In SOUND CHECK, we check in with some of our favorite musicians.
It seems like ages ago, but September 28, 2013 was one of those perfect Saturdays. Washington, DC had finally lifted the swampy weight of summer humidity off its back, leaving a capital that could breathe again. I sipped a wild cherry Slurpee before venturing into U Street Music Hall for a set that fate had orchestrated by way of a cancelled Basecamp Music Festival in neighboring Maryland: two hours of collaborative, back-to-back track work between the heads of electronic music's most progressive labels and sister collectives, FADE TO MIND's KINGDOM and NIGHT SLUGS' Bok Bok. While Kingdom played with production from KELEla's forthcoming mix tape in points, Bok Bok treated the melodies to true UK soundsystem culture, his infusion of drum-laden grime beats making for the best kind of British Invasion.
Nearly six months later, I finally had the opportunity to catch up with the South London producer about his collaborative efforts, reversion to raw club sounds, and self-professed "karate teacher from the Czech Republic" personal style.
Emily Manning: How and why did you and L-VIS 1990 decide to form Night Slugs?
Bok Bok: When you’re a bit younger and just starting something, you never really set out with a mission statement, but what we all had in common back in the day was a really similar set of references. Pretty much all of our producers came together through just being interested in the same sort of music—lots of different people from around different places. I think when James [Connolly, aka L-Vis 1990] and I first started the club night, it was when there was a lot of stuff going on in the clubs and we didn’t really feel like we fit at all, but we did feel like there were all of these other club genres going on in the world which were just perfect models for how we think you should feel in the club—not only in the sounds, but the vibe that you should be getting from it. We just felt there was something lacking. So we were idealistic; we wanted to start a new night that was like no boundaries and you could kind of do whatever you wanted. We still had a really similar, small set of genres that we were referencing, so in a way, it was already quite specific without us knowing, but of course we thought we were being these real hippies by blowing it all open and just being like, “no rules, man!”
Can you tell me a little more about Club Constructions?
Like a lot of the stuff with the label, it was really organic. But, basically, James had just done an album and after it came out, he was just feeling like he wanted to make a return to club-orientated, really raw stuff. Which is kind of what happens to artists when they go out of their way to make an album that’s a bit more song-based or something
It seems like ages ago, but September 28, 2013 was one of those perfect Saturdays. Washington, DC had finally lifted the swampy weight of summer humidity off its back, leaving a capital that could breathe again. I sipped a wild cherry Slurpee before venturing into U Street Music Hall for a set that fate had orchestrated by way of a cancelled Basecamp Music Festival in neighboring Maryland: two hours of collaborative, back-to-back track work between the heads of electronic music's most progressive labels and sister collectives, FADE TO MIND's KINGDOM and NIGHT SLUGS' Bok Bok. While Kingdom played with production from KELEla's forthcoming mix tape in points, Bok Bok treated the melodies to true UK soundsystem culture, his infusion of drum-laden grime beats making for the best kind of British Invasion.
Nearly six months later, I finally had the opportunity to catch up with the South London producer about his collaborative efforts, reversion to raw club sounds, and self-professed "karate teacher from the Czech Republic" personal style.
Emily Manning: How and why did you and L-VIS 1990 decide to form Night Slugs?
Bok Bok: When you’re a bit younger and just starting something, you never really set out with a mission statement, but what we all had in common back in the day was a really similar set of references. Pretty much all of our producers came together through just being interested in the same sort of music—lots of different people from around different places. I think when James [Connolly, aka L-Vis 1990] and I first started the club night, it was when there was a lot of stuff going on in the clubs and we didn’t really feel like we fit at all, but we did feel like there were all of these other club genres going on in the world which were just perfect models for how we think you should feel in the club—not only in the sounds, but the vibe that you should be getting from it. We just felt there was something lacking. So we were idealistic; we wanted to start a new night that was like no boundaries and you could kind of do whatever you wanted. We still had a really similar, small set of genres that we were referencing, so in a way, it was already quite specific without us knowing, but of course we thought we were being these real hippies by blowing it all open and just being like, “no rules, man!”
Can you tell me a little more about Club Constructions?
Like a lot of the stuff with the label, it was really organic. But, basically, James had just done an album and after it came out, he was just feeling like he wanted to make a return to club-orientated, really raw stuff. Which is kind of what happens to artists when they go out of their way to make an album that’s a bit more song-based or something