When: Friday 15 March
Where: Sandwiches – Cnr Majoribanks Street & Kent Terrace, Wellington
Support from:
Naram
Art Official
Hawk I
$10 presales from Dash Tickets, $15 on the door
NiceUp and Newtown Sound present German digital reggae don Disrupt – co-founder of the influential record label Jahtari – in Aotearoa for the 1st time with a live MPC set inna digital dub style.
Disrupt has been one of the most important figures in the digital dub revival that has transformed the European reggae soundscape. He has been running Jahtari out of the East German city since 2004 – with 27 vinyl releases already under their belt from a diverse roster of producers and vocalists including Maffi, Black Chow (The Bug), Mungo’s Hi Fi, Pupa Jim, Solo Banton, Kenny Knots, Soom T and Mr Williamz.
While managing the label, Disrupt has also become one of the most celebrated producers in the world of digital dub. His productions are informed by a love for both dub music of the 1970s and the classic sound of early digital reggae that took root in Jamaica in the mid-1980s following the arrival of affordable Japanese synthesizers.
As well as drawing influence from the lineage of Jamaican music, Jahtari productions are coloured by a passion for the distinctive 8-bit sound of early arcade and computer game soundtracks. These sounds are often created with hand-built machines crafted by Disrupt from vintage computer parts – such as his one-of-a-kind SID Synthesizer built from an old Commodore 64.
The result of this unusual combination of elements found in Jahtari music is a spaced-out, bass-heavy ride through a sonic future that might have been envisaged by a Jamaican video game character in the 1980s.
Disrupt’s live performances also bring something radically different to the table, and instead of playing a ‘DJ show’, he recreates his riddims live using an MPC 1000 sampler, a specially-tweaked Gameboy, a mixing console and a variety of home-built effects units. This innovative ‘live dub’ approach means no two Disrupt shows are ever the same.
More info:
Interview with Disrupt
Jahtarian Rub-a-Dub Mixtape for NiceUp
Jahtari website
