Hey West Yorkshire Jungle Collective! Thank you all for answering my questions for drum+basics!

Thank you for getting in touch. We were honoured when Drum + Basics started picking up our events in the listings, so to have a chance to say hello to all your visitors and readers is fantastic!

Let’s start from the beginning. Who is who in WYJC and how did it all come about?

The spark for the WYJC was ignited in a Junglism vs. Jungle Syndicate event (at The Old Red Bus Station (ORBS) in December 2017), as a discussion about the opportunities for jungle and drum & bass DJ’s to play vinyl at events. With a lot of venues and events moving to purely digital setups, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find an outlet if you were vinyl only, or preferred playing wax. The original idea was of a collaboration between DJ’s to try and promote each other when discussing bookings with promoters. This idea soon evolved into putting on our own events, which turned into an offer of a monthly residency from our good friends at ORBS.

Our current roster is

Ark X
Chewie Lewie
Cun7
Duburban
Guirkz
Hyson
Hollie Anthwax
Olrac
Parody
Pig
Pixl
Sinistatek
Squid

What’s the purpose of WYJC?

Our main goal is to showcase the music we love. It sounds cliche, but we came together through jungle / drum & bass, and enjoy playing it as much as possible. We also want to give people who don’t necessarily get a chance to play in the North an opportunity to come and turn some heads. As long as there’s a crowd, we’ll bring the beats!

You organised a lot of events last year with really good line ups, how do you decide about that?

As a collective we want people who come to our nights to hear something they won’t hear at any other night. This is achieved partially through the difference in styles within the collective, as we all have our own unique take on jungle / drum & bass, but also from the guests we invite. Narrowing down the list of potential guests can be an interesting challenge, especially as it is a collaborative discussion between members, however we ultimately look for someone who can bring something unique to the night – whether it’s an up front selection, a set of their own productions, or a deep dive into a collection to draw for some hidden gems.

What’s the hardest part of running your own night?

Honestly, the budgeting. Our nights are always free entry, fitting with the ethos of events at ORBS to offer a free jungle/dnb night every Friday, so we don’t necessarily have the budget we’d need to invite certain guests to come and play for us. However, this actually helps us, as it makes us dig a bit deeper for selectors to invite, rather than simply booking names people are used to seeing. It gives us something different, and we’re starting to see people commenting that if we are putting someone on, that person is definitely worth seeing.

What’s the best part?

For me, the best part is receiving some of the feedback we get from people about our events. Knowing that someone has chosen to spend their Friday night with us and has thoroughly enjoyed themselves is a real boost. The support we get from our regulars, and from people who drop in and like what we do makes it all worthwhile.

Dream line up?

If budget was no problem, I think Sinistatek would immediately book Special Request and Dub One for the same night!

Leeds and raving; how is the city’s nightlife?

Leeds has a solid history with regards to nightlife including legendary acid/house/techno nights Kaos and Back to Basics, whilst producing well known names such as LFO, Nightmares on Wax and Special Request. Like any northern town we’ve got our fair share of Yates’ types though! Ha ha! Probably the most well known aspects of Leeds nightlife is the healthy dub sound system culture which is inspired and propagated by Iration Steppas and the legendary Subdub at the West Indian Centre. Arguably Leeds was at one point saturated with dub, drum n bass and dubstep events. In spite of this there’s always been a bit of a lack of proper jungle nights providing tear-out amens, which is why it’s important to realise what the Old Red Bus Station has created for the city.

Big night ahead for WYJC with Equinox playing on the 21st February, what can people expect?

Something special, we hope! Equinox is a fantastic DJ and selector, who has everything we want in a DJ – a rich and varied collection of music from the history of our scene, as well as a collection of unreleased tracks and forthcoming releases that people would love to get their hands on. We also have Polarity joining us, who has releases on Criterion and Danger Chamber Digital, and some forthcoming material that will test any system. All said, we’re expecting a busy dancefloor to be destroyed by heavy artillery – and that’s before the residents get involved!

What’s next?

We’ve got our next event of our monthly residency on the 13th March at ORBS with an all-residents line up, and are heading over to Manchester for a clash with our good friends at Certain Sounds on the 10th April on the Pick ‘n’ Mix Soundsystem. We also have a habit of throwing an all-day event in the summer at the Fenton pub in Leeds, hosted by the Symbiosis Soundsystem – this year including two well known junglists playing something unusual! – so keep your eyes on our pages for more information.

Any famous last words?

A massive thank you to the Drum + Basics crew for this interview (and to anyone who’s read this far!). Huge shout to our friends at The Old Red Bus Station, Champion Up North and the License To Jungle crew. Massive respect to the crews at Certain Sounds in Manchester, Anomalies in Sheffield, Junglism in Huddersfield and the Northern Sound Alliance (NSA). Shouts also to Symbiosis Soundsystem, Jungle Syndicate, Jungletrain, Fright Night, Energy1058, Kemet FM, The Underground Lair, Bassport FM, G.O.D. Soundsystem, and too many more to mention.

For more information about West Yorkshire Jungle Collective, follow them on Facebook. Their next event is on the 21 February at The Old Red Bus Station.

Photo credit: Lewis Beresford