Last night (Saturday 16th February) we returned to Antwerp Mansion for the second night of new heavy house/electro/bass night, Rum & Bass. After going to the launch night two weeks ago and being completely blown away, we were really hyped and looking forward to witnessing the same buzz, atmosphere, quirky venue and insane music all over again.

This time we arrived at the very start from 10pm and we got chance to talk to the guys behind it all – a really great group of passionate, determined music lovers whose aim is to put on an awesome student night THEY’D want to go to. This is perhaps why so far Rum & Bass has been a brilliant success; their enthusiasm is infectious and the demand for an alternative night in a unique venue is welcomed outside the city centre.

We mentioned this in our last review but the building itself, a huge derelict mansion still retaining some of its magnificent beauty and character, immediately creates an impression whether you’ve been before or it’s your first time here. We always like to experience something a bit different that makes an impact and Antwerp Mansion could not be a more perfect setting for a dirty, heavy, bass-filled rave.

Tonight was no different to the opening night and we were glad to see it from the beginning. A steady stream of students and ravers trickled in to the sounds of some awesome old-school garage in The Gig Room, which very quickly became packed and the buzz accelerated from there. What’s more, the atmosphere is so friendly, there’s no pretentiousness and everyone’s there to just have a good time, enjoy the music and dance all night.

This time we spent more time upstairs in The Ball Room (‘The Best of Bass Music’) too, full of bass -loving ravers with filthy sounds shaking up the high-ceilinged historic room, providing a very charismatic setting to the dirty beats. We can’t express enough just how much the venue really adds to the atmosphere and plays a huge part in the night itself coupled with the insane music.

We spent the rest of the night from 1.30am onwards back in The Gig Room, when Ben James returned to the decks after his mind-blowing set from the launch night. Once again, the smiliest DJ we’ve seen, had the crowd going absolutely mental with his genre-crossing set; from house and electro beats to drum’n’bass and old school classics (a bootleg of Destiny’s Child’s ‘Say My Name’ went down a storm), every single person in the room was going mad for it. This is something we mentioned before, but we urge you to go down to experience some of the best mixing and DJ-ing we’ve seen for yourselves.

By 4am, the second Rum & Bass night was over and now-empty room was free to breathe again after the mentalness. We chilled with the lads after the madness of the past few hours and the crazy build-up to the night, reflecting again on another successful night. Back again in a fortnight’s time, if you’re looking for an awesome night with decent music, people and vibe, Rum & Bass is definitely the place to go – we’ll see you at the front of the dance floor!

Check out Rum & Bass

Fortnightly on a Saturday night @ Antwerp Mansion, 10pm – 3am

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RumBassManchester
Twitter: @RumNBassMcr
Get your tickets: rumandbassmanchester.fatsoma.com/
Photos by: Lee Ryder – check out the full album here.

Last night (Saturday 2nd February) saw the opening night of Rum & Bass at Antwerp Mansion, a new night aimed at those who are serious about heavy house, drum’n’bass and all things electro in a unique, quirky venue. Imagine an almost-derelict mansion, past its glory days as a beautiful building and former Belgian embassy, with a magnificent staircase, high walls and a maze of rooms; the ideal setting for a dirty, heavy bass-filled rave.

On first impressions we were really impressed with the transformed venue, which was absolutely packed and literally buzzing at 2am when we arrived. The Gig Room downstairs was dominated by the sounds of DJ, Ben Hourahine, part of the Rum & Bass team. Smashing out tracks from the likes of Julio Bashmore, Disclosure and Eats Everything, his mixing was just superb and the crowd were going mad for it; this guy knows how to tease, please and flirt with an audience predominately made up of students who love their house/electro music.

On the second floor, The Ball Room, ‘The Best of Bass Music – Exposure DJ’s Takeover’, offered a heavier, bassier approach with the likes of Netsky, Magnetic Man and Sub Focus being used and abused. Like downstairs, everyone was raving away having an awesome time, with the heavy dub sounds being emphasised by the fittingness of the run-down, grimey room. Strikingly similar to a party you’d imagine in a Skins episode, this wasn’t just another night, but a rave within one of the coolest places we’d been.

For us, everything about the night married together perfectly; a venue with personality and character, awesome music with a filthy edge and a buzzing vibe made it a huge success for the opening launch night. We had a chat with the Rum & Bass guys, a great group of lads passionate about music, who wanted to put on a night with a difference that would get people talking. If last night was anything to go by, we expect this fortnightly Saturday night event to be success and can only get bigger and better – we wish the guys luck! See you at the next one.

Check out Rum & Bass

Fortnightly on a Saturday night @ Antwerp Mansion, 10pm – 3am

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RumBassManchester
Get your tickets: rumandbassmanchester.fatsoma.com/
Photos by: Lee Ryder – check out the full album here.

As a drum’n’bass/dubstep/electro girl at heart, I remember coming across Invaders of Nine a while ago thanks to the place where a lot of people know me from best: Twitter. @SpamellaB, super-keen music lover and always on the hunt for fresh sounds as well as following favourite DJs, artists and producers, in typical fashion spotted and made a connection with something that sounded interesting. In this case, it was with DJ duo and music producers Danny and Mark aka Invaders of Nine, hailing from Wales and on a mission to get their bass-heavy electronic sounds out there.

Since then, as a loyal fan I’ve been championing these guys, and was keen to introduce DMM readers and followers to them. Currently Invaders of Nine have come a very long way and established themselves all over, with their music gaining support from the likes of BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio Wales, amongst many other big UK radio stations. Not to mention a huge explosion of their fan base, alongside branching out into their new brand, Bass Rebels, a collective of artists all with the same aim – creating music that makes you want to RAVE.

Starting Out

So Danny and Mark, let’s start at the beginning. How did you guys meet and Invaders of Nine come about?
(Mark) We met at work (our day job) and found we both had a passion for great music. We come from very different musical backgrounds so it was really interesting to find out about each other’s music. Invaders of Nine was born out of a typical conversation that somehow got round to the idea of working on some music together – then trying to find a genre that satisfied both our interests.

How did you get into producing/DJing in the first place – is it something you always wanted to do?
(Danny) I started off DJing first, got myself some Numark tt100 turntables and away I went. First I was into all sorts electro, trance hip hop, hard house then got into DnB music. Once I got to grips with mixing I just had to get to the point where I could mix my own tunes together so got a copy of Fruity Loops studio and went from there. After using nearly all the music programs out there I finally settled with Presonus Studio One, just as I started producing music with Mark.

(Mark) I’ve been interested in producing music for quite some time, but apart from the odd attempt with my band at uni, I’ve never really got down to business with that side of things. So yes, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and it’s such a great feeling to have our music out there and to know that people are enjoying it. As for DJing… I’d never even considered it before ION came along, but now I’m really excited to be adding it to my performances.

Do you both have similar tastes and influences or are they quite different? How do you bring your sounds together if so?
(Mark) Our influences are about as far apart as it is possible to be! My favourite music (apart from ION, obviously) used to be stuff like Skunk Anansie or Red Hot Chili Peppers, although I’d have to name Pendulum now as my biggest influence. Luckily we have similar ideas of what sounds good when it comes to DnB so it hasn’t been too difficult to work together.

(Danny) Yep what Mark said, I was into the electronic sound when I met Mark mainly electro and trance which you can hear in our Drum & Bass productions along with Mark’s influence of the more live sounds, guitar, violins, etc. which we think all work great to give our uplifting and energetic sounds.

What was one of the hardest challenges you came across when starting out?
(Mark) Figuring out what makes good DnB, and then figuring out how to make a track out of it. It was all really new for me!

(Danny) For me it was mainly being happy with my melodies as I loved creating sounds on Presonus but always struggled getting that certain vibe but once Mark jumped on the keyboard it all flowed and we had a load of sounds to use so started building tracks from there.

2012: A big year for Invaders Of Nine

You guys gained a lot of support from the likes of BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio Wales – how did that come about? We bet that was a huge boost!
(Danny) I was just sat in my car and heard an advert on Radio 1 telling unsigned artists to send their music in so we uploaded some tracks and a few weeks later we got an email saying they had played, ‘Take Me Away’, on the show the night before, just as I arrived at work. I was really tired that day as I was up most the night with my daughter, but as you might expect I was quite excited after!

(Mark) After that it gave us a really great boost and a sign that we were making tunes people wanted to hear so we got straight back into the studio, then a few weeks later got another email this time from Radio Wales saying they played, ‘Solar Flare’, which made us feel great again!

What was one of your highlights as a duo of 2012?
(Mark) Performing live at our record label’s launch party, no question, especially mixing our own material into the set and for it to be so well received.

Tell us about some of the other DJs/producers you’ve worked with…

(Danny) We have mainly been trying to work with as many vocalists as we can and some bands which was a great collaboration which you will hear on our album. We are working closely with J Majik & Wickaman and their label, Infrared Music, which we are going to be putting several releases out on this year.

When you’re not in the studio making music or out DJing, you’re pushing your new brand, Bass Rebels. Can you tell us more, and about the collective platform, Bass Rebels Recordings?

(Danny) Bass Rebels started as a group of local artists just creating that bass heavy sound and we have always been into supporting the locals so all decided to start a record label to put out our music and do remixes of each other’s tracks as we all had our own style and just go from there. The Rebels is made up of Jay Robinson who is a firm favourite on Radio 1 and had his music played by the likes of Annie Mac, Laidback Luke, Fake Blood, Armin Van Buuren and more. Then we have local lad, Switch Fusion, who at only 16 was supported on the Fabio & Grooverider show on Radio 1. Last but by no means least, is the main man behind Bass Rebels, Mystery Shopper, bringing you some great futuristic electronic sounds.

Whilst it did start as a record label to push the sounds of the collective, we decided it would be great to test our sounds out to the local crowd and started playing at our local nightclub, Embassy Nightclub, thanks to Ed Mackie. We then got the opportunity to play alongside the world’s most elite DJs and producers like Jaguar Skills, Matrix & Futurebound and Scratch Perverts which was a massive boost for all of us!

The guys behind the music

Which artists would you compare your sounds to?
(Mark) Ideally I’d like to say someone like Sub Focus or Chase & Status, but that’s probably just wishful thinking.

(Danny) Haha, yeah that would be ace! I’m not sure really… we have had a lot of people on Soundcloud compare us to Netsky which was really good to hear as we love his stuff and it is top level production. Nice to think that kind of quality comes across in our own production at some point!

How would you describe Invaders Of Nine in 5 words?
(Mark) Uptempo, energetic, fresh, dynamic and futuristic.

Which of your tracks/mixes are your personal favourites? What about other music out at the moment – any you want to big up?
(Mark) I really like, ‘Solar Flare’, and, ‘Move Your Body’ – which are out in March on Infrared Music.

(Danny) Mine has to be our remix of, ‘Charlie Wax (Sway)’, which you can all download free from our Soundcloud page.

New year, bigger things

Already your EP, ‘Don’t Go’, has featured in the Top 10 Must Hear Drum & Bass tracks on Beatport, which is a great start to the Bass Rebels label. Tell us more about your plans with this for 2013?
(Danny) We have our ‘Skyfall’ EP due out 4th February on Beatport then 18th February on all other download stores. After that for Bass Rebels Recordings we have Switch Fusion‘s track, ‘Corruption’, which will feature a remix from us and will be out April 2013. Then following from that will be an original track from Jay Robinson with remixes from all the rebels so follow us on Soundcloud to hear them first.

You’ve been working on your first album, ‘Life Without Sound’, can you give us a bit of an insight and what to expect?
(Mark) We’ve been working on material for a while now, and we’re really excited about what we have. Most of it will be new tracks you haven’t heard yet, but we’re hoping to make room for a couple of our existing favourites. As far as style goes, we’re hoping it will really show our versatility as artists, but still be the kind of stuff our fans expect to hear from us!

Having recently signed with Infrared Music, home to J Majik & Wickerman, how is that going to change things for Invaders of Nine for 2013?
(Mark) We have had great support from Infrared, and our first EP with them will be out in March (as mentioned above). We think this is the perfect partnership to push our music to the next level, and we’re hoping it’ll make big waves in 2013!

Finally, what would be your dream for Invaders Of Nine in the future? This can be as mad or far-fetched as you want!
(Mark) I could say things like making it onto the Radio 1 A-list, or playing to massive crowds at festivals, but my dream for ION is to be able to create music that people love, full-time.

(Danny) For me it has already happened with getting on Radio 1 so more plays would be massive but as Mark said to make music that people love as a full time job would be the icing on the cake.

CHECK THEM OUT

Website – http://www.invadersofnine.co.uk/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/InvadersOfNine
Twitter - https://twitter.com/InvadersOfNine
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/InvadersOfNine
Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/invadersofnine
BEATPORT – http://beatport.com/artist/invaders-of-nine

FOR REMIX WORK AND DJ BOOKING: info@invadersofnine.co.uk

I am pretty obsessed with the whole Invaders Of Nine SoundCloud, but if I had to select a few of my absolute favourites, I’d recommend these tracks:

• ‘Take Me Away’
• ‘Enigma’
• ‘Move Your Body’ ft. Angie Brown
• ‘Solar Flare’
• Invaders of Nine Live @ Bass Rebels Launch Party

So the other day, we retweeted Roger Sanchez’s tweet, stating that, “2013 is the year for REAL HOUSE MUSIC!! Jus sayin’”. Now this started a bit of a debate on Twitter, with ManchesterAfterDark replying, “That would be great if Roger still played real house music rather than the uplifting Ibiza vibe he rides now”, following with, “If you compare Roger’s deeper sound from 15 years ago to his set at Sankeys in the summer – world of difference”.

Now to be honest, we know where they’re coming from but like a Member of Parliament would say, we would like to honour the opinion of but still disagree with our counterpart at ManchesterAD. Fine, house music originated in the States. Yes, Sanchez’ set has changed dramatically over the past 18/19 years. Yes, “Another Chance” took the New Yorker to the charts and is what a lot of people who are less into the music, seem to know him for. So…?

This allowed a quite interesting conversation to arise so, via Twitter we asked,

“What does real house music mean to you?” 

Honestly, we didn’t expect such a reaction but yesterday, our Twitter feed was packed with people expressing their opinions in 140 characters. Don Juan de la Nooch, started off proceedings, stating that, “#realhousemusic is something that you can party to, laugh to, cry to, chill to and above all creates memories.” I also joined in at this point (@dmm_james), with a similar answer to Don Juan, “realhousemusic is about the feeling to me. I can listen to house when I wake, work, chill in a bar & party“.

A pattern quite quickly emerged, with a lot of our Twitter followers being of the belief that house music is more about the feeling, mood or vibe, rather than a specific sub-genre or sound. The Bass Jockeys and our own SpamellaB chipped in with similar beliefs, “uplifting”, “rhythm” and “vibe” being commonly used words.

Even 2012′s, BBC Radio 1′s Superstar DJ Talent Search winner, Hannah Jacques got involved, tweeting,

“real house music… Heart and soul, rhythm to dance to, melody hi hats bass, hands in the air smiley music.”

Then we had a bit of a shock answer from our friend, the incredibly talented, Lempo, who sent us this:

What can we say but thank you! Pretty awesome way of answering our question in our opinions. Maybe there is no real answer, but we’re getting a bit of a picture now and want to know more. Lempo’s answer has really made us smile and think, so huge thanks for that! (By the way, have you checked out the new Sound Cloud for Ninjury, a duo comprising of Lempo and Applique Music partner Japwow? If not get involved, really strong variety of tracks, lots of new music so take a nosey!)

So far, we seem to have a good idea of what people seem to think, “real house music” is but tell us otherwise if you disagree! What do you think? No answer is incorrect as it’s an opinion so get involved on Twitter by tweeting @dancemusicmcr and using the hashtag #realhousemusic. Of course you can get involved on Facebook too, just post a comment below or on our Facebook page!

For students who are serious about bass and heavy house, who want a night purely about this (plus decent priced-drinks), the guys behind Rum & Bass may have the answer. Launching on 2nd February, Antwerp Mansion, the former Belgian embassy-turned-squatters-mansion will be transformed, every other Saturday, into a haven for bass heavy house lovers, offering surprise additions and appearances from guest DJ’s.

We were chuffed and intrigued when we got a tweet from the guys at Rum & Bass (@RumNBassMCR) inviting us to come down for the opening night. The Gig Room is all about Rum & Bass residents and the best MC’s, with the best tracks from Julio Bashmore, Disclosure, Eats Everything, Mark Knight, Jamie Jones and many more.

Over in The Ball Room, you’ve got ‘The Best of Bass Music – Exposure DJ’s Takeover’ with popular tracks by the likes of Redlight, Sub Focus, Netsky, Magnetic Man and Rudimental, to name but a few.

This all sounds well up our street and it’s good to see a venue outside of the city centre putting on what is expected to be a decent night for music. This fits in with the ethos of Antwerp Mansion, a renovation project striving to turn a beautiful but run-down Victorian Mansions into a music, art and photography haven. This fortnightly Saturday night event looks like it’ll help the venue achieve this for music, bringing in students and those passionate about house/bass.

So, if you like the sound of a ‘strictly bass heavy’ night at a unique venue out of town and fancy something a bit alternative, come down and join us at the launch of Rum & Bass…we’ll be the ones at the front starting a DMM Dance Off most likely!

Saturday 2nd February @ Antwerp Mansion, 9pm – 3am
Website: rumandbassmanchester
Tickets: Fatsoma website