BeatRoute Magazine [AB] print e-edition - [April 2018]

LET’S GET JUCY!
Sam Binga performs April 5 at the HiFi (Calgary)
PHOTO: TOM HAM
Spring has sprung and April is looking crafting hybrid sounds with hints of jungle,
real fine with a heap of international D’N’B and footwork, his sets are extremely
talent and multi-headliner raves to get your enjoyable as well as technically astounding.
dancing muscles primed and ready for the 20/20 LDN is a music label at the forefront
summer months ahead.
of bass music today and on April 6 at Distortion
(Calgary), its creators and two other
New Wave, the HiFi based residency
started by local producer OAKK has a couple label artists will demonstrate what they
great shows in April. Sam Binga, of lofty are all about. Alongside Ivy Lab, the music
drum and bass imprint Critical Recordings collective behind the label, you can also see
performs on April 5 (Calgary). An expert in Paint, the mind-melting collaboration of
DR. SPACE
brings the funk back to Calgary
“I realized it was necessary to play out just by seeing people’s reactions to it.”’
A
fter a brief sabbatical in Vancouver, Dr. house and techno and gravitating towards
Space, a.k.a. Ben Pearson has returned downtempo, hip-hop, soul, boogie and
to Calgary, and brought with him the return ultimately funk. As he was exploring the
of his other-worldly residency Galactic roots of his favourite genres he noticed
Funk.
there were was some sounds that were not
Pearson began his foray into DJing
widely represented in Calgary, namely funk
playing a variety of sounds starting with and groove-based music.
42 | APRIL 2018 • BEATROUTE
Tsuruda and Huxley Anne and Deft, another
harbinger of the future sounds of bass. With
local support from two of Calgary’s finest
Metafloor and KR Dub, I am confident in saying
this will be one of the high water marks
of the year.
A.Skillz really needs no introduction;
he’s by no means a stranger to Calgary or
West Coast festival circuits. An alumni of
Shambhala and general festival-favourite, his
lighthearted, party-rocking sets are always a
good time. Catch this turntable scientist on
April 12 at The HiFi (Calgary).
Catch rising Canadian rap and R&B artist
Roy Woods plays at Commonwealth on April
15 (Calgary).
The second installment of New Wave
takes place on April 19 and features two of
Portland’s hottest producers Barisone and
PRSN. Expect a huge variety of dancehall,
hip-hop and plenty of bass.
Hannah Wants of Birmingham plays at
Commonwealth on April 19 (Calgary). In
2016 she came under scrutiny for allegedly
plagiarizing Boddika’s track “Mercy (VIP)”
with her tune “Found the Ground.” That
has since blown over, and at the end of the
day, she is an extremely prolific artist with
an impressive track record and impeccable
DJ skills and her performance in Calgary will
“I think I kind of took it as a sign that
maybe it was an opportunity to step forward
and have that as my contribution to
the city,” Pearson says.
Formerly referring to his DJ persona as Archivist,
Pearson adapted a live quote from Kool
Keith: ’They call me Mr. Space’ into his new alias,
and through a network of mutual friends, landed
on Cafe Koi as a venue for Galactic Funk.
“I think for a lot of people that come to
the night for the first time, they generally
feel a very welcoming atmosphere. And
because the focus is so much on the music,
the groove, being light and not taking yourself
to seriously, it helps allow people to be
themselves and be comfortable in a public
space, which isn’t always the case.”
Since then there has been around 15
installations of Galactic Funk, beginning in
March 2016, and featuring numerous other
selectors from around town who are given
the opportunity to delve into sounds that
they may not be known for. For example,
footwork and drum and bass artist Sinistarr
performed as Funk Nasty.
Upon returning to Calgary, Pearson
felt that the night was ready to grow and
BY PAUL RODGERS
aptly demonstrate that.
New Zealand’s new talent Montell2099
plays at the HiFi on April 21 (Calgary),
providing us an opportunity to witness this
budding artist in his infancy. Having only
really been around for the past year, he has
been making waves with his eclectic tastes
and ability to weave them together into an
exciting take on trap music.
With a massive back catalog of releases
and over 20 years experience, Montreal born,
San Francisco-based Fred Everything plays
at Habitat on April 21 (Calgary), and will
undoubtedly be equipped with an extensive
arsenal of deep house and techno.
On April 28 the Bass Coast 10 year anniversary
North American tour rolls through
the HiFi (Calgary) and features the versatile
Doctor Jeep, whose set was a highlight of
last year’s festival, and Max Elis, who has
long been behind the scenes and behind
the decks of the festival. Start feeling those
sweet, sweet festival feels early!
This is but a mere smattering of events,
and there are countless more that I had to
leave out but I blame that on the tsunami
of incredible bookings this month. It’s
outrageous and wonderful. Thoughts and
prayers for prosperous a prosperous April
rave season!
BY PAUL RODGERS
expand, and to potentially become a more
city-wide installation and so he landed on
Nite Owl as a new base of operations.
“With maintaining balance in any endeavour
you need direction and momentum,”
Pearson says.
“I feel like there’s more direction now
with Galactic Funk than there’s ever been
and more momentum than there’s ever
been. So I feel like the balance will be maintained
as long as the groove is going.”
Pearson says Galactic Funk has allowed him
to focus his passion on certain aspects of music
that were driving him the most, old groovebased
music and new adaptations of them.
“I think the more that I was getting hooked
by that stuff the more I wanted to play it out
and the more I realized it was necessary to
play out just by seeing people’s reactions to it.”
He hopes to continue with this momentum
and continue to build up the Galactic
family, creating a solid foundation in the
city, and then use that platform to step out
and expand into other areas.
Dr. Space performs on CJSW on April 6 at 10:00
p.m. and on April 14 at Nite Owl (Calgary).
JUCY