Since 2010, the UK has seen a decimation of local authority culture and arts budgets, with almost £400m being stripped out of annual spending since...
Search
Results for: UK hip hop
Pirate Studios has given thousands of young producers and musicians affordable access to recording and DJ studios, encouraging collaborations, community and creativity. As an uncertain...
Our festival guide looks to Europe...
His last radio show was produced last week and broadcast this past weekend
This year's edition will feature MC Yallah, Aunty Rayzor, DJ Znobia, Juliana Huxtable, and DJ Marcelle, on the banks of the River Nile
Wild Rumpus is just that: an insanely fun, out-of-control party on wax...
The brainchild of DJ Cosmo (Colleen Murphy) the Boston-born, New York raised, London dwelling disco / house music legend, and infamous leftfield guitarist Gary Lucas, who's played with Captain Beefheart, Lou Reed and Jeff Buckley, they make the kind of funky psychedelic rhythms that can only emanate from maverick minds. First single 'Musical Blaze Up' traverses the dub country route, while new cut 'Purple Somersault' is a bizarre and brilliant collision between cranked Kraut-rock drums, wigged surf guitar and scratchy funk. DJmag beckoned Murphy away from her surf board for a minute to talk names, grooves, and grand plans…
So why the name Wild Rumpus?!
"It's from a children's book called 'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak which I loved as a kid and which I read to my daughter. There is a great part of the story where the little boy and his monster friends are about to have a manic dance party underneath a full moon and it says, 'And now let the wild rumpus start'. It just had to be used."
It seems to be quite an unusual hook up, between you Cosmo, and Gary Lucas. How did you come to be working together?
"Gary and I have been friends for nearly 20 years and have talked about working together for ages. I used to do a few different radio shows on WNYU in NYC and had him up when he was relaunching his solo career in the late '80s. As most people in the UK know me for being a 'dance' DJ, many may think it is quite an unusual collaboration. However, most people don't know that I was first and foremost a rock chick and founded the first psychedelic / progressive rock show on my radio station and I was a huge Captain Beefheart fan before house music even existed!"
You seem to have a diverse taste - one minute dubbed out beats and rhymes, the next Krautrock surf music... Is there a grand Wild Rumpus plan?
"Wild Rumpus is about fusing different styles but in a way that works. It's also about having fun and being irreverent. And finally it's about being different. I spend a few hours at the record store and find that 99% of the music to which I am subjected to is derivative. It's so boring. Gary and I both have musically diverse backgrounds and we are able to use our musical heritage in a unique way. This is all music we love!"
What's a 'Purple Somersault'?
"It's a 'term' my daughter came up with. Her favourite colour is purple and 'purple' has also become an adjective that means something that is 'the best'. She likes being flipped upside down and would ask us to help her do an orange somersault, a black somersault (very sinister), a yellow somersault (happy!), etc. But the best was always the 'Purple Somersault'. Also, as this is a surf tune, the somersault refers to the somersaults one does underwater after a wipe-out."
Is there an album in the works? What can we expect?
"There is an album in the works. We have a lot of Gary's guitar tracks that we have recorded and now it's up to me to put it all together so I have quite a job in front of me. Gary is the most original guitarist and can do anything. When we're in the studio it's just so easy but the problem comes with the editing and arranging as sometimes there is almost too much! All I can say about the album is that it will be diverse but always psychedelic and soulful."
What's next for Wild Rumpus?
"Right now we're getting our live show, The Wild Rumpus Experience, together for the summer. We have performed in some wild places including India and are hoping to for some of the UK festivals. We work with visual artist Rob Rainbow who works with The Light Surgeons and Nitin Sawhney amongst others and have also worked with percussionists and a poi fire dancer! We have a show that reaches people on many dimensions so the visual element is really important. We just want to do something that is a bit different."
Get acquainted with Grey Code, the Metalheadz affiliated, London-based producer synthesizing new styles of drum & bass
Hacienda legends back together
Jon Da Silva is one of the original free-spirited Balearic DJs, and also a resident DJ at the infamous Hacienda club in Manchester in the...
With a new EP driven by the rave and jungle sounds that first inspired her, and her Batty Bass club-night revived, Hannah Holland is having...
Rewind to the early noughties in London: Turnmills and The End were still in full swing, and Hackney still had a lawless feel with its...
Josh Baker, Max Dean, and Lucas Alexander will also perform at DEPOT on 31st March
The latest and greatest DJs and producers rising to the top this month. From stomping techno and jazzy breaks to experimental reggaetón and melodic house, here's February 2022's list of upcoming talent you should be keeping track of
The four-track 'Passionfruit' is out via can you feel the sun in March
MoMA Ready, AKA Gallery S, curates new collection featuring Kush Jones, Tim Reaper, JADALAREIGN, Martyn Bootyspoon, Black Rave Culture, AceMo and more
Wax copies of 'Emergency On Planet Earth', 'A Funk Odyssey' and more will hit shops between now and Christmas
The US DJ and producer has pulled out of the Detroit Movement and Tampa Sunset Music festivals