Breakz : [Now] - 09.03.2006

[Andrew]

Breakz : [Now]
Keeping you up to date with our world.

Coming Up...
Coming up over the next couple of weeks to sate your musical cravings...

Save Your Bars
The University have announced that they will be cutting the opening hours of college bars from next term. This week, the SU aim to fill every bar on campus every night to show the university that students care about the bars, that we feel they are an integral part of life at York.
As part of the campaign, Breakz DJs will be performing in Derwent on Saturday night. Come and support the bar and the music. (Free admission, no late licence.)

The Project
The Project returns to Cert 18 for another night of musical debauchery. There are headline sets from Tony Global [Breakdown - Nottingham], Michael Morph [File Under Music] and Scassa Monakee. With backup from the delectable but Badly Dressed Boy...

Scassa bring something unique to the expanding movement of live drum & bass. The acclaimed group's shows consist of all their tunes mixed into one another by the band, seamlessly blending the music into one unbroken set as a DJ would. Scassa don't use loops and they don't compromise with their material – there's no hip-hop, no garage, no down-tempo tunes and no gaps. They simply deliver pure, hard, proper live dnb.

L Cert 18, Gillygate, York
D Fri 10.04.2006 (Week 9)
T 2000 - 0200
£ 5.00 | 4.00 NUS

Freakin
For their second party at the Junction this month, Freakin is proud to present Vector Lovers. The live electro robotik phunked up sounds of this superb producer have set the dancefloor on fire every time Freakin have had the pleasure of hosting his set. He has two albums under his belt for the superb Soma Records label, numerous remix credits for the likes of Slam, Alex Smoke, Tim Wright and Ladytron and runs his own fantastic record label Iwari. This dude is on fire at the moment, and after playing all over Europe, is back treating his home crowd once again.

There will also be underground house support from residents Rich Clark, Leo Clayton, P-Funk & Jax. See you at the front.

L The Junction, Leeman Road, York
D Friday, 17.03.2006
T 1930 - 0130
£ 4.00 (3.00 Freakin members)
C www.freakin.org

MC Wanted
Can you spit out some tight lyrics? Interested in performing with a band? They play music influenced by hip-hop, reggae and ska, inspired by "sublime / long beach dub allstars" and would love to hear from you. The band are ideally looking for a rapper who's quite melodic and able to sing too. Male or female. Contact Tom tsb503@york.ac.uk.

DJ Lessons Next Term
The last DJ lesson of the term took place on Tuesday, but they will resume again in the summer. We are still getting new people coming along who haven't touched decks before, so it's never too late to start.

[The Scene]
Something a bit different this time - the state of campus events.

Events on Campus
You probably noticed that Breakz did not have an event on campus this term. This is basically because we weren't allocated one by the SU. Over the past year, there has been an increasing move away from giving societies their own events; instead, they are held in conjunction with colleges. The original reasoning for this was that several society events had incurred losses that the SU ultimately had to cover.

However, this has arguably led to a reduction in the variety of events being staged. Next term, it is likely that there will be three nights put on in conjunction with music societies (hopefully including us). Some other events do involve societies through fundraising for charity, visual or dressing up themes, etc. While worthy causes, they are unlikely to venture far musically from the students' staple diet of cheese (with a bit of r 'n' b and indie thrown in). Compare this to an old events timetable from 2004. On it, there is a Breakz event, two from Platinum, one Namaskar, two for Indie Soc, a Band Soc gig and one ReCreation. Virtually every weekend offers something alternative.

Last Year
There is an argument that attendance started to drop last year because of the lack of third years on campus (due to an accommodation shortage). Since they weren't around to drag the freshers to events ("Come to Club D! It's great!"), people didn't go out as much on campus. And when they did, the events were badly attended, making a poor event and creating something of a vicious circle.

This led to a reduction in the number of events, and a concentration on 'safer' (predominantly cheese) events. But this homogenisation is in danger of leading to commoditisation. What are the key differentiators between Club D and Toff's? Admission is more, drinks cost more, the music's pretty much the same.

The reason people go to Club D is because people go to Club D – the crowd is good, it's busy, it's fun.* Unfortunately, an atmosphere like that isn't something that can be created – pardon the pun – out of thin air. It is a reputation that is very hard to build up (and very easy to lose). Most other events on campus do not have this luxury, and need something else to distinguish (and sell) them.

Late Bars
Increasingly people are turning up later to events, and it isn't uncommon for them to be relatively dead until about 11. It has been suggested that this is because people like to have a drink elsewhere before starting the night 'proper', but I wonder if it ultimately comes down – again – to a lack of differentiation. There is probably little incentive to listen to cheese in a bar with friends if one can listen to cheese in a bedroom with friends (and drink cheaper drinks). But if the bar had a DJ cutting up some fine hip-hop or breaks, with a room full of dnb next door, the choice (for me) is clear. This has certainly been true in the past – we have had 300 people in Vanbrugh by 9.30.

Think Different
We like to think that we offer a different experience from this usual fare, as I'm sure do the other music societies mentioned above. We like to think that we have something tangible that separates us from the crowd, something we can showcase that will draw people in. But there is a danger that this variety will be lost on campus and, once gone, will be very difficult to reinstate.

I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on campus events and on whether you have noticed changes (if you've been at York for a while). What would make you come to more events, or come earlier? Please email info@breakzdjs.com or post your thoughts on our bulletin board at www.breakzdjs.com/bb.

* I would like to state for the record that I haven't been to Club D for years.

[Markus.Readus]

I like this article! Would love to see [Now] resurrected!