Music Tech bring the noise to 19.02

My first experience with Music Tech Society resulted in internal haemorrhaging. I was a fresher and just arrived at uni after a particularly interesting summer. It was Friday of Fresher’s Week and Music Tech were doing a night at dB’s (as it was still called then). This was also my first exposure to dubstep, a visceral, primitive and funkin’ groovy style of dance music which I had no idea about until then. I had lost my friends somewhere in the crowds of the Union but was drunk enough to keep myself entertained so I proceeded to shelter myself in the smoke and lights of our club. The next morning in the shower I noticed I had a black blotch the size of a watch under my foot – the result of a night intoxicated on beer and good music.

It’s hard to find good dance music. Usually it’s in small clubs on the other side of town or in other towns altogether. You certainly won’t get any at Picadilly Circus. My summer had been filled with free techno parties in the parks of Brussels (Piknik Elektronik, Soirée Gazon, Tea Time...) and I was elated to find people at uni who shared similar tastes. Being a member of the society now, I may be somewhat biased in saying the Music Tech nights at the Union club are probably the best ones we ever have; but I’ve thought that way ever since Fresher’s, and until they get Squarepusher (Imperial Mathematics alumnus?!) in, it will probably stay that way.

It’s hard to find good dance music. Usually it’s in small clubs on the other side of town or in other towns altogether

So much for the nocturnal frolicking. It’s Monday evenings in the Union basement that really make it what it is. That’s when we get together and make music of our own. There’s room for the DJs as well as the producers and enough big and shiny equipment to make everyone feel like a kid in a candy shop. I myself am more of a maker than a player and the wealth of production know-how which is bounced around during sessions is truly invaluable. Sure we can sometimes geek out about LFOs, breaks and bass lines but then again we’re at Imperial aren’t we? Better bass lines than Bessel functions if you ask me... Oh and when sessions are over we get to listen to our own songs on the Metric sound system! If that’s not an eargasm, I don’t know what is.

Felix’s 19.02 this Saturday will be the first Music Tech performance in Metric since it opened earlier this year and I must say I am ‘totally stoked’ about bringing the good sounds out to the people. There will be two DJ sets and one live improvisation which is a first for the society. To kick off the night, Algo Ritmico (host of IC Radio’s experimental music broadcast The Big Racket!) will cook up a mixture of chilled psychedelia, infectious afrobeat and psychotropic vibrations to settle everyone in nice and cozy. After all the bands have brought the funk (Eleven 37s), gone through the blues (Tin Can 44s) and rocked it side to side (Vetoes), a back-to-back set from Chainz and Snatch DJs will shake things up with a mash-up of DIY tuneage, dubby steps and high voltage electro. To explore the more abstract dimensions of live sound, three of our members have clustered together to form an as-yet-unnamed ensemble for a hazy concoction of improvised electronic music, before the headliners kick out the jams.

On a more personal note, it’s great to see Imperial’s homegrown talent getting a bit of recognition on home turf. I’ve never understood why the Union pays big money for BBC Radio 1 DJs and ‘hot butter’ live acts when its own students could pull off a more eclectic and intimate affair by their own means. Surely getting the students more involved in the events at the Union would do away with the lingering apathy so many are so quick to mention. After all, it’s called the Student Union for a reason.