The R
ouge Elemen
t, Bristol
Marc Vedo’s h
AAA
omecoming
ACCESS
ALL
AREAS
THE ROGUE’S
THE ROGUE ELEMENT
ROUTE
•
Grows up as part of Portsmouth
BEN
rave bratpack that includes
electro-breaks producer Tom Real,
d&b architect Raiden and tech
weaver King Roc.
•
Moves to London in 2000 to perfect
studio trade and drops early
funk-charged breaks cuts.
•
Releases his ‘Rogue Rock’ LP in
2005 — a widely acclaimed mix of
The Rogue Element gnarly acid breaks, bleepy big beat
funk, grungy rockers and disco-fried
stompers.
Rogue attack
•
Is named best producer at 2007’s
Breakspoll Awards, having picked up
best Breakthrough Producer the year
before.
As he leaves the breakbeat shackles behind, we join Rogue
Element for his set of rude party fi lth at Bristol’s Blowpop
•
Begins the fi lthy electro-infl uenced
Disco Of Doom project with Tom Real
in 2007 and unveils a new solo sound
n a scene driven by constant shifts, labels like Boys Noize, Kitsuné and Cheap And with divisive genre attitudes long that sits somewhere between Sinden,
I
the last thing an artist wants is to Thrills, than any out-dated breakbeat replaced by a shared embrace of Dusty Kid and SebAstian.
get wrongly typecast by one sound. templates. cross-pollination, Blowpop is tonight able
Especially if it’s a sound that has Through bombs like buzzin’ big bottomed to make main stage bedfellows of Evil
been tossed aside like an old rag 4/4 monster ‘Hive’, disco-fried tech Nine, The Japanese Popstars’ blasting plug straight into it.
after meandering down a creative funker ‘Vices’ and the cheeky bass tech, The Plumps’ classic chunky breaks When he does, it’s game over too. Raw
cul-de-sac. thug-out ‘Panic Attacks’, the likes of DJ and The Rogue’s fresh sound . party fi lth follows intense rave techno as
“Just being associated with the breakbeat Hell, The Autokratz and The Streetlife DJs When we arrive at the Motion venue, we Ben’s digital acid interpretation of
scene has become a bit of a tarred brush have all caught wind of the Rogue. fi nd a young, made-for-messiness mass Knightrider — ‘Sidewinder’ — suddenly
for a lot of us,” reckons The Rogue Hopefully it’s just a matter of time before getting down to The Japanese Popstars’ winds its way out of the speakers. It’s raw,
Element, aka Ben Medcalf, as we sip the wider scene catches up and does the electro grinder ‘Facemelter’ too. Clearly, it’s raucous, it’s perfectly produced and
Heinekens in a sedate hotel bar ahead of same. this lot are ready to take everything that’s it’s made to slay dancefl oors whole.
tonight’s gig. “Unless you’re The Stantons thrown at them. Which it does with some aplomb too. Just
or The Plumps, you can forget about the Indeed, as Blowpop promoter John “It’s a proper thrashing rave innit,” grins don’t call it breakbeat. ALLAN MCGRATH
Warehouse Project, you can forget about Stapleton puts it “dance music has to Ben, surveying the towering stage and
Sonar and you can forget about slots at constantly move forward or we’d still be epic make-shift amphitheatre of the
most of the major festivals. You’re just not listening to ‘Block Rockin’ Beats’.” And habitual skate ramp. DJ Derek cues another fat one
taken seriously.” John should know too. Over a 12 year Wormholed with naughty nooks and
cycle his Blowpop promotion has seized ceiling-sunk crannies, Motion is made for
Medcalf’s frustrations are understandable the tail-end of the national big beat party, exploring and we soon fi nd even more
too. For whilst he’s still proud of the Best morphed happily through the nu skool diversity in the other two rooms too — all
Producer title he gained at 2007’s breaks period and since booked everyone tied by that eternal Bristolian love of
Breakspoll Awards, his recent output is far from Dizzee Rascal and The Audio Bullys bass. In the narrow Tunnel, that sub-low
more in tune with the vogueish sounds of to DJ Format and RJD2. pressure takes the form of Oneman’s
bump and grind 2-step and youthful
dubstep eruptions whilst in the confi nes
of The Cave there’s a slightly more vintage
sight in that of 64-year-old legend, DJ
Derek.
Toasting away in his white West Country
take on Jamaican patois, the local hero
and Trojan Records compiler is bouncing
around to his heritage dub treasures
— somehow looking every bit as virile as
the student indie kids in front of him.
But whilst mellowing dub reggae is
TT
KA
Derek’s stock-in-trade, back in the main
OC room the rave is well and truly on.
Shirts are off, sweat is steaming and
BETH CR
— making the Japs’ sonic prediction a
reality — more than the odd face is
pics: melting. Looking on, Ben gets ready to
048
www.djmag.com
DJ470.AAA_blowpop.indd 48 19/1/09 20:18:01
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