I think what the guys at Dubstep Dublin are doing is amazing! You run a successful club night in the vacuous and stagnant setting that is Dublin's night-life. Anyone who attacks you guys because you play the "noise" that dubstep has become doesn't have the capacity to understand the evolution (or devolution, in some people's opinions) of music and the creation of new genres. Granted the "dubstep" that is around at the minute doesn't retain much of the same qualities that it did when it first started, most of those forsaken elements being the good ones. However, to run a successful night, like Strangeways, Here We Come, that keeps things fresh every week you have to be up to date and give people what they want. Those that can't grasp this concept should not be surprised that they can't replicate your success with their own events.
On the topic of the documentary, people who complain about you not having done your research should take a leaf out of their own book. It was produced by a third party, not by Dubstep Dublin themselves, and editing in any type of media usually affects the way the subjects are portrayed, most often in a way they would not agree with given the chance to do it themselves. Therefore the name of the documentary, the questions asked, the rest of the footage and the spin put on the whole documentary is not at the discretion of Dubstep Dublin. " Just do some home work
(sic), for your own sake". You may find that much in the same way the inherent failings of journalism (as well as musical progression and the formulas for running a successful music night) swoop over your head like a low-flying airplane you are just not quite getting what Dubstep Dublin is about. If you doubt the musical awareness of the people who run the Dubstep Dublin night you should get down off your high horse, look past the documentary, stop hiding behind the internet, posting statuses bitching about people you barely know, come along to the night (or don't, if you're that stubborn) introduce yourself and talk to them. You'd be surprised!
As for allegations that you said you're "bringing dubstep to Dublin"- I don't recall any instance where you make an outright claim to being the first to have a dubstep gig here so this outlandish accusation is obviously the magnum opus of the festering jealousy of people who have had a problem with your success for quite some time. I don't doubt the fact that you were regular frequenters of any dubstep gig you could get to before your night started, the rarity of these probably being what encouraged your enterprise with Strangeways? This makes it even more of an insult to your musical knowledge and integrity for people to make this kind of spiteful short-sighted claim. Again, I can only put this down to small-minded begrudging jealousy. What you guys have done is to give people who like a particular type of music (leaving arguments over the ins and outs of what that music is or isn't aside) a place to come every week, to enjoy themselves and to meet like-minded people. Most other major genres have something of this nature and, before you guys, dubstep in Dublin had little choice for people who wanted to regularly listen to the music in its best setting. In this sense, and my opinion, you very much did bring dubstep to Dublin. But this is just my opinion, before people attack Dubstep Dublin again for something they didn't say.
This is not to deny credit where it is due and those who played dubstep tracks and organised dubstep gigs before Strangeways have a lot to be said for them, including their pioneering the introduction of the music in Dublin, the inspiration of a new generation of Irish dubstep DJs and producers and that "underground" atmosphere which prevails. This can still be found at MUD gigs and the difference in the crowd and atmosphere between nights in the Twisted Pepper and the Lost Society is immense. At the same time I find the criticism aimed at you guys for the music you play hilarious when you consider that the artists booked by MUD in the Twisted Pepper are the artists whose music you play, Coki, High Rankin and Emalkay being just some examples which spring to mind because of their temporal proximity. And yet no attacks are aimed at them or Dubstortion Dublin. Strange! Nevertheless, the only people who like something to retain it's "underground" scene are the people who aren't making money from it so that they feel exclusive (I presume this is what one ****-wit meant when he wrote elusive), non-commercial and "alternative", and anyone who starts listening to it after this is "jumping on the latest cool new genre bandwagon". In fact I think that people with that much of an issue with the way dubstep has gone should be happy that something like Strangeways exists because it's benefits are two-fold.
Firstly, it introduces people to original dubstep, to dub, to garage, to whatever genres you feel you can attribute to its birth as if music is only ever influenced in a linear way and commendation only ever due to the first, the original. Surely this is a good thing? People can hardly object to musical education or would they, like some kind of musical aristocracy, rather keep the proletariat in their place so they can look down on them while scoffing that the music they listen to is ****? This is where the second benefit of having a night like Strangeways comes in. It gives a forum for new DJs to play, away from the critical eye of people who are so stuck in the past they feel the need to avoid and condemn anything new. In other words, it "attracts the idiots to one place". It may be that in a few years the "idiots" are the ones making the money and playing the gigs while the embittered and alienated arseholes of the world are still just that.
It takes the maturity and insight of producers like Lee Scratch Perry, among others, to not resent the creation of something new from something old, but rather to forge a mutually beneficial relationship between the two. There is no doubt that Dubstep Dublin "Respect the Foundation" but about a third of the people who attend the night would know what that reference is (but that must be a lie because "Their
(sic) all trend followers, or so called
(sic) hipsters"?). Somebody has to play the music that people want to listen to! But maybe those who have a problem with your success prefer to run nights with half-decent turn outs and a minimum profit because that's how they can gratify themselves, patting each other on the back for remaining "underground". Besides being one of the most laid back friendly club atmospheres in Dublin where every stranger can be your friend by the end of the night, Strangways, Here We Come is a phenomenon, a brand, a marketable commodity, and people will either hate or relate to these things. People can claim integrity and love for the music and that others have sold out but inevitably music needs money to sustain itself and Dubstep Dublin will sustain themselves long after the haters have faded into obscurity still grumbling about "back in my day" and being listened to only by other jumped-up little turds with too much ego and not enough sense. And through all that it still remains cheap-as-chips as a night out! Now that's
really gotta sting!
Anyway, **** the back-biting, sniping and hating. Fair play lads, you've got something special. Keep up the good work. "One good thing about music- when it hits you feel no pain"
