Bristol
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Bristol stands alone (pop. only 400,000). It continues regardless of capital fashion. It’s got it’s own tunes, scenes, gangs and parties, and it doesn’t care whether you come or not. Folk have been living in the area for 60,000 years but the city really came alive with the wealth of the Empire - the modern city was born from the slaves and sailors that passed through her port. From the dawn of the 18th Century the wonders, horrors and riches of the world came to the West of England. The large black population has been with the city for 300 years now, way longer than the ‘Windrush Generation’ of more willing migrants that came to change the face of English culture in 1948. As a result, developments in dance music that most clearly came from West Indians - specifically the DJ culture, and a taste for heavy bass - grew organically in Bristol as much as they did in London.
In this article we’re gonna detail the history of Bristol’s underground sound, the venues that it’s been played in, the heads that have made it and the current names pushing it all onwards...
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SOUNDS
It’s pretty hard to force the lolloping flow of history into a cohesive timeline. In fact it’s impossible, but we’ve tried dammit. Take this whistle stop through Bristol’s music scene as a highly subjective and ultimately doomed, attempt to make sense of the ways music and subcultures evolve. Right, with that out the way---
When punk exploded through Britain in the late 70s the Bristolian reaction was typically unique.
Local punk Tim Williams got inspired by copies of Sniffin Glue he’d picked up on trips to London and produced his own hacked out punkzine ‘Loaded’. He’s archived all issues online here - along with a load of other rare zines all bursting with vitriol and enthusiasm. As bands in the capital largely staggered into a 3 chord thrash-out dead end, down in the West country something more funky was forming. Groups like The Pop Group and Glaxo Babies were welding the ragged aesthetic of punk to disco bass, african poly-rhythms and dub percussion. From the Pop Group check out ‘She’s Beyond Good and Evil’
and the frankly terrifying ‘We Are All Prostitutes’ (recently covered and remixed by Adam Sky and Crookers)
Glaxo Babies are best heard on everyone’s favourite party starter ‘This Is Your Life’ (sample lyric - to be delivered in a misery monotone - “This is your life// This is your life// Crying in the subway// Lying to your wife”)
This fusion of funk and dis-chord pretty much characterises everything that follows. While the punks mutated into new forms, the soundsystems pumped out deep bass, as seen on seminal reggae outfit Black Roots ‘81 jam ‘Bristol Rock’
The scene was set for the emergence of the crew that bought the disparate elements together - The Wild Bunch. From 83 - 86 the three core members Robert Del Naja, Daddy G and Mushroom began throwing parties where they’d cut and blend the hip hop, sweet lover’s rock, booming dub bass-lines and quirky indie pop they'd all grown up with into a new, distinctively British sound. Alongside the main trio, the Wild Bunch was pretty much a trip hop finishing school with Tricky, Shara Nelson and Nelle Hooper all passing through the ranks. They only released one single, ‘The Friends & Countrymen EP’, from which this scratchy piece of Brit Hop is taken--
A whole lot more on Wild Bunch can be found at red-lines.co.uk/thewildbunch... and their super-fly promo video can be seen here
When the Wild Bunch folded in ‘86 the members went on to form the all conquering Massive Attack. At the same time Rob Smith, Ray Mighty and Peter D. Rose were putting together the production crew Smith & Mighty. Between these two highly influential collectives the sound that became known, for better or worse, as Trip-Hop was born.
A mix of slo-mo hip hop beats, skunk fuelled paranoid melodies and smoked out soul, trip hop started life as an edgy polymorphous creature with room enough to encompass Shara Nelson’s wide screen vocals and the sinister, psycho-sexual Tricky. As a sound it may have bloated into coffee table cack, but at one point it felt like a genuine authentically British response to hip hop.
The biggest tracks from a stoners scene that went global were remarkable in that they almost exclusively came from Bristol. From the early foundation tunes ‘Wishing On A Star’ (in part produced by DJ Krust, more on whom later...)
to huge melody sharing hits from Portishead-
and Tricky-
commmercial radio favourites from Massive Attack
and underground gems from Earthling
a vast amount of music was slinking out of a relatively small city in a relatively small island and going on to be played in cafes, bars, beaches and bedrooms the world around.
Then things sped up.
Jungle was perfect for Bristol; a sound that was a fusion of ragga bass and punk attitude was always going to work such a racially diverse city. The cloying, raging pessimism of urban dystopia ever present in the fractured beats struck a chord with kids across shitty recession hit England, but in Bristol they had the musical DNA to respond. London may have led the way, but Bristol was right there alongside, helped and hindered by a pre-internet isolation. As the pioneering DJ Krust puts it--
“We were pretty cut off in Bristol which was a good thing and a bad thing. It meant that we could make music without getting distracted by what everyone else was doing, but it also meant that we were out of the loop. So we had to go to London a lot to touch base with the rest of the scene.”
Of course not everyone stayed in Bristol. Goldie, the media’s favourite face of jungle, went to the smoke and put together Metalheadz, releasing the scene defining Inner City Life along the way-
Unfortunately from these heights Goldie’s sophomore LP was a stinking faux classical concept album followed by a decision to ‘star’ as a crap hoodlum in Eastenders. Hey ho.
But those who stayed in Bristol concocted a distinct form of drum n bass known prosaically enough as The Bristol Sound. The big players from this-- Krust, Die, Suv and Mercury Prize winning Roni Size formed a series of labels to release their breakbeat science, namely Dope Dragon, Full Cycle and (with London based Bryan Gee and Jumping Jack Frost) the mighty V Recordings.
There’s so many hits from these labels it’s hard to narrow it down to a small selection, so these next few tracks are very much a personal chronology of tunes heard tearing out rave after rave through the 90s---
From Krust, first up the moody ‘94 ‘Jazz Note’, a combination of intelligence, skittering snares and globs of bass
This was followed by the Carlito’s Way sampling Angles (which I can’t embed, you’ll just have to follow the link... )
and easily the biggest drum n bass track of the late 90s, on dubplate for what seemed like forever, the all conquering Warhead
from Roni Size, under his Mask moniker, with Krust, the jump up roller Oh My Gosh!
The bass growler ‘It’s Jazzy’
and, from the Mercury Award winning New Forms, the vocal work out Brown Paper Bag
DJ Die pushed a throbbing LFO mutating bass sound, best heard on tracks ‘Clear Skyz’
and his remix of Size’s ‘Watching Windows’
As the millenium came to a close the city, like most of the country, lost it’s musical way somewhat. Drum N Bass got harder and darker, with a few producers like Clipz breaking through to keep things fresh. Squat techno was around, similarly fast and largely Ketamine led. Basically things fell into a bit of a stasis until the mutation of 2-step into dubstep put fire into the belly of the Bristolians.
As Drowned in Sound has it - “When Pinch began to bring dubstep to Bristol, through his Context nights, and later Subloaded and Dubloaded, it immediately began to attract a following.”
a core of new producers came through in the mid 00s, centred around Pinch, Appleblim and Peverlist. They created an experimental wing of dubstep with yawning caverns, echo chamber dancehall samples and scatter shot drum beats. Less the brutal jump up wub wub of Rusko and co, this was again part of the West country head music soundscape.
Pinch’s ‘Qawwali’ on Planet Mu has the sinister spliff haze that characterised the first wave of producers
These early producers set the stage for Bristol’s second wave, and the new breed has diversified. Joker (playing for Bloc @ Eastern Electrics this year) disavowed dubstep in early interviews and productions, which in general are a lot more influenced by deep southern crunk and click clack grime. Dubstep uberlord Kode9 spoke about Joker's use of woozy fullsome synths, remarking that they make his tracks sound like "Wiley stuck in an elevator with...Cameo. You hear his whiney pitch-bent synths on a dance floor, it's like some kind of group electrocution taking place.” This sound has been lumped in with the tracks coming from fellow locals Guido and Gemmy as ‘purple’, a tag which none of them seem comfortable with, even if they have used it in their own productions--
Joker - Purple City
Gemmy - Purple Moon
Running alongside these producers is the rising star Baobinga - whose recent tracks have combined rowdy ragga and hip hop elements with near breaks style drum patterns. Ragga-techno if you like, straying back into the more break-led bass heavy culture of yesteryear.
Al Tourettes is pushing a darker brooding underground techno influenced sound which for convenience we’ll call post dubstep. In this he’s joined by Julio Bashmore who’s intricate percussion and warm melodies owe as much to deep house as they do to dubstep.
For an excellent in-depth musical timeline of the city from a true champion of new, underground music check this great article from Mary-Ann Hobbs’ section on Radio 1 site from 2008
Bristol Clubs
The dark underbelly of counter-culture runs throughout Bristol’s musical history & nightlife. “The Bristol scene was a mix of the various musical scenes bubbling away at the time: punk, funk, post-punk, reggae…” Beezer, photographer remembers the Wild Bunch years. Check some amazing photos on his site.
The key factor when talking about Bristol clubs is that from the 80s to the early 90s the main scene (that mattered) didn’t revolve around established venues. The Wild Bunch, FBI and Fresh 4 crews centred around parties in disused buildings and warehouses (including the legendary Red House) across the city alongside parties up on the downs at The Granary & St. Pauls Carnival. This was pre-Criminal Justice Act remember and also before these parties were turned into the more cash cow oriented ‘raves’ in the 90s. “They weren't holding parties for the money, but because it was something they believed in and loved." remembers Chris Burton who recently found a box full of flyers from parties of this era in his loft and published the excellent Art & Sound of The Bristol Underground last year A lot of these flyers were designed by the street artists of the times like Nick Walker, 3D (of Massive Attack just in case you needed reminding!), FLX, and Inkie. These artists and their graffiti and design went onto play a pivotal role in inspiring Banksy, and most of the graffiti artists in Bristol today. "There was no internet and no mobile phones then, so the flyers were a way of getting a message out about the parties,"
The club of myth and legend, however is the Dug Out club. It was Bristol’s Cavern Club if you like. This was where the Wild Bunch’s seminal Wednesday sessions took place and was to the emerging Bristol sound what the Hacienda was to Manchester & Shoom to London’s bleary eyed acid house scenes. Situated on the hill between the heart of the black music scene of St. Pauls & the punk/art scene of Clifton, the Dug Out was “just dangerous enough for trendies to feel edgy, music cool and edgy enough to confuse and enthuse the dreads. perfect!" remembers Nellee Hooper. Check the excellent Virtual Dug Out site for an exploration of the now defunct legendary venue with personal accounts & archives. Other places of mention back then include The Granary, The Stonehouse, Western Star Domino Club & The Montepellier Hotel.
As Bristol embraced the bpm, drum n bass took hold. The Trinity, a disused church, played host to the seminal Roughneck Ting records (check some great uploads of tape packs from these events on breakbeat.co.uk) - where Roni Size cut his teeth - & Ganga Kru parties. The opening of Lakota in 92 (now being demolished to build luxury flats “it's days like today I think kindly of the crack dealers and hope they put the yuppies off from moving in), also played a key role in the city’s nocturnal activities alongside The Thekla “Think of a cross between Captain Pugwash and the Wild West and you're half way there." Scott Hendy and Creation, The Depot, The Blue Mountain & Cafe Blue. By the mid-90s as drum n’ bass went global and Full Cycle were running all things Bristol side. The huge Drive-By @ The Academy packed 1900 people in month on month.
The sad demise of Ashton Court - for many years, Britain’s biggest free festival - left a gaping hole in Bristol’s musical summer and indeed it’s soul. I remember back in my teenage years, dowsed with mushrooms seeing Portishead for nowt! Quite a big thing for a 15 year old from the backwaters of Gloucestershire. Other acts over the years included: Mad Professor, Stereo MC's, The Stranglers, Super Furry Animals, Roni Size & The Fall. RIP Ashton Court... maybe one day you will rise again! Other stuff of (little) note: The Bierkeller - Shit indie nights in my youth drinking £1 bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale.
There’s also a massive free party/psy-trance/squat rave scene in Bristol... but let’s not go into that eh?! The forums and youtube footage is crap, as you’d expect and well that’s really for another time and space all together.
It’s difficult to sum up a transitory scene in terms of current clubs & trends but recent additions to the night hours calendar across the west country’s musical capital include Timbuk2, Clockwork (right round the corner from Lakota), Nocturn, The Black Swan - Breakcore heaven/Dub/anything - and Motion, a skate park in the day and a club at night. This is where Bloc will be holding down it’s launch party in October with Green Velvet, Claude Von Stroke, Andrew Weatherall, Scuba and local heroes we’ve already talked about Julio Bashmore & Apple Pips feat. Appleblim, Ramadanman & Al Tourettes (live). Come along, looks set to be massive. If you’re reading this from the big smoke, why not step out of your comfort zone! :)
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READ MORE This is merely a potted history of the music and the clubs of the city. It is not meant to be an extensive gospel of all things music Bristol. If you’re interested in what you’ve read, delve deeper and read more - leave comments here to extend all of our knowledge! It’s a unique city with an incredible history. Long may it continue.
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Other interesting and at times useless bits of information about Bristol
The first chocolate bar in the world was created right in Bristol. Joseph Fry invented the delicious treat around the year 1720, and his company continues to produce candies and treats to this day, although under the name Cadbury.
Some famous people (not many to be fair) were born in Bristol apart from the likes of Cary Grant and Banksy to Michael Redgrave and Allen Lane. Perhaps the most famous person from Bristol, though, is Harry Potter... no sorry, he’s not real... is he?! ah yes, Harry’s author J.K. Rowling... ummm! Gary Mabutt, Wallace & Gromit, Derren Brown... massive!
A huge portion of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island used Bristol for the backdrop. Stevenson used Bristol for inspiration for many descriptions in the book.
Legend has it that Blackbeard the Pirate was born in Bristol. No official document cites this fact, but many very old and reliable sources do list Bristol as being the hometown of the infamous pirate. He may have been the most famous person born in Bristol.
14 facts about Bristol c/o Visit Bristol
- Bristol is located 120 miles west of London.
- It is the largest city in the south west of England.
- Bristol is a 45 mile trip across the Bristol Channel to Cardiff in Wales.
- Bristol has been a wealthy trading port since the Roman era.
- Bristol is a port city known as the “Birthplace of America”.
- John Cabot sailed from Bristol to help “discover” North America in 1497.
- The city played an important role in England's maritime trade in tobacco, wine, cotton and other goods.
- From the late 1600s to the early 1800s, Bristol was involved in a massive slave shipping industry.
- The infamous pirate Captain Blackbeard once had a hideaway cave under St. Mary Redcliffe church. His original birthplace and childhood home still stands on Bristol's harbourside.
- John Wesley’s ‘New Room’, in Broadmead, is the world’s oldest Methodist church.
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