Rock and Pop: Preview - Artists at the KOKO
ALWAYS one step ahead, ultra-cool promoters The Playground have been at it again, clambering all over the genres of the day and stealing the best artists for themselves.
So it’s little surprise that when they decided to put on a dubstep extravaganza at Koko (July 23), Borgore, a giant in the game, chose to make it his only London appearance this summer.
He will be joined by some of the most talented producers from around the globe including Flux Pavilion, Doctor P, Bar 9, Bare Noize, Funtcase, Cookie Monsta and Run Riddum.
Pioneering producer Borgore, who has twisted the beats to create “Gorestep”, will perform tracks from his brand new Delicious EP.
Israeli-born Borgore, real name Asaf Borger, has worked with M.I.A, Bring Me The Horizon and Diplo and is the one to know among dubstep enthusiasts.
Main support acts Flux Pavilion and Doctor P arrive in London fresh off their US tour. Flux Pavilion, aka the harmless-sounding Joshua Steele from Towcester, recently released Bass Cannon, which shot straight to the A-list, winning generous airplay on Radio 1.
Emerging from a drum ’n’ bass background, Doctor P (aka Shaun Brockhurst) has become one of dubstep’s fastest-rising stars, having first started messing with beats at the age of 14.
Since then he has carved out his own loud and energetic sound and co-founded one of dubstep’s most successful labels, Circus Records, with DJ Swan-E and Flux Pavilion.
Dr P, who released Tetris last month, is set to release some secretive material with a yet-to-be-named high-profile artist.
Munchie-named Cookie Monsta, who works heavy grime beats and film soundbites into his set, can thank games consoles for his career.
At 11, he caught on to a PlayStation game called Music 200, which taught him to make loops and inspired a six-year spree of music game shopping.
By 17, he’d gathered all the music games he could find and branched out into music production at college, becoming addicted to dubstep from his first listen to Skream’s Midnight Request. Unaware he was listening to dubstep and despite none of his friends being into it, he soon began creating the kind of music he admired.
Look out also for Leicester-based producing duo Bar 9, known for their dark, grimey basslines, hard-punching tunes and anthem-laden tracks Midnight, MurdaSound and Strung Out.
They’re also adept remixers, working for the likes of Foreign Beggars, Kyza, Nick Corelli, Paul Harris, Eurythmics and Sidney Sampson.
With Bare Noize (Ollie Pile and Daniel Brown), young pretender Funtcase and Run Riddium also in the mix, this is looking to be one of the highlights of the dubstep calendar.
• Doors 9pm, tickets on sale now at www.theplayground.co.uk
Published: 14 July, 2011
by ROISIN GADELRAB