World Expo (Multimedia presentation and DJ set) - Aichi, Japan
Club Loop / Virgo Vibes - Tokyo Japan
Bassrain (offical member!) - Fukuoka Japan
Secco - Tokyo Japan
Zerro - Osaka Japan
Epicafe - Fukuoka Japan
Unique - Dusseldorf
Germany
Fuckparade @ Maria am ostbahnhof - Berlin Germany
The Motor
Ship Stubnitz - Lubeck Germany
Meanie Bar - Hamburg
Germany
Yokomonos - Hamburg Germany
Drei d. @ Hafenklang - Hamburg Germany
Le Fonque - Stuttgart Germany
Club Cwitzerland - Stuttgart
Germany
Liquid Sky - Cologne Germany
Basswerk Sessions @ Gebalde 9 -
Cologne Germany
Six Pack - Cologne Germany
Popkomm
2001 @ Jugendpark - Cologne Germany
I Sing The Body Electric @ University
Konstanz Germany
I Sing The Body Electric @ Spiegalhalle, Konstanz
Germany
Rheinterrasse Relaxed Clubbing - Konstanz Germany
Club Douala - Ravensberg Germany
The
Roxy - Ulm Germany
Big Days Out Open Air Festival - Ulm Germany
Mahatma -
nme click session - Ulm Germany
School Of Art - Braunschweig
Germany
Brain Club - Braunschweig Germany
Vibration @ Halle 101 - Speyer
(Mannheim) Germany
Club Evolution - Luxembourg City
The Elevator -
Luxembourg City
Klangsalon - Klagenfurt Austria
Moods im Schiffbau w/ Mute
- Zurich Switzerland
Bad Bonn Kilbi Open Air Festival
- Duedingen
Switzerland
Club Mokka - Thun Switzerland
Jungleparade @ Echo - Basel Switzerland
The Rhiz - Vienna Austria
Flex - Vienna Austria
Stadtwerkstat - Linz Austria
Offensheim Open Air Festival -
Linz Austria
Different Cities @ Theatro - Graz Austria
Looneez - Delft
Holland
Doornroosje - Nijmegan Holland
Effenar - Eindhoven Holland
The
Greenhouse Effect - Amsterdam Holland
Absinthe - Amsterdam Holland
The
Motor Ship Stubnitz - Rotterdam Holland
WEST COAST
Viper Room - Los Angeles, CA
Magic Wednesdays - Los
Angeles, CA
Raveolympia - Los Angeles, CA
Transmission Theatre - San
Francisco, CA
Justice League - San Francisco, CA
McGreggors - Monterey, CA
Beat Box - Seattle, WA
Kid Mohair - Seattle, WA
Sonar - Vancouver, BC
SOUTHWEST
Utopia - Las Vegas, NV
Rock Island - Denver,
CO
Club 101 - El Paso, TX
The Curtain Club - Dallas, TX
Jumble Tribe -
Dallas, TX
Ambient Gangstas - Dallas, TX
Jungle Phever - Dallas, TX
The
Red Room - Austin. TX
TORONTO
Event promoters: OM (Sumkidz), Promise, Flux, Alien Visitation, Alien Influx, Harvest Festival,
Transcendence, Destiny, pHryl, Syrous, Next Junction, World Electronic Music Festival, and
clubs such as The Guvernment, Industry, Power, Apothecary, Weave, Fez Batik,
B-Side, Area 51, Audiowerks, Blue Agave, Gypsy Co-Op, as well
as weekly on CKLN-FM and dozens of raves, warehouse parties and promotional events throughout the glorious city of Toronto including gigs for TIFF, Fashion Week, Harbourfront and more.
interviews.articles
Back to bass
Oscillate compilation pushes Toronto drum ‘n ‘
bass back on the upswing BY RYAN WATSON (eye magazine Nov 22, 2002)
"Toronto drum ‘n ‘ bass is in a state of constant fluctuation," according to
Gerald Belanger, DJ, producer, co-head of the nice+smooth label and general
pillar of the city ‘s electronic scene. "People come and go, passing through the
scene all the time; some move on to other sounds or other locations, but there ‘s
still a core of producers and DJs who keep things afloat."
With scant few releases making a dent in the culture, drum ‘n ‘ bass has
fallen off the radar, although reports of its demise have been exaggerated. If
drum ‘n ‘ bass were a corporation, this dip in stock might prompt panic to run
through its brass and perhaps encourage a few swan dives out of high-rises. But
when you ‘re talking music, it ‘s OK, even healthy, to go underground. Look at
disco, which resurfaced as house in the mid- ‘80s and never looked back. Hell,
even look at heavy metal, another genre that feels the need for speed (albeit
with more hair and thinner pants). Metal is the prime example of a network of
fans supporting a genre without mass exposure or support of the intelligentsia.
Sure, the glory days of drum ‘n ‘ bass -- the initial burst of momentum in the
mid- ‘90s and the subsequent crossover success of stars like Goldie and Roni Size
-- may be gone, but the true believers remain.
"Maybe D+B isn ‘t so popular in the media," says Belanger, "but the interest
is still there and it ‘s as active as it ever was. And the music ‘s as good as
it ‘s been in a long time and it ‘s getting better. There are still big parties
and all-ages events, but not in the kind of numbers there used to be." The scene
has undergone a downsizing recently, but the drop-off in visibility isn ‘t
strictly due to a mass abandonment of interest in the form itself. A number of
factors contributed to the scene ‘s contraction, most notably the increased
legalities and red tape involved in throwing large parties and the novelty of
the rave wearing off as the audience matures. The latter cause is cited by both
Belanger and fellow core member of the scene Marcus Visionary (DJ, producer,
promoter) as influencing drum ‘n ‘ bass ‘ current direction, both musically and
logistically.
"As a city, Toronto ‘s climaxed as far as raving goes," says Marcus, "and now
it ‘s moving more toward the clubs. I know a lot of the key players are starting
to market it toward a 19-plus audience to lose that whole rave stigma that ‘s
attached to it. And to aid in that, it follows to promote a more mature sound of
drum ‘n ‘ bass. I ‘ve been playing a lot of funky, soulful kind of D&B that ‘s
not so hard-edged. There ‘s a whole faction of producers now who fit into a
middle ground that ‘s not too hard and not too LTJ Bukem. I think drum ‘n ‘ bass
has finally found its groove, a groove that will be more palatable to an older
audience."
"There was a lull for a while," says Belanger. "A lot of people were saying
that there wasn ‘t a lot of good music coming out a couple years ago. It was a
monotonous kind of sound, and this new soulful style may be a backlash against
that, and the crowds are responsive to it."
The newly released nice+smooth compilation, Oscillate (the fourth installment
of the Metro Breaks series, now under a different name), bears out the claim
that Toronto D&B is headed for such a middle ground, presenting a more
soulful side of drum ‘n ‘ bass residing somewhere between the machine-gun thump
of London hardcore and Bukem ‘s D&B-lite. Rather than a definitive overview
-- there ‘s no representation from local imprints like Furious Records and Vinyl
Syndicate, Moonshine main man Freaky Flow or other producers who contribute to
the diversity of Toronto ‘s drum ‘n ‘ bass sound -- Oscillate offers a finely
focussed microcosm of the local scene.
On a global level, contemporary outfits like Bad Company (no, not that Bad
Company), and Belanger fave Fauna Flash, continue to churn out inspired drum ‘n ‘
bass, providing international fuel for scenes like our own. And the events,
radio shows, websites and, of course, a core of devoted fans provide a firm
bedrock of support for drum ‘n ‘ bass to thrive. The signs of life are there if
you look.
OSCILLATE VIBRATES WITH LOCAL D ‘N ‘ B
BY BENJAMIN BOLES (NOW
magazine Nov 22, 2002)
Gerald Belanger has a lot on his plate right now. In addition to hosting his
weekly radio show, Unfortunate Sonic Casualties, on CKLN, he DJs at local events
as well as at European clubs and festivals. He still finds time to run eclectic
local record label Nice and Smooth and writes and produces music with Kinder
Atom. Nice and Smooth has also had the good fortune to have recently signed
Chicago house legend Roy Davis Jr. to a worldwide deal. His most recent venture
has been to set up the sub-label Oscillate to focus on the local drum ‘n ‘ bass
scene.
Oscillate ‘s first release is a self-titled compilation of mainly local
talent, ranging from established Toronto legends like DJ Marcus and Dave
Whalen ‘s Visionary project to relative unknowns like Subrythm. The overall
quality of the production is top notch, but what really impresses is the
diversity of the d ‘n ‘ b. From the jazzy bossa-nova-influenced rhythms of Sol
Azul to the dark, brooding beats of Otis & Toxic, all the major offshoots of
the genre are represented.
>Although Belanger ‘s DJ style generally straddles many electronic
genres, the success of the Metro Breaks series that preceded Oscillate has meant
that he sometimes plays ambassador for Toronto ‘s d ‘n ‘ b scene. "As often as I
can, I get booked to play freestyle," explains Belanger over coffee. "That ‘s
been the style on my show for the 12 years at CKLN and the three years before
that on another station. There ‘s always a certain type of vibe, whether it ‘s
drum and bass or electro or whatever -- it ‘s a deep, psychedelic
sound.
Belanger has been running electronic music labels since 91, when he founded
the now-defunct DOV label. He ‘s seen the industry change and evolve several
times but has been struck by how much music is being distributed electronically
these days.
"We get a lot of traffic through our digital distribution partner, Emusic.
We ‘ve distributed a lot more music through the Internet than through selling
CDs. Emusic is a pay site, so when people download it there we actually get
money. If a lot of people download a song, we can make much more money with that
than if we manufactured a 12-inch record. "We still make records and sell them
to DJs, but it ‘s a money-losing proposition from the beginning."
Unfortunately, many of the MP3s of Nice and Smooth releases floating around
the Internet are easily available through file-sharing networks that don ‘t
reimburse the company for its work. "People under a certain age don ‘t believe in
buying music any more. Our stuff was all over Napster when it was up. Now it ‘s
all over Soulseek and Kazaa. I guess in a sense it ‘s good that there are easily
half a million people somewhere with an MP3 of ours on their computer."
Torontojungle.com cover story Jan. 2002
"Grade six, we had this really wacky music teacher who brought in a movie
about Moog synthesizers," he began, describing one of his earliest encounters
with electronic music. "I remember watching them play these crazy knobs and
buttons and twiddles and things and I thought wow that ‘s really future music."
From as far back as he could remember Belanger was always interested in the
future, so this experience really hit home for him. When this same teacher
brought in an actual synthesizer player, Belanger was even more amazed. "This
old guy came in and he had something like a sampler, except it ran ," explained
Belanger. "He was playing little tape loops of an airplane taking off on his
keyboard, and I was completely blown away [that] you could reproduce reality
like that." After this initial experience, Belanger said he gained wider
exposure to all types of early electronic music from early hip hop and electro,
to techno by pioneers like Derrick May, by tuning in to CKLN. These days the
tables have turned and he is the one broadcasting his music for the masses to
hear. But back then, it was shows like "Ron Nelson ‘s Fantastic Voyage" and
"Dave ‘s Dance Music that caught his ear.
Then came the late ‘80s and New Wave Pop. From there Belanger was hooked. "I
used to go out to all night parties in the ‘80s at a place called Twilight Zone
where they ‘d play electronic music all night . . . and told our parents we were
sleeping over at each others ‘ houses, you know, pre-rave days but essentially
the same thing," he said, describing a scenario many may remember from when they
were young once too. After he started college, Belanger began frequenting the
legendary 23 Hop. "This was like ‘88/ ‘89 and they were doing weekend parties so
I started to go," said Belanger. At that time jungle was, only beginning its
evolution and other sounds were dominating the speakers. "Back then the biggest
thing was acid music, right, acid house," Belanger recalled, recounting with a
smile his first meeting with Alex Paterson (of The Orb), brought in for a
performance at "The Hop" by the infamous Chris Sheppard. Although he had been
attending the warehouse parties down in the Front St. and Spadina Ave. district,
only after the first Nitrous event did the word rave figure into the equation.
"There ‘d always been warehouse parties going on," he said, explaining that these
events were predominantly house music. "I think it wasn ‘t until the rave thing,
companies like Nitrous or Kemistry, that I first heard breakbeats."
With such a strong interest in the future and the evolving forms of
electronic music, it is no surprise that Belanger was drawn to producing it. "I
went to Sheridan college and took an audio engineering course and started to
learn the basics of midi and digital music," he said. "They had some pieces of
gear we could play with, and that really caught my interest." In 1991 Belanger
founded his first record label: Death of Vinyl Entertainment. With his label he
didn ‘t want to limit himself to releasing just one type of music. Instead, the
label released some ambient, dub, down tempo, techno, house and even early
breakbeat tracks. Belanger was trying to find tracks and release music that
crossed a lot of borders. "In terms of music getting out there I think we were
really successful," said Belanger, also explaining some of the problems his
label and other independents faced with distribution at the time. "You have to
think," he said "this is before internet and all that went mainstream - before
e-mail - so sending out new release information to a couple thousand people was
really difficult. You had to send post cards or you had to do a lot more radio.
"We used to mail out 500 promos of our records across the world just to get the
records heard. Then you ‘d hope people would mail in catalogue requests. I mean,
it was a lot more like having a home mail order thing because that ‘s where most
of the records were selling." One of the label ‘s biggest successes came in
1993/1994 with a number of releases in England with Ninja Tune. "People really
liked them and Ninja Tune really branched out into the techno world after
releasing our records," explained Belanger.
After this Belanger decided to fold the label and move on to something else,
opening his own record shop at the corner of Queen St. and John St. called
Modulations, the store was located right next to the renowned Xstatic. For
Belanger, running the store was a way of reconnecting with the Toronto
electronic music scene. "I had been so immersed in releasing records in Germany
and in England, and distributing records all around the world that I sort of
completely ignored what was happening in Toronto," he explained. In the early
‘90s Jungle was just starting to gain popularity in Toronto. And although
Belanger confessed he did not really understand the music at the time, he was
selling a lot of it in his shop. "We were one of the first stores to really
carry a lot of jungle, and we were selling more jungle in that store than
anything else," he said, describing how he ‘d let Slip n ‘ Slide run through his
release sheets and do most of the ordering. "I remember having so many copies of
Helicopter just fly through the store . . . and Renegade Snares." Belanger
credits 4Hero for finally opening his eyes to what jungle was about, as well as
an invitation to one of the first Syrous events. Just playing the music in my
store never did it justice," he said. "It wasn ‘t until you heard 10k of sound
behind those basslines that it made any sense at all, and when you saw people
completely losing their minds to tracks, which you never had seen before at
raves." With a new found appreciation for jungle and a strong interest in making
electronic music, it was inevitable Belanger would start producing it.
In 1996, shortly after closing the shop, Belanger set up a new studio with
three other friends/business partners, together forming Kinder Atom. To date,
Kinder Atom ‘s biggest achievement was a track called "Illegal" done with Michael
Rose from Black Uhuru. The crew released it on a compilation, Metro Breaks ‘99.
The remix from Basswerk in Germany did really well for us," explained Belanger.
"It was a huge hit all over in Europe and got our name out there a lot, which
was great." Although Kinder Atom has released many different styles of music
from electro to techno, they have done a lot of work with drum and bass. After a
couple of years we shared out half the studio with Dave Whalen and Marcus from
Visionary, just when they were starting out," said Belanger, explaining how he
learned a lot from them about producing drum and bass. "That ‘s what got me
interested in putting together the first compilations I did on the new label."
The new label shared its name with the new studio: Nice and Smooth.
While sharing the studio with Visionary, Belanger met many Toronto producers
making drum and bass who had no outlet for their songs. This was another reason
he decided to release the first Metro Breaks compilation. He wanted to represent
the diversity of the Toronto scene by showcasing the work of a variety of
under-exposed Toronto artists. The first two compilations came out in 1998 and
1999, and were released on both double vinyl and unmixed CDs. However, while
Belanger was touring with DJ Freedom in Germany, the two decided it would be a
good idea to release the third installment of Metro Breaks as a mixed CD, with
tracks by Toronto, German and some American producers Freedom knew from Dallas,
Texas. Currently at work on the next two Metro Breaks releases, Belanger has
changed the format once again. "One is all German, featuring 30 tracks from
different artists in Germany," he explained. "It ‘s going to be a double CD mixed
by one of my favourite crews in Germany . . . the NME Click." This crew has not
released any material of their own, but Belanger believes any person who has
seen their live show would know why they are mixing the CD. "They were just the
most (raw), out of control crew I ‘ve ever played with," he said, describing his
experience seeing them perform live. "It was the first time I ‘d seen DJs stage
diving at a jungle show." The other Metro Breaks project will be a CD mixed by
Belanger himself. Although this CD will definitely have a Toronto focus,
Belanger is receiving submissions from around the world. So far, submissions
have included a CD from Hungary and a tape from India. In speaking with
Belanger, his love for all forms of experimental and electronic music is clear.
"When I hear this great music that is under-exposed, that needs better
recognition I feel obligated to get out there and work it," he explained as we
sat in the CKLN FM studio finishing up the interview. It ‘s never been for a
financial gain," he said, admitting they ‘ve always lost money on music industry
projects. ‘It ‘s totally out of passion for and love of the music, and also it ‘s
love for subculture." As we were wrapping things up, Belanger showed me some new
releases he would be showcasing on the radio that evening. Right away the
enthusiasm he had for sharing this music with his listeners became apparent, and
one could begin to understood why he is still involved in the electronic music
scene so many years after hearing that Moog synthesizer for the first time.
INTERVIEW...
eye weekly- 05.11.00
DJ PROFILE Beginning in 1990 with his Unfortunate Sonic Casualties show on
CKLN, DJ, musician and label owner Gerald Belanger has compiled a résumé a mile
long. Licensing over 30 records, including Toronto ‘s first drum ‘n ‘ bass
collection, Metro Breaks, in 1998, and a host of remixes, collaborations and
compilation appearances with his group Kinder Atom, Belanger has been
astoundingly productive.
And he shows no sign of slowing down, with Kinder Atom ‘s new album MMM! and
reMMMixes companion vinyl just out, plus two more full-lengths slated for
release within the year: Kinder Atom vs. Rapoon and the rarities collection
Kinder Atom vs. the World.
"Techno has always been about the DIY aesthetic, taken from the punk
movement," he says. "It keeps a ceiling on sales, but it also keeps your freedom
to do what you want -- you don ‘t need anyone else ‘s approval."
While Friday ‘s MMM! release party at Fez Batik marks Kinder Atom ‘s first live
performance in two years, Belanger has kept active with DJ tours that have taken
him throughout Europe and North America and made him an ambassador for his
hometown ‘s scene.
"Toronto techno is very inspirational for me," he says. "It ‘s on par with
anything. When I play in Europe, I ‘m always waving the flag, talking about
everyone here, and people are always mentioning names of local bands, labels and
DJs to me. They ‘re much more hip to what we do than what Americans do." --
RYAN WATSON

INTERVIEW...
urbnet.com
cover story interview dec 99
So what ‘s new with your label Nice+Smooth?
We ‘re on a good roll, the last few albums have been getting us re-introduced
to the European market again. Metro Breaks 99 is the first record we tried to
distribute independently since leaving Caroline and getting distribution these
days is a real challenge. FUSION 3 in Montreal has been great, but we ‘re still
shopping for the rest of the world.
How ‘s the response been on the latest Metro Breaks ‘99
compilation?
Pretty unbelievable actually, it appeals to so many tastes that it ‘s hard not
to like a few tracks on it. I hear so much throwaway drum and bass, I always try
to collect actual unique songs for my compilations, and people appreciate the
diversity.
Tell me how did you link up with Michael Rose?
Michael has family in Toronto who arranged it, and he came by the studio the
day after a Bamboo gig. He really digs the vibe of drum and bass, he picked it
up instantly and is eager to do more, which is already in the works... The Green
Man remix of "Illegal" has blown up all over Germany, Michael has always been
big there.
You have toured this compilation around the world, how did everything go,
crowd response etc...?
People in Europe are really receptive to Canadian music, but the drum and
bass scene is dwindling in most of the clubs, but of course the people who still
go are more into it than ever. Amanda [freedom, my tour partner] always
devastates the crowd, leaving me room to take the sounds to the extreme
spectrums. Some of the crowds are wild, usually in the smaller cities, whereas
in the bigger cities the people are more subdued.
Any crazy stories?
Oww, so hard....summer 97 I did a 35 day US bus tour alongside a Swedish
techno band, those guys were really uninspiring, and were so unbelievably nieve
and were experiencing severe culture shock in America. The bus had no air
conditioning and we barrelled through the desert in the crazy heat for weeks.
The driver was an original riot grrrrl punk musician who was doing this on the
side to make a couple of bucks - she taught me more about punk and rock and roll
road trips in that month than I had learned my whole life.
Best gig?
Another really hard one. Either the Jumbletribe renegade outdoor parties in
Dallas or club Utopia in Las Vegas. America ‘s so fucking weird sometimes. Some
of my favorite gigs are when I ‘m spinning in someone ‘s living room and people
are dancing on the furniture. Private parties are the reason I DJ. The big gigs
are to get money to buy records to play at the little ones.
Any opinions in regards to the recent crack down in mix tapes in
Canada?
I ‘m surprised it didn ‘t happen 7-8 years ago. Everyone who made money from it
should be lucky they were able to do it for so long. I was never down with
mixtapes that didn ‘t have comprehensive track listings.
Are you spinning on new years eve, if so where?
No way! My bunker out of town is already fully prepared!
So you ‘ve been active in the electronic music industry for 10 years, what
do you see happening in the next 10 years of dnb / jungle music?
I hope everyone making drum and bass will just keep freaking out farther and
farther. Traditional commercial radio will be meaningless in determining what
people listen to, so the music will be everywhere as a normal part of our
culture. It slowly is being accepted as part of the whole music scene, not
alienated to a specific audience anymore.
Tell me about your weekly radio program "Unfortunate Sonic
Casualties" on CKLN-FM 88, can our readers outside of Toronto listen
to it online?
Yeah yeah, it isn ‘t archived, so check it in real time at
http://ckln.sac.ryerson.ca every Wednesday at midnight EST. The show is
primarily a new release showcase in all styles of electronic music, with
listings around 1am for upcoming parties and events. I have featured interviews
with many major ‘event ‘ promoters in town as well as the dj ‘s, trying to give
listeners a better look behind the curtains of the scene.
Is your music available for online purchase / download?
We are nestled nicely in the archives of Emusic.com, I ‘ve posted 51 songs
there available for MP3 download at a buck a song. They have a zillion tracks
there from almost all the big UK drum and bass labels, as well as other genres,
so I ‘m quite proud to be there alongside them all.
What ‘s in the future for you and Nice + Smooth?
We have a a blitz of new albums coming in the new year, the 3rd Kinder Atom
CD, as well as a mix-cd from Freedom. Then I ‘m taking a few months off in the
summer to record in Holland and play a few gigs, and then we ‘ll take things
slowly. I ‘m mostly interested in making new stuff, I ‘m so inspired by all the
amazing music coming out these days, its a real paradise in the record stores
lately.

For more information please contact: nice+smooth
Email: gerald@nicesmooth.com