Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2010

Courtesy of Greg G

Tokyo’s fabled club scene has lured numerous DJs, musicians and promoters to base themselves in Japan. Originally from Brittany in northeast France, Greg G (it stands for “Gouty,” in case you were wondering) arrived two years ago, partly to realize a childhood dream of living here, but also to relaunch his dubstep-oriented record label and club night in Tokyo.

“If you look at the flyers, there is no music style written,” Greg tells Metropolis about his upcoming Basement Ltd. party. “It’s a bass music event, but the idea is to also hear techno, garage, breakbeats and house. Everything is connected, but the idea is free. To me, it’s important that when you create a music night, you come not only for the music, but for the vibe.”

From humble beginnings spinning jungle records in his bedroom as a teenager, Greg was soon DJing the new UK styles around France. “We started our own radio show, playing UK garage, breakbeats, dubstep, house,” he recalls. “At that time, the dubstep scene was very small. There was a French internet forum, and everybody knew each other. I met the director and we decided to start a night in Paris—Basement Ltd.”

The French dubstep scene initially drew tiny crowds, but by the time of Basement Ltd.’s second anniversary, there were 600 people crammed into a Paris club. “We developed the vibe in France with this night and the forum,” Greg continues. “The idea for 7even Recordings came out of Basement Ltd.: we met a lot of people making music. My best friend was doing music, and he had some tracks I really loved, so I said, ‘Let’s press a few hundred vinyls and see what happens—with my distribution contacts, we might have some luck.’” The resulting records sold out in a single week.

Having followed through on his dream of living in Tokyo, Greg is now trying to build connections between Japan and Europe through his event and label.

“I’ve met a lot of DJs and producers here of this music, but much of it never gets heard beyond Japan,” he says, revealing that 7even (pronounced “seven”) is about to release its first Japanese artist. “That’s why I continue to work for a distributor, to work with Japanese labels, to make a connection between Japan and France for independent music.”

For the next Basement Ltd., Greg and his partners at Module are hosting Leeds producer Jack Sparrow, whose promo mix on the club’s website emphasizes the sound-system roots of dubstep rather than its trendy, pop-oriented incarnations.

More than anything, Greg values the human connections that music engenders. “For me, music is an opportunity to meet people,” he says. “I’ve met so many interesting people through music. I love the sound, of course, but meeting people—like we meet tonight—is the most important thing.”

Module
Basement Ltd. Bass music: DJs Jack Sparrow, Greg G, etc. From 11pm, ¥3,000 w/1d. Shibuya. Tel: 03-3464-8432. www.module-tokyo.com

www.7evenrecordings.com