Drum and Bass is alive and well in South Africa
I fell in love with Drum & Bass music before I knew that it was played at parties. The music spoke to my soul in a way that nothing else could. When I went to my first DnB party at Town Hall, I had already built up a good knowledge of the genre. Going to the parties taught me about the dance side of this music and how it becomes a lifestyle. You either love this genre or you hate it, there is no grey area.
The crowd brought a level of excellence to Carfax for Mefjus that surprised me. I did expect more people to show up, but seeing that all the DnB junkies came out to support SiRENSOUND was worth it. There is something about the crowd and the way they move together which is fucking unbelievable.
Mefjus was scheduled to play at Critical Winter in July, but due to technical difficulties he had to cancel. Although it’s better to have Mefjus late than to not have him at all, I do feel SiRENSOUND could have done more to promote the event better. Regardless of the fact that a lot of the fans were broke after OppiKoppi and some people were not happy with the ticket price, SiRENSOUND managed to pull off a successful event.
I truly love the Johannesburg music scene at the moment, there is more diversity in the audience. The appreciation for Drum & Bass and other underground genres is growing rapidly. Music producers and DJs are experimenting more with the music. They are growing the music scene increasing the amount of producers getting involved in the scene and really pushing the boundaries in their production.
Ella G and Mr Green were the highlight of the evening. Ella G is part of a handful of female DJ’s in South Africa and also one of the most badass DJ’s I know. The way their back-to-back set filled the crowd with an electrifying sound and how Ella G mixes a wide range of the genre, not sticking to one sub genre, is what makes her stand out. Mr. Green incorporates a ragga sound to his sets and his reputation as a DJ has increased and earned him respect for his talent as a Drum and Bass DJ. They are truly a power couple and their performance at Sirensound only reinforced their position as Mr and Mrs Drum and Bass.
One of the greatest things about Mefjus as a producer is his ability to turn his hand to almost any electronic dance genre and create a sound that is not only powerful and well produced, but one that is completely unique and instantly recognisable. He played some crazy neuro-funk that he mixes with some old school jungle DnB. Miki San MC’ed throughout Mefjus’ set keeping the energy up throughout and conducting the crowd through each drop with the precision of a fighter plane dropping bombs on Hiroshima.
The evening was unpredictable and had high levels of energy, beats and baselines. Unfortunately I did expect more regarding the sound for the evening. The speakers they had did not do the venue any justice.
It is great walking into the underground scene, even though you don’t literally walk down the stairs, it feels like you descend to some underground paradise. Your heart immediately takes on the beat of the music and as my feet started dancing I had to force myself to stop, but some part of my body would still move to the beats. While you express every emotion on the dance floor hours of jamming passes and you lose complete track of time. A sense of individuals in unity all dancing with their hands up in pure unison is what makes DnB events worth attending.
