liye rock music to draw punters away from the dancel'loor and down to the moshpit. Yet. at present. the LR I)t\'ll \L'L'IIL' is ill ils healthiest state for almost a decade. .\Ic(irath. .\Iacdonald and .\langa resident I’eter Symiiigton iaka l).I Kidl all cite one cause ol this rey iyal: .\tisti';ilia's hugely successlul crossoyer outlit l’endulum. 'I'he likes of Radio l's Zane Lowe enthuse wildly about I’endulum on national radio and rock kids are trying out l)&B nights because they like the hand and Xplicit has been in the middle ot' all this. hosting l’endulum twice last year. .\Ianga howeyer. was part of the genres earlier generation. at the Vanguard at a time when the scenes exponents begun traiisl'orming the music into a mainstream artl'orm ((ioldiel and winning the Mercury .\Iiisic l’ri/e lRoni Si/e and Repra/enti. Yet. Sy'iiiington and Macdonald botli saw the scene struggle towards acceptance.
‘l’romoters were yery reluctant to get inyoly ed with it.’ says Syniington. ‘Breakbeat as drum & bass was called before it was ey en jungle was hated. It was ney‘et' coy ei‘ed by the media. because in the early ()(Is Scotland was caught up in the whole rayc scene. Tom Wilson lthe late Radio l'oi'tli I).I whose Saturday night ray e show was essential listening at the time) supported me and let me do mixes on his show. but I remember playing (‘alton Studios one night. Seemingly I didn‘t go down too well. because my manager said on the Monday: "They don‘t ey er want to book you again because of what you're playing. You need to get yourseltdow ii south.”
So he did. and Symington. who had started out running a ray e night called Pandemonium in (ilenrothes. and aspired to being a hip hop I).I. found his reputation growing to the e\tent that he could play breakbeat at the ray e Mecca that was l’anta/ia. .\Iacdona|d. on the other hand. had been inyolyed in the lidinburgh techno scene since going to l'l-‘() (which ey'entually became Pure) at the Venue as a teenager.
‘ln 1995. as I was getting into drum tk bass. we tried to do something new with our club night Squid that we were running at the tinief says .\Iacdonald. ‘We had a lirida) night at La Belle to do what we wanted with. so alter spending about si\ months working on the idea we managed to come tip with some lllllLlS and really went hell-t‘or-leather on it.’
Symington. by day a graphic designer. loy ed the idea ot‘ doing a night based around Japanese design. .\Ianga and anime comics. so created an incredibly strong image for the club. t‘rom the l'lyers to the yideo backdrops. The initial
Clockwise from left: Special guest at the final Manga night DJ Die with the Manga boy looking on; the packed Manga dancefloor; DJ Kid and G-Mac doing his thing on the ones and twos
‘WE WANT TO LAY IT TO REST WITH A REALLY SPECIAL NIGHT'
response was phenomenal. the first few nights selling out without the help ol‘ any special guests. .\lacdona|d reckons much of this was down to a combination ol' presentation and timing.
‘We were so lucky because we came tip with such a strong name and image. and we found a music genre that people were desperate to hear. .-\nd l.a Belle was a phenomenal space: you couldn‘t imagine a better way to launch a club.‘
The pair regard the club's first birthday with lid Rush. and the liy e Radio | (Me iii the Jungle broadcast with 1).] SS as defining moments in the club‘s life. Yet. alter La Belle burned down things just w went the same. and alter the further disappointment of the lloneycomb's closure. and with Syiiiington now liy‘ing in lingland full-time
and Macdonald haying taken oy'er the running of
lidiiiburgh record shop l'nderground Solush‘ii. the pair realised it was time to wind things up.
It's now up to members of the new generation. such as Simon Mc(irath. to till the gap. Xplicit started out as a oiie-ol'l' project for McGrath's eyents management course and has gone on to encompass a monthly night at the Bongo Club. illic-UIIS at the l’otterrow'. and occasional nights at (ilasgow‘s .-\rches. He and the .‘ylanga boy's both recognise. howeyer. that Glasgow is traditionally less interested in drum 8; bass. They put this down to the competition from techno and house nights and the fact that lidinburgh has a much higher proportion ol‘ students from lingland and oy'erseas. where [)62B is more mainstream.
'.-\ll our nights are pretty much sold out.‘ says .\Ic(irath. ‘\\'e‘re in the position we‘ve always wanted to he in. where w‘e‘y'e got a big following and we can haye the kind ol thing you‘d see down south. multi-bill line-ups at a good price. ()nline promotioii's play ed a big part — l-‘acebook and .\IySpace are more el'l'ectiy'e than just handing out Il_\Cl'\ —- while there are more quality bedroom producers than I can remember. who can get their tracks out there on MP3.‘
Really. the torch-passing symbolism couldn‘t be any more oby‘iotts. and the future of’ drum & bass in Scotland seems assured once more. The hope is that yet another young promoter will be there to pick tip where Xplicit signs off in. oh. around nine years~ time.
The last ever Manga with Commix and DJ Die is at the Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Sat 19 Jan; Xplicit is at Potterrow, Edinburgh, Fri 25 Jan.
PLATES OF GLORY
G-Mac and DJ Kid pick the discs that have rocked Manga's dancefloor through the ages
EZ Rollers Tet/gt“ At The Top Origin Unknown Rritx' Nat rig Shadow Some of Manga's best nights at La Belle Ar‘gele were With the E28 and th's track sums up their inCredible energy and one oh. those were the days
Grand Unified Go't' Or? Second Skim Chart topping roller from Kenny McLeod aka Grand Uriified‘i arid l'USC‘ll iG'lNlt'iL‘.‘ that was rte doubt played way too many
times?
Roni Size Reprazcnt Browri Paper Bag «'F’hotek Brim iTa/kin Louoi A match made in heaven for all 088 fans. The bass drop Pl‘i this made the whole Manga Crowd shiver With delightl Takes me back to that crazy Sunday night when Roni's Crew played live at La Belle. Amazing!
Calibre Drop It Down (Signature) Another Manga Classic from our long time Irish friend and a real heads down dancefloor gem. The heart of any club With a soul.
Doc Scott Shadow Boxrng (37 Records) Doc Scott was the captain of the darker Side of the 08.8 ship for many years and this tune is no (iuestiOn one of his true masterpieces that's still instilling fear into the weakest of hearts today.
DJ Trace Mutant Paws/ted (Emotif) This mOnster tune was well in my box way before Manga even GXISleCI but it soon became a firm fav0unte at the Club after taking up reSidency.
Adam F Metropolis fMeta/headz) The tune that put Adam F firmly on the Drum & Bass production map. Again this was a tune that came Out way before Manga was established but features regularly in my sets over the years and wrll be sure to get one more spin at the birthday.
DC Breaks Do You Believe fBest/ess Natives; This was the the sixth release on my label and so far has been the most popular wrth the crowd. In some parts of the world the sales for the Single were outselling Pendulum.
Peshay Miles From Home (Mo Wax) By far one of the biggest ,iazz-infused tunes of the 90s This track was played. rewomd. played and rewOund time and time again in Manga's La Belle Angelle
- 7 ~ ~ -~--days.
The Prodigy Outta Space (XL Recordings; Original rude boy ragga iungle business from one of my all- time favourite production outfits. This tune got one of the best reactions I had ever seen at Manga when l dropped it as my last tune one night which was two days before I found out I was gomg to be a dad for the first time. 80 extra special memories of this one.
17—31 Jan 2008 THE LIST 13