Busy Busy Bumblebee (Part 1)

Anyone remember that annoying advert for that board game when we were kids?

You know, the one where you had to wear some kind of idiotic headband and try to pick up magnetic bees from a tray where they were all bouncing about all over the place? It had a really annoying tune that featured two kids going “Busy busy busy, busy busy busy, busy busy bumbleebees”?

Well, that’s kind of like how everything is at the moment!

Don’t worry – I’ll be quick, because this will no doubt turn into  a massive post otherwise and neither you or I probably have the time to read it all. But loads has been going on and I’d like to tell you all about it. In fact, I’m going to split this blog into two parts so I can think about what to put in each one, haha!

Right, firstly – the releases! In the past month or so R_U_RED.Y? got released on the hardcore breaks compilation Hardcore Energy Volume 4! You can get hold of it from the Hardcore Lives record label at www.hclrecords.co.uk, or by clicking on the image of the album just below:

The album is just £6 and also includes tracks from Richie K, Voyager, Vinyl Junkie, Sike, and loads more.

Also in the last month or so, The Bells was released on Digital Ruffneck recordings! I wrote this track early last year when I was playing about writing some J-Tek (new Jungle Tekno pioneered by the likes of Randall et al) and after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing it’s ended up on the first release from Digital Ruffneck. You can grab it from the shop over at www.nu-rave.com (or click the image below) and it’ll set you back just a quid! Check the other tunes on the release too if you like your rougher beats.

You may also remember a tune I made from an earlier post on here, called Watchmen of the Apocalypse. This was my first 100% dubstep tune and was written a couple months ago. Well, it looks like there could possibly be a release for this on a locally based record label called Duster Recordings. Duster specialise in worldwide dubstep talent and have a great emphasis on pushing talent wherever it comes from. I happened to find them after a feature in a local paper and went along to say hello! Of course it’s very early days right now, but who knows eh?

If you haven’t heard the track (or seen the video), here it is for you. Feedback is appreciated as always!

For your information, you can check my other videos at http://www.youtube.com/uphoriak.

There’s been some more fun with the Antiques Roadshow tune (see below on these)! In the past week the harder mix has been featured on the latest podcast from Luna-C over at Kniteforce Revolution, hit the front page of RaveTalk (nice one Sperge!), and if it hasn’t been released already, stand by for the latest mix from Ben over at Wrong Music because it will be in his mix! Still working on a proper release mind you, so stay tuned. After bang face weekender next weekend I should have more time to focus on it, for now there’s just too much going on!

So that’s it for part 1, just a quick to mention that if you’re down in Fleet (Hampshire land) tomorrow night come to the Emporium where I’ll be spinning a breaks set – tinged with some hardcore breaks of course - at Revive, formerly known as Kompound Frakture. DJ Donut and the crew have been kind enough to ask me back and I was glad to oblige. Entry is free so you’ve got no reason not to come! Click the flyer below to find out more information.

And as a final bonus, if you want a recording of my set at the last event which includes loads of great breaks, nu-rave, and hardcore breaks tracks, just click here! If you’re coming down tomorrow night there’s even some free CD’s I’ll be giving away so come and pester me for them, haha!

Right.. in part 2 later this weekend, I’ll tell you about a new breakbeat hardcore label that I’m about to launch and some exclusive information about the almighty BANG FACE WEEKENDER, so stay tuned!

Until next time
Dave

Join my Antiques Roadshow appeal!

A few weeks ago I was asked by a mate for this birthday to do him a remix of The Antiques Roadshow, because he thought it would sound cool. So I did two (because I like to suprise people and cos I’m nice!).

He loved it. He played it to friends.
They loved it. They played it to more friends.
They loved it. They suggested I give it to Ed Real. I did.
He played it at the Hard Dance Awards 2009.
Which was reviewed and they specifically mentioned the tune.
I was amazed, to be honest.

So here we are. Basically, there’s a bit of steam building up around these tracks and if anyone knows who would be interested in pressing this on their label, then please get in touch, because I’m guessing it’d sell well.

Or if you have time, just leave a comment to this post or on the youtube links, because I may use them as proof people like the tune when I approach anyone

I present to you… DAVE SKYWALKER – “THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW”

side A – Uplifting Mix

side AA – Smash that Priceless Owl and Stick K******e Up Your A**e Mix

It’s sunday, so here’s some sunday dubstep

Easy guys,

Hope you’re all keeping well. I really need to do a BIG blog post soon about how Hardcore Energy 4 is now out, featuring my track “>R_U_RED.Y?”, or about how my track “The Bells” has just been realised on Digital Ruffneck, or about how I’ll now be opening up Bang Face Weekender, or how I could be on the next series of BBC 1’s “Total Wipeout”, but I need to sit and organise everything!

Instead, I’ve spent most of today mixing. I’ve finally got enough dubstep to do a proper mix of it, and I’m fairly happy with it.

Includes a few of my own tracks for good measure, and some dubstep classics and classics to be 

Download link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VDJS7U3G

Feedback appreciated!

(Oh, and the blog post will come soon!)

Cheers

Dave

Enter the 2009..

God, doesn’t everybody seem to be in a rush?

The christmas and new year went by so quickly that although we’ve only been back into the swing of things a couple of weeks, it seems we never really had a break at all. Likewise, things are megabusy here too so this entry will have to be brief I’m afraid – another entry when I have a bit more time!

Firstly, raves since my last blog post. Christ where do we begin? Firstly, BANG FACE. As mentioned in my last blog entry, it was a great night. Everyone was in a festive mood and it was good to meet even more new faces both at the event and also at the afterparty too

I promised that I’d post the mix from the event and although a bit late, here it is!

DAVE SKYWALKER LIVE AT BANGFACE 62, 9PM-11PM 12/12/2008
01. Hereleduke – Hereleduke vs The Snowman
02. X-Zero – Tyler
03. Dumbsteppaz – Terrorist Dub VIP
04. TC – Where’s My Money (Caspa Remix)
05. Tes La Rok – Santa Claus Is Lost
06. DJ Mika – Silver Bullet
07. Goncalo M – Main Evolution
08. Ganez & Marco Woods – Dance Lovers
09. Monocore – Sudden Drop
10. Ganez – Sunshine Moo
11. Ryuji Takeuchi & DJ Mika – Pump Up
12. Julian Liberator – Funkytown (Alex Calver Remix)
13. Dave Skywalker – Asmodeus
14. Dave Skywalker vs Blackout Crew vs Fullfilment vs Slade featuring MC Normski and The Bang Face Hard Crew – Put a Bangface Weekender Christmas Donk On It
15. Bad Company – The Nine (DJ Entropy Remix)
16. Dave Skywalker – >R_U_RED.Y?
17. SL2 – Way In My Brain (SL2 & Al Storm Remix)
18. Danny Byrd – Shock Out
19. RCola, Murda & Liondub – Kingston 11 Riddim
20. Capital J & Bigg Triggs – Noizecheck (16AJ Remix)
21. Cris E Manic – One More
22. AC Slater – Crowd Control
23. Elation – Christmas PA
24. Rotterdam Termination Source – Merry X-Mess
25. Random Attack (aka Dave Skywalker) – Groove Is In My Fart
26. Random Attack – Robbie Williams Fucked My Angel While His Sister Frigged Herself Off In The Corner
27. Faces of Humanity – Santa Is On His Way
28. The Stunned Stylzz – Sleigh Ride
29. Bitch Crosby – Christmas Is Here
30. DJ Primo – Merry Christmas
31. DJ Floorclearer – Strangling The Giant Elephant
32. Random Attack feat MC Shazzaspannered – Fuckin’ Gabber
33. Random Attack – Without Eminem
34. Dina Carroll – The Perfect Year
35. Random Attack – This Isn’t A Song It’s Just Five Minutes And Twelve Seconds Of Noise But I Suppose If It Was A Song It Would Be Called I’m Your Terror (Terror Mix)

And the link? http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R3U9QCIV

Anyway, hope you like it! On a personal note I reckon it was one of the best sets I’ve ever played at Bang Face, and with it now being only 99 days to the weekender it’s fair to say I’m pretty bloody excited!

Next, shouts to everyone I met who was at Lean 2 Mean at Northampton (cheers to Sid for the booking on that one), and also Cruze In in Birmingham just after christmas. Apologies for getting a little too pissed too!!

Right.. onto bookings and things. Next Saturday the 24th January I’ll be playing at History of Hardcore, at Jacks in London Bridge. HoH have built up a great following and I’ve been looking forward to playing at one for a while now, so I’ll be playing a ‘95-’96 happy hardcore set in room 2. Keep your energy up though, because I’ll be rounding off the night from 5am-6am!

On the 7th February I’m down to play a night called Chemical Haven, at Intake in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. As far as I know the night is still going ahead, but it’s best to keep your eyes on DSI etc for this.

Looking ahead, I’m back at Kompound Frakture on the 18th April. KF have moved to Guildford for this event, but if it’s anything like the last one (see an earlier blog post) it’ll be wicked and I’m looking forward to playing again for the KF guys (and gal!).

Onto tuneage – and this will be the reason some of you have come to the blog for the first time! Firstly, R_U_RED.Y? will be coming out soon on Hardcore Energy volume 4. I hear it’s now in the mastering stages and then will be at the pressers so keep your eyes peeled!

A quick thanks too to Luna-C for playing my Blackout Crew vs Slade mashup (see earlier blog post for the download link!) on his podcast over christmas – respect due! I definately recommend checking out Kniteforce Revolution when you get time, it’s become an absolutely immense site – just needs a forum now!

And finally, a free tune! Recently I’ve been hearing the track Day N Nite by Kid Cudi all over the place, and it was released as a single here in the UK at the start of the week. Thanks to “xTheWiddler” on the dubstepforum site for the tip, I was able to get an acapella of the track and I’ve created my own remix. It’s on an oldskool jungle (think early LTJ Bukem) meets dubstep tip, and it’s available for you to download in full 320kpbs loveliness. Please send me feedback if you have time, and you can download it by clicking on the picture below. Enjoy!

So that’s about it for now. I’m also working on a couple of hardcore bits at the moment and for the first time am working with a vocalist, so this is something new and exciting, stay tuned!

Until next time…
Dave

Merry Christmas Everybody.. and stick a donk on it!

Yeah yeah, you know the deal.. too much going on, too little time etc! Just a quick post to give you an early present as the days count down to Christmas!

For Bang Face last weekend I made a special little mashup track (oh, and the mix from Bang Face will be on here in the next day or two, so stay tuned there) as I was asked to play both Play A Donk On It by the Blackout Crew, and also Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade.. so I mashed them up together and the result went down amazingly!

Last night I was DJing at Lean 2 Mean in Northampton, played the track again.. and it went down a storm. So.. the only thing to do.. is give it away!

Download it here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=869UCLBS

It’s got a DJ friendly intro and outro.. but be warned for the BPM shift halfway through!

Anyway, have fun, enjoy, and if I don’t post again on here before Christmas have a good one everyone! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The nights are drawing in..

Ello all! Not a massive update today (unlike the last blog post which seemed to take about three years to write, haha!) but just a few bits of news, a new mix, and a couple of random videos I came across for you.

Firstly, shouts to everyone who was at Subway City in Birmingham for Bounce 2 This a couple weeks back, and also to everyone who was at No Skillz Aloud 2 in Northampton on Friday night. Had a great time at both of these and hope you enjoyed the sets if you were there!

I’m about to update my website with a couple of bookings I’ve got in the last week but a quick heads up here first – I will be playing at the next BANG FACE on December 12th at Elektrowerkz in London! Looking forward to this, so if you’re planning on coming along (I mean, they have Altern 8, and Spor just for starters!!!) then Shaz and I will see you there. The christmas Bang Face’s are always extra special because Christmas is just around the corner, so I’m well looking forward to it!
Then in January I will be playing a classic oldskool hardcore set at History of Hardcore at Jacks, and on February 7th I will be playing old skool in the Club Kinetic room at a pretty big event being held in Mansfield up in Nottinhamshire. I’m not sure of the event name yet, but I’ve heard the proposed lineup and it sounds fat!!

Anyway, as it’s the last day of the month (can’t think of any other thing special about this grey sunday morning, haha) here’s a mix for you. Someone over on the www.nu-rave.com forums was asking earlier in the week about breakbeat hardcore (that is to say hardcore in the 160-180bpm range but predominantly breakbeat, as opposed to hardcore breaks, which is breaks with a hardcore slant, from 140-160ish bpm *sigh*) as it is a genre that doesn’t really fit anywhere. It’s too fast for hardcore breaks sets, but too breakbeaty for most hardcore-heads, and not crazy enough for breakcore fans, but it’s still AWESOME music in my opinion and is one of my favourite types of music.

Anyway, he was asking what tunes were out there that had come out recently, and rather than give him a list, I decided to do a quick mix by way of reply. As its quick, there’s one (may-I-say-quite-superb) clang in it, so I called it Sixty Minutes and One Clang of Breakbeat Hardcore:

Download Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/swz2ye
Tracklisting:
1. SL2 – Way In My Brain (SL2 & Al Storm Remix)
2. Jakazid – Can’t Hold Back (DJ Shimamura Remix)
3. Darwin – Takes You Back
4. Heaven 7 – Take Me Away (Al Storm Remix)
5. Unknown Error – Alone
6. Darwin – Promise Me
7. Jobabe – Ready Or Not (DJ Shimamura Remix)
8. Jow – No Name (One for Dave Skywalker Mix)
9. DJ Deluxe – Lazy Hardcore
10. Dapz – Jungle Story VIP (feat. MC Spyda)
11. DJ Wink – Gotta Believe (Al Storm Remix)
12. Audioscape feat. Annika – All My Lovin (Jakazid Remix)
13. DJ Donna Summer – Get The Fuck Off
14. Luna-C – I Run These Streets 2

All tracks with the exception of number 8 came out within the last year or so. And yeah, I know there’s a lot of Shimamura, Jakazid, Darwin and Al Storm but tbh it’s because they are awesome. And I didn’t know if I could include any unreleased stuff without checking first, so I didn’t, heh.

And onto the last part of my blog post.. where I tell you things that you should be checking out! These are in no particular order:
www.nu-rave.com
The Cris E Manic and Wizbit show on Eruption FM on Tuesday evenings
The next KFA release (see www.kniteforcerevolution.com) – it is AWESOME
The Luna-C podcasts, which I think should be or will be coming out any day now, again, wicked

Second to last, you need to check the hilarious baptazia videos doing the rounds on youtube. A guy called airloaf is behind these, and they are awesome. I noticed there’s currently not a Baptazia ravers group on facebook, so this needs to be sorted! Anyway, check this shiznit:

And finally.. here’s the most insane dog in the planet. You need sound – turn it up and enjoy possibly the craziest 28 seconds of your day.

Enjoy your weekend!
Dave

Just married.. and loads going on!

Hi everyone – and as I always end up saying in this blog, what a mad month it has been – again!

The biggest news of course is that I now have a Mrs Skywalker (OK.. a Mrs Curran to the “normal” folk) with me! I am going to dedicate a follow-up blog post to our wedding, the run up and honeymoon in detail, but of course that’s the biggest news. I want quickly to give a big BIG thank-you to everyone who wishes us well, from our parents, wedding party and friends right through to this months Core Magazine!

This blog is just going to focus on what’s happened music wise in the week or so since I got back into the UK, and it’s been pretty crazy to be honest. Last Friday I headed down to Fleet in Hampshire to DJ at a breaks night called Kompound Frakture. A big shout to the guys behind the night, DJ Donut and Dan, Life FM and Knowledge Magazine, Shaz and I had a great time, and also shouts to Alex and Lew from the nu-rave forums for coming along and showing support. It was the first time I’ve played at a breaks night and therefore my set was more on the nu-rave / rave breaks tip, with a few breaks tunes thrown in for good measure.

As always I try to get a mix of the night together so people who couldn’t make it can check it out and this was no exception, so you lovely lovely people – here’s the mix for you! It’s just over 90 minutes long so download and play away!

You can download it from http://www.megaupload.com/?d=44DTO92U and the tracklisting is as follows:
0. Intro
1. Woottsy – Tribute
2. Destiny – The Mysterons
3. Switch – A Bit Patchy (Slipmatt Remix)
4. Camile Jones vs Freddie Le Grand – The Creeps (Slipmatt & Billy Bunter Remix)
4. Mr Dan & Sparks – Body Slam
5. Seduction – Hardcore Heaven (Ratpack & Shimano Remix)
6. Rave Breakz – Where Prodigy Lives
7. Broke & Twisted – Wound Up
8. SL2 – Make a move (Sy & Unknown Remix)
9. Aquasky & Blu Rum – Tell Me You Love It (2 Bad Mix)
10. Mars & The Phat Riderz – Communistic Funky Beat 94Kuba Remix)
11. Gordon Edge – Compnded (Slipmatt & Billy Bunter Remix)
12. Kicks Like a Mule – The BOuncer (Billy Bunter & Shimano Remix)
13. Backdraft – Revolution (Affinity Remix)
14. Grizly Dynasty – Like it Raw (Breaks Mix)
15. Junki Munki – Get On Up
16. Junki Munki & Reckless – Sun Dance
17. Funkasaurus – Kegappa
18. Alex Gaudino – Destination Calabria (Slipmatt & Billy Bunter Remix)
19. Slipmatt – Breaking Free 2007
20. Ellis Dee & Swan E – Ruffneck Biznizz
21. Mulder – Cue Burn
22. Aems – Samurai Dread
23. Outro

So there you go on that one. Saturday night we were over to Cambridge for Epidemiks 13th birthday party at The Junction! I was DJing back to back with the Elation boys Ponder and Wizbit, and besides the sound system being a nightmare (the mixer having a complete mind of it’s own) it was a good night. Turnout was much better than I’ve ever seen it, and Grant and the Epidemik crew put on a great show. Everyone seemed in good spirits!

From there, it was back in the car and over to Birmingham to go to Cruze In – this one being a double celebration for James & Heathers engagement party! Shouts to everyone in the place there, unfortunately we missed Brisk by about 10 minutes but from what I gather it was pretty hilarious times.

So that’s where I’ve been out and about in the last week or so, onto the music production! Oh quickly before that, stick the 15th November into your diaries as I’m playing at Bounce 2 This at Subway City in Birmingham. If you’ve got any requests then gimme a shout! ;)

Yeah, so music production. While I was on honeymoon the boys over at Hardcore Lives have released Hardcore Energy Volume 3, featuring numerous awesome hardcore breaks tunes including Voodoo Magic by my good self! I’m obviously stoked about this, and the album is only around a fiver so click the CD cover below to head over to the record store where you can buy this slice of goodness!

And you’re back? Good stuff. Right, next on the production agenda is a brand new track by myself called 185 Hertz. Dubstep seems to be the flavour of the moment, so I have mashed it up with hardcore breaks and here’s your result. It’s getting some good feedback around the boards so here’s your chance to hear it:

More good news, is that my track “>R_U_RED.Y?” that I’ve been playing out for the last couple of months and is on the Riverdance afterparty mix on an earlier blog post has this morning been signed to Hardcore Lives for the next Hardcore Energy album! This is world exclusive news and possibly the first track to be announced for volume four (I’m if being presumptious, haha!).

Steve Deluxe has been firing people up with his great first solo artist release, Tales from the Dirtbox, featured this month in Core Magazine. It’s a free album so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be downloading it, and he’s currently working on a second album from his label, Rogue Squadron. I’m proud to announce I’ll be contributing towards this, so more information over the next couple of months and keep your eyes peeled.

On the long-distance radar front, I’ve been approached to do some remixes for Julia K, a London-based alternative group. Details on this are very sketchy at the moment, so I’ll keep you posted details work themselves out!

And on the evening of Sunday the 23rd November, tune into Nu-Rave radio and you’ll be able to hear a very special guest mix from myself with the latest and greatest rave breaks, hardcore breaks and breakbeat hardcore.

Finally, some more good news – I posted a track “Kyoto” on here a few blog posts ago, which was my first trials into IDM (that “Squarepusher” type stuff to those not in the know), and over on Soundclick it has made it into the top 10 IDM tracks globally! As you can guess I’m pretty chuffed about this as Soundclick carry over 245,000 electronic tracks, so I’m sure there will be more stuff coming from me in this kind of style.

I think that is about it (whew!), needless to say a busy 10 days has passed since we got back from honeymoon! As for the wedding and event itself, that’s a blog post coming up next..

Oh one final word before I go, I have updated my website, www.daveskywalker.com, with new gallery photos, flyer images, booking and production information, and it now has a link back to the blog where I’ll post all my uploaded mixes – so remember to keep it bookmarked. Also for those of you reading this through facebook it’s worth noting that this isn’t a Facebook blog, it’s held with WordPress and the real link to this blog is http://daveskywalker.wordpress.com, or as mentioned you can always access it through my main website.

Right, I really should get back to work, as it’s full steam here too! Needless to say, a massive shout to EVERYONE I’ve come into contact with in the last month or so, which I think has to be just about everyone I know! It’s been pretty much the most mental month ever.. but then I always end up saying that, don’t I?

Until next time..

Dave

The month that was..

Well what a month it’s been! Usually on a blog if there hasn’t been an update for a while it’s an indication that not much has been going on.. in this case, it’s completely the opposite!

Let me try and follow events in a chronological order. After Sanctuary festival (which was a brilliant night let me just say again, and thanks to everyone who got in contact with me to say how much they liked the set – both on the night and from the recording I uploaded in my blog post) there was a chance for a few days rest, and then a last minute booking reared its head for the Bang Face boat party down the river Thames!

Hopefully you won’t need me to tell you about Bang Face, because you’ll already know. If not though, then basically it’s a monthly event held at the Elektrowerkz in London, hosted by the legendary Saint Acid (his real name is James, don’t worry!). Next month sees the fifth birthday of Bang Face, and it’s one of the few events that continually go from strength to strength, thanks in part to the inspired lineups and the numerous extra little things that go into the night that so many other promoters either fail to consider or put into executation. Anyway, before I go into complete fanboy meltdown, I’ll focus on the night itself.

Bang Face hadn’t done a boat party before to my knowledge, so no-one was really to expect what madness would occur, other than that it was bound to happen. I won’t go into how great the night was, because that’s besides the point, but there was much hilarity and great sets from everyone who played. I was given the opportunity to play the first 30 minutes or so, and besides disgruntling one raver by playing news clips of the Marchioness disaster over the top of Sharkeys “Get Fucked” everything went down a storm. Unfortunately we discovered that Shaz, my fiance, hasn’t got over her sea sickness, so the night was marred somewhat but besides that, yet another fantastic night. Tickets sold out in 44 seconds which has to be a first, and tickets are now on sale for the second bang face weekender next April down at Camber Sands near Hastings. I don’t need to tell you they will probably go quickly, because this years event was unbelivable amounts of awesomeness.

The day after Bang Face I headed up to Manchester for an evening with friends, and the next day it was back down to London again for Tony Res’ Riverdance boat party – yes two boat parties within 48 hours! This time we headed directly to the afterparty, which was still on the boat, and the decks were set on the side of the hull making mixing decidedly more difficult than it was at Bang Face! This time it was an opportunity to play some new hardcore breaks stuff in addition to lots of my own tuneage I had been working on, and for your pleasure I’ve uploaded the mix.. so before I continue on here’s where you download it!

DAVE SKYWALKER @ RIVERDANCE AFTER PARTY
LINK: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KXOZVMEK
—————————————
01 – Dave Skywalker – Big (Brothers) Bang [B2VOS]
02 – Switch – A Bit Patchy (Slipmatt Remix) [Ministry of Sound]
03 – Twista – Sensation [Junki Munki]
04 – Prodigy – Charly (Dave Skywalker Remix) [Hardcore Lives]
05 – Dave Skywalker – >R_U_RED.Y? [Unsigned]
06 – Top Buzz – Living in Darkness (Sparky & Twista Remix) [Uppa Cutz]
07 – Dave Skywalker – The Bells [J-Tek]
08 – Enzyme – Bass Driver [Nu Basement]
09 – Mulder – Devil Inside [2 Fresh]
10 – Dave Skywalker – Asmodeus [Unsigned]
11 – Nervous & Anxious – Take Me Higher [B2VOS]
12 – Hattrixx – Flashback Traxx Remix [CDR]
13 – Deluxe – Lazy Hardcore [Rogue Squadron]

So there you go! As you can see, there’s a few of my new tunes thrown in there and I think it’s only fair I mention a bit about them, seeing as it’s my blog and all! Big Brothers Big Bang is of course a slight adaptation of the track that featured on the second BackToTheOldSkool Hardcore Breaks Sampler that came out earlier this year and is available here. As Big Brother finished a couple weeks ago I thought it’d be a good time to throw in a cheeky track, especially after Katherya’s superb shout out to the hardcore massive in the diary room! I’ve had a couple requests to put this version online, and as promised you can grab it here – enjoy!

The Charly remix was done a while ago, originally as a remix in the B2VOS producer competition. Since then I’ve beefed it up a bit and added some extras, and it will be coming out on the next Hardcore Energy album from Hardcore Lives! This is due out in the next month or two, and the first two are quite frankly superb, so you do worse than checking them out.

The Bells is a tune I wrote earlier this year, after getting into the stuff that Randall, Modular etc were pushing on their J-Tek label. In case you’re not aware, J-Tek (not to be confused with the record label of the same name) is an attempt to recapture the 93 sound of Jungle Techno, but bringing it up to date, often introducing elements of dubstep, electro, and hardcore breaks. Anyway, I was contacted last week by Modular, and the upshot of that is that The Bells will be coming out on J-Tek records! I can’t give you a date on that yet, but I’ll keep you posted.

So that leads me onto the two last tracks in the mix from myself, Asmodeus and >R_U_RED.Y. Asmodeus was produced literally just in time for the bang face weekender, and both this and >R_U_READY are an attepmt to capture the classic Carl Cox ‘93 Plymouth warehouse type vibe and hardcore from around that time, when some of it still had elements of belgian techno, but was much more furious and “hardcore” sounding. I’m pretty happy with them, and they’re unsigned at the moment so if anything good happens to them then I’ll let you know of course!

So what else has been happening? I’m currently in the middle of creating the flyer for the next Subliminal Discharge to be held at Jacks in November.. in case you’re not aware I do all the flyer designs for Subliminal Discharge as shown here:

.. and I’m always pretty happy with them. The theme of the next event is the seven deadly sins, so I’ve got my thinking hat on and it’s looking pretty good!

Also coming up at the start of November is Epidemiks 11th birthday combined with their halloween party back at The Junction in Cambridge. I’m really chuffed for Grant and the rest of the Epidemik family here, Cambridge is proving to be a great home for Epidemik and the crowd is fantastic. We’re in the process at the moment of sending out all the eFlyers to your mailboxes and plugging it to death as we always do, so no doubt you’ll be getting the flyer soon if you’ve got an email account! On the night I’ll be doing a 90 minute three way back-to-back with Wizbit and Ponder from Elation and it should be a great set and a wicked night! Speaking of Elation, I had the opportunity of playing in the Elation courtyard arena at the launch party for RFU’s Hardcore Underground night last Friday.

Besides some undesirable technical issues early in the night everything went relatively smoothly and from what I gather everyone had a great night. It was good to such such a varied lineup in both arenas, and hats off to CDJay and everyone else who worked behind the scenes to pull this off. Some of us were still recovering from my stag party the week beforehand, but a good night all round.

Which of course leads me to my stag party..

.. and WHAT A WEEKEND is all I can say on that front! With the wedding just 15 days away we’re into the final stretch as far as planning goes, and just under two weeks ago was my stag party. The unlucky 13 of us (including such people as DJ Cruze, Cris E Manic, Astraboy, and DJ Dodgee – who incidentially is my best man and obviously one of my best friends) all got on planes to the most tacky, hilarious and mental place we could think of – MAGALUF!

Needless to say carnage was the name of the weekend. Insanely high cocktails, skinny dipping, strippers, whippers, gential piercing (yes, really!), it was pretty insane all round and everyone had a superb time. Of course, how some of these stories are going to be retold at the wedding in a couple weeks is anyones guess, but I’m sure everything will get told in all its gory detail (and if you want to see the pics, then head over to facebook)!

As you can imagine, I’m going to be out of action for most of October, with the wedding and then our honeymoon to the Carribean afterwards, so this may be my last blog as a “single” man. So if I don’t post on here before then, I’ll see you on the flipside – and to everyone coming to our wedding – I’ll see you there!

Shouts to all the numerous people I’ve met in the last month, there really are so many people to mention old and new that I’ve come into contact with, and it was great to see every one of you.

 

Until the next time..

Dave

That was Slammin’ Vinyl baby!!

What a stormer Slammin Vinyl Sanctuary Fest was! Thankfully the Friday night I was there the rain held off, and the Epidemik tent rocked it immensley the whole night through! Was a bit weird when we first got there as we thought the tent was up near the campsite like on the DSI map last week, but it was down near the outdoor stage area, great little (inflatable) tent, the sound was LOUD and you could hear everything decently.

Only downside was the technical issues with the generator and (from the artists perspective) the dodgy deck setup, I dunno what kind of decks they were but they took a bit of getting used to, they weren’t even technics, not even sure they were direct drives, lol!!!

Anyway, MASSIVE MASSIVE respects to all the artists and DJs in the tent on the night. Vera played a great set, as did JC later on. Unfortunately I didn’t catch most of Bunters set as we were over raving it up to Bukem and Hixxy on the outdoor stage but heard it was ace, and nice one to Dan on getting the CD decks sorted too, it certainly helped later on, haha!

Most important, cheers to you lot who came over and stomped it up in the tent on the night! It made playing the tunes 100000% more enjoyable and I’m glad loads of you liked it and came up afterwards to tell me how much you liked it, it means a lot

So by way of a thank-you… HERE’S THE SET! My trusty mp3 recorder didn’t let me down, and the whole two hour set is right here for you to download! The first hour is pretty much MC free (just my idiotically excitable rants from time to time, lol), and the second half – after a quick MC blag was dealt with – is hosted by the brilliant MC Cutter. Had the pleasure of meeting him a few times and I was impressed by his talent on the mic, and how funny the guy is – so props to you mate!

Right, here’s the tracklisting:
1. T99 – Antasthasia
2. The Prodigy – Smack My Bitch Up
3. The Prodigy – Smack My Bitch Up (Sub Focus Remix)
4. 4 Hero – Cookin’ Up Ya Brain
5. The Prodigy – Everybody In The Place
6. Urban Hype – Trip To Trumpton
7. Awesome – Don’t Go (KLAM Mix)
8. DMS – Exterminate
9. Bizarre Inc – Playing with Knives
10. Krome & Time – This Sound is for the Underground
11. Red Alert & Mike Slammer – 1,2,3,4
12. Edge 1 – Compnded
13. Rhythm for Reasons – Grand National
14. Yolk – Music 4 Da People
15. Vibes – Obsession
16. Foul Play – Finest Illusion (Illegal Mix)
17. DJ Lee – A Touch of Darkness
18. Aurora – Firin on all Cylinders
19. Jim Polo & Neil Vass – Rolling Energy (DJ SS Remix)
20. Wax Doctor – Another Direction
21. Krome & Time – The Slammer
22. Dead Dred – Dred Bass
23. M Beat feat General Levy – Incredible
24. M Beat feat General Levy – Incredible (Drum & Bass Mix)
25. DJ Hype – Rrrolll the Beats
26. DJ SS – Lighter
27. Prizna feat Demolition Man – Fire
28. Krome & Time – The Licence
29. Red Alert & Mike Slammer- In Effect (Slipmatt Remix)
30. Happy Tunes – Rushing on Pink Champagne
31. DJ Seduction – Disco Hardcore
32. DJ Seduction – Imagination
33. DJ Brisk – Airhead
34. Midas – Groove Control
35. DJ Brisk vs Rebel Alliance – Floor Friction
36. Helix – U R Everything

And here’s the link!
megaupload.com
Enjoy =D

So that was that! Already now it’s Monday evening, and after spending the last two days down in Hastings, being at work today, joining the gym tonight (bring on the new fitness regime starting at 7am tomorrow morning!), what else is there to look forward to? Only BANG FACE BOAT PARTY this Friday night down in London!! BRING IT ON!!

Welcome

Hi!

This the the first post on the “new” Dave Skywalker blog, so I thought an introduction is better done before I get onto what the blog is really about – letting you know what’s going on music wise, and for friends and family other-wise!

This started off life on my myspace page (www.myspace.com/davecurran), except that after time people weren’t really going on myspace any more – facebook becoming the all-seeing eye into our society – and that myspace is a bit lacking in customisation, so I thought that an indexed blog like wordpress would be a much better platform. So welcome!

So onto business.. what’s been happening over the last couple weeks? Wedding business aside for the moment (because that deserves a MUCH bigger blog entry and I don’t have the time right now!), music has been picking up a fair bit which is all good!

Firstly, my latest track was completed a couple weeks ago. I decided to try my hand at Squarepusher / Aphex Twin style creation, as I had discovered a couple of great VST effects pluginns which thankfully worked fine in my audio workshop tool of choice, Sony Acid Pro. Aside from the fact my hard drive is on it’s last legs I think – time to double-check my backups – everything is going ok there, and here’s my track. It’s called Kyoto after the home of buddhism in Japan (amongst other things), and I hope you like it. I’m also started to get into the habit of creating videos alongside the tunes and used Auto Muvee Producer to create the video for this, then stuck it onto youtube. I’ve found you get better feedback that way!

So any feedback you’ve got is appreciated! I’m pretty happy with the track personally, and will be doing more stuff in this style.

Right, next! My last set out was at Elation a couple weeks back and I thought it went down pretty well. I was on from 10pm-11pm and although the opening set is traditionally a bit empty, thanks to everyone who made the effort and came down before the set was over! I had a blast, and it was a good opportunity to play some newer breakbeat hardcore. I was a bit worried before the set (like I normally am) in case there weren’t enough tunes I liked around to do a complete set, but – as in quite a few times recently – there was just enough to be happy with. This set was similar to a set I did a few weeks ago at Epidemik in Cambridge at The Junction – which I really like as a club – and I’ve uploaded it for your please.

So what’s in the mix? Some japanese inspired hardcore, uk hardcore, old skool, drum n bass, jungle, and a bit of mad stuff to end up on. Basically, everything I’m loving right now in a typical Skywalker(tm) mix.

Grab it from here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BX7NGAOK

And here’s the tracklisting:
TRACKLISTING – DAVE SKYWALKER: THE ELATION MIX – JULY 2008
01: Dave Skywalker – Intro [CDR]
02: Jakazid – Can’t Hold Back (Shimamura Remix) [Nukleuz]
03: Fat Controller – In Complete Darkness [Uphoria]
04: M Beat feat. General Levy – Incredible (Drum n Bass Mix) [Renk]
05: Danny Byrd – Shock Out [Hospital]
06: Al Storm vs Heaven 7 – Take Me Away (Al Storm Beats & Bass Remix) [Warped Science]
07: Unknown Error – Alone [Horizons]
08: Darwin – Promise Me [Nukleuz]
09: Hyper DeeJays feat Jenna C – Don’t Stop Movin (Jakazid Remix) [Nukleuz]
10: Nukleuz Collective – Dreamer [Nukleuz]
11: Seduction & Al Storm – Floor Burn [Impact]
12: Ebony Dubsters – Ra (Original Sin Remix) [Dubsters]
13: Seduction & Al Storm – Floor Burn [Impact]
14. Vince Rapture – Get It On The Floor (Eufeion Remix) [Rapture Trip]
15: Luna C – Piano Confusion (Hattrixx Remix) [Knitefore Again]
16: Garry Bynon – Live at Vitalbeats [10%]
17: DJ Donna Summer – Get The Fuck Off [Cock Rock Disco]

Hope you like!

Right, last but not least, upcoming bookings! Just last night I’ve got two bookings thanks to Tony Wizbit and Grant Epidemik, so that’s 3 upcoming events I’m now booked for. In chronological order, these are:

THIS WEEKEND – FRIDAY 8TH AUGUST – SLAMMIN’ VINYL SANCTUARY FESTIVAL
I have to say I’m really REALLY excited about this! I’ll be playing in the Fantazia/Epidemik tent on friday night from 1am to 3am, dropping a goliath two hour old skool classics set. If you’ve got any requests let me know, and I hope the weather turns out to be alright! Shazza (my fiance and mistress in crime) will be joining me and we’ll see you there.

24TH AUGUST – RIVERDANCE AFTER PARTY – LONDON
We’ll both be on the Tony Resmobile, or alternatively the Resonance Boat Trip during the sunday daytime, but I’ll be playing an oldskool set at the afterparty also. It’s free to get in so hopefully we’ll see ya there – I think you can get more info at www.resonance1.net so check it!

12TH SEPTEMBER – (NAME TBC)
As I was saying, I’ve been booked for an event being run by Tony Wizbit and CDJay, so I’m interested to see the lineup and more information on this – as it is I don’t even know the name of the event yet! I can let you know I’ll be playing oldskool in the second room, and I’ll speak to Wizbit asap and give you more info as I hear it.

So that’s about it really! Lots going on (and loads more non-music related) but if you’re heading to the Sanctuary Festival this weekend come over to the old skool area on Friday night and I’ll see you in there. Catch ya laters!