August 22, 200810:00 pm
Wellington based New Zealand DJ and producer P-Vans has always had a passion for offbeat and interesting rhythm sections. Inspired by a hybrid of UK 2-step Garage, Grime and Break-beat, P-Vans is focused on bringing something fresh and diverse to New Zealand’s dance floors. Along with hosting Wellington’s Home Bass show on Radio Active 89fm with his crew Strictly138, P-Vans has played support for the likes of FreQ Nasty, Digital Mystikz, Loefah, N-type, Scuba, Tayo, Stanton Warriors, 30hz, Baobinga AND DJ Distance.
“I bought my first pair of decks in 2002, at a time where I felt bass driven urban music within the 138 tempo was evolving rapidly. I would go to a record stores like Flipside, Chelsea, Real Groovy and Fusion and there was always a wicked tune that would sound so different from the last within Break-beat, Grime, 2-Step or early Dubstep stuff etc. So it was really the hybrid of those sub heavy sounds that made me start DJing.”
P-Vans began playing out in Wellington around 2003 at Curve, Studio nine, Tupelo and Sandwiches earning his first support slot for FreQ Nasty in 2004. P-Vans fused alot of sub heavy 2-step and Break-beat with Grime acapellas together in to his sets back then. In 2006 P-Vans met Strictly138’s Kaps, Steppa D and the Mook who had been running a local Dubstep night at the valve/room 101 and playing regular slots on Radio active’s Home bass show. Around this time P-Vans was running a small Dubstep roots night down at Tupelo which eventually became known as Ghost Dubs. Sharing similar musical interests P-Vans joined the 138 crew and since then they have helped ignite and push the Dubstep sound foward in Wellington along side the work of local promoters, venues, and radio DJ’s.
“I wrote a tune about mid 2006 called Replacement which I ended up taking down to the Strictly138 night at the Valve on a usb key. They were using Serato in their set up so they ran my dub on a sub boosted sound rig they had set up. Was awesome to hear my first proper Dubstep tune in a small environment where the bass filled up the room and your hair stood on end, at that point I felt my production was at least good enough to keep experimenting.”
Wellington’s Ghost Dubs began as a small good vibes night focusing on exposing people to the roots of Dubstep and playing new original NZ Dubs. These nights allowed for producers and DJ’s to test out their beats on a heavy system in a relaxed dance floor atmosphere. Guest DJ’s at Ghost Dubs have included DJ’s Frostyboy, Oogun, Kanuka, Excelle, Sketchy B, UKnw, J Kon, Ekim and Flex which encompass all kinds of styles of bass culture from Jungle to 2-step, Reggae to Dubstep.
2007 was a big year for P-Vans playing support twice for UK Stalwart Mala with Strictly138 in Auckland and Wellington , hosting Radioactive 89’s Homebass show on Thursday nights and running Wellington’s local Ghost Dubs nights. 2007 also saw P-Vans first release “Ghost Pennies” on Wellington’s Bassweight Recordings Foundation EP pt1. This year P-Vans represented Strictly138 at Auckland’s seminal NZ Dubstep Wars at Rising Sun showcasing his original Dub plates which have recently been released on DPR recordings (UK). Look out for more upcoming P-Vans releases on D.P.R Recordings (UK), Aquatic Lab (AUS), and Bassweight Recordings (NZ).
SUPPORT :
J-RED / TIMMY C / SHIN B (JPN) / ILL-FIGZ
VISUALS BY SLASHER I CANDY
SUBTLE SOUND SYSTEM IMPORTED FOR THE NIGHT
DRINK SPECIALS B4 12
$5 DOOR CHARGE
DJ CHEF COMP TICS UP FOR GRABS AFTER ONE AM
