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Sunday April 21st Lacuna Productions Presents Mala the Blackout Tour at Cafe Istanbul. Ft Rekanize, Wake An Blake & Reed Stark.There are few artists who can rightly claim to have helped create a new genre of music in the 21st century. One of them is Mala.
For the past 15 years, the London-born producer and DJ has taken his bag of dubplates around the world, presenting the evolving dubstep sound with heavyweight knowledge of soundsystem culture’s past and present.
In the early 2000s, dubstep was reverberating slowly. A tiny smattering of London pirate radio transmissions, record shops and clubs were interested in this sound, made by a few amateur producers in the city’s south-east boroughs; W**d-smoking youngers from Croydon and Norwood who loved garage’s skippy swings and jungle’s explosive breakbeats, but wanted to peel them away to reveal something stranger. At the core of this was Mala, alongside fellow producers and DJs Loefah and Coki, and MC Sgt. Pokes. They called themselves DMZ.
Taken with record labels like Tempa, Big Apple and Tectonic Recordings and events like FWD>>, they were critical in converging dubstep’s earliest ideas into a recognisable genre. DMZ were like a Bruce Lee one-inch punch coming at your chest from a speaker stack, exercising restraint to create maximum dynamic impact. Their tracks were played out on dubplate for upwards of a year by selected DJs before release on limited vinyl runs, creating a frenzy of interest.
Rejecting garage’s by-then champagne flashiness and jungle’s high-octane machismo, dubstep was an anti-VIP affair and DMZ dances were the “demilitarized zone”. Bodies swayed in the near-pitch black and W**d smoke, while ceiling-high rigs made the walls vibrate. With its tight-knit crew, DMZ became a centre of power that held significant influence over who and what came to be known as dubstep.
Considering what ravers were used to moving to, dubstep was a shock to the system. While house bumps along at around 120 to 130bpm and drum & bass and jungle rattle heads between 160 and 180bpm, DMZ stripped the rave for parts. Sparse 140bpm beats with half-time kicks and snares made it feel like it was all moving at 70bpm, shifting the dancefloor’s tectonic plates. Palettes varied, but DMZ focused on uncanny vocal samples and lashings of sub-bass punctuated with melancholic three-note melodies. On record insert labels, tracks were attributed to producers like totems: “Built by Mala, built by Loefah, built by Coki, built by Digital Mystikz”.
MALA (UK- South London)- One half of the revered dubstep duo Digital Mystikz, producer, DJ, label owner, and Londoner Mala (Mark Lawrence) discovered
reggae in his teens, but it was a later fascination with drum'n'bass
and jungle that opened his eyes to the possibilities of rhythm and
bass. Thanks to jungle's love of sampling different genres, Mala was
turned on to jazz, funk, and other genres while returning to reggae,
where he chose dub master Augustus Pablo as a role model. He
spent the early 2000s spinning dubstep around London and on pirate
radio station Rinse FM before hooking up with DJ Coki and forming
the production duo Digital Mystikz. After the addition of two more
friends, Loefah and Sgt. Pokes, the quartet formed the
dubstep-focused DMZ club night, which evolved into the DMZ
label. Mala also established Deep Medi Musik, which released
well-received 12"s by the likes of Kromestar, Goth-Trad, and Silkie.
Throughout the 2000s and beyond, Digital Mystikz, DMZ, and Deep
Medi proved to be pillars of the underground dubstep scene, with
everyone from John Peel to Gilles Peterson showing their
support. Peterson became close friends with Mala, signed him to
his Brownswood Recordings label, and accompanied Mala on a
rhythm-finding trip to Cuba. After recording some Cuban
musicians, Mala brought the recordings home to South London and
added his touch to the basic tracks. Brownswood released the
results in 2012 as Mala in Cuba. Mala then journeyed to Peru, where
he became educated about the country's musical traditions, and
collaborated with local musicians for his next album. Mirrors was
released by Brownswood in 2016.
Rekanize - Donovan Juan, better known as Rekanize, has been DJing since the mid-90s. Hailing from New Orleans, he brings a seasoned presence to the decks. If he were to compare himself to a cheese, Rekanize says he’d be Robiola Bosina – complex, well-rounded, and distinct.
Wake An Blake - The head honcho at Lacuna Productions, Blake stretches from the west coast to the east coast to everywhere in between. Wake An Blakes carefully crafted sets are sure to take you on a genre/tempo bending ride through different dimensions
Reed Stark - Made a name for himself in the action sports world through BMX long before he took up the decks, but it was only a matter of time before his deep love for Houston rap would get him wondering how to chop and screw music himself. You’ll hear those third coast influences come out amidst the no-nonsense dnb, bass-forward house and grimey dub plates usually found at one of his sets. It’s an unexpected combination, but a quick review of his career (and his outfit, clad in giraffe print with a kendama around his neck) will inform you to think twice before sticking him in a box. The Minnesota native can be found on one of his “safaris” in any given country on any given month, with plays in Estonia, France and more.
Tickets on sale now
PRESALE $20
TIER 1 $25
DAY OF SHOW $30
APRIL 21ST, 2024
CAFE ISTANBUL
9PM-Till
2372 St Claude Ave
New Orleans, LA 70117
Artwork by Coastill
https://www.instagram.com/lacuna.productions/
https://www.instagram.com/maladmz/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/wake_an_blake_/
https://www.instagram.com/rekanize/
https://www.instagram.com/youscaredstiff/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/cafeistanbulnola/?hl=en
Ticket Link
https://app.promotix.com/events/details/Mala-New-Orleans-April-21st-2024-Cafe-Istanbul-tickets
More information & Event page
https://beacons.ai/lacuna
Mala
Artist Website Link: www.maladread.net
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/malamystikz/
Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/maladmz/?hl=en
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/mala_dmz?lang=en
YouTube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/maladmz
Spotify Artist Link:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0QTEYauMG3DrAVPXCYMseu?si=cOOKTjX-RHmVxEctEAcC1w
Apple Music Link: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/mala/1209155665
Soundcloud Link: https://soundcloud.com/maladmz
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Cafe Istanbul NOLA, 2372 St Claude Ave,New Orleans,LA,United States
Tickets