people already heavily involved in the scene.

TOM

Q: Where would be your ideal venue to perform?

It would be a dream come true to ever play in any of the venues I went too in my early raving days such as Printworks or maybe even an Ibiza based club such as Amnesia.

Q: How do you balance trying to pursue a DJ career with University work?

In short, pretty poorly. I often prioritise whatever needs my current attention however this often gets me into situations where I haven’t effectively planned for future workload and it all piles up and I have limited time to complete it. This often leads to a lesser quality of work submitted which I feel regretful of.

Q: What can people expect to see from you in the future?

I hope that within the next few years I will be running a fairly successful events company whereby I’m supporting some of my favorite DJs and have somewhat of my own decent social media following.

Valhalla presents: DUB vs DNB

Valhalla presents is a student founded events organisation with the hope to host Manchester’s largest nights out. Founders of the organisation came together on the 13th of December to host their first DUB vs DNB event.

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Zombie Shack

The event was hosted at Zombie shack, an intimate venue with a sound system that complimented the heavy music genres.

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DNB DJ Westman and DUB DJ A1D

The two heavy genres battled it out throughout the whole night, although the event wasn’t a sell out the addition of great music turned the small venue into a giant rave within seconds.

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DJ Westman

Despite the night being led by young amateur DJs the crowd was not disappointed.  DJ Westman stood out from the others with every drop being perfectly executed with an astonishing amount of control.

The event was said to be Westman’s first ever DNB performance, although his skillfully planned out set along with his vast amount of confidence said otherwise.  Westman strategically ended his set with the well-known crowd pleaser Wilkinson’s ‘Afterglow’, making his performance unforgettable.

vahalla presentsWith the venue bouncing all night long it is undoubtedly said that Valhalla’s first event was nothing short of spectacular, leaving the crowd with strong hopes that there will be more to come from these upcoming DJs in the future.

5 of the greatest Drum and Bass artists you must see before you die.

1. High Contrast

High contrast signed with Hospital records in 2002 and has smashed his way through the DNB scene ever since. His vast amounts of reworks of tracks from artists such as Adele, Kanye West, and Duke Dumont are evident of his incredible skills in mixing all kinds of genres with drum and bass.

“I hated house music,” he admits, “and Catapult exposed me to other genres. I became interested in applying the filtered French house sound to drum & bass. No-one had done that before.” – High Contrast 

High contrasts latest remix of Jorja Smiths ‘The One’  is another prime example of his insane talent, mixing Jorja Smiths captivating vocals with brilliant pace makes it a skillfully constructed DNB smash. High contrast has also released a number of successful singles such as ‘remind me’ and ‘if we ever’, which have been showcased in his live performances alongside his use of live singers.

2. Dimension

Dimensions career kick-started when he signed with MTA records in 2014. Following his success he remains one of the most greatest drum and bass artists of all time with tracks such as ‘love to me’ and ‘pull me under’ smashing the charts. In 2017 dimension made his mark on the DNB music scene with his Australia and New Zeeland tours along with another residency in Ibiza club Amnesia, this was following his success in 2016 which was labelled by famous DJ Annie Mac ‘Dimensions strongest year to date’. Dimension is most definitely one to look out for in the coming years continuing to make a mark on the music scene.

3. Andy C

Andy C is a DJ and record producer, who also cofounded his successful record label RAM records. Andy C has most definitely mastered the art of DJing and his live performances prove that, despite being in the scene for a long time his performances are always unforgettable. Andy C will return in 2019 better than ever after landing a residency at London club XOYO, a club he claims he use to rave at in his younger days.  Andy C is said to be one of the most technically gifted DJs in electronic music and he will continue to prove this throughout his performances.

4. Sub Focus

Sub Focus is one of DNB’s most popular artists; he has released 2 remarkable albums, his second one ‘Torus’ includes the track ‘out of the blue’. This track has over 4 million views on YouTube and has been played by a huge amount of DJs following its success. Sub Focus knows how to put on a show and this is shown in his live performances. During  Sub Focuses sets he always perfectly paces his tracks drop to synchronize with an incredible light show making the scene phenomenal and the crowd speechless. Sub Focus will definitely stay in the DNB scene for many coming years, headlining and performing all around the world, with tour dates and tickets for 2019 already released.

5. Shy FX

Shy FX is one of the most experienced DJs being in the music scene since 1992. Shy FX started off in the music genre jungle, and still incorporates this in his music today. His work took a turn when he collaborated with T Power in 2001 and they both have been making music ever since. One of their most prominent tracks is ‘shake your body’, a track that mixes the sound of drum and bass with pop. The track is unbelievably still very popular today and is still showcased in his live performances. Shy FX most recent track ‘call me’ with Maverick Sabre is another one of his most popular tracks that proves his skills in mixing different genres and creating a smash hit. Shy FX will most definitely continue smashing the DNB scene and is said to be performing locally at Manchester Academy in February 2019.

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