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1. WHAT IS SUB BASS SNARL? Neither a live band nor a DJ outfit, Sub Bass Snarl is probably now best described as a mini-'sound system'. The two core members of the crew are Aotearoa-born and half-Chinese, Yellow Peril who uses a Denon 2700 CD player with 50% pitch control in conjunction with vinyl; and the UK's finest export Lex Luthor who adds beats, basslines, samples, scratches and analogue squelches, not to mention a disturbing stage presence, on a drum machine, synth, a rack of effects boxes, and another turntable. In a traditional sense, very little of the music they "create" or rather assemble, is orginal, instead it is produced through the combination of existing recordings. 2. WHAT DO THEY DO? A part of the tradition of the DJ, Sub Bass Snarl only differ from the next DJ in their diverse choice of musical genres from which to select mixes, and their ability to mutate the final sound received by the listener with their additional electronic gear. Sonic recyclers or sound collage artists, or just souped-up deejays, Sub Bass Snarl, themselves, remain a quite fluid entity and since 1995 they have also worked with other performers and live musicians including rappers, a bass player and an exotic dancers. Of course, during a performance, the listeners themselves, are also a part of the Sub Bass Snarl Sound System resonating the transmittied ideas and feeding back into the improvisational nexus. |
which is which? - see below to discover! |
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3. WHY DO THEY DO IT? Underground movements are doomed if their exclusiveness prohbits continual mutation and hence growth, and the subcultural differences between Sydney's different underground scenes and sounds have often stood in the way of musical development and hybridisation. Underground hip hop brings with it an array of vital political concerns and demands for social change and equality even if not explicitly stated, relevant especially to the increasingly divided, racist, patriarchal, homophobic society that Australia seems intent on becoming under the slash and burn tactics of the conservative government, whilst techno's ability to create autonomous communal listening and dancing spaces offers the perfect environment in which to trial alternatives. 4. WHEN DID THIS BEAST START? Technically Sub Bass Snarl started in 1991 although we were called, rather embarassingly, Cyberslurry which had something to do with our clubbing habits. Playing at the seminal industrial post-Goth clubs Elysium and Cybernaut Cyberslurry was more of a 'jukebox for hip music'. In 1992 Sub Bass Snarl appeared first playing at a number of UNSW dance parties and later for the pre-Vibe Tribe Jellyheads - an anarchist punk kind of crew. From this we got our first 'proper' rave gig at DJ Quang's MELTDOWN from which flowed a plethora of other gigs. Heavily involved in the establishment of the ambient techno sound in Sydney in 1993, Sub Bass Snarl has used and promoted, along with others, notably Punos, the relaxed cushion-filled environs of a chill out space as a place for eclecticism, hybridisation and musical experimentation beyond the demands of a dancefloor. As personal tastes have fluctuated and time has seen the ambient techno/trance sound lose much of its original innovation in a slow and steady decline into New Age hippiedom, Sub Bass Snarl, in early 1995 began to reintroduce hip hop beats, jungle and dub grooves into their chill out sets allowing for the current diversity in their creative output. Sub Bass Snarl sets now fall into one of three categories. For most uptempo dancefloor sets we play drum'n'bass mixing darker harder sounds with more percussive tracks. We also play dub techno sets of minimalist stripped-back beats, loads of echo and delay, and deep basslines. Our chill sets are more eclectic ranging from cosmic jazz to dub, post-rock to weird hip hop and spoken word. |
5. WHAT HAVE THEY DONE? Sub Bass Snarl has now played four Big Day Outs - in 1994 and 1995 as a part of Clan Analogue, independently in 1996 in the Boiler Room, and with the EAR stage in 1997. In their long history they have supported On-U Sound System, done a national tour with Def FX, played over 200 raves both underground (including the crucial Vibe Tribe events between 1993 and 1995) and more commercial in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra and interstate. They have also worked on two specialist performance pieces with the Post Arrivalists, and in 1996 expanded out from the confines of strict techno-related electronica with gigs alongside the All Funked Up crew at the Basement and the Hopetoun, performed at some hip hop events including the Undertones launch at the Metro. One of the Basement shows was secretly taped and did the rounds of college radio in the USA (if you have a copy of the tape PLEASE send us one!). 6. WHAT ABOUT THE EVENTS YOU ORGANISE? The philosophy of Sub Bass Snarl is also about running avant-garde chill out project, Cryogenesis, which has, since 1993 appeared irregularly at places as spectacular as Rodd and Shark Islands both in Sydney Harbour, and as mundane as a St Peters warehouse and a pub in the Rocks - the Dumbarton Castle. Developing as a word-of-mouth irregularity Cryogenesis events have attracted crowds of as many as 400 and seen the live performance of new improvised soundtracks live for Apocalypse Now (repeated as a simulcast on 2SER in 1994 and most recently in front of a live audience at The Performance Space in July 1996), Life Is Cheap But Toilet Paper Is Expensive, the highly colonialist Hammer horror classic She, and a junglistic mix of Samo Hung's special FX kung-fu frenzy Moon Warriors. On New Years Eve 1995, they did a larger scale film soundtrack performance this time to Baraka in front of the audience at Love in the Dendy cinema complex. At Freaky Loops 2 Sub Bass Snarl reconstructed the soundtrack of Japanese sci-fi horror film Tetsuo2 - Body Hammer and at Freaky loops 3 took on Clive Barker's Hellraiser. Supporting Neotropic at the Metro in 2000, Sub Bass Snarl remixing The Running Man into a dark electro and drum'n'bass piece. Sub Bass Snarl have also been finalists in the UNSW DJ competitions in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995, winning in 1994 and 1995, and taking out the Statewide University DJ competition in 1995. Freaky Loops 1998 and the forthcoming Loops 1999 continue as the biggest and most diverse yearly fund-raising festivals in Sydney. Check the discography for the Freaky Loops CD info. In late 1996 Sub Bass Snarl was co-running, with friends Atomic Hi-Fi, a weekly experimental club night on Sunday evenings at Kinselas called Frigid as part of the broader Cryogenesis project which continued from July to December. We now play weekly at The Hopetoun Hotel where Frigid continues to this very day. . . . find our more here. |
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7. SO YOU'VE BEEN ON THE ROAD? In October 1996 Sub Bass Snarl hit the road for a three date tour of Tasmania where all sorts of things hapenned . . . check the report in Perilous 320. In February 1997 they played at Vibes On A Summer's Day and Sub Bass Snarl returned to Tasmania in March 1997 for another tour. Also in March 1997 they supported well-known psychedelic philosopher Terrence McKenna (RIP) at the University of Sydney with Clan Analogue. In February 1998, Sub Bass Snarl played at a very wet and rained out Apollo festival. We also organise the Freaky Loops festivals, have played three Big Day Outs and supported Coldcut and a stack of other internationals since 1998. In all we play about 120 gigs per year . . . 8. YOU DO MORE? In addition to the live work Sub Bass Snarl's two members have clocked up a total of over 1000 hours of broadcast time on community radio - first on Radio Skid Row (1990-1995) with two seminal 'acid for breakfast' slots which ran continuously for three years, and, more recently, a primetime slot on 2SER, Tuesdays noon to 2pm, The Paradigm Shift. This weekly programme is produced as a continuos soundscape of beats, samples, and tracks strung together around a skeleton of kitsch records found in someone's basement. They have also performed on Triple J, Radio National and SBS Radio on several occasions. |
9. BUT SUB BASS SNARL MUST BE A FULL-TIME PROJECT, RIGHT? Apart from operating with Sub Bass Snarl, Yellow Peril writes regularly for 3D World, Head Shots, Eroded Morality and other smaller fanzines and was an editor of Tharunka at the University Of NSW in 1995. He has also had articles published in the J-Mag (Triple J), Geekgirl, Oyster and environmental magazine, Seed. He has also appeared in various guises on radio and television whenever the topic of 'rave' is brough up for debate. Yellow Peril was completing a PhD at UNSW on subcultural politics and music but now is afulltime IT body at the Powerhouse Museum. Nevertheless you might track down some of his academic writing in a few journals and book if you are (un)lucky. Yellow Peril does not sleep much, possibly because of a daily chocolate consumption exceeding that of many small European nations. or maybe because of other more insidious reasons . . . Lex Luthor has, at least technically, to finished a degree in computer science at UNSW where he is almost a part of the furniture. He works full-time at Lake DSP a digital sound company. In his spare time he babysits small furry creatures and those of an aquatic nature in his refurbished warehouse space. Lex is still hapilly married and proud father of triplets who are now chained to the cellar wall and guarded by a 200 pound African man-eating ferret- where's childcare when you need it? To take a look at Lex's amazing turtle collection, click here. Oh, an he also cares for two pussies. |
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10. CONTACT . . . WE LIKE THAT! Contact Sub Bass Snarl in the following ways - (for bookings contact Yellow Peril) email: Yellow Peril - peril@snarl.org Lex Luthor - luke@snarl.org snail mail:
P.O. Box A2073
Sydney South NSW 1235 Australia |
lex luthor (left) - yellow peril (right) |
