Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2011
UK artist Roska (Wayne Goodlitt) is that rarest of dance music creatures: one who has made the transition from MC to full-fledged DJ/producer. He got his feet wet as an MC in London’s late 90s garage scene, but didn’t blossom as a trackmaker until recently.
Speaking by email, Roska—not to be confused with popular English dubstep producer Rusko—says it wasn’t an easy transition. “I wasn’t really involved in the garage scene as much as I wanted to be,” he writes. “It was very difficult to apply myself and actually be a part of. I was only an MC then and made a few tunes in which I didn’t push.”
But as garage and drum ‘n’ bass began to merge and coalesce into today’s more freewheeling bass music scene, Roska’s releases found an audience. His first big track was “Feeline” off The Climate Change EP from his own Roska Kicks & Snares imprint.
The number set the template for Roska’s subsequent productions: skittering drumbeats and tectonic sub bass lines topped up with insouciant claps and whistles. For Roska, music is meant to have sense of humor: “It [the name ‘Kicks and Snares’] sums up the style I am involved in,” he says. “It doesn’t sound serious as music is meant to be fun.”
The 28-year-old arrives for his first tour of Japan bearing his latest effort Jackpot, which came out on Rinse in July and consists of 6 instrumental tracks “full of bass.” His invitation to Japan comes courtesy of the long-running Numbers party and label, which Scot Paul Beveridge (DJ P.O.L. Style) started in Glasgow, hosting artists like Diplo and Square Pusher before relocating to Japan a few years back…
Meanwhile, a slew of fashionable women DJs—among them a 70-year-old currently burning up dance floors—are set to hit Ageha for apparel website Fashionwalker.com’s Girls Magic event.
Bristol grandma Ruth Flowers aka DJ “Mamy Rock” took to the decks a few years ago for her grandson’s disco birthday party, and soon found herself DJing in front of Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz at the Cannes Film Festival.
Is Flowers the latest symbol of the burgeoning “senior power” movement? Or evidence that the whole dance music revolution is starting to show its age? Find out alongside a battalion of fashion victims at Girls Magic next weekend.
Numbers@Module, Sep 18 (listing). Girls Magic@Ageha, Sep 22 (listing).
