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F i Water works
Despite being signed to Laurent Garnier's F Communications, one of the coolest labels around, Jason Robertson (aka Aqua Bassino) is modestly laidback about the whole thing. With the imprint getting world-wide distribution, the 30-year-old has jetted all the way around the word to play live, from Buenos Aries to Japan.
’l’m so lucky to get gigs like that, man,’ he says, relaxing in The Basement in his home town of Edinburgh. 'These are things that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life. You know, the beauty of it all. People in these places respecting your music,
; that's the ultimate vibe.’
Since signing to F Communications in 1995 with his
first release ’Swirl', Bassino has only delivered another two EPs: ’Deeper’ (Feb 97) and the most recent, ’Pools', which was released at the beginning of this year. It’s not
laziness which has deprived us from hearing more of his
I double-deep, jazzy atmospheric house, but a series of what he calls ’true life situations’.
A severe case of tendinitis (repetitive strain injury) struck him down four years ago when he was putting together a set for Edinburgh's Tribal Funktion in a pre- Bassino incarnation. He had no idea what was going on: his arm started getting more and more numb until, he says, it almost felt as though it was going to drop off. Told that the only remedy was to put life on hold, he carried on regardless, managing to put a demo together which he sent out to one label only - F Communications.
They rushed back to him, telling him that they loved his music and wanted him to sign an eight single, two album deal thus making him the first Brit to be in with the label. ’It's a really spiritual vibe with them,’ he says. ’They stuck with me through the RSI and the death of my father, saying "Look man, just take your time”. I've got a lot of faith in the bods; they just want the music
to grow in a natural progression.’
The self-taught musician had been playing music since he was eight years old, guitars then bass and now
. keyboards. He’s done the Scottish gigging thing and 5 worked for a while with Edinburgh’s Botany 5 before ' moving briefly to London for session work.
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Aqua Bassino: splish splash. there's bass in the bath
The tradition of live performance is something he brings into his recording and performance work. In the studio he uses the computer like a tape-recorder, layering lush sounds rather than spending weeks on the decay rate for a bass thump. Unlike other dance music producers whose live shows sound note for note like the album, Bassino is trying to work in as much live element and improvisation as he can.
’l’m really gagging to get the live set-up a whole lot more, bringing in guest musicians and moving Aqua Bassino to another level. Every gig is different and I've learned there's just a whole other vibe you can catch on.’ We await his Scottish debut with baited breath. Come on in, the water's lovely. (Rory Weller)
fi Aqua Bassino plays live at Un-Cut, The Arches, Fri 73 Nov.
Bongo Club in 1995, Messenger Sound System are justifiably proud. Realising the importance of the actual sound system goes a long way towards understanding the motivation of the somdclash.
'You don’t want to be giVIng it Mickey Mouse through some sort of bad PA, where the guy has had it for twenty years and the system’s lost its sheen,’ says Steve 'We are still keen There's love lll our attitude, we want to make it right ' Pat interjects, saying, ‘That's what this night is celebrating, the sound system. The way Steve has
Messenger Vs Seen
Soundclash
Edinburgh: Bongo Club, Sat 1.4 Nov. 'No one group :s an island, you know7 You ian't have that kind of
polansatmn,’ says Steve Messenger 'We want people to rub shoulders, To stOp and maybe say "hi, what's up?".
These events can create positive things,
instead of all this holier than thOu 'tilllhsll ' Originally meeting through a mutual
, DJ, Eh7Wiin', Pat Coll from Seen and Steve lvlessenqer have had a long
Clash of like-minded: Seen and Messenger
association and are bringing their respective clubs together for another soundclash
'The last time we met, there was total respect to the music and the two communities,' remembers Pat. 'We would be playing the reggae and people would be loving it, then when it was time to play the hip hop, people would be loving it just as much, you know?’
Steve's sound system is often heralded as second to none in Scotland. Continuously playing every fortnight since they moved to the
built his sound system is TLC. Tender loving care. And that is what you get out of it.’
For those who to date have only experienced Messenger Sound System or Seen individually, what can they expect? ’Vibes', nods Pat 'Yeah, yeah. Positive Vibes. To come into a place and feel warm and relaxed,’ muses Steve. 'The soundclash is in the title, but it's not a soundclash at all. It's a unity thing, people coming together under the one roof and sharing six hours, havmg a nice time and getting acquainted, yOu know7'
(Simone Baird)
Club News
ELNINO have retained that awesome Glaswegian duo The Jengaheads for their monthly residency at The Venue. Despite their huge success in Glasgow, they are suprisingly unknown in Edinburgh. We recommend that you catch them at ELNINO on Thu 12 Nov, see listings. They have also been booked to play at BBC1's Essential Mix Winter Dance Festival at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh on Sat 28 Nov alongside the likes of Pete Tong, Carl Cox, Nick Warren, Guy Ornadel, Camisra and the Dope Smugglaz. Great stuff.
RUB A DUB Records have opened a new temporary shop in Kings Court (Glasgow) after the closure of Virginia Galleries on 9 Oct. Look out for a new permanent city centre shop in the next couple of months which will have late night openings like their Paisley one used to.
THE JENGAHEADS are continuing to make their name a wee bit differently having just returned from Ljubljana (Slovenia). The Glasgow big beat merchants were invited over to play a couple of parties and go on the radio, and they say the Slovens were well up for it. When they were there. they were asked if they wanted to hop across to Bosnia and play at a monster rave that had been raging for three days but the pair had forgotten their flak jackets so politely declined the offer.
COLOURS VS COLORS Scottish superclub Colours (Streetrave/ Spectrum) is currently embroiled in legal proceedings with the Kilmarnock club of a similar name. Colours say the name belongs to them, and that this new club venue is confusing the issue, especially as Colors is using one of the original Streetrave DJs Bob Jeffrey. Watch this space for more details.
HELLFIRE NEWS Due to ’irregularities’, Scotland’s premier fetish club Hellfire is reconstructing and the night advertised for 6 Nov in Glasgow is facing extreme problems. It is also unlikely that the scheduled 20 Nov event in Edinburgh will run. Events will hopefully resume in Dec. Call AJ (who owns the company) on 0141 569 1451 for details and to re- register on the e-mail list.
Wilkie House would like to apologise to the promoters and punters for the fiasco that ocurred at Luvely, Sat 31 Oct. The rails in the cloakroom collapsed and the lights fused thus plunging the room into darkness. They are 'currently taking measures to address the situation' which should mean expanding and upgrading the cloakroom. They would like to point out that it was entirely their fault and not the Luvely promoters.
5 ~l9 Nov 1998 THE LIS'I’TI