In an attempt to give you a behind the scenes insight into the finer workings of fabric we've put together a quick photo gallery of our monthly paper flyers being printed.
We came, we saw, we conquered...or maybe it conquered us. We left Barcelona last night in pieces, after a day of sleeping on the concrete pavement. Big up the Sonar family for the biggest and baddest adventure yet.
FACT posted some lovely photos if you'd like evidence of the festival's unparalleled beauty. And we'll probably have a few gems to share too, once we get the pavement marks off our faces.
There was no hiding from the buzz, clap and rush of Dan Curtin’s‘Lifeblood’ album launch this Saturday, as rhythm lovers danced knee-deep in kinetic grooves and hypnotic dancefloor minimalism. Taking over Room Two, the Mobilee crew are one of Berlin’s most recognizable brands; uncompromisingly unique, they keep the family vibe at its core, building on the talents of a small group of artists including Pan-Pot, Sebo K, Exercise One, all lead by the fearless and faithful head honchos, Anja Schneider and Ralf Kollmann.
With nine album releases under his belt, Dan’s tireless thirst for sonic innovation has seen him mark down on labels, Strictly Rhythm, Sublime, Paper, Nepenta, Down Low and Rush Hour. With this being his first LP in three years, the Midwestern native has outdone himself, showing music-heads a potency of the house and techno genre and what it’s truly capable of. Taking time out from his ‘Lifeblood’ tour, Dan reflects on his latest workings, linking a selection of tracks to a kindred representation of artistic snap shots that will provoke unexpected emotions, moods and ideas. Drawing upon the grabbing and controversial ‘Zeitgeist’ documentary that purports to tell the real truth about Christianity, 9/11, and the International Bankers, he also strips it back to his roots in hip hop production and for the grand finale, he shows us the golden video for the dynamite release, ‘Mr Bean Do an E.’ Yes you heard us right, this is Rowan Atkinson at his best, teaching us some world-class moves that we hope to see you trying out on fabric's floor very soon.
I See Light
Awakenings, realizations, knowledge, understanding....
Best heard: In the club in the early hours when things are getting messy!
Perfect Affair
Drawing influence from hip hop, tribute to J Dilla, Electric Relaxation, getting away with stuff you shouldn't, the pure emotion of Maggot Brain....
Calling all photography buffs...come forth, we're in need of your expertise to capture our fabric and FABRICLIVE nights in all their glory.
The perks include:
1) Free entry (and guestlist for a couple mates) and a few cheeky drinks on the nights that you work.
2) A rare opportunity to build up your portfolio with photos of the DJs and bands that play at our disco.
3) The chance for your photos to be published in the various publications and websites we work with around the world (that includes our blog).
4) A fantastic opportunity for networking.
If that sounds up your street, please send us your portfolio or email us a bit about yourself: hotdesk@fabriclondon.com
Please note: We are primarily looking for professional, semi-professional and university-level photographers.
There will be no closing date for applicants as this as it will be an ongoing task. The more, the merrier.
An infinite number of titles and adjectives have been penned to describe the legendary Goldie over the years. Some people are (for good reason) enamoured with his immaculate and consummate contributions to the worldofD&B; others choose to speculate on his brushwithHollywood &/or realityTV; others are still catching their breath from his graceful conducting debut on BBC's Maestro; others solely focus on his genius as a visual artist...recently, when Goldie posted some old school photos from the 80s on his Facebook, we were given an inspiring reminder of the latter. Intrigued, we decided to find out more about the stories behind his earliest work - long before the days where Goldie was a household name taking up inches in gossip columns, and a decade before he was sitting on top of the world as one of its most groundbreaking musicians.
We stopped in with Martin Jones (Goldie’s manager and agent from 1984-89), to find out the inside scoop behind the images.
Martin is currently leading a national project to archive photos and video of early UK Hip Hop from the 1980s. If you have any material you think would be of interest, please contact him.
November 1984: Goldie’s graffiti career begins on national TV.
I first met Goldie in around September 1984, just after he’d joined the Wolverhampton B Boys breakdance crew. He was also a graffiti artist and showed me some of his designs - I was impressed and agreed to try and get him some commissions. In this shot he’s seen painting the backdrop to a breakdance battle between the Wolverhampton B Boys and Coventry’s Future Shock (hence the cartoon figures of both crews). The battle was filmed at Central TV’s rooftop car park for ITV’s 'Saturday Starship' children’s show, hosted by Tommy Boyd and Bonnie Langford. On the left is ‘Lewinski’ (Cliff Malcolm), a member of his crew, the Supreme Graffiti Team.
August 1985: Goldie’s Chinatown commission in Birmingham’s Bull Ring.
This was Goldie’s second public commission. It took place in Birmingham’s Manzoni Gardens immediately after the ‘Clash of the Titans’ four way graffiti battle between New York’s Brim and Bio, London’s Chrome Angelz , Goldie and Bristol’s 3D (later of Massive Attack), filmed by Channel Four for the Hip Hop documentary ‘Bombin.' It was commissioned by West Midlands County Council to cover hoardings around the new development area in central Birmingham containing Chinese-owned businesses. Disaster was only narrowly avoided when, as a result of some too hasty research, Goldie proudly presented his design to stunned Hong Kong Chinese dignitaries, revealing the Japanese flag flying triumphantly over Hong Kong harbour.
The Supreme Graffiti Team consisted of Goldie (right) , Cliff ‘Lewinski’ Malcolm (middle) and Gary ‘Birdie’ Burns (left).
March 1985: Goldie and the B Boys breakdance crew meet Afrika Bambaataa at the GLC’s Rap Attack Festival, Shaw Theatre, London.
I saw Bronx graffiti artist Brim on TV-AM and drove the B Boys down to the Shaw Theatre to meet him. He and Afrika Bambaataa were doing Easter hip hop workshops there with London kids. The B Boys really impressed Dick Fontaine, who was making a documentary about Brim and the spread of hip hop culture from New York to the inner cities of the UK. Dick brought his camera crew up to Wolverhampton where he filmed Brim with Goldie on his hometown estate – Heathtown.
On a fashion note, Goldie is wearing an Australian brand tracksuit – I got B Boys a few sponsors back then. There was Australian (for their ITV Saturday Starship national TV appearance), Kappa (for their Electro Rock film appearance), and finally Puma for their Electro Rock promotional tour.
The Boys pictured are, left to right, Keith ‘Kiddo’ Anderson, Gary ‘Birdie’ Burns, Hanifa McQueen Hudson, and Goldie.
1986: Goldie with Birdie at the Stairway to Fame in Heathtown, Wolverhampton.
A name heard coast to coast, LAlien Thee Mike B has it on lock from Cali to NYC. An avid blogger, promoter of riotous parties (such as Banana Split and Cheap Pop), a remixer/producer and collaborator (Graveleaf with Omar Doom and Knish Hit Squad with DJ Trident, for example)... Mike B comes equipped with a vast knowledge of music across the board.
Ahead of his fabric debut on Friday 7 May, we got the lowdown from Coachella last week from the man himself. Read on and live vicariously through Mike B...get transported to Coachella Valley for a sweet moment, while grooving to a mix he created in a similarly sunny Miami.
Day 1
Our house was awesome. We had a pool, a hot tub and lots of beer, weed and Red Bull. Not to mention that we rolled up in my buddy Jon’s ‘Party Van.’ Which is equipped with an OG Nintendo, VHS and tube TV. However, the sound system completely bumps!
The Van:
Nintendo:
Jon:
Jon is the man, and though he is sober, he proceeded to wild out like a drinking man immediately upon entering the festival.
While I waited for Jay-Z to take the stage I wondered around and ran into some folks. I also wandered over to the rave tent and caught the end of Erol Alkan’s set. He had quite the light show.
We're super proud to present Jimmy Mould's photography taken at FABRICLIVE on 2nd April - when the Numbers fam took over Room One (with slots from Rustie, Martyn and a special 2 part b2b special from Brackles and Jackmaster), Autonomic invited Blue Daisy to Room Three, and the deep dubstep titans of Scuba, Peverelist and Youngsta tested Room Two's system to its limit.
For more on the work of Mr. Mould, check his astoundingly understated website here: www.jimmymould.com
Steve Braiden may have come to the internet’s attention through his regular radio show on Rinse.fm but behind the voice and the music selection lies a deeper, more considered eye for visual compostion. With his portraiture published globally - spanning our own website as much as the likes of URB.com, XLR8R and more – he stands on the precipice of notoriety using his documentation of his dubstep contemporaries to gain something of a cult following.
His shots of Deadboy, Blunted Robots and Bok Bok are all fine examples of his photographic style, but rather than giving you a gallery to gawp at, we wanted to take you a little deeper. We caught up with Braiden ahead of his Room Three slot on Friday, 23 April.
How would you describe your photography, to the uneducated?
My approach to photography has always been with quite a refined aesthetic. I experiment with different styles and techniques but one element that has remained constant has been my consideration of light in the image. I find lighting particularly emotive, not only in imagery but even the way places and rooms are lit, and I think that comes across in my work.
How did you get into it? Was it something that you were always into, or can you pinpoint down a moment of realization (of sorts)?
I got into photography fairly late on in my life compared to some. I never considered it until I finished school, and picked it up when I was around 19 or so. I always used it as a tool to create pictures rather than to document anything in my life, and that remains true today. I love great documentary photography but am not so inclined to do it myself. Anyway I decided I wanted to study photography so I got together a portfolio in about 6 months, and got myself into a foundation course at London College of Communication, where I went on to study the BA Photography course.
Can you give us a little insight into your techniques?
I'm always looking to push myself and do something new. There are no singular techniques I rely on, some shots I've done have used about 5 lights, some shots are just natural light outdoors. The best technique is not to use a technique. Use your eyes and think about how you want the light to fall on your subject(s), and how things are interacting with each other compositionally. It pays to be able to adjust to the situation...I say the same thing about mixing records too.
We came, we saw, we conquered...or maybe it conquered us. We left Barcelona last night in pieces, after a day of sleeping on the concrete pavement. Big up the Sonar family for the biggest and baddest adventure yet.
There was no hiding from the buzz, clap and rush of 
