The Syndicate Turns Five - Yugong Yishan Tonight
The Syndicate are Beijing's premier drum & bass collective. For five long years they've been bringing parties to you and it's time to celebrate that. You can do so at Yugong Yishan tonight (Feb 27) at their fifth birthday. Here's what three members of the crew have to say on the first half decade.
the Beijinger: Who started The Syndicate?
D-Rail: Dan and some bloke called MC Raph or something
Dan Stephenson:The Syndicate formed back in 2004, when I was DJing at regular Thursday nite parties at Lush in Wudaokou. I always played the last set, after DJ Usami, who is always a tough act to follow, so I used that opportunity to play drum & bass to the stragglers at 2 or 3 in the morning. At that time there wasn’t really any regular drum & bass music played in Beijing, so my friends Skott Taylor and Jade Grey and I started to organize some parties. Thankfully much better DJs than I, such as Elemental and Slide, came to live in Beijing at the same time and The Syndicate officially started around then. We started throwing events in random spaces around the city. Since then we’ve been lucky to have many talented DJs and MCs join the fold and we’ve been growing ever since.
DJ Blackie: Dan Stephenson and Skott Taylor who used to MC with us. Waaay back in 2004.
tbj: What inspired you to do so?
DR: I think they were short of friends and felt like they lacked status. The Syndicate has really boosted everyone's standing in the ex-pat community; we are all “top pats”for sure now.
DS: We all just wanted to hear the music that we love and that wasn’t represented in Beijing at that time. I think it was Ian Mackaye, who said “sometimes you have to create the scene you want to be a part of.” All the people in the Syndicate, past, present or future have always been in it for the music. If we were in it for money we would have given up long ago!
tbj: What's the best party you've put on?
DR: The first Goldie show at Mix was pretty amazing for both turn out and music. The vibe was pretty amazing. There have been a few for different reasons but that one really stands out.
DS: The best party is always the next one coming up. That’s what I enjoy about doing this, is the possibilities of the relatively simple equation of friends, music and a few massive speakers. Personally I’ve really enjoyed the Goldie shows, because if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be here in China doing this. We’ve had a great time with all the international guests we’ve brought over. Not a bad apple or big ego in the bunch, which I think shows that drum & bass DJs and MCs are pretty down to earth, no matter how famous they get. I guess one of the best parties was the 2005 Yen Great Wall party, where The Syndicate had our own dance floor, on the wall itself – Elemental, Slide and myself all spun and there was a massive crowd going till 9 or 10 the next morning.
DJB: A couple stick out for sure, but all have had their moments. The first Goldie show was a bit special. He played a blindingly good set and the crowd, which was predominantly Chinese, got heavily involved. My favorite party to be involved in though was probably the 4th birthday last year. Everyone just seemed up for it and the Hospital boys smashed the club to pieces. All the Syndicate boys' sets also went down very well. All of the birthday parties we've thrown have had a wicked vibe to them – everyone comes prepared to party.
tbj: Have things gotten easier over time?
DR:If we were to stand still and not attempt to improve our events then, sure, doing the basics is much easier when you know how to do it. There is always a different challenge with every event and something to improve on from last time.
DS: Yeah, I suppose things have gotten a bit easier. I think, I hope people realize that Syndicate is committed to bringing good music to Beijing and so that has helped to spread the word. Dealing with clubs and so on will always be a potential headache. We’ve been lucky to work with some great places and people - like Jade at Lush, Kiko and the Yen/o2 Culture crew, Gouzi at Yugong Yishan, HaoBuHao VJ, Oak, and Welly at Mix. For our 5th anniversary we’re thrilled to have it at Yugong Yishan. They’ve been behind us from the very beginning.
DJB: Yeah definitely. But as you improve your goals also change which keeps things challenging. Booking international artists will always be a bit hectic as there are so many variables as to what can go wrong. But I think it's that nervous energy involved before throwing big parties that keeps us on our toes and, ultimately, coming back for more.
tbj: What's been the proudest moment?
DR: There have been so many good times. I still go to people’s houses and see canvasses that were painted and given out at the 3rd birthday, but personally the first time the podcast hit 1000 downloads was important. The reason being that we started the podcast to create more of a scene. We had people coming to parties but we weren't really giving them any lasting knowledge about the music, and for me that is half the reason I came to China in the first place. When we hit a thousand downloads, with most of them coming from Beijing itself, it really felt like a step in the right direction – no matter how small a step it was.Another one would be the fourth Birthday when I played a track produced by Meng Qi (a Chinese drum & bass producer) and the crowd reaction was fantastic. I gave him some tips on how to structure the track for a dancefloor but the talent and ideas are all his, and ultimately people like him have to be the future of the scene in Beijing. Watch out for him this year by the way. A lot of noise is directed at people like Acupuncture and Mickey Zhang for producing music, and rightly so, but this year it would definitely not be uncalled for to aim some of that attention in Meng Qi's direction. He really is a very talented individual.
DS: They keep replacing each other as time goes on. I’m proud whenever I see people come to our events and enjoy themselves, seeing our DJs do well, whether its at one of our parties, a Yen event or spinning at a music festival stage. We all just really enjoy seeing people lose themselves in the music. For us to have reached some success with a non-mainstream type of music here in Beijing makes me quite proud. I guess what I’m proudest of is that for many people, Syndicate has become synonymous with Drum & Bass in Beijing.
DJB: This is going to sound very clichéd but it's difficult to pick one moment. As a crew we've been proud of each leap forward, so I’ll pick something that isn't directly involved with a party. At the moment, I’m pretty proud of the podcasts that have been going for almost a year now. They have been a real success in terms of downloads and they're a lot of fun to put together.
tbj: What's been the lowest ebb?
DR:I think Zub club in Wudaokou closing was a low point. We had so many great parties in there, and even though it was tiny the vibe was amazing. As a DJ as well, when you work with a smaller, more intimate crowd like that you are free to play in a more experimental way. With a bigger crowd you have to be less selfish and cater for everyone more. It was almost like I was playing to 50 mates every time at Zub. Jade still hasn't offered me a free pizza yet either, the git!
DS: It’s been pretty steady for us, I think because we’ve got really talented DJs and we don’t chase after trends like some other dance music event organizers –we just play a wide variety of drum & bass and dubstep music. It’s really disappointing when an international DJ is booked and then cancels, but that doesn’t happen often at all.
DJB: For me personally it was when Club Fusion closed a couple of years ago as we had thrown some massive parties there and we had a lot in the pipeline before it suddenly shut it's doors due to some truly terrible management decisions behind the scenes. However, each set back has opened the door to new opportunities. When we get cut down, we grow back stronger. Like facial hair.
tbj: Who do you think has been the best DJ you brought out?
DR:In terms of skill and technique it would have to be Cyantific who played on three decks. Klute is also excellent for mixing across the board and keeping his EQ's level. Goldie brings a huge persona and atmosphere of his own in a way that no other DJ I have seen does, his selection is definitely on point for me as well. He has been here three times and played for close to four hours each time and I can't think of one bad track he has played.
DS: It’s hard to say, you could look at it in so many ways. Technically, or in terms of selection? Best at reading the crowd, or best at creating a vibe that people eventually get into? It’s hard to say what “best” means. Personally I’d say Cyantific is one of my favorites we’ve had out here, he makes mixing on three turntables look far too easy. But I gotta say, our Syndicate resident DJs are great too, they can definitely hold their own. Kode 9 was great, especially when the sheer bass weight of his first tune caused a power cut which knocked out the whole sound system for 15 minutes.
DJB: Technically I think it was Cyantific. He mixed on 3 decks and with incredible speed and precision.
tbj: What's in your next 5 year plan?
DR:Well there are so many talented producers out there that are just about to blow up and they are all killing for the opportunity to come out here and show us that they can entertain. I think a lot of effort will be ploughed into the Syndicate vs BaiCai events and you can definitely expect to see some of these emerging talents making appearances down the Rabbit hole in the near future. I also think it won't be long before you hear some good music come out of the Syndicate crew itself. Maybe this year, maybe next year, but the talent is there.
DS: In five years hopefully we’ll see drum & bass spread further around China, see some homegrown production and have Syndicate continue to represent Beijing Drum & Bass in China and around the world.
DJB: Well, I can talk about this year at least! Big, big things in the pipeline. Obviously I can't say too much but expect some truly top notch DJs to be passing through and, just as importantly, expect big things from our residency at White Rabbit with Bai Cai.
tbj: Is it going to be strictly drum and bass?
DR:We are always bringing different sounds to the plate. Every month Mael will be there playing you dubstep that would be considered cutting edge and fresh out the box in any of the big European scenes. One particular sound that is really exciting me is the reemergence of the jungle-techno sound. There are an awful lot of techno events in Beijing but what very few people realize is that drum & bass and techno used to be one music genre. There has been a big wave of people in London who have started taking the updated production skills of techno and drum & bass to start making music at 130-150 bpm's with the chopped breakbeats and reggae sub-bass of jungle and the synthetic bleeps and 4-4 kick drum rhythm of techno. It has a really exciting energy to it and, of course, it opens doors to playing dubstep in the same set. Some of the music people have been sending me has had me dancing round my living room like a mad man. I played a taster at the Christmas Eve party but you'll be hearing plenty at the coming Syndicate vs BaiCai events. Techno and house on one floor and drum & bass on the other is the perfect event platform to experiment.
DS: For those asleep at the back, we’ve been bringing out dubstep artists who we like since Kode 9 in 2006. Our Syndicate DJ Mael has become a major force for dubstep in Asia and we had a great time with The Bug this past summer. I guess really Syndicate is about urban, bass heavy music, whether that’s drum & bass, dubstep or whatever. Our boy D-Rail is playing a bit of the early 90’s jungle-techno stuff at the moment, which goes down well as its mid way between techno and drum & bass in tempo. We try to keep a good mix of tempos and flavours, we realize a whole night of drum & bass isn’t necessarily for everyone, yet.
DJB: Well we brought out The Bug and Goth Trad last year. Keep up with it, lad! I think we're pretty open to any DJ that we rate and who fits into our musical tastes. Just as a little taster, look out for DJ Zinc to be playing a non-drum and bass set out here in the near future!
tbj: What would be the perfect Syndicate night?
DR: That’s impossible.
DS: The perfect Syndicate night? Our 4th anniversary last year was close to perfect. Hopefully we can improve on it each year. My guess is our 5th anniversary party at Yugong Yishan on Feb 27th will be worth checking out. We’ve got Commix [Metalheadz/Hospital Records] from the UK coming in, HBH VJ and the usual gang of Syndicate DJ and MC miscreants.
DJB: Friends, drink and bass. Golden Great on the cusp of the Olympics was a night like that. Almost everyone I knew was there, there was a big crowd and we smashed it.
Photos by Oak Taylor Smith