Dub 101 Tour / April 20 / The Union

By: Kyle Rutherford, Staff Writer
Photos By: Kyle Rutherford

The second installment of the Cumulus Entertainment's Dub 101 tour to hit Athens this season was in was in full swing at The Union Friday night. A sort of a 4/20 celebration (and yes, many mentions of the counterculture holiday were made), Cumulus brought in High Chai Recordings' Slave out of Kent, Ohio, to blister the faces of anyone that set foot within the small venue.

First to spin was Captain PlannedIT, who was probably the most eclectic DJ to play the entire night. Going on first with the crowd slowly trickling in, the bass his electro house and dubstep mixes had a greater affect on the rattling of the venue and some or our brains. Yes, his bass was heavy, but it was never too heavy that is caused people to stop dancing...or breathing. DJing using Traktor as well as adding in his own samples and self-produced drum parts out of Ableton Live, Captain PlannedIT (aka Jason Karikas) played some more popular EDM (Electronic Dance Music) tunes, with a glitched-out, yet less bass heavy remix of the ever so popular "Sandstorm" taking hold at one point, as well as Skrillex's "Right In." But the craziest and most original thing about Karikas was that he played an alto saxophone over a few parts of some songs. Sounds different, but it was lively and fun.

Next out was DJ Technician (Brett Bernardo) from Springfield, Ohio. When Bernardo gets on stage and mixes, the musical feel is as of something you would hear in the UK or in an underground Los Angeles club pre-2010. Bernardo typically starts out with some chill, glitchy bass music that sounds like something you could fall asleep to. Moving forward, the bass gets deeper and some dubstep wobbles are prevalent, but it all stays within the realm of classic UK bass and dubstep music. Even with Bernardo yelling at to the crowd "Ya'll want to hear some dubstep?", attendees didn't get their Americanized brostep that it was obvious that they wanted. Just like February's Love and Light show, no matter the bass, jungle beats, or wobbles, some people just can't get a hold of classic dubstep and bass music, which is dearly unfortunate because DJ Technician is one of the better DJs of that genre that I have seen.

Third out was Columbus's Kingpin (James Castrillo), a 4 -year DJ that plays everything from glitchy house to moombathon, which hits close to home for Castrillo because of his Latino roots. Starting heavy as hell, Kingpin played the sort of stuff you'd hear from a club DJ, but did tend to play music that some attendees could only stand around and looked oddly confused to, such as Deadmau5's "Cthulhu Sleeps" and some moombathon, which gave Castrillo the chance to come out on to the floor and dance for a little while. But the bangers were still there, from roeVy, to Kill the Noize, to Porter Robinson. All in all, Castrillo definitely warmed the crowd up for the headliner.

If only one word could describe DJ/producer Slave's set it could only be heavyashell. Starting heavy with an (obviously) cannabis inspired dubstep track, the 21 year old David Timko stayed heavy throughout, playing mostly electro house and dubstep. Timko was able to make things seem easy when mixing, playing many club bangers like Borgore's "Flex(Document One Remix), practically balling energy up in his hands and throwing it out onto the dance floor. The coolest mix session (for me at least) that took place was a straight, effortless mix of "Fire Hive" by Knife Party, "Bass Cannon" by Flux Pavilion, and the Noisia remix of "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" by Skrillex. Also mixing in KDrew's remix of "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye (a song whose remixes have become a staple for professional and amateur DJs everywhere), dubheads were pleased throughout Timko's entire set.

Last out was Dayton's Elton Mack, a seasoned DJ who runs a group called Run DDT (Dayton Dub Tribe) and has even been a resident DJ at Dayton's Club, Masque, doing Thursday dubstep shows for six months. Mack's set was what one would expect to step into whilst at a club, combing heavy remixes of rap and hip-hop tunes, but mixing in softer remixes of "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Obviously the dubstep and even the drum and bass influences were superior, but the occasional dance and house music made the now smaller crowd jump. Mack played what clubbers would love, but throwing in heavy bass and closing with a remix of "Hit the Road Jack," he was able to play something that everybody could like and that everyone would dance to.

Dub 101 Tour / April 6 / The Union

By: Kyle Rutherford, Staff Writer
Photos By: Kyle Rutherford

The Union exploded Thursday night when the Dub 101 crew rolled in, bringing along quite possibly the biggest electronic music act ever to Athens

First to spin was DJ Pro Bono, a 5th year recreation management senior from OU. Pro Bono's set was chill, with a high emphasis on hip-hop and rap mixed into drum and bass, drumstep, and classic dubstep. It took him most of his set to bring in some bangers, but he was able to make everything he played danceable. Pro Bono says that he is just starting to produce his own music.

Second up was Easty, an Athens local and Casa employee, who played a heavy dubstep set. His set had an emphasis on classic British style, but it also brought in super heavy bass songs. There was less rap and hip-hop influence, but glitchy stuff progressed into heavier stuff that was better to dance to. Easty said he will be releasing some original material soon.

The first touring act was Thunder St. Clair, who countered Easty's heavy dubstep set with another heavy dubstep set. He was able to mix any kind of dubstep together, transitioning well and throwing in a tons of dance tracks, all with a heavy bass twist. Thunder St. Clair got his start about four years ago, stemming from his college graduation party. He put on the first ever dubstep party in Cleveland, and still continues to put on these parties. He is heavy influenced by producers like Machine Drum and Starkey, and has opened for huge producers, like !2th Planet and Datsik.

Fourth out was Carma, out of the company My Best Friends Party. A DJ of about 7 years, Carma played more of a dance dubstep set, using tracks like "Fire Hive" by Knife Party, transitioned into remixes of popular Top 40 songs, like "Niggas in Paris" by Jay-Z & Kanye West. Since his initially playing dance music, Carma has risen to playing a mess of club shows in Columbus through MBFP.

A little background before I go into Crizzly's set. Born in Texas as Chris Marshall, Crizzly has only been DJing for about 4 years, which isn't band, considering he is only 19 now. Chris started his career playing high school parties and school dances, progressing into producing about two years ago. Marshall's sound can be described as crunkstep, a near epileptic mixture of mid-2000's style rap and hip-hop, mixed with drum-and-bass, heavy dubstep and drumstep. Though he doesn't have any original music slated for release, Crizzly's remixes are being spun by popular DJ's/producers worldwide.

Only one word can truly describe his set: insane. From start to finish, the music was heavy and the crowd was going crazy. Pro Bono's alter-ego as MC Drunken Assassin conducted the crowd through the insanity, rarely straying from spitting commands into the mic, as well as hyping everyone up. Some of Crizzly's most memorable drops were his remixes of "Hard in Da Paint" by Waka Flocka Flame, the internet famous "Big Booty Bitches" and "Go Hard" by Dream. The most memorable mix for me was his remix of "Dat Ass" by Logun and "Bass Cannon" by Flux Pavilion. The track about literally blew my mind, and I know for a fact that the faces of everyone in attendance were melted off.