Geecast!

Geecast March 2023

2023 Eh? 
How the fuck have the human race made it this far? 
Hell we cant even decide how many genders there are nowadays. never mind make our way on our intergalactic journey through the stars.
Weve also decided that anyone named Karen is a twat.  (what if all space aliens want to be non binary and call themselves Karen??) sorry to all the Karens in the universe. We love you we really do.
Maybe after Karen the space alien from planet Zog has listened to the latest Geecast. THEY/THEM may change their mind about the human race & decide to wipe it off the universe map..... And we so deserve it!

But yeah.... Get your alien gill/ears or whatever you listen to music from over this...

1 hour of banging Industrial Hardcore...

And if you bump into ET... Tell him I said hes a cunt.

14Anger - Louder Than A Thousand Thunders - Motormnouth Records
Starving Insect - The Spike Fields - Prspct
RaBBeat - Eden (self released)
The Machinist - The Destruction That We Deserve - Extreme Is Everything
Richie Gambino - Here Is The Tempo - Prspct
RaBBeat - L'indifference (Self Released)
Syprexa - The Much Needed Slumber Was Interuppted By Sobbing From The Basement - Motormouth Records
Detest - Die In Hell - Oblivion Underground
Khaos Engine - Most Broken (TOA remix) Motormouth Records
TOA & The Satan - The Rule - Genosha 175
DjIPE & igneon System - Bass To The Neckline - Heresy
14Anger & Dep Effect - Dumpster Death Dance - Prsct
RaBBeat - Isolation (Self Released)
RaBBeat - Suicide By Soap (Self Released)
Thorn Industries - We Run This (Unreleased Dub)
DjIPE & TOA - Stone Cold Killer - Heresy
TOA & Pythius - Dream Trap - Genosha 175
Detest - God - Oblivion Underground
Syprexa - Funk Formula - Motormouth Records
Butterfist - in front Of Your Eyes - Oblivion Underground

Want me to play at your event or radio show/podcast?  please drop me a message at kevgee1976@gmail.com

Christmas Can Suck It

In the finest of Xmas Kev Gee mixes... I have done a set that would would make the Anti Santa Proud.....

 

Starting at 145 bpm and working up to 220bpm to finish...We have the filthiest hardcore known to man.

 

A set so dirty that Santa would refuse to deliver it. And the elves would rather toss in the bin....

 

Welcome to GEEmas.......

 

A tracklist you say????

 

NEIGH!!!!! Just download and play it to your auntie Edna whilst drinking Brandy and Xmas pud.....

 

 

Hardcore Techno Classics Vol1

Now then listeners!!

 

Its good to be back!!

 

This is the first of retrospec to our horrid little (in he UK at least) scene!!

 

Think Helterskelters Technodrome, Think Vibelites Tommorows World, Think North... Think Uprising.... Think Scorpio & producer... Dolphin... HMS... Think staggering out into the world at 6am from Milton Keynes and then going into work at 9am.......

 

Think THIS MIX.

 

Shouts to my heroes from those times!!

 

Mixed in one take... 100% Vinyl!

 

Enjoy!!

 

1 - Marshall Masters - Dont Touch That Stereo
2 - Scott Brown - Break It Down 
3 - Promo - Metal Warfare
4 - Promo - Guns N Ammo
5 - The Stunned Guys And Darrien Kelly - Violet Skies
6 - Flip - Explode It (Enfusia Hardcore Mix)
7 - The Brutalist - Voice Of Your Concious
8 - Don Diablo - The Beginning 
9 - Impulse Factory - Your Wake Up Call
10 - Tieum - SXT99.81
11 - Don Diablo Vs The Raven - The Arrival
12 - Lenny Dee & Darkraver - Toda Rhythym
13 - Tieum - HP
14 - Kit Fox - Da Real Thang
15 - Stroid Side B
16 - Hellfish - Techno City
17 - Mastervibe - Power Of The Herb

Kev Gee Goes Back To The Source Volume 1

Hello! Its been a while!

Apologies for the lack of new content! Weve all had a Pandemic to contend with as well as Life!

 

But im back!

 

And in this months shows we go back to the very start of my interest in this great music scene of ours!

 

The rave scene!

 

Back to WHISTLES, HORNS AND HARDCORE WILL NEVER DIE TSHIRTS!

 

Back the time of dancing till the sun comes up in a muddy field. back to the time of raving with all your mates and not knowing what the night will bring!

 

Lets reminise! (if I spelt that right!?)

1991! Were you there? When the scene exploded in the UK? 

If you were then respect! If you wernt then great to have you along for this ride!

Respect to all the old Skool crew! Parsons Cross park crew! all the old Graf heads! raving and spraying!!

Chris Decay Hall! Mark Storm Chafer! Steve Roche! Shaun G! James Woollen! Kerry Clark! and everyone else!

Whistle crew blow!

 

Mixed in one take! (as always! grab some records and hit record!)

 

Tracklisting

Kev Gee Goes Back To The Source Volume 1

1 - Altern8 - Evapor8

2 - True Faith & Final Cut - Take Me Away

3 - Powerpill - Pacman 

4 - Altern8 - Frequency

5 - Cola Boy - 7 Ways To Love

6 - Congress - 40 Miles (Vocal Mix)

7 - Shades Of Rhythm - Sweet Sensation

8 - Terrorize - Just A Feeling

9 - Liquid - Sweet harmony 

10 - The Prodigy - Your Love

11 - New Atlantic - I Know (Flute Mix)

12 - Awesome 3 - Dont Go (Kicks Like A Mule Mix)

13 - Rhythm Section - Perfect Love (4am Mix)

14 - Shades Of Rhythm - Extacy 

15 - The Prodigy - Out of Space

16 - The Prodigy - No Good (Start The Dance)

17 - Liquid Crystal - You Got Me

  

Geecast Ep 14 Featuring no-one but myself!

Welcome to Autumn. The sickly sweet sweet stench of rotting apples and pissed up wasps hell bent on causing chaos until they fall dead pissed and unuseable is in the air! and here I also find myself... with loads of new tracks to play... and happily an outlet (or at least one) willing to let me broadcast this shit.) At last I have a purpose....in a waspy chaos kind of way....

Welcome to Geecast 2021.... Covid survivor and happily didnt live stream shite during our 2 years in what seemed like a  parallel universe!

Anyway enjoy the mix as it dives from hard DNB, to Techno, Hardcore and everything in between!

1 - Neurocore - Oceanicor
2 - Neurocore - Atlantis
3 - Delimit - At Dawn
4 - Technical Itch - Find Your Darkness 
5 - Technical Itch - Stand Down
6 - Delimit & Coman Dante - The Unknown
7 - Katharsis & Switch Technique - Destruction (Remix)
8 - Bryan Fury - Died,Hardcore 
9 - Somniac One & Deathmachine - Kill Everyone
10 - Strange Arrival - Sleeper Agent
11 - Tripped - Dance With Me
12 - Ophidian - Redshift
13 - Detest - Witchunt (2020 Remix)
14 - Ophidian - Who You Are
15 - Mandidextrous - Flight To Vienna (Producers Aerial Assault Mix)
16 - Dolphin - Death Of Theokoles  (Tones Remix)
17 - Kaoz Engine & Bryan Fury - Real Shit
18 - Ophidian - the Sky On Fire

Kev Gee - Hull Gets It - archive set

One from the archives for the HULL crew!

Just found this set whilst sorting through an old external hard drive.

Around ten (I think?) years ago I was asked to DJ for RHouse.  I was asked to play my normal style of Hardcore & Crossbreed. 

Maybe some of the Hull crew can fill in the blanks. Who else was on the line up? Were was it held? I used to record my live sets using an MP3 recorder so I think this was the actual live set.  I dont think the set was released on any tape packs as far as i recall.

 

Things I remember from the night. It was really busy! Was it a Birthday party or something? I also brought two mates along who had been on the piss all day and wanted to carry on their session. they were not ravers at all & it was abit of an eye opener for them! And secondly I got a speeding ticket after getting flashed on the way back home!  

Music on the set is a mixed bag of Hard DnB, early Crossbreed & Industrial, and Frenchcore!

This is a good set for the gym freaks! press play & lets have it!!

 

 

Geecast EP13 Featuring LEE UHF!

Spring is in the air... Lambs are born... Rabbits are humping... And the foul Stench of another Geecast is incoming!
After the Northern Gathering Reunion sets we get back to what we do best. Blowing your ears out!
This month we feature a DJ that has run labels in Hardcore, and currently in Drum N Bass and Bass music, as well as successful rave nights, worked in record shop across the country, been a successful producer. And he survived the cut throat politics of the Hardcore scene to tell the tale.
LEE UHF!!

So, first Ill be playing part 1 of a classic Darkstep 2005-2010 mix & then Lee will take over with a brand new mix done just for us.
So without further ado, Lee!  Thanks for joining us!

 

Thank you for having me Kev, Its been a while hasn't it? Always good to have a catch up with some of the old crew.
Can you talk me through your early days within the rave scene? How did things start for you?
I'll try my best. Haha.
For me music has always been a big part of my life. In fact up to the age of 12yrs old, my Dad ran a record shop in Sheffield called Roulette Records. I spent most evenings for years after school and Saturday mornings in his shop helping out, which basically translates to me being in the big store cupboard going through 1000s of tapes and vinyls and claiming which ones I wanted to take home. 
I must have had near £50k of music over the years for free from the shop looking back now, insane! 
At this time in the late 80's and early 90's, I had no idea what rave music was as I was pretty young, but I was obsessed with a lot of rave music that charted such as 2 Unlimited, Snap, The Prodigy, Silver Bullet, Praga Khan & The Shamen. 
In fact, when my Dad gave up the shop I got heavily into Gangster Rap (Wu-Tang, Onyx, EPMD etc) and really lost touch with anything rave sounding.
It wasn't until 1995, while on a family holiday in Chapel St Leonards, Skegness that I met a guy from Lincoln who used to play Vibealite and Pleasuredome tapes, but as I was obsessed with Rap music, I hated the happy, high energy stuff that he was playing and always shot it down saying it was shit.
A year later in 1996, I was back at the same holiday camp with him again and he managed to persuade me to go to a rave. The Pleasuredome, at The Zoo in Ingoldmells.
It took a lot of persuading. I was only 14yrs old and was way under age (He told my parents it was a teens night lol) but once I got inside and saw the legendary big clowns head/ DJ box, It blew my mind and i ended up really, really enjoyed it.
I got home to Sheffield, and had done a complete 180 with my music taste. My friend from Lincoln was sending me tapes in the post all the time to feed my new addiction and I even found some of my mates at School were heavily into it also, one being a guy you might have heard of, MC Keyes? 

Where did you used to go raving? 
When getting back from the holiday me and my school pals found out about a weekly running event just down the road from my house. `Uprising` and discovered the wonderfull world of MCing, which lead to me and my friends all thinking we were hot shit on the mic at 15/16yrs old. Haha

So you wanted to be an MC back then, more than a DJ?
Absolutely! 
At 16 when I left school, I had carried on attending Uprising and through a mutual friend, I had started hanging around with a few older lads who were also into the same music, one being Martin Space.
We'd all pile into Martin's house at weekends where he and his mates would be DJing while me and Keyes did the MCing. I literally had no interest in Djing at all until I kind of got forced to do it when people wanted a break from the decks.

So what kit did you have when you first started Djing?
Martin Space actually sold me my first set of decks. He upgraded his at the time and this is what got me off the MCing and into Djing. 
They were old belt drive Soundlabs. Horrible to use, but believe it or not, I recorded my first demo for Uprising on those bad boys and got a booking from Paul-O, who I sent it to.

Can you tell us who were your main influences when you first started out?
Early on, I only really went to Uprising, due to it being local and weekly. Plus I never thought to venture out of the area due to how young I was.
So the main influences I had were Uprising performers early on.
For MCing, Domer & ELL were the best for me hands down. They hard a darker edge, quite like the gangster rap music I loved in the early 90's.
Dj wise - I loved Paul-O. Always diverse, playing different genres and always the harder / party style sound, which for me is the direction my tastes were heading towards.
And, like most people at Uprising I had a soft spot for Sy & Alchemist early on when they would guest spot.
Later on, as I discovered my own style and sound, and this lead me to be a huge fan of Sharkey & Lomas too.

Did you send out demo tapes or go to events and give the promoter a demo in person?
Yes for sure, back then before we had Social media and Soundcloud etc. you had to record the demo's on a physical tape.
My god it feels so weird saying that, like Im an ancient age where tapes are like chalk & slate, but for most Djs now, its an unheard thing to record something on a physical format.
Before I had made a name for myself, I can safely say every club that booked me, I had attended them prior and handed in a tape to the promoter. 
When I promote nights myself I have always thought the same way. 
The amount of Facebook private messages I get on our event page saying "I'd love to come play at your event" with a soundcloud link, is a daily occurance. I don't think this is a good way to get promoters to take notice of you.
One message I had not long ago said "u need to book me for ur nite"
Oh do I? Really? lol

I am completely dumbfounded how people think this is a way to get a booking, especially in the digital age. It's so easy for anyone to get a mix online and be a DJ. How can you think this behaviour makes you stand out from the sea of competition out there?

You have to do even more in my eyes with everyone and their mom mixing now.
I can't think of a time, when I was an unknown DJ, that I did not make an effort to support the event I wanted to play at, and actually go and get to know the promoter. To me there was no other way. 

You got quite a few residencies when you first started, at events like Future Dance, Vibealite and North. How did those come about?
For the exact reasons I mentioned above. I attended the events. I networked well and I called the promoters constantly. Yes, I could be annoying but I was young and hungry and I think for the most part promoters respected the hustle I gave back then. I was everywhere and speaking to everyone.
The Future Dance residency came out of nowhere due to me buying records from Wax City in London over the phone every week. Dj Kaos owned the shop, and he sent me a few flyers for the first Future Dance event with an order that I had made. It was on my birthday, so me and a few friends decided to go there to celebrate it. I obviously took a bag full of demos too. I got on well with the boys that ran it, and by their 3rd event I was a playing for them.
With North, this actually came from getting to know the owner Andy Bowler, by playing in the North hosted Techno rooms at Future Dance. I was a good fit for their Technology room as I was playing alot of the old Hard Trance / Reverse Bass tracks and had my own selection different from M-zone,Mark EG & Vortex. Around this time there was not alot of people spinning it in the UK this so I ended up playing most North events and tours from then on.
Vibealite was also a very fun residency that I kept for quite a while, and this was achieved by (again) attending and sending demos. Around 2002 I met Gary at an event he did up North. We got chatting and he invited me onto his guest list for their first Fantasy Island event. I ended up playing an impromptu set out of nowhere and it went down so well I ended up playing every event from then on until 2006
It also led to co-promoting a couple of events with Vibealite and even hosting rooms for them at larger parties they did like Fantasy Island.
And last but not least, there was also a residency at small club night called Defiance in Barnsley. Not on as big a scale as the others but just as much fun to play at. This event holds a very special place in my heart, as it gave me the idea to start promoting myself, as I realized you could do a decent event on a smaller scale at a budget.

Did you always drive to your gigs or have a driver?
Bit of everything really. 
Early on there was a huge crew of us who would be going to raves and parties so If I was playing it was just who wanted to go at the time, and who wanted to drive or not. So getting there could be either a car full of a friends. A driver and me. A mini bus full of us. The train. A bus. You name it. Nothing stopped me getting to the parties.

What kind of music did you play back then?
At the very start of it all I learnt my craft Djing with the happier stuff (Quosh, Jal etc) But as I started to understand mixing more the main styles that I played were Freeform and Hardcore Techno. These 2 genres are where spent all my buying tunes and they're the sounds that got me my first bookings.

So you were always into a variety of music back then as well? (Drum & Bass, Hardcore, Trance etc)
I didnt like Drum & Bass at all back then. Haha, and it took me a couple of years to enjoy Trance.
But eventually I was spinning everything. Trance, Hard House, Gabber, Hard Trance & Techno and I even got a few gigs doing these genre's too.
I think having such a diverse music taste back then also helped me get more gigs at events outside of Sheffield. 
When I gave Future Dance & Vibealite demos I would give them multiple tapes showcasing Hardcore, Hard Trance & Hardcore Techno. Reason being is that I loved all these styles equally and they had multiple rooms at their events, so as I was only starting to be booked by them, It would be impossible to be playing the main room right away. So this helped me start playing for them in their 2nd and 3rd arenas that were specific to other genres.
It was great for me, as I was booked much more often and had an opportunity to play out lots more performing sets with music that I loved. 
From this the Hard Trance / Reverse Bass stuff really took off for me, as there was not many people playing it back then, so there was plenty to go around booking wise. 
Eventually though I lost interest in this sound when UK distributors re-packaged it as Hardstyle and made it more accessible for everyone to buy, meaning every man and his dog started playing it.
The Dutch got hold of the sound then too, and the releases went all screetchy with those "Hard Bass Powaaaa" vocals. So I then started putting my full attention into just Hardcore alone.
Nowadays there isn't much music I dislike. I started a DJ stream during lockdown last year where I played everything from 90s rave to 70s Disco. The whole series can be found on www.soundcloud.com/LeeUHF (Quick plug)

 

Tell us about the Bedlam events? How did they come about?
Bedlam was the name of mine and Martin Space's house parties back in 1998- 2000
They were ace, Our mutual friend Pat would host them at his house and we even booked Djs and MCs that were known locally (DJ Max was one)
It wasnt until I started getting booked at a night called Defiance in Barnsley in 2001 that I realized It was possible to put a good event on with a small budget.
In June 2001 the first real Bedlam event was hosted at a The Mulberry Tavern pub on Arundel Gate in Sheffield. We had Topgroove play and although it seemed and felt a good night it was the most stressfull thing I had ever done in my life at the time. Haha.
But the seed was planted and we then put on a Thursday night rave, just up the road at Uropa club and booked Sharkey. It fucking bombed... Hard. LOL
It wasnt until November that year we found a function room, quite similar to the one Defiance used in Barnsley, It was situated on Infirmary Road, Sheffield and the place was called `George IV` 
This really helped us elevate the event more and we were regularly putting on parties with different themes (Old skool night, North night, Future Dance night) and booked some top DJs along with it, but around late 2002 the pub got sold and the new owners were not up for us doing our events, despite zero trouble happening there and them always being full.

Who was promoting these with you?
Martin Space for the most part was my partner doing it, With some help from a couple of local friends we knew along the way.

So when did the Total Bedlam events start and why ?
in late 2003. It was at the time I was working in Reflex Records, a friend from school I had not seen in quite a few years came in the shop as he had heard I was Djing out and about.
It was Mc Keyes. Obviously Keyes was the person I came up with early on Mcing and attending raves and we lost touch for a few years after I left school as he had stopped going to raves.
Long story short he told me he was still Mcing and wanted to get involved back in Hardcore I suggested we could look into events and told him about Bedlam.
The idea was for us to do something totally different and on a much bigger scale, We did our research, Found a big popular venue in the centre of the UK (The Venue in Long Eaton) and Total Bedlam was born.
We started with 2 huge events in April 2004 both of them had huge line ups including Force & Styles, Devastate, Vortex, Hixxy, Storm, Whizzkid, Demand, Jay Precott & Frantic they also had 3 rooms to put music in enabling us to bring in a seperate new talent room and a Techno room.
Our idea was with it being central we could showcase the best of everythng across the country and try and bring the Yorkshire scene and the rest of the country to one spot.
Unfortunately it did not work that way down the line. Not many people in Yorkshire were willing to go to raves outside of the area, despite us booking Mcs & DJs from there so as time went on we catered more for our crowd that was there and what they wanted.
I would loved to have supported my roots alot more back then but our crowd dictated what we did, It wasn't all bad though as it went on to gain some huge success being voted No.1 Monthly event in the UK by Mixmag and we were notorious for bringing alot of `firsts` to the UK rave scene in the form of Foeign DJs, B2Bs and Live PAs. 
Doing Total Bedlam really got me to understand more about music culture and rave culture on a larger scale, as we got to really feel the high's and lows of this from being involved at this level. Big lessons were learnt, good and bad.
You also get a lot more haters when running events, trust me.
Few little known facts about Total Bedlam
Joey Riot & Dj Kurt met at Total Bedlam and I persuaded them to play B2B for us which was a catalyst for them starting their partnership up.
There's a story about how Brisk & Seduction absolutely hated each others guts. They did not speak to each other for years. We booked them in the same room on the same night one time (Accidently of course) We narrowly avoided a fist fight but we did actually get them to hash it out and talk. A couple of months later Brisk was playing Uproar. Haha 
We were also the first event outside of London to Book Finnish Freeform DJs
There was numerous times Mixmag mentioned us as the best monthly event in the Midlands
When we put our 1st Birthday event on, out of nowhere HTID put on a free party at Air in Birmingham. This seemed to anger a lot of the internet (ush.net for one) and the backlash was so big Hixxy called me asking me to post something online saying I was alright about it.... Righteo!
Theres some recordings on the events of me Mcing.. The last time I ever did it 
(Most Total Bedlam & Bedlam sets can be found at www.mixcloud.com/BedlamRecords

So talk us through how you started producing music?
Okay well around 2002 Brian Topgroove invited me and Martin Space to his studio up in Hull, Me and Martin had spoken about doing some music ourselves so it was a great opportunity for us.
We made a bootleg of Deep Incision by Helix... It had Human Traffic movie samples and It was terrible. Haha.
After that I really caught the bug for it, but Bri had decided to focus all his efforts into improving himself in the studio and making tunes for his trance label so did not have time to do much more with us, but he did introduced me to Dave Devastate who had moved his studio into the same building as Bri up in Hull and I carried on from there with Dave.
Obviously with me wanting to write Hardcore Dave was a great fit as he was already wel known for his huge hit releases on the Blatant Beats & Next Generation labels.
I was up with Dave every month writing tracks and he would engineer and put my ideas together while teaching me bits and bobs along the way. 

So how did Bedlam Records come about?
We wrote A LOT of music over 2003 and 2004. and naturally I wanted to get it out, so with Daves direction and advise I put Bedlam Records together mid 2003. 

How did you set it up? 
Dave pointed me to the pressing plant and to the distributor, and I paid for artwork to be done for releases.
It also helped that I worked in a record shop (Reflex Records) at the time, which was great to help promote it.
What tunes came out and what artists involved etc!
You can find the releases on discogs but our first 5 vinyls were by Me, Devastate, Riddler, Freestyle, Mc Domer, Invader, Adam J, Vinyl & Devotion

You mentioned you worked in Reflex Records, Sheffield. How vital was that in helping you get contacts/networking within the Underground scene?
It had its plus points but also negatives to go with it. 
The good points were that I never missed music being released. Nothing got passed me. 
I also got on great with distributors like Simon Underground at UM and Jay at Alpha Magic who always hooked me up with test presses and early promos before they were due to be released in the shops.
I was making sure I was selling more music than any other shop, so this really kept the distributors happy who were pushing the releases to us.  I was the head buyer for most of the music there. and I did a bloody good job of it.
Having upfront music was great for me. Along with my own label stuff, it was a time when people started booking DJs for having original music and not what everyone else could get and play.
I also got to know everyone buying the records too, making some cool friends and acquaintances during that period.
On the downside you had to work Saturdays and I was severely underpaid
I obviously did not learn my lesson with this though as I ended up working at Hard To Find Records in Birmingham years later. Haha.

Is there anything you really miss about those early days?
Event wise I miss undiscovered events and not knowing everything there was to know about a rave until you actually got there.
The unknown was quite exciting and turning up somewhere that was fully banging was always a nice surprise
Music wise I miss the hunt. 
Getting on a National Express coach every Saturday when I was 17yrs old, to an unknown city to find a record shop you saw on the back of a Vibealite or Slammin Vinyl flyer. 
You`d turn up and find a gem like Selecta Disc Nottingham .Or get a big fat `L` landing at a marketplace in Chesterfield not selling anything at all. It was 50/50 most weekends but it was an amazing time for me. You didnt have discogs or Youtube etc so most music was new and unknown and travelling around was the only way to find the tunes you wanted. Especially if you liked a lot of genres like me.
I did this every weekend for over a year when I first bought my decks, I look back on this really fondly as we had such a laugh travelling up and down the country
Now days with social media you know everything about every event and Dj now and track now. Thats not where the excitment is now.

And things you dont really miss?!
Swings and round abouts though. I guess It is quite nice to have every tune ever at your finger tips now. 
And I definitely do not miss having to carry a 40kg Record box anymore (My back wouldnt handle it either)
Moving into recent years can you talk to us about your switch away from Hardcore & Harstyle and into Drum & Bass?
With Hard Bass It got really stagnent when the UK Distributors got a hold of all the big releases as I said earlier so that frazzled out for me around 2005
I was still releasing and DJing hardcore up until 2010 but I wont lie, my love had fizzled out over time.
The main reason for it fizzling out was  when a friend of mine helped me to discover a sound in Drum & Bass I never knew existed named `Neurofunk`
It was all quite sudden really but I went to a legendary night supporting this music in London called `Renegade Hardware` Up until this, I thought the hardest and darkest D&B you could get was Dillinja. But on this night I discovered Noisia, Spor & Black Sun Empire.
I walked out that club finding a brand new love and as it was such a new sound I had found I got the buzz I got back in the day from hunting for music, and I was now out to discover as many producers as possible making it.
From then I found a lot of Drum & Bass that was a lot harder, It had a lot of Hardcore Techno elements too and it really appealed to me a lot. The artists I was really feeling back then were Current Value, Ewun, Evol Intent, Dylan & Tech Itch.
This new found love taking me back hunting really got my disinterest for hardcore to grow and I just eventually stopped buying and listening to it.
Looking back now my original loves were Freeform & Hardcore Techno. Neurofunk for me is the D&B Equivelent of Freeform while the Harder side of D&B is almost Hardcore techno. 
What goes around comes around I guess.

Tell me about your D&B project Drtbox? 
Well aound 2007 I was still DJing D&B under `Lee UHF` and I was promoting a multi genre event called `RAW`
(Sets can be found at www.mixcloud.com/Raw_Birmingham)
We booked a world champion beatboxer in 2010 called Reeps One and he brought along a DJ with him. They did like a DJ vs Beatboxer battle set and it was amazing. It inspired me to try something similar.  My idea was to find a beatboxer, a Drummer & an MC and tour performing sets live.
This is how Dirtbox was born, it was basically a band. But doing this got me some insane gigs around the world and really helped me to get my name out especially being a small fish in such a big pond as the D&B/Bass music scene.
I ended up touring a lot. Playing across the pond in Australia, USA, China, All over Europe, Canada, Dubai & loads more. Its been an amazing experience doing that the past 10 years and very humbling.
Since mid 2019 though, we stopped playing together regularly as its really hard getting 4 people together constantly to practice and tour abroad, so I am back to my Lee UHF alias doing sets alone... For now
The name lives on though in the form of a clothing brand and a record label

Ahh so are you still running labels now?
Yes still in the thick of it all.  
Dirtbox Recordings is the first D&B label of mine and is doing exceptionally well. (DirtboxRecordings.co.uk)
We havent done any vinyls as yet due to the current climate with music but its getting alot of support from some really huge names in Drum & Bass such as Noisia, Benny V, Mollie Collins, Drumsound, Ray Keith, Koven, Aphrodyte, Freqax & Doc Scott to name a few
I also run a Bass House label called `R U SRS?` (Pronounced "Are you serious") Its just a bit of fun for me as a project but its getting huge support at the moment from people like DJ EZ, Flava D, Korrupt FM, Marcus Nasty & Djs on Kiss FM & Rinse FM radio stations. ( RUSRS.co.uk )
And more recently, I have launched a brand new label, VTO Records. Which is co- run with a friend of mine. (A former freeform producer from the early 2000s now turned D&B producer) Dan Traced.
This project is something for us to sign as much music as possible from around the world under the Neurofunk banner and I also wanted to seperate this sound from what I have planned on Dirtbox ( VTORecords.co.uk ) 
The first release lands in June and I am proper fucking excited for it.

So what about writing your own music?
I still do, but my output is nowhere near what I would love it to be.I released an EP on Dirtbox in October and I have one in June too.
There is also a Neurofunk/Hard D&B album I released a few years ago that you can download for free ( www.soundcloud.com/DirtboxRecordings )

 

Drum & Bass is so fuckling hard to make, I was not fully able to write music on my own until 2009 and when I started attempting Drum & Bass in 2012 I had to learn a lot of new stuff. 
It seriously is another level of skill to writing hardcore and it takes a lot longer. Im still way, way off anything I consider to be the highest qualty.
Back in the day it wasnt unknown to just knock out a full hardcore track and start a new one in just one day, but for Drum & Bass It can take weeks or even months to get something finished 
Being older also has its disadvantages as I have alot of new responsibilities now running my own businesses and spending time with my family so sat 12hrs a day making music is unfortunately not something I can do as often as I did when I was younger.

How different in the scene in Birmingham compared to Yorkshire?
Depends really. If I was to comment on the Drum & Bass or House music scene, which are the 2 biggest music genres in both cities. I would say they are very very similar.
In Sheffield for example, just like Birmingham you have your older clubbers who like the classic nights, You get your rudeboys who like your `Jump Up D&B` and your house music posers.
In both cities you also have huge Universities full of youngsters wanting all this music so I dont see much difference at all.
Hardcore wise, Im not so sure about Yorkshire any more. Are there any regular hardcore nights happening? Obviously Uprising, Dizstruxshon and the like are one in a million. Very very different than any other Hardcore city or region in the world
Birmingham had a really good Hardcore scene in 2004-2009 with a few regular nights and of course the mighty HTID, Uproar & Hardcore Heaven doing regular parties here.
You dont see many of those now though in the whole country let alone Sheffield & Birmingham

You've also played at events around the world, how do they differ from the UK in organisation & scale?
Not many differences. You get your huge, huge festivals and your underground, more intimate clubs also every where you go. It does depend on the sound though
Europe has huge festivals literally only playing Neurofunk D&B. far more big events there than the UK.
One thing I do find abroad in some places is the level of excitment people have for you being there. Its unmatched due to the fact some places dont get to see alot of Djs from abroad often. 
Australia for one. These guys are 1000s of miles away so they dont get many events where as with Hardcore & D&B in the UK we have been spoiled over the years.
Between September & November in Birmingham you will find D&B parties constantly 2-3 times a week. All at capacity too.
Drum & Bass has most certainly given me great opportunities travelling. I feel truly blessed to have touched every contenant on earth and to have played music on it.

What do you have planned next? Any new music or events on the horizon?
Of course, Im not happy unless Im busy, The labels will be releasing constantly through the year again like last (COVID or not) and the new label VTO Records launches in June.
Events wise I do have some plans for something when things get back to normal and it will be outdoors but I cant say much more than that until have things set up after the Pandemic restrictions ease up.
Gigs are not on the top of my list at the moment though as I have had my first child recently and I dont think I could bare to fly away from her for the night just yet.

Any plans to make Hardcore again? Maybe even some Crossbreed?!
Hardcore.. Ummm, I am not against it. But I have had nothing inspire me to do it.
Crossbreed & D&B you will see a few releases by me this year 100% 

Vinyl or CD/Digital? The age old debate!  You pro digital?  
No Im just pro-music, and pro-innovation.
I dont care what you play music on I just care that its great and inspires me. 
People get so torn up about this debate its hilarious because  none of these people could tell you if a WAV or a vinyl is played in a club unless they saw inside the DJ box.
I always say you're not exactly learning chess or are qualified to fly a rocket if you Dj on vinyl. I learnt a 3 year old once how to mix 2 records together. So people need to get off their high horse on that one. Makes no sense to me.
Its all about how you make the music sound and how you get a crowd to pay attention.
If thats beat juggling on turntables like a DMC champion or using a CDJ in a ridiculously profound way with effects and live edits.
It doesnt matter both have the same outcome, so neither side are right when they debate whats best.

I see benefits in both angles. Although I always wonder why DJs rock up with a boatload of MP3s and then expect punters to buy vinyl when they are not playing it themselves?!
I dont think its expecting punters to buy vinyl If you are releasing music you are wanting punters to enjoy your music. No matter how they play it or pay for it. I think its great when producers put out a few options for us to choose from. But I dont know any out there spinning MP3s and forcing vinyl down our throats. 99% of music released is digital anyhow.
Personally I use Mp3s for convenience and to take a bigger selection. Carrying vinyl is rough lol. But I still do vinyl sets as it just keeps it interesting for me and I have a great collection so I want it to be put to good use 
I think the main flaw of download music now is the fact its very "throw away" theres tons of it out as its easier to release, so you do get a lot of stale poorly made music.
When you only had vinyl to release it on for DJs, it was expensive so you were a lot more choosy about the releases you paid to press up because the financial investment to pressing them up was a lot greater.
It is harder now to promote music though masses of releases every day.. Anyone can set up a digital label nowadays but the big difference in a quality one is understanding the quality control. promoting it properly and promo'ing the music to the right DJs.
I look at each release I put out by deciding firstly would I release it on vinyl given the chance and second am I going to spend money promoting it?

Ok then! The Mix!! Can you talk us through? Why did you chose these tracks?!
Okay so I have put together a selection of Neurofunk & Hard edged Drum & Bass for you. I thought since alot of people would be seeing and hearing this who were possibly familiar with my hardcore I would do something to help them get familiar with what I do now.
Theres a few older bits thrown in but also alot of promo material from my label so you are getting some exclusives right here fella.
Thanks!
Thank you kev. Its been great

And finally!! Any Shouts?!!?
Of course.
Obviously a huge thanks to yourself for having me onboard letting me talk some shit, Its been really nice to reminisce.
Also, everyone from my journey in the late 90s to the present day. If you Dj'd with me, for me or even booked me. Thank you.
Lots of people have given me chances also along the way to, and I am truly grateful.
What people don't know, is that behind events, labels and DJ tours, there are a lot of colleagues behind the scenes that are intricate in making things work, Diaries, Drivers, Artwork, Distrubutors,  Sound Engineers, Promoters. The list is endless but I've never forgot anyone and Im forever grateful even if we have not spoken in a long time.
And finally a big shout out to Lucy, my missus who literally looked after our  daughter all day without my help to do this interview and mix haha. She`ll deserves a medal for what she does x

 

Kev Gees Darkstep Classics Part 1 2005-2010
1 - Audio - Delusional
2 - Current Value & Donny - Nightmare Man
3 - Dylan & Bkey - Slave To Life (Limewax Remix)
4 - Audio - Warehouse VIP
5 - Current Value - Fear Machines (Remix)
6 - Nanotek - Fresh Hell
7 - Limewax - Strike From The Land
8 - Mystification - Computers
9 - Current Value - You Cant Play God
10 - Limewax - Pain
11 - SPL - Denied
12 - Raiden - RM Bleeps
13 - Current Value - Addict
14 - Proket - Norilsk
15 - The Panacea - Burning Like Fire (The Sect Remix)
16 - Evol Intent Feat Blip - Flipside
17 - Evol Intent - Middle Of The Night
18 - Current Value - Clear Blue Water

 

Lee UHFs Tracklist:-
1/ ID- Traced- Forthcoming (VTO Records)
2/ Agressor Bunx- The Offering VIP (Eatbrain)
3/ Phace & Subtension- For Good (Neosignal)
4/ Phace- Caged (Vision)
5/ Phace- Spray (Vision)
6/ Traced- The System (Dirtbox Recordings)
7/ Lee UHF- Epic Ping Pong (Dirtbox Recordings)
8/ Lee UHF- That Wiggy Thing (Dirtbox Recordings)
9/ Full Kontakt & Deejay Delta (Dirtbox Recordings)
10/ Lee UHF & Rogue- The Music (Traced Remix) Forthcoming (Dirtbox Recordings)
11/ Burr Oak- Teleporter (Blackout)
12/ Jade & MNDSCP- Dangerous (Korsakov)
13/ Killbox- Cypher (Ram)
14/ Resurgence & O`Den- Chicago Style- Forthcoming (Dirtbox Recordings)
15/ 3rdknd- Pingers (Neonlight Remix) (Barcode)
16/ Gancher & Ruin- The Sect (No Music Allowed)
17/ Donny & Katharsys- Cause & Effect (Barcode)
18/ Mefjus- Suicide Bassline (Panacea VIP- Lee UHF Edit) (Unreleased)
19/ Jade- This Is Neurofunk (Unreleased)

 

Geecast May 2021!

Hello & Welcome to wet & windy Doncaster as our wonderful British Summer falls flat on its arse before its even begun!
Because of this, My new Geecast mix takes on a distinctly anti summery feel this month!

This month Ive banged out a load of new recent tunes from the scenes heavy weights!
Hitting like an uppercut from a prime Mike Tyson!

If you would like a Mix for either your podcast or live radio show then please fee free to email me at kevgee1976@gmail.com
Thanks for your support!
Enjoy!

1 - Dolphin - Phonaestetica
2 - Current Value - That Smile
3 - The Outside Agency & Current Value - Listen To Me VIP
4 - Deformer - Happy Hentai
5 - Deformer - Moment of Violence
6 - Dolphin Hollow Ground
7 - Micron - 1994 
8 - Detest & Tripped - Bag Of Dicks
9 - Adamant Scream & Thrasher = Disorder
10 - Dither - Techn0
11 - Nvitral - King Of The Underground
12 - Detest - Drop This
13 - Dolphin - Alright
14 - Hellfish - Run That Ruff Stuff
15 -  Dolphin - Descention
16 - Ultragore & The Breakline - Aguza
17 - Ophidian - End The Earth III
18 - Dolphin - Ebbs

Northern Gathering Reunion Pt5 - Bombjack & Sidewinder - Brisky Business & Funcore International

So we come to the final few sets of our Northern Gathering Reunion mission!!

 

This time we pay tribute to our dearly departed friend Lyde Fox AKA Bombjack.  I have an old favourite set of his called Brisky Business which he gave out to people at raves & also to friends & promoters.  Called Brisky Business because it used tracks that Dj brisk used to be well known for and also mixed in the Brisk style! Expect lots of bouncy hardcore beats, choppy breaks & fast tempos!! RIP Lyde & I hope your up there stomping away!

 

Secondly we have Dj Sidewinder! Now Scott is one for playing in a similar style - Fast bouncy hardcore & high tempos. he also has a fondness for the Silk Cuts rip of Bellisima. Which is fine by us! Scott does not have any DJ equipment anymore but has asked for us to include this mix!! It does as it says on the TIN! Sidewinder - Funcore International! 

Northern Gathering Reunion Part 4!! Skegster & Kev Gee!

Happy New year folks!

 

As we enter the final few days of this terrible year, we look back at to a time when things were better!

To a time when you could smoke in nightclubs, party all night long & roll in from a night out & then somehow go to work 2 or 3 hours later & be fine! To a time when garys cost £1 and you needed about 10 of them.  To a time when we didnt have smartphones & we didnt record everything on them.  To a time when people actually went to record shops & met new friends, and forged partnerships & networked by being face to face, rather than over the internet.  To a time when Social Media didnt exist and Rave Forums were the place to get information on what the weekend would consist of!!

 

SO! On tonights show we feature Kivo's very own Hard style King Dj Skegster!  The guy who launched JADE & helped the youth of the area! Many who may have taken different paths if it wasnt for him! And he can mix a great set as well!! And then for mix 2 its myself playing the Hardcore that I enjoyed at the time! And also the first stirrings of what is now known as Crossbreed. But back then it was given the title Core & Bass. But to me it was all just Hardcore! As always mixed in 1 take with no editing!

 

Please Read Skegsters ace interview below! I have not supplied one as I cant interview myself hah! 

 

Mix 1 - Skegster

Mix 2 - Kev Gee

 

Interview questions!!

Hello!!
Can you introduce youself to us and tell us a little about yourself?! ASL, Straight, BI, Upf or experimentation etc?! 
Hi, my name is John but i'm probably better known as Skegster. I used to be really into large chested blonde ladies back in the day - but these days I seem to be sat in my flat, alone and doing puzzle books or 1000 piece jigsaws - or something like that. 

 

So can you talk us through how you became involved with Northern Gathering?
I'm not sure exactly how it came to fruition but back then I was running the JADE events every month in Kiveton and I met people like Firthy, D-Jam, Martin Space etc through the events and also through going out raving to Uprising and those kinda places. 

 

What can you remember about your first set? Tunes played? other djs there? Were was it held?
Lets just be clear - this is part of my life that is kind of a big blur. I was running on stimulants and little sleep - so it's all a bit of a haze tbh. I remember playing sets in D-Jam's kitchen and also up in Bombjacks bedroom as well at the events at the Adelphi and NCPM. 

Can you tell us about any funny stories from Northern Gathering?
I can remember waking up at D-Jam's one time with MC Trigg shouting something to Firthy over and over again, I was confused and I looked over in the kitchen and Bombjack was laid asleep under the kitchen table on the laminate flooring.
 (cue very strong Barnsley accent) 
'Fiiiiirthy, if tha wents a lift thaz guna av t wek up man, av gut t git t coooooooowut'
I later worked out what Trigg was shouting;
(Firthy, if you want a lift, you're going to have to wake up up man, I've got to get to court). 
You had to be there to know how funny it was haha. 

I also remember having acid at Andy's and we were watching Salad Fingers on YouTube; it fried my head. I had an idea to trick Tommy-T to watch it but then switch it for some gay porn for a laugh, me and I think Firthy managed to switch the screen to the gay boys in action and we were expecting him to freak out off his head on acid, he just sat there and said, 'this is naughty this, it doesn't bother me'. And he just sat and watched it. Not what we expected but it was Tommy after all - mad head hahah. 

What do you think of that era of Rave compared to nowadays?
It's absolutely cliched to come out with the same sort of response that I used to hate from the old school crew that would say about our era of raving - that it wasn't the same and isn't as good as the old days.  There's so much truth in that tbh - things are clearly nowhere near as good from my perspective. But I also now believe that we should let the young ones have their era and let them party in whatever ways they prefer these days. I also recognise the absolute monumental changes in society as a whole since the NG days and that was bound to change the way people enjoy a night out. I believe social media has completely changed the way the rave scene works. 

What have you been doing since Northern Gathering finished? Do you still play out etc?
DJ wise, I progressed from playing in the back rooms at all the events to pushing onto the main arenas at places like Uprising, Dizstruxhon amd TFI. I still play gigs and i'm still pushing the hardstyle sound at hardcore events all over the region. 
Personally, I am still a youth worker and I'm now a Dad to two wonderful girls; Gabriella (9) and Florence (6). Also still support the mighty Sheffield Wednesday (keep your jokes to yourselves!)

What lessons have you learned about the rave scene in general since the mid 00tees?
I've learned that although it's good to let loose, enjoy yourself and party hard when you are younger, it's also important to know your limits, to know when to stop and also that there's more to life than a rave scene (I would've found this very hard to understand at one point).

If you could ask Doctor Gee one question what would it be?
If I hadn't had drugs for almost a decade and someone slipped half a gurner in my cup of cocoa; how bad do you think my jigsaw would turn out?

Can you talk us through the mix? Why you chose these tracks?
I had to rack my brain to work out which era of hardstyle was relevant to the NG days, a lot of time and events have passed since then. It's quite an interesting period in the change of Hardstyle music; the Dutch had first got hold of the traditional Italian sound and started adding their big subby drums. This was the first time i'd played some of these tracks since the NG and I loved it. Brings back memories from a very 'free' time in my life - we would party any time, any place and with zero worries. Take me back!

Did you mix them on vinyl or Digital or CD?
I mixed them digitally but using some re-mastered vinyl rips. 

What do you think is the key difference from the rave scene of 15 years ago to now?
Social media and its control over society and of how people want to be seen and how they conduct themselves. You can't let loose these days without someone recording you and uploading it somewhere to take the piss.
Drugs - they are completely different and I think in-turn have affected the moods and feeling in some events. There doesn't seem to be so much hugging and affection these days, everyones kinda just in their zone, doing their thing. It that even makes sense haha.

Thank you for the mix!!

Any shouts?!!
Big shout to all NG crew, miss you guys. Special mentions to Firthy for being there for me 24/7 and also to Bombjack and Tommi-T, love always my boys, RIP xx

 

Kev Gees Tracklist:-

1 - Intro
2 - Hellfish - Money For Fish
3 - Buzz Fuzz - Wake Up
4 - Stormtrooper - Todesvogel
5 - Ophidian - Predator & Prey
6 - Nospheratu & Ophidian - Psychiatric Ass
7 - The Outside Agency - Antichrist
8 - Project Omeaga - Prednison Attack
9 - Enzyme X  - Dissonant Poetry
10 The Outside Agency - Screaming Pheonix VIP
11 Unexist - Fistortion
12 Jappo & Lancinhouse - EXLXAXL 
13 IGOR - Crowdrocker
14 Paul Blackout - Simulated Demons
15 Dj Hidden - Times Like These
16 The Outside Agency - International Karate Nightmare
17 The Outside Agency - Yie Ar Kung Fu
18 Torsion - The Fire Funk