A progressive bass culture collective out of Australia, Iron Gate Sound has been a mainstay of Sydney’s reggae-dancehall scene since 2012. The brainchild of Flip and Gilsun, the collective has dropped a steady stream of mixtapes and independently released music under its Iron Gate Records label which they founded in 2014.
Working with dub, reggae, dancehall and grime artists from Jamaica and Europe, Iron Gate Records has always maintained a connection to roots even as it has sought to develop, reinterpret and innovate new sounds.
In 2014, Flip and Gilsun worked with some of Jamaica’s finest vocalists, including Sizzla and Lutan Fyah on Lion Inna Den Riddim and collaborated with Addis Pablo and Suns of Dub on the Jah Jah Solve Dem EP.
Between 2015 and 2018, Iron Gate Sound released a steady stream of mixtapes including Dubplate Mashdown and Dubs Fi Di Road – the first 100% dubplate mix out of Australia.
In 2019 Sydney-based music producer Kid Fiction joined Iron Gate Sound, bringing his unique texture-focused electronic music production to the collective. Later this year, Iron Gate Sound is gearing up for a burst of releases featuring appearances by Chiedu Oraka, RTKAL and Jamaican dub poet Michael St. George.
More info:
Iron Gate Sound SoundCloud
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Iron Gate Sound Facebook
Top Ten Tunes
Popcaan – Firm & Strong
A 20-person choir shakes the pulpit along with Popcaan’s soulful affirmations – ‘give mi di energy mi need, Jah yuh keep mi firm and strong’. Anthem!
Gappy Ranks – War Ah Yuh Gate
In 2015, we remixed a bunch of our dubs. This tune is the opening song on Dubplate Mashdown. It draws on samples from Grieves, Dia Ja, Dan Bull and Derryn Hinch reporting on the moon landing. An Iron Gate Sound staple right here.
Dubkasm – Victory
Luciano voiced a medley for us on Dubkasm’s Victory which we first dropped at our favourite music festival, Subsonic. The dubplate always gets a forward at our live shows and is the opening track off our Run the Dancehall mixtape.
Kalash – Koussi Koussa
Flip’s French/Italian heritage is a strong influence on our sound. We draw on French Caribbean influences such as Kalash from Martinique and Admiral T from Guadeloupe.
Govana – One N Move
One of our favourite dancehall tunes from the past 12 months has to be Govana’s One N Move. Govana brings his A-game to Good Good Production’s Do It Riddim.
Chronixx and Joe Gibbs – Beat And A Mic
We always put a different spin on our dubplates. We voiced a bag of Chronixx dubs before he blew up on the international stage. Here is one of our Chronixx dubs on a classic Joe Gibbs riddim. For more of this, check out our 100% dubplate mix called Dubs Fi Di Road.
Sizzla – Jah Jah Solve Dem
We wrote Lion Inna Den at Umbi Gumbi on the far South Coast of NSW, Australia. The opening song from our 2014 riddim features dada, Sizzla Kalonji.
Kahn X James Blake – Defend Around Here
This blend was originally played out live by DJ Gilsun when we supported Deadbeat in 2018. The tune received a great response and we play it regularly at our live shows.
Mala and Lee Scratch Perry – Like The Way You Should
Real dubstep is a massive influence for Iron Gate Sound. Who better to champion the proper sound of dubstep then the originator Mala. This one is an old tune but still a regular in our longer sets. When dubstep was going mainstream and selling out with its abrasive stadium-sound phase, Mala reached out to Scratch, together they showed how to do dubstep right.
JME – Man Don’t Care
DJ Gilsun is always looking for tunes that have useful aspects for mixing. The intro of Man Don’t Care can be looped and teased for two or three tracks before it’s eventually dropped. When it finally kicks in with its lurking bass line and killer bars from Grime royalty JME and Giggs, it ignites the dance.
