Label Profile of Heatwave, Scandal Bag and Punchline
Running things in reggae right now is the triumvirate of Punchline and Scandal Bag (labels) and Heatwave (a collective/club night). Headed by Gabriel and Master G, this crew have successfully brought aspects of the reggae and bashment scene to Londoners eager to access the music and the parties. A crew featuring DJs, MCs, remixers, producers, sound engineers and even journalists, they have studios and residencies in both Manchester and Bristol, as well as in the capital. Punchline is their bootleg label, releasing a slew of deft mash-ups, bringing together hip hop and reggae artists, whereas the Scandal Bag label is aimed more towards releasing their own productions. The collective is getting bigger and bashier by the second, and fans can expect releases next year featuring the likes of Suncycle, Riko Dan, Rodney P, YT, Stush and Yungun. With winter approaching fast, we thought it a nice idea to bring in the Heatwave.
How would you describe the sound of Scandal Bag?
Basically it's a dancehall label, but bringing in influences from any genre that links with dancehall/reggae. Let It Billie featured a dancehall mix and a jungle mix; we're working with dubstep producers, grime MCs, rappers, reggaeton/soca artists and so on. There's a big Caribbean influence in what we do but it's a very UK thing, which makes sense, seeing as we're British - there's no point in us trying to copy what goes in on in Jamaica or Puerto Rico. The Caribbean flavour is what makes urban music in this country distinctive. We're trying to push that with what we've got going on here in London.
What about Punchline?
The mixes and blends we release through Punchline are all designed for maximum dancefloor destruction, and generally through together the worlds of dancehall, R'n'B, reggae and hip hop.
What made you go down the mash-up route with Punchline?
We'd been producing live blends for a while just to bring something different to our DJ sets, and then starting putting together more complex refixes in 2003. They were all really successful whenever we played out and our first one (Trick Me Twice), became the must-have mash-up of 2004...
Who would be your number one signing, given the chance?
Sizzla
How is Heatwave going?
Heatwave's doing really well at the moment. Starting the Heatwave vs Mas Fuego dance at Rhythm Factory at the start of 2005 was a really big leap for us. The night got loads and loads of press interest. We starting getting exposed to a whole new crowd, and a much larger one as well. Since then everything we've done has gone from strength to strength. Those parties were always really fun, friendly and lively and got a great reputation for being a guaranteed brilliant night out. However, we were never meant to be promoters and the workload just got too much for us, so from now on we're just taking bookings and putting on our own, more intimate parties, including two new monthly residencies at The Embassy and The Pool.
What do you feel is good about the bashment/reggae scene in London?
It's the most lively music around, and consequently the scene is pretty lively too. So many parties now are featuring dancehall now, which is great. When we started Heatwave three years ago, most club listings never mentioned the words 'bashment' or 'dancehall' in their pages, with just the occasional reggae night. Now it seems to be everywhere.
And what's the downside?
A lot of DJs seem to be unwilling to step away from the orthodoxy of what's big in Jamaica or what's big in the UK dancehall charts. While BBC 1Xtra has done a lot to popularise dancehall in the UK mainstream, which is great, I think that sometimes it's overly dominant, and tunes and riddims that don't get airplay there or don't feature in the UK, US or Jamaican dancehall/reggae charts don't get picked up on by DJs. There's so much great music around, yet too often DJs are playing the same tunes, just the big hits.
Heatwave Top 7
- Baby Cham & Alicia Keys - Ghetto Story, Chapter 2 remix (Atlantic/Mad House)
- Elephant Man & Sly & Robbie - Walk Out (Taxi)
- Yungun & Mr Thing - Forget Me Not (Silent Soundz)
- Assassin - Good Over Evil (Mad House)
- Sean Paul - Sufferer (Stainless)
- Kelis - Bossy, Cavemen remix (Virgin)
- Skibadee - Tika Tok (AOTG)
Nat Illumine | One Week To Live
