Supercharged: DJ Zinc // Audio

I had stopped going to Supercharged. Or so I thought.

As a regular of the night since it started at the Funky Buddha, I became increasingly unexcited by the Breaks scene, and although Skool of Thought, Krafty Kuts & co are excellent producers, it all got a bit samey. Imagine if you ate your favourite meal every Wednesday, but you never changed the ingredients? You would soon become bored of your favourite meal. That is what happened with me and Supercharged. I just felt that over the years they could have added a few more ingredients, or at least adjusted the seasoning.

I have also become disillusioned with their other venture, Against the Grain, for releasing the Freestyler’s cheesy abomination that is their newest album, “Adventures in Freestyle”. It really is cheesy and awful. Surely Lloyd and crew must know it’s awful. I think even The Freestylers must know it is cheesy and awful. If that album is a representation of one of the world’s leading Breaks labels, then I’ll eat my cat. It is for these sad reasons that my nights at Supercharged became infrequent, and I went to more fresh and innovative nights such as Beat Circus for my Breaks fix instead.

That was until I saw DJ Zinc was playing a live freestyle set with a mix of genres, including Dubstep, Breaks and Drum and Bass. Being a massive fan of another Breaks and Drum and Bass hybrid DJ, Ed Solo, and also of the blossoming Dubstep scene, this night sounded a bit fresher and worth a visit. With Zinc’s roots being firmly in Drum and Bass, this night seemed to guarantee some serious bass-orientated music.

The night kicked off with Skool of Thought, who played the perfectly executed Breaks that is the backbone of the Supercharged sound. However, it didn’t quite do it for me — for reasons previously mentioned. I am somewhat out of love with breaks at the moment. I might just be a miserable old trout, and if I’m honest, I do have a Drum and Bass bias.

The club filled up nicely just in time for Zinc. Zinc continued with the Breaks vibe, giving the happy, well warmed-up crowd with some bass heavy breaks, as expected, which was very pleasing. He played many a crowd pleaser such as a Dubsteppy Flat Eric remix with a wobbly, wobbly really loud bassline that got everyone smiling.

Zinc is already well-renowned for his skills in production and remixes in Breaks and DnB so it was the new Dubstep part I was really interested in. However, despite the fact that Dubstep was on the agenda, it wasn’t the Dubstep I was expecting — the down-tempo, two-step, chest-aching, really grimy Dubstep — so I was a bit disappointed. If you want real body-vibrating, slow Dubstep, go to the Volks. In retrospect, I was wrong to expect this type of Dubstep as mixing it with Breaks it has to be faster. However there was a touch of grimy element that got people a bumpin’ and a grindin’.

He then played mostly Drum and Bass to loud cheers and this appeared to be what the crowd were really here for. A bit like Zinc’s album “Faster”, where it starts off slower and gets faster through the album, Zinc used this tried-and-tested formula of increasing the tempo throughout the night. There was a definite correlation between how loud the crowds’ cheers were and the faster the bpm and bassier the tune. It confirmed something that I always knew in my heart. Everybody loves a bit of Drum and Bass. Even back when Supercharged started, they would sometimes play Drum and Bass at the end of the night and it would send everyone into a wild, rabid frenzy. It’s a formula that works well at Supercharged.

Zinc played a live set which was great as I have never been a great fan of watching a DJ stare at a laptop. He was also having a little dance about behind the decks, its always great to see older DJ’s still getting high on their on supply and still really enjoying their music. I guess he was probably pleased about the new direction he is heading with his production, which might explain the absence on the night of his Jungle classic “Super, Sharp, Shooter” despite it being an eternal crowd pleaser. I guess he’s leaving those days behind him and doing something different. And good on him.

The crowd was everything you would expect a mid-week Audio crowd to be: care-free students and people who have mastered the delicate art of combining employment with hangovers and lack of sleep. They were very much the friendly, fashionable, cultured and polite crowd that epitomises the UK Breaks scene. No one looked like they were breaking their Asbos to be there, despite Zincs massive DnB following.

N.B. Interesting fact: did you know that the Breaks scene in Spain is really rough? Well, I’ve seen it and it is. It’s more like a rough DnB crowd in this country and I mean rough, proper scum. I’ve seen grown men who look like gangsters dance to Breakbeat like Mr.Motivator on crystal meth. Some people even had knives taken off them. Yep, you heard right, knives at a Breakbeat night — it’s Spanish chav music.

On the drinks front, I rode the Tuaca Alpaca though the Tuscan hills of Audio. Unfortunately my Tuscan adventure mean that I became excessively drunk and my memory becomes shrouded in mystery towards the end of the night. I couldn’t even tell you what, for example, the last songs were that Zinc played but I am sure they were great as I didn’t stop dancing all night. My alcohol intake also got me in trouble and I committed one of Britain’s cardinal sins. There’s always some twat that tries to jump a queue, and I’m ashamed to say I was that coat queue-jumping twat. So apologies to the people I offended and got sent to the back, I was just too drunk to associate a long line of people patiently waiting with an actual queue. I queued for so long I even fell asleep standing up, like a horse, which was a strange end to a night.

Overall, a great night had by all, but it won’t make me start going every Wednesday again as I feel there is a bit of magic missing, and they need to try a new formula — which is why Zinc was fantastic. My recommendation for the next Supercharged of interest would be Deekline on the 19th December as this will be heavily-influenced by some serious booty bass thrown into the standard Breaks mix.

Me and Supercharged simply fell out of love after a long and happy relationship. But I’m pleased to say we’re friends again.

Audio
http://www.audiobrighton.com

10 Marine Parade
Brighton
East Sussex
Tel: 01273-624343

info@audiobrighton.com

Words: Abi