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 Since arriving in Hong Kong late 2005 after completing his studies, Aussie native Richard Chan, a.k.a DJ Wash created quite a stir in Hong Kong’s drum and bass community. His banging set at ‘Magnetic Soul’s’ drum and bass party hosting ‘Nu Tone’ of London’s ‘Hospital Records’ in December 2005, left all party goers in awe of this injection of fresh, clean and hard core tunes, never before washed up on the city shores, might I add, more so than ‘Nu Tone’s’.
Though to this day, to this statement, Wash’s reaction remains, “I appreciate the compliments, but at the end of the day Nu Tone is a producer, he makes music and gets paid for it, whereas I am a DJ who just spins day in day out for fun”. It is this laid back and modest attitude to music, his skills and his passion that adds to Wash’s great positivity in every set he puts on. Wash’s drum and bass career was greatly initiated in 2000 when he went to a DJ Hype party with some friends in Sydney. “I was totally blown away! We had never really heard much drum and bass, but the next day I was out buying drum and bass records!”. As someone who was previously predominantly listening to hip hop, house and breaks and going to clubs to “[just] to have fun and get pissed”, Wash has come a long way in the past six years; as a DJ and promoter of drum and bass. Soon after the DJ Hype gig, Wash met up with few of Sydney pioneering drum and bass Crews and DJs, including Airbourne Crew, A.L.F and Ritual, whom are he considers as his role models shaping his career and thus commenced his journey to strengthen his skills to sharpen and fine tune his ears for the music genre. Within about two years with some friends, set up Basics, promoting drum and bass music and DJs in Sydney. One of the first few gigs hosted the superb UK based, DJ Friction, who Wash says, “Is the best drum and bass DJ in the scene now”, adding, “His music is basically the sort of music I play!” And there is no denying that! Though Wash does state his sets follow a ‘spectrum’ method where he takes his audience across a journey through a myriad of hard core and mellow tunes, most would argue that he is better known for his upbeat and banging tunes that keeps people hungry for more. But all good things must come to an end at some stage. Some drum and bass DJ’s argue that short one or two hour sets don’t really allow DJs to play everything they have planned technically, Wash argues “Drum and bass is not like House or Breaks where you can keep going on for hours on end. It can get a little repetitive and dull for the crowd”. Maybe it is this reason or perhaps Wash’s desire to embrace technology and his continued instinct as a promoter that has led him to set up www.kongkretebass.com, Hong Kong’s seminal podcast (Kongkast) and promotion ground for drum and bass. “Kongkretebass was set up to promote and play a whole spectrum of quality bass-heavy and live music. The aim is to reach out to Asian and Oceanic talents together to build a recognizable and robust scene outside of the one existing in Europe”, says Wash, as a summary of what the site aims. In addition, Kongkretebass currently promotes and supports drum and bass gigs in and around Hong Kong. In time, the plan aspires to hosting a good mix of local, regional & international talent. As a podcast portal, the site’s sub arm is ‘Kongkast’, Hong Kong's first drum and bass podcast. Adding and updating music and mixes from Wash’s home studios, drum and bass fans across Hong Kong and the globe can feel live sets and latest drum and bass tunes through this medium at the same time giving hungry ears 24 access to drum and bass while reinstating the growth of the music genres movement across Asia. In a society such as Hong Kong where gimmicks and trends come and go, it seems that drum and bass has made a pretty permanent impression to the city and is likely to stay for a while. Local Hong Kong DJ’s Akhram and Jonathan were the first to introduce the music genre and after a waning period was picked up by now Beijing based promoter Jungle Jane. A years ago Magnetic Soul was set up as a collective of passionate and ardent drum and bass lovers with more recent parties organized by the Heavy crew, introducing an entire spectrum of drum and bass, hard breaks and reggae. With Kongkretebass introduced as a portal to this tech absorbed society, the music is likely to percolate across all of Hong Kong society, and the music genre’s fan base is likely to soar.
Interview By Nilly Chaudhuri
Check out www.kongkretebass.com , www.myspace.com/kongketebass and www.myspace.com/djwash Catch DJ Wash across all up and coming Kongkretebass and Heavy regular sessions.
Check out the 11th Episode of Kongkast going online this week. |
