Tales From A Disappearing City – Détails, épisodes et analyse

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Join me for part one of my two-part conversation with Jerome Hill, a DJ and producer renowned for his top-notch skills behind the turntables. Since his first gig back in 1990, Jerome has been mixing and scratching up an eclectic storm, always armed with a selection guaranteed to rock any party. Jerome also runs a diverse range of record labels across multiple genres and styles. These include:

• Don't for fucked up party techno
• Super Rhythm Trax for acid, bleeps, and house grooves
• Hornsey Hardcore for raved up beats
• Fat Hop for cut-up hip-hop inspired mash-ups

In this first episode, we talk about our shared love for the underground electronic and hip-hop music scenes in the UK in the late 80s and early 90s, sharing stories and reminiscing about formative musical experiences from that era. Some topics discussed are:

• Jerome's roots in West London, exploring how skateboarding and graffiti culture shaped his early years
• The musical legacy passed down by his father, a session musician who introduced Jerome to the foundations of rock and roll and R&B
• The late 1980s pirate radio scene, with Jerome sharing his experiences listening to stations like CLR and Fantasy FM and legendary DJs like Hype who were blending house, techno, and early breakbeat
• The diverse early 90s UK electronic music scene, including discussion of some classic tunes and record shops
• Early UK hip-hop crews such as Criminal Minds, Hijack, Hardnoise, and Gunshot and how they influenced rave culture

Part Two coming soon.

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Theme song is Controlled Weirdness - Drifting in the Streets
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GJfmYy4RjMyLIg9nffukt

Hosted from a South London tower block by Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Tales from a Disappearing City is a chance for Neil to tell some untold subcultural stories from past and present, joined by friends from his lifelong journey through subterranean London. Neil is a veteran producer and DJ and has been at the front line of all aspects of club and sound system culture since the mid 80’s when he first began to go to nightclubs, gigs, and illegal parties. His musical CV includes playing everywhere from plush clubs to dirty warehouses as well as mixing tunes on a variety of iconic London pirate radio stations. He has released music on numerous underground record labels and was responsible for promoting and playing at a series of legendary early raves in the USA at the start of the 90’s. He still DJ's in the UK and throu...

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Join me for the second part of my conversation with Gizelle, a key figure in London's 1990s underground acid techno scene. Starting in 1990, we explore the evolution of acid house and the emergence of multiple new genres in the UK music landscape. In this episode, Gizelle shares her experiences on:

Her involvement with the Zero Gravity collective and underground party organisation
Protests against the Criminal Justice Bill
Early music production, collaborating with Henry (Dave the Drummer) and Guy McGaffer (Geezer)
Releasing music as Rebel Yelle on labels like Stay Up Forever and Bag Records
Playing with Immersion sound system at London squat parties in the 1990s
The global spread of acid techno and international gigs
Iconic venues such as Club 414 in Brixton
Her diverse roles in the music industry, from record shops to distribution
Radio shows and youth music charity work in Deptford
The 30th anniversary celebration of Stay Up Forever

Throughout the episode, Gizelle reflects on her musical journey, highlighting the importance of community, connections, and the growing presence of women in the scene. Her ongoing passion for music and continued involvement in the industry shine through as she recounts her experiences.

Support the show

https://www.youtube.com/@ControlledWeirdness
https://open.spotify.com/artist/20nC7cQni8ZrvRC2REZjOI
https://www.instagram.com/controlledweirdness/
https://controlledweirdness.bandcamp.com/

Theme song is Controlled Weirdness - Drifting in the Streets
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GJfmYy4RjMyLIg9nffukt

Hosted from a South London tower block by Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Tales from a Disappearing City is a chance for Neil to tell some untold subcultural stories from past and present, joined by friends from his lifelong journey through subterranean London. Neil is a veteran producer and DJ and has been at the front line of all aspects of club and sound system culture since the mid 80’s when he first began to go to nightclubs, gigs, and illegal parties. His musical CV includes playing everywhere from plush clubs to dirty warehouses as well as mixing tunes on a variety of iconic London pirate radio stations. He has released music on numerous underground record labels and was responsible for promoting and playing at a series of legendary early raves in the USA at the start of the 90’s. He still DJ's in the UK and throu...

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Episode 12 contains the second part of my conversation with Christoph Fringeli. We discuss his move to South London from Basel at the start of the 90's and how he started a new record label called Praxis in order to release some of the harder electronic music he was making and hearing at parties and on the radio airwaves in the city. We also chat about Dead by Dawn, the legendary monthly party, held at the 121 Centre in Railton Road, Brixton during the mid 90's that combined all night techno mayhem with talks and writing from the subcultural and political underground. We finish our talk by recalling some early internet explorations and how Christoph started Datacide magazine to as he describes "release articles and cover experimental electronic music, from the avant-garde to hard dance music, its intersections with radical politics and counterculture, in-depth political and historical analysis and critique as well as experimental fiction, poetry and visual works".

Support the show

https://www.youtube.com/@ControlledWeirdness
https://open.spotify.com/artist/20nC7cQni8ZrvRC2REZjOI
https://www.instagram.com/controlledweirdness/
https://controlledweirdness.bandcamp.com/

Theme song is Controlled Weirdness - Drifting in the Streets
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GJfmYy4RjMyLIg9nffukt

Hosted from a South London tower block by Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Tales from a Disappearing City is a chance for Neil to tell some untold subcultural stories from past and present, joined by friends from his lifelong journey through subterranean London. Neil is a veteran producer and DJ and has been at the front line of all aspects of club and sound system culture since the mid 80’s when he first began to go to nightclubs, gigs, and illegal parties. His musical CV includes playing everywhere from plush clubs to dirty warehouses as well as mixing tunes on a variety of iconic London pirate radio stations. He has released music on numerous underground record labels and was responsible for promoting and playing at a series of legendary early raves in the USA at the start of the 90’s. He still DJ's in the UK and throu...

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80's Countercultural Explorations in Basel and London

For the eleventh episode of "Tales From A Disappearing City," I am joined by my long-time friend, Christoph Fringeli, who runs Praxis Records and produces Datacide magazine. Christoph started Praxis in 1992, and since then, he has released a constant stream of cutting-edge experimental music that spans across all genres of electronica. The tunes he creates and releases can be described as harsh and abrasive but are designed to be played loudly on sound systems and in various reclaimed spaces. He describes Datacide as "a magazine that covers experimental electronic music, from the avant-garde to hard dance music, radical politics and counterculture, in-depth political and historical analysis and critique, as well as experimental fiction, poetry, and visual work."
In part one of our conversation, we discuss Christoph's upbringing in Basel, Switzerland, and how he became involved in post-punk as well as the emerging experimental tape swapping scene that was developing in the 1980s. We also delve into topics such as how he got into radical politics and the wide range of subcultural influences that began to shape his work. These discoveries were made in Basel and during his regular trips to London. We touch upon his Vision label, which preceded Praxis and released a series of fanzines, tapes, and vinyl records. Additionally, we explore his work at a distributor in Switzerland, which provided him with unparalleled access to the latest underground tunes. Episode 12 will feature Part 2 of this interview where we will chat about his move to London, starting Praxis records as well as a subject we have covered in previous podcasts, the influence of the monthly Dead by Dawn parties that he was involved in and were held in the 121 squatted arts centre in Brixton, South London in the mid 1990's.

Support the show

https://www.youtube.com/@ControlledWeirdness
https://open.spotify.com/artist/20nC7cQni8ZrvRC2REZjOI
https://www.instagram.com/controlledweirdness/
https://controlledweirdness.bandcamp.com/

Theme song is Controlled Weirdness - Drifting in the Streets
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GJfmYy4RjMyLIg9nffukt

Hosted from a South London tower block by Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Tales from a Disappearing City is a chance for Neil to tell some untold subcultural stories from past and present, joined by friends from his lifelong journey through subterranean London. Neil is a veteran producer and DJ and has been at the front line of all aspects of club and sound system culture since the mid 80’s when he first began to go to nightclubs, gigs, and illegal parties. His musical CV includes playing everywhere from plush clubs to dirty warehouses as well as mixing tunes on a variety of iconic London pirate radio stations. He has released music on numerous underground record labels and was responsible for promoting and playing at a series of legendary early raves in the USA at the start of the 90’s. He still DJ's in the UK and throu...

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For the tenth episode of "Tales From A Disappearing City," I am once again joined by Ben McCusker, a member of the Dead Silence Syndicate and co-founder of Audio Illusion Recordings. In the second part of our conversation, we delve into the discussion of how, following several parties in the woods and commons of Surrey, and with winter approaching, the Fear Teachers sound system transitioned indoors, initiating a series of notorious and musically eclectic all-night events at various illegal and unlicensed venues across London. The topics encompass the quest for the perfect venue and the fragmentation of the scene into different genres. We conclude with Ben's explanation of how he and Brett Youngs established a new record label named Audio Illusion. After their distributor goes out of business, they collaborate with Spiral Tribe. Through a new project called Subnet, Spiral Tribe effectively sells their records and those of other labels from the electronic underground scene throughout Europe and beyond, thus establishing a fresh network for independent distribution of music for musicians, producers, and label owners alike.

This episode is dedicated to Brett Youngs.

Support the show

https://www.youtube.com/@ControlledWeirdness
https://open.spotify.com/artist/20nC7cQni8ZrvRC2REZjOI
https://www.instagram.com/controlledweirdness/
https://controlledweirdness.bandcamp.com/

Theme song is Controlled Weirdness - Drifting in the Streets
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GJfmYy4RjMyLIg9nffukt

Hosted from a South London tower block by Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Tales from a Disappearing City is a chance for Neil to tell some untold subcultural stories from past and present, joined by friends from his lifelong journey through subterranean London. Neil is a veteran producer and DJ and has been at the front line of all aspects of club and sound system culture since the mid 80’s when he first began to go to nightclubs, gigs, and illegal parties. His musical CV includes playing everywhere from plush clubs to dirty warehouses as well as mixing tunes on a variety of iconic London pirate radio stations. He has released music on numerous underground record labels and was responsible for promoting and playing at a series of legendary early raves in the USA at the start of the 90’s. He still DJ's in the UK and throu...

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For the ninth episode of Tales From A Disappearing City I am joined by Ben McCusker, member of the Dead Silence Syndicate and co founder of  Audio Illusion Recordings. We first met in the 90's at an illegal warehouse party  and have been good friends ever since. In this episode we discuss Ben's early music influences including attending with his brother and his mum, the legendary UK Fresh event at Wembley Arena in 1986. This was a showcase for all the underground Electro and rap music that was being played from the Streetsounds compilations by the UK's youth at the time and was an inspiring breakdance Woodstock for the emerging UK hip hop generation. We also delve into Ben listening to Mike Allen's rap show on Capital as well as early Pirate Radio from stations such as Smart Boys FM and Green Apple. We finish this first part of our chat with Ben discovering the local renegade party crew, The Fear Teachers and getting the first taste of rave with all night parties featuring strobes and weird bleeps and tones in the Surrey countryside.

Support the show

https://www.youtube.com/@ControlledWeirdness
https://open.spotify.com/artist/20nC7cQni8ZrvRC2REZjOI
https://www.instagram.com/controlledweirdness/
https://controlledweirdness.bandcamp.com/

Theme song is Controlled Weirdness - Drifting in the Streets
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GJfmYy4RjMyLIg9nffukt

Hosted from a South London tower block by Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Tales from a Disappearing City is a chance for Neil to tell some untold subcultural stories from past and present, joined by friends from his lifelong journey through subterranean London. Neil is a veteran producer and DJ and has been at the front line of all aspects of club and sound system culture since the mid 80’s when he first began to go to nightclubs, gigs, and illegal parties. His musical CV includes playing everywhere from plush clubs to dirty warehouses as well as mixing tunes on a variety of iconic London pirate radio stations. He has released music on numerous underground record labels and was responsible for promoting and playing at a series of legendary early raves in the USA at the start of the 90’s. He still DJ's in the UK and throu...

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For the eighth episode of Tales From A Disappearing City I am joined by my old mate Simon Brown aka The Dexorcist. We first met at an illegal rave in the mid 90's and instantly bonded over our love of old school electro, acid house and rave culture. In this episode we discuss Simon's formative music years, growing up in Shepperton, listening to jazz funk before discovering electro and the importance of Our Price Records in his musical journey. We take in some Surrey balearic nights and also take a trip, literally to early acid house parties in what were then rundown parts of London by the river.

Support the show

https://www.youtube.com/@ControlledWeirdness
https://open.spotify.com/artist/20nC7cQni8ZrvRC2REZjOI
https://www.instagram.com/controlledweirdness/
https://controlledweirdness.bandcamp.com/

Theme song is Controlled Weirdness - Drifting in the Streets
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GJfmYy4RjMyLIg9nffukt

Hosted from a South London tower block by Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Tales from a Disappearing City is a chance for Neil to tell some untold subcultural stories from past and present, joined by friends from his lifelong journey through subterranean London. Neil is a veteran producer and DJ and has been at the front line of all aspects of club and sound system culture since the mid 80’s when he first began to go to nightclubs, gigs, and illegal parties. His musical CV includes playing everywhere from plush clubs to dirty warehouses as well as mixing tunes on a variety of iconic London pirate radio stations. He has released music on numerous underground record labels and was responsible for promoting and playing at a series of legendary early raves in the USA at the start of the 90’s. He still DJ's in the UK and throu...

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For the seventh episode of Tales From A Disappearing City I am joined again by
Neil who produces a couple of respected  blogs that have consistently documented all aspects of what we cover on TFADC. "Transpontine" features all things subcultural from the South side of the river whilst "History is Made at Night" turns it's attention to the after hours. In this episode we discuss Neil's move from Luton to the London squat scene in 1987, his subsequent experiences dancing all night during the 80's and 90's, the attempted revenge of the hippies in rave culture,  Reclaim the Streets and sandpits in Brixton, sending anarchists into space with the Association of Autonomous Astronauts and sneaking radical history into happy hardcore dance magazines.

Support the show

https://www.youtube.com/@ControlledWeirdness
https://open.spotify.com/artist/20nC7cQni8ZrvRC2REZjOI
https://www.instagram.com/controlledweirdness/
https://controlledweirdness.bandcamp.com/

Theme song is Controlled Weirdness - Drifting in the Streets
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GJfmYy4RjMyLIg9nffukt

Hosted from a South London tower block by Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Tales from a Disappearing City is a chance for Neil to tell some untold subcultural stories from past and present, joined by friends from his lifelong journey through subterranean London. Neil is a veteran producer and DJ and has been at the front line of all aspects of club and sound system culture since the mid 80’s when he first began to go to nightclubs, gigs, and illegal parties. His musical CV includes playing everywhere from plush clubs to dirty warehouses as well as mixing tunes on a variety of iconic London pirate radio stations. He has released music on numerous underground record labels and was responsible for promoting and playing at a series of legendary early raves in the USA at the start of the 90’s. He still DJ's in the UK and throu...

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For the sixth episode of Tales From A Disappearing City I am joined by 
Neil who produces a couple of highly respected and long running blogs that have consistently documented all aspects of what we cover on TFADC and so it was essential to touch base and hear some stories and history. "Transpontine" covers all things subcultural from the South side of the river whilst "History is Made at Night" turns it's attention to the after hours. I first met Neil at the Dead by Dawn night in the 90's in Brixton and it was a real pleasure to chat and discover some of his formative experiences in the scene. In this episode we discuss his early record and gig experiences growing up in the late 1970's in Luton as well as how post punk and radical politics helped him start his lifelong fight against right wing governments and racism on the streets. 

Support the show

https://www.youtube.com/@ControlledWeirdness
https://open.spotify.com/artist/20nC7cQni8ZrvRC2REZjOI
https://www.instagram.com/controlledweirdness/
https://controlledweirdness.bandcamp.com/

Theme song is Controlled Weirdness - Drifting in the Streets
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GJfmYy4RjMyLIg9nffukt

Hosted from a South London tower block by Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Tales from a Disappearing City is a chance for Neil to tell some untold subcultural stories from past and present, joined by friends from his lifelong journey through subterranean London. Neil is a veteran producer and DJ and has been at the front line of all aspects of club and sound system culture since the mid 80’s when he first began to go to nightclubs, gigs, and illegal parties. His musical CV includes playing everywhere from plush clubs to dirty warehouses as well as mixing tunes on a variety of iconic London pirate radio stations. He has released music on numerous underground record labels and was responsible for promoting and playing at a series of legendary early raves in the USA at the start of the 90’s. He still DJ's in the UK and throu...

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For the fifth episode of Tales From A Disappearing City I am joined once again by my good friend Howard Slater aka Flint Michigan. I first met Howard in the mid 90's at Dead by Dawn which was a legendary monthly party that took place at the 121 squatted art and community Centre in Railton Road, Brixton. In this episode we discuss TechNet,  his collaboration with Jason Skeet that produced a series of essential written communiques from the frontline of 90's subculture. We then talk about his involvement in Dead by Dawn as well as his magazine Break/Flow that in 1998 released an acclaimed vinyl issue with tracks from underground electronic labels and associates such as Praxis, Crossfade Entertainment, Adverse, Ambush and Unearthly.

Support the show

https://www.youtube.com/@ControlledWeirdness
https://open.spotify.com/artist/20nC7cQni8ZrvRC2REZjOI
https://www.instagram.com/controlledweirdness/
https://controlledweirdness.bandcamp.com/

Theme song is Controlled Weirdness - Drifting in the Streets
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GJfmYy4RjMyLIg9nffukt

Hosted from a South London tower block by Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Tales from a Disappearing City is a chance for Neil to tell some untold subcultural stories from past and present, joined by friends from his lifelong journey through subterranean London. Neil is a veteran producer and DJ and has been at the front line of all aspects of club and sound system culture since the mid 80’s when he first began to go to nightclubs, gigs, and illegal parties. His musical CV includes playing everywhere from plush clubs to dirty warehouses as well as mixing tunes on a variety of iconic London pirate radio stations. He has released music on numerous underground record labels and was responsible for promoting and playing at a series of legendary early raves in the USA at the start of the 90’s. He still DJ's in the UK and throu...