Guests

Kiki

Kiki earned his musical wings as a hip hop DJ and all round turntable maestro before progressing towards becoming one of Europe's most exciting electro DJs. Juggling three decks, Kiki's blistering and relentlessly inventive mix takes in a wide spectrum of European classics and underground gems touring house, electro and techno. His skills allow him to turn his sound on a six pence which meant we were all glued to the Subbie ceiling before the clock struck two.

Kiki was touring as part of his 'Run with Me' tour after his critically acclaimed debut LP raised more than a few eyebrows. A native Fin, he has been labelled B-pitch Control's technical wizard and the hottest live DJ in their stable, as well as one of their most intriguing producers who is just as likely to sample Blondie as spend weeks meticulously constructing his own original sounds.
Kiki played at our fifth birthday party in October 2004 He was amazing. For those who want another butchers you'll have to wait till next year when he'll be making his return trip to Scotland.

Frank Martiniq

This young German became an honorary Glaswegian in the 24 hours in which he was here. He tuned into the Subbie in no time and proceeded to lay down a remarkably broken, funky and melodic groove which simply screamed the fact that he is the new voice to be heard on the Cologne techno scene.

Martiniq has predominately been releasing on Boxer Sports records in Cologne however recently he released his first devastating material on Berlin's fast impressing Sender Records. Please check our mixes page to hear his admirable efforts.

Fourteen of his own productions compliment a large stock of remixes which number in the 20s. All of them are examples of experimental and refreshingly moulded instrumental dance tracks but with a serious nod towards accessibility on the dance floor.

His 12 inches are the ones which have been making DJ around the world twitch. Understated in one instance and possessing huge presence on the other - he clearly has an ear for the exciting end of melodic techno. The discerning clubber will have no doubt unwittingly danced in delights such as Adriano, his late 'Nite Toolz' trilogy, clubstuhl or the intriguing and dextrous LP 'Neowoogie'
For a fuller picture of this guy check: www.martiniq.de (the intro soundscape is worth it alone!)

Thomas Fehlmann (Kompakt, The Orb, Ocean Club): Berlin, Germany

October saw the Fourth Birthday of Kinky Afro, and who would have thought that this accidental night which grew from a casual charity fundraiser would have survived the turbulent years in and out of venues around Glasgow and the surrounding area whilst the fire damage to the Jamaica St site was laboriously remedied!
It has lasted and aged well with even more in-house production and and bringing in our fourth year is the esteemed long standing ambassador of dance music - Thomas Fehlmann. Any of you lucky enough to catch him at our now defunct Glasnost project will know what legendary mixes this man is capable of laying down. Two years ago in Alaska he managed to have a slighted crowded of 150 punters upstairs screaming in euphoria with a fascinatingly understated texture of bass driven depth and space.

At Kinky Afro we showcased his dub techno tendancies with Ayawara; our live three piece drum troupe adding their own west African spice into the fray with the usual Afro breaks and percussive grooves. Their funky fusions of shakers, dun duns and Djembes' blew the roof combining their own traditional rhythms; modern improvised breaks with Fehlmann's exquisite dub grooves and bass sequences. The night was not to be missed with a few birthday surprises tweaked for your pleasure and presents for early lucky customers and dance floor funkies.

Remote Control aka Neil MaDonald: Edinburgh, Scotland

Remote Control is the dark and twisted sound of Edinburgh's Neil McDonald. Deep but not drowning progressive electronics brought to you on 16B's Alola imprint .

Born in Dundee and raised in Glenrothes, Fife, McDonald grew up on a diet of Stevie Wonder, Hall & Oates and Booker T. At the age of 18 he moved to Edinburgh to study art and began to check out the city's underground clubs and it wasn't long before he was a regular at the legendary Pure parties where he would be exposed to the sounds of Ron Trent, Derrick May and Claude Young. McDonald was inspired to start his own night in Edinburgh, whereby he teamed up with long term friend Ben McCabe and launched their own underground party 'Raw' underneath a late night drinking den in the city's west end. Their night lasted for an incredible 7 years and for anyone who was lucky enough to attend will remember the nights as really special.
Neil then hooked up with John Vic,of Finiflex, and soon began to produce music togther. A demo was subsequently sent to Alola Records boss Omid Nourizadeh who quickly signed McDonald to the label. The first single 'Bruno' packed full of scary noises, tribal drums and turbo charged percussion went on to sell over 3000 copies and was championed by the likes of Justin Robertson, Laurnet Garnier and Danny Howells whilst Darren Emerson also selected the track for his mix compilation on Global Underground. On Built on Volcanoes you will also find recent single 'Golden Acre' with its sizzling beats, hooky chords and monster bassline or '4pm in Frisco' which starts on a more disco vibe with swooshing effects and builds into a percussion driven floor filler whilst 'Tranquility Base' and 'Hermes' illustrate McDonald's diverse production skills and musical talent, offering a chilled break to the heavier cuts on the album.
A stunning debut, watch out for Remote Control on Aloha Records.
Benny the Bump aka Ben McCabe - Edinburgh - Scotland
Ben has DJ'd for well over 10 years now encompassing a super slick smooth style with a extensive varitey of music such as House, Funk, Soul, Jazz, Reggae and Hip Hop (the old stuff).

Influenced heavily by the likes of James Brown, Bob Marley and De La Soul during his chilldhood days Ben has developed an ear and numerous record boxes full of funky, dubby and always quality tunes. These days you 'll find 'The Bump' dropping the likes of Theo Paris, Isolee, and Metro Area to name but a few, included in his extraordinary and experimental upbeat mixes.

Teaming up with Niall MacDonald in the early nineties, the partnership gave rise to RAW, the first Saturday Night at the Negociants bar-club space in the heart of the Edinburgh, which consistently pumped out the best music every weekend for seven years, before the boys went off in different dierctions to produce ther own music.

Reunited recently at a serious of events lanuching Niall MacDonalds 'Remote Control' Album on Glasgow Underground's Techno label 'Alola Records' (www.alola.net) the boys have onced again teamed up to produce 'Polar Beats' - Saturday and Sunday music sessions at Edinburghs coolest music bar 'Igloo' on Jamaica Mews in Edinburgh's Newtown.
Check out www.alola.net for more details...

Gary Martin aka Gigi Galaxy: Detroit, USA

On Friday May 16th we were expecting GiGi Galaxy. This man is the label founder and principal producer of Teknotika records. Those of you unfamiliar with this dark man of detroit should expect filthy percussive house music, many tribal influences and seriously funky techno. The label's original concept was to merge the 1950's exotica era, and sci-fi influences, with Detroit techno. The result was a lot of percussion, spacey keyboards, novelty track titles like "Interview with an Alien", and "Pimping people in High places" Many an anthem at Kinky Afro has been wrought by his own twisted hand and this is definately not a kinky afro to miss. With over 30 releases to his and the labels credit, he is a true urban advocate of intereting and percussive techno.

Gary however mistakenly took his girlfriends passport to the airport and missed his flight. Hopefully we will be bringing him over in the future. When, however, we do not know.

Urbanbeat: Bosnia

Launching 2003 with an exciting prospect, we will be hosting a rare treat from the Balkan underground. We are proud to welcome Urban Beat to the Scottish underground, stopping off on their UK tour for 6 hours of music from the most exciting DJ pioneers to emerge from the Balkans. The dynamic duo of Sinisa Tamamovic and Mladen Tomic are throne to the best house night in Bosnia, playing every Saturday at Club Boomerang in the city of Banja Luka.

Mladen and Sinisa both hail from the city of Banja Luka, a vibrant hub of nightlife in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Having established their reputation as pioneers of hard house and techno sounds in the now defunct Soholski Dom, they took up a fortnightly Saturday slot at Klub Boomerang, a city central hang-out frequented by Banja Luka·s coolest cats and feistiest females. They have since grown from strength to strength, turning the art of three-deck mixing into their own formidable trademark.

Their music and legendary devastating three-deck house mix blew Robin away, during his tour of Bosnia and Croatia in 2001. Fresh from the success of that collaboration, they will be facing Kinky Afro residents and Ayawara in a rare and electric head to head sound clash. Check www.urbanbeatbl.com for more info.

Samba Yabamba: Scotland

In April 2003 Kinky was be infused with a Latin twist as we were joined by Brazilian flavoured drum troupe Samba Ya Bamba, bringing a blistering live performance from Scotlandís foremost Samba outfit.

Samba is a form of percussion originating in Brazil from a fusion of traditional African drumming with European influences. This intercontinental blend will continue too be reflected in the records as residents roam from afro-funk to electro-funk joinedby the inimitable DJ Tiff Peaches whose latino vinyl licks and South America dance-floor sleaze is a growing phenomenon and a ray of sunshine in and around Glasgow's sullied musical dens.

March 7th was be a rare treat to catch Scotlandís premier percussion based club night stage an explosive gig with the up tempo and irresistible groove of Scotlandís leading Samba band at Britain's finest underground institution!

Check www.urbanbeatbl.com for more info...

Nii Tagoe: Ghana

Nii was born in Accra, Ghana, into a royal family from whom he inherited his talent for drumming, dancing and singing. As the Artistic Director of Frititi and principal percussionist of Baka Beyond Nii brings to all his work a lifetime's immersion in his deep knowledge of the diverse dance rhythmic traditions of Ghana. His experience ranges from years of travel learning and performing around the continent (especially in Zulu Land and throughout Central and West Africa) for 15 years to touring productions and workshops around Europe, Israel, Canada and South Africa.

He came to Britain as a principal dancer, drummer and teacher in the Adzido Dance Company, has choreographed many dances, including Peter Gabriel's floor-show at the London Millennium Dome. He has performed as percussionist, singer and composer with world music chart toppers: Baka Beyond, African Headcharge, Osibisa and others and runs his own band Frititi. Nii continues to study traditional African music and dance as a foundation for his own work.
For further information go to www.bakabeyond.co.uk/frititi.