THE SOUTH CENTRAL ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCENE
WRITTEN BY JACOB BEALE - FOUNDER OF address.
It's been five years since lockdown emptied every venue in this city and put a question mark over whether grassroots electronic music would ever recover. Turns out it did, and thanks to the efforts of promoters, DJs, venues and crews working together, it's in a stronger place now than ever before. If you've ever thought about getting into your local electronic music scene or learning to DJ, there has genuinely never been a better time to start.
Across the region we have a network of low-pressure spaces built specifically for people learning the craft, meeting other people into electronic music and improving skills. We also have a wealth of DJs lifting each other up and sharing their knowledge and resources - shout Amy Willow for her pulling together the So'ton DJ chat whatsapp group - and everyone else holding space for electronic music communities to prosper.
Our own contribution is Public address, which you can find on the second Saturday of every month at Planet Sounds, 7pm–11pm. Come jump on our open decks, get free use of our practice space while you enjoy low key vibes and free pizza.
For early risers the excellent Not Clean Creative run 'DJ AM' Sessions. Find them at Aldershot's West End Centre on select Saturday mornings where you can experiment and play with DJ gear over a coffee.
If you're after a midweek session, Wednesdays at the Absolut Lounge (above the Social in Bedford Place) are taken over by LampPost.Live with their open deck formats Posted, Inbox and Stamped on Wax, it's a lovely hangout with a very friendly and supportive crowd.
There's a strong run of DJ nights worth putting on your radar across the city and region. Suburbia has given a few of their Fridays out to crews trying new concepts, so it's always worth checking their listings for something new. It's also home to Codename Amen, spinning all manner of UK jungle, old school rave and atmospheric drum and bass. Heartbreakers has Sideways, a night of top quality acid house, wonky bass and breaks, as well as Intimate Grooves, an exceptional night of hard-groove and techno which has also branched out to Kola, in Portsmouth. For a quality drug and alcohol free party there's Loud and Clear in Winchester, who run sober raves, with their next one at the Vault in Winchester on the 27th of June.
Being Southampton based I have to recommend a few more homegrown Southampton crews such as RE:GEN pushing dark, futuristic 140 and drum and bass (Suburbia 21st June). Club Bad are house and disco heads with an encyclopaedic knowledge and incredible vinyl catalogue (Bitterne Triangle Garden Party 21st June). I'm also hyped to see what the all-female, multi genre DJ crew CTRL FR34KS will bring to our new venue IO in the coming months (4th July), and let's not forget FUN, a unique house-party inspired night at Planet Sounds with bands, DJs and video game competitions that asks 'when was the last time you had fun?' on the third Saturday of the Month (20th June).
If you've been curious to explore what the region's grassroots electronic music scene has to offer, I'd suggest you find one of these nights, meet the people and get involved! There's no way I could sum up all the other exciting things happening around the south central area, but keep your eye on venues mentioned above, as well as Helch Market, Overdraft, XOXO, Heartbreakers and Kola who will be pushing different nights and new concepts!