sleepless in London

onyxashanti · Post by **onyxashanti** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 4:15 pm

I hate to sound pathetic, but i'm seriously at wits end. where do the music geeks hang out in london?

I have been in London for 3 years. in that time i have sporadically met a small handfull of real music geeks. by real, i mean hardcore cats who always have some bit of tech on their person, and are always ready to play something, or write something, or talk about music tech.

when i lived in SF, I would play DnB on Market street, so it was easy to vibe with other like minds, but here, i spend all the time that i don't spend playing in nightclubs [ever try talking to a tweaker at 4am, about spektral delay? well, don't...] at home. the internet is great, but what am i missing in london? I know that it is my lack of information on where other like minded individuals hang out, because i refuse to believe that there aren't any places and/or groups of people [in a city of 10 million!!] that get together, casually, talk shop, trade beats, and ideas.

might seem silly, and there is probably some very obvious place or group or something, that i don't know about. If i have to subject my flatmates to hearing about vst's, or how much i love the internal conroller system in fl studio, or...whatever, they're either going to lock me in my room or out of the house. help...

onyx

smutek · Post by **smutek** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 5:03 pm

Ahhhh......

Unfortuntely I can not help you with your problem but I do empathise.
I am completely and totally on my own here in Baltimore and have been for the last three or four years that I have been into this stuff.

I've absolutely noone to work with, talk shit with etc. and as a result my learning pace has been like that of a snail. I learn best in situations where I have peers to work with and kind of compete, learn from, and push one another.

Any of my friends who have expressed an interest in this shit have put it down rather quickly once they realize what is involved.

The electronic music scene here is all about breaks and jungle and spinning records, no live pa stuff and certainly no experimental or improv type stuff. It's all pretty clean, cookie cut and safe.

There is an event once a year called once:twice where these dudes get people like Kit Clayton, Akufen, deadbeat, Richard Chartier and other like minded folk to come down and play but other than that there is nothing else like this.

The cities biggest music store stopped carrying techno about two years ago because it doesn't sell. I have not been through their door since. I used to go there and buy vinyl every friday for a couple of years. It's all about house, funky breaks, jungle........

Maybe there is a computer music / experimental / improv scene here but I have become too jaded and disassociated to see it.

I don't know......

Sorry to add to your woes....

special ed · Post by **special ed** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 5:33 pm

i never been to london, but i hear its got alot going on, (i doubt it can be worse than in the states, like nyc, where it was once thriving and now just yuppie drug addicts wanting to hear mash-ups) anyway, dont they got some music conservatorys there, i would think a music school would have at least a few people that fit your criteria, or even hanging out in a music store. i think the club thing in general should be avoided as a way to find intelligent conversation, people at clubs usually just have one goal in mind, which is getting fucked up and fucked. but i can empathize with what you're saying, ive lived in some pretty dry places myself (try phoenix, or wisconsin) thats when i just kind of buried myself in researching new things and ideas, and trying to improve whatever skills i have. there seems to be a few brits around here, im sure someone knows of something.

onyxashanti · Post by **onyxashanti** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 5:53 pm

the worst part for me is that i play for a living. i usually am able to get my music fix from playing clubs, , so at least i have that. I play nearly every weekend. BUT for the last 18 months or so,every scene has become very standardized and homogenous. clubs all around the city and they seem to use the same playlist of tracks, regardless of the genre. i've been gagging for broken beats [which i write] or glitch, in a setting that is comfortable and knowledgeable, and not so concerned with packing a venue out and getting them drunk. you are not going to be able to "get geeky" with anyone at these types of events. they just want to dance and let their hair down, which is what i love to do sometimes, but sometimes i want to dance, AND see someone doing something interesting AND go check out the performers gear AND maybe talk about it a bit AND maybe find a nice little corner and finish or start a beat [used to do that alot in LA, which has a VERY strong music geek scene]. there are masses of geeky chicks to chat to at gigs in SF, BUT here, there are no where near as many of them and, more importantly, i dont live there anymore. i live in london now.

I am going out tonight to find a small, cool bar somewhere, and convince them to let me be able to hold a music-geek-aholic anonymous [that might even be the name of it] meeting there; not an event or a show, but just a place that i can go, plug up my laptop, and invite the 3 other geeks that i've met. beer, wifi, fruityloops...ahhh, heaven...

hugolp · Post by **hugolp** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 6:50 pm

Hi!

I live in London but hopefully back to Spain next year. If you start that night you are thinking about let me know. Sounds interesting.

Hugo

onyxashanti wrote:the worst part for me is that i play for a living. i usually am able to get my music fix from playing clubs, , so at least i have that. I play nearly every weekend. BUT for the last 18 months or so,every scene has become very standardized and homogenous. clubs all around the city and they seem to use the same playlist of tracks, regardless of the genre. i've been gagging for broken beats [which i write] or glitch, in a setting that is comfortable and knowledgeable, and not so concerned with packing a venue out and getting them drunk. you are not going to be able to "get geeky" with anyone at these types of events. they just want to dance and let their hair down, which is what i love to do sometimes, but sometimes i want to dance, AND see someone doing something interesting AND go check out the performers gear AND maybe talk about it a bit AND maybe find a nice little corner and finish or start a beat [used to do that alot in LA, which has a VERY strong music geek scene]. there are masses of geeky chicks to chat to at gigs in SF, BUT here, there are no where near as many of them and, more importantly, i dont live there anymore. i live in london now.

I am going out tonight to find a small, cool bar somewhere, and convince them to let me be able to hold a music-geek-aholic anonymous [that might even be the name of it] meeting there; not an event or a show, but just a place that i can go, plug up my laptop, and invite the 3 other geeks that i've met. beer, wifi, fruityloops...ahhh, heaven...

onyxashanti · Post by **onyxashanti** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 6:56 pm

woo-hoo!! that makes 4 geeks; you, myself, the 2 that i know...and the one i made up so i didnt seem pathetic...

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 7:19 pm

onyxashanti wrote:woo-hoo!! that makes 4 geeks; you, myself, the 2 that i know...and the one i made up so i didnt seem pathetic...

hehe. Sounds a bit like the music scene in Denmark, that. I guess we're all feeling a bit isolated, otherwise we wouldn't be pouring our hearts out *here*...

- This is the way it's going to be in the future, I fear. We're getting more and more specialized in our interests, and there are consequently fewer people around us, who meet our criteria. The internet doesn't solve this problem, not by a long shot.

hugolp · Post by **hugolp** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 7:36 pm

Jajajajaja yes, but I am sure if you start the night you were talking about in a nice little bar youll have succes. London is too big.

onyxashanti wrote:woo-hoo!! that makes 4 geeks; you, myself, the 2 that i know...and the one i made up so i didnt seem pathetic...

Hypomixolydian · Post by **Hypomixolydian** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 12:46 am

It's crap where I live too. So crap, that I even have to subscribe to magazines like Computer Music, or Future Music, Music Tech etc... because the newsagents can't sell enough of them and so won't stock them. So no fellow musos around where I live, and I live in a reasonably big town/city.
But maybe that's a good thing, as I would probably have arguments with them about artistic differences anyway.

bencodec · Post by **bencodec** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 12:56 am

have a look at the laptop jams that the ICA holds at least monthly, i'm sure you can meet some fellow music geeks there.

@smutek, wow, a fellow marylander who's into decent music, how rare.

toneroll · Post by **toneroll** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:05 am

and there's me thinkin that london was exactly what you say iit isnt. birthplace of punk , dnb , uk garage etc.... mostly londons music scene is reserved for the high rise's and pirate radio, "urban" seems to dominate

think people are to busy shopping and workin these days , city centres have become massive open air malls... we need some new movements in our metropolis. some bars that play peoples mp3 players on shuffle , with moog t-shirts behind the bar. free hoegaarden (yum),- instead of all huddled round our selfridges bags eating duck spring fuckin rolls.

from manchester's point of view there seems to be a bit going on music wise and im going to manchester midi school in jan. will let you know if theres a music geek scene up here..

toneroll · Post by **toneroll** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:06 am

oh yeah and copies of sound on sound in the toilets (for legit purposes obviously)

onyxashanti · Post by **onyxashanti** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:13 am

oh, don't misunderstand me...

londons music scene is dope as hell! i love it here. that's why i stayed. but i've had difficultly finding places where the producers of all that great music, or even hobbyists, congregate. the music scene is really good..the geek scene of electronic music enthusiasts/artists, escapes me. i know it's there, probably in abundance, I just haven't been able to find it.

5dots · Post by **5dots** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 5:27 am

smutek wrote:There is an event once a year called once:twice where these dudes get people like Kit Clayton, Akufen, deadbeat, Richard Chartier and other like minded folk to come down and play but other than that there is nothing else like this.

and once:twice often tends to be a bit too "intellectual" for my tastes. last year i went to the audio/video night, and aside from errorsmith, it was pretty boring. this year, saw a bunch of pretty good housey sets at the supreme imperial, and some "academic" stuff at johns hopkins.

the DC scene is pretty weak, i'll admit. it's pretty incestuous (not literally, of course), and leans way too hard on overly academic improv free jazz type stuff. there's not nearly enough people who want to rock asses in an experimental way.

pix · Post by **pix** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 7:24 am

ah well....

I'm also here stuck at Durham NC and believe me, if you call London bad then you should see this. Everybody seems stuck in time listening to Green Day's kind of rock. It's all the same....Worst part is that I *chose* to came here for professional reasons. The "less distractions" kind of crap....

But I think it's all a matter of time before you meet nice people there. I mean it's such a big city that I'm sure there's other ppl with which you can jam and have fun. Just be patient...I guess....

It's 2.20 am here and I'm working at the lab, trying to put a project together, preparing a presentation for Monday 9am, and having to make a poster to present next thursday....I mean....I'm fuc#ing depressed, stressed and unconfident and the idea of having some free and relaxed time to play some music seems as remote as retirement.....

Just to say that I know what you mean...

anyways....let's cheer up!