Avant-Garden – A Pop-Up Outdoor Dance Space
For one month only we are transforming the Cardiff Arts Institute backyard into a magical musical playground. Featuring: even more Funktion 1 Soundsystem; a Monster Disco Ball; Industrial Smoke Machines; Video Projections; Outdoor DJ Booth, Bar and Dancefloor, this will be a truly unique environment created for you to dance the Spring season away, under the stars.

Launching on Easter Weekend (21st April) for 6 very special weekends throughout May, the Garden will feature a wide array of established local residences and some secret special guests. We can promise you that these are 6 weekends and 18 parties you won’t want to miss.

Astrosnooze // Ba Ba Boom // Cai Gets Rude // Clare James // Craig Bartlett // C.R.S.T. // Dave Mills // Didz, Digs & Woosh (D.I.Y Soundsystem) // Discord // DJ Comfort // DJ Jaffa //  DJ Moneyshot // Dvrsfy, Esoterra // El Harvo // Exotope // Fear of Theydon // Gareth Hopkins // Joey P // Jon Carter // Kaptin // Killer Tomato // Lady Di // Marky De Sade // Matt the Hat // Maxx Roach // Monky // Ms Anthrope // Neil Young // Oisin // Owain K // Ratcatcher // Richie Moulton // Rollo // Rushmore // Sombrero Soundsystem // Sean McCabe + some very special guests

Friday – Future Fridays Presents / 9PM-4AM /
With some of the UK’s best House and Garage producers residing right here in Cardiff, it’s only right that we have a regular Friday night that caters for what promises to be the sound of both spring, summer and no doubt beyond.  We have the scene’s best DJs and producers on rotation along with some very special guests and a special U-Stream set up so everyone in the world can find out what they’re missing out on.8pm – 4am

Saturday – Secret Carnival Presents / 9PM-4AM /
Don’t worry be happy! the World maybe falling apart but our Saturdays nights are are an oasis of peace and love. The Secret Carnival is a magical musical playground full of fun bringing the vibes of Ibiza, India, Brazilian Fevela’s, Fiestas, Summer festivals and the energy of Circus Big Tops into a weekly epic outdoor party Featuring an array of performers, visuals, decor, dancers, DJ’s and even a Shisha Bar!

Sunday – The Daytime Disco / 3PM-3AM /
Where as we would never encourage you to miss a day off work / college / etc on a Monday, we do actively encourage making maximum potential out of your weekend, so we shall have selection of our family and friends spinning Disco, Funk, Baleric, House and straight up Party Madness. Come and join in, there’s no better way to spend your Sunday. World-Cuisine BBQ

Regulars Card Holders get Mojitos are on offer for ‘Buy 1 Get 1 for £1’.

The Avant-Garden is brought to you by a team well versed in throwing spectacular outdoor parties, from the Secret Garden nights and Big-Love Micro Festivals to the original Buffalo Sunday Garden Parties. With a little help from our friends….Catapult Records, Crack Magazine, Urban Outfitters, Sunday Best, City Bass, Secret Carnival

Entry to the Garden is limited. (Guest List closes at 11pm)
kaptin@cardiffartsinstitute.org
Get Involved – Join in the summer fun – all creatives and party people email us to get involved – dancers, performers, decor, etc

As a DJ I love to play for the people, I love giving them what they want and seeing everyone with their hands in the air and smiles on their faces, enjoying a collective dancefloor experience. It is perhaps contradictory then that so often as a DJ I refuse to play what people want. Like most of us DJs (yes even the ones who smile politely and seem to happily do your bidding) I generally resent 95% of requests for music. The other rare 5% tend to get it spot on and I salute you. I’ve been told recently (not by any venue I was playing at thankfully) that this is in fact the wrong attitude to have and that it is my job to play jukebox for any pissed chancer who may want to hear the latest Lady Gaga or Cheryl Cole track…. this person is obviously not rightly in tune to what it is we actually do.

What for example would happen, if somebody happened to wander into Cardiff Arts Institute on a Friday night and finding themselves unhappy with the Future Garage or Dubstep-esque tune I might be playing at the time, asks for their favourite Lady Gaga track? What if I go against my inner instincts and jump on the venue’s internet, download the latest track ‘Fax My Vadge’ or something like that and play it out? I can’t say for certain but I can guess the rest of the club would not be altogether happy with the change in policy.

You see, it’s not even that I don’t like the music, I’m fairly indifferent and ever so occasionally I can even appreciate. Everyone has their guilty pleasures, I have a whole lifetime’s worth. However it’s what these tunes represent, it’s the factory mentality that I’m not conforming to. As a DJ we don’t play for individuals, we play for the crowd to give them the best listening experience possible (and yes generally this involves playing a lot of stuff they don’t know, it is after all our job to listen to lots of music so invariably we tend to know a lot of good stuff you haven’t heard yet) and in Cardiff Arts Institute, in my experience, the majority of the crowd is made up of two types of people. Those who spend their working life in a factory state of mind and use their spare time, if not escaping from it, then at least forgetting about it for a while. This means, to some degree putting aside everything the big society machine tells you to do: the music on the Radio you’re supposed to listen to / buy; the High Street clothes you’re supposed to wear / buy; and the gossip you’re supposed to talk about / buy into. The other type of person we get, are those who have made it their mission to not be a part of that machine in the first place. I salute those people too, because it’s not always an easy thing to step out of.

Some people, infact maybe most people, are stuck in the machine. That’s fine, we all get stuck in it sometimes but then we become bored, restless, aggravated and even angry. It is no coincidence that there are many hundred more fights at the St Marys Street end of town than towards Gwdihw, Buffalo and Cardiff Arts Institute. These are the heart and soul of the city, the energy source, the creative hub. Cardiff is a cyborg city, but as long as it still has a space for people to collectively be human, it will never become the full robot it often seems like the powers that be want it to become. Yes sometimes I play cheese and more often than not you love it, but much of that is to do with memory, creating a shared experience which draws on people’s roots to bring them into the present… and sometimes it’s because I’m drunk and just want to play Prince and sing along. Generally though, on the weekends, I like to give people something different, exciting and inspiring, something that’s not going to make you shut off but wake up parts you forgot were working. We all deserve a little bit more out of life so if somebody is up harassing the DJ, trying to stop that in some way, trying to drag you back into the machine, trying to ask for Lady frigging Gaga. We may be polite and nicely decline, we may also be a little offensive if offended by the request, but what us CAI DJs (almost) certainly won’t do is play it.

This is not to say, if you happen to like Lady Gaga that you are not welcome in the place, of course not. I like Tom Jones and Dolly Parton and they still let me though the door (and I’ll happily defend my right to play them if I feel like it too). What it means is, this is a place where you don’t have to listen to her and you don’t have to listen to the latest R’n’B pop drivel, so please respect that right and leave the DJs to do their thing. It’ll make for a much more satisfying night out.

bigLOVE,

Kaptin

Party central

MOTHER MAE I? THE friday night party in Cardiff.
With Hilarious Acts: 10PM -

Simple the BEST Magic Act / 10.30PM

Splott’s finest Stand – up Kyle Lima / Singer / DJs

£2 a pint / £3 entry

An INCLUSIVE night of ANYTHING goes. Expect all things electro-pop to dirty beats via all manner of friendly FILTH with an electric undercurrent. Dance Code: Y.E.S.

Expect glitter bombs. Expect the return of the limbo bears. Expect lollipops. Expect smiles. Expect 80′s warm-up. Expect to jump on-stage. Expect 100′s of rubber ducks. Expect filth-face dancing. Expect techy d’n'b sometimes. Expect to laugh til your ribs hurt. Expect metallics. Expect free pink fizz. Expect girls. Expect wonk. Expect to forget your best friend’s name for an hour or so.

Expect the sounds of Lady GaGa / Laidback Luke / Meat Katie / Hostage / Malente / Hot Chip / Mixhell / Congorock / Boys Noize / SebastiAn / Tepr / Felix Cartal / Crookers / Daft Punk / Crystal Castles / Discodeine / Machines Don’t Care / Dizzee Rascal / Action Man / DJ Zinc

Underpass: Disorienteering album launch

Wonky Disco is kicking off the new year in style by hooking up with local electronica wizard Underpass for a party to mark the release of his first full-length album, Disorienteering. If you’ve heard his stuff before, you’ll know that Underpass (AKA Lee Marshall) embraces everything from ambient soundscapes to lip-curling breaks n bleeps. And if you haven’t heard him before – well now’s your chance to see a live set from Underpass, plus DJ C++ and Wonky Disco residents playing records until 1am. Doors are at 9pm, but don’t be fooled – these are FREE doors, that open without you having to insert any coins! Hoorah!

You can check out Underpass here:

http://www.myspace.com/lee_underpass

…or on his bi-weekly radio show here:

http://www.nsbradio.co.uk

And to celebrate such an auspicious start to 2010, here’s some words from Underpass himself:

Wonky Disco: “Electronic music has always been about contrasts – would you say your music embraces that?”

Underpass: “I think initially, there was no plan for what it was going to sound like at all.  When I first started making electronic music I was just experimenting with four track tape recorders and computer programs on the Amiga and cheap drum machines, just trying to find a way to make music without having to have a band with me.

The first stuff I released as Underpass was more of a specific kind of electro breakbeat style, and I think I thought that was the way I was going to continue.  There was a point where I had a  bunch of mellow downtempo electronica stuff I was making as well, and looked at it and thought, well, ok, I enjoy making this kind of music just as much, what do I do with it?

 I just decided that I’d keep it all under the same name.  I think it’s kind of patronizing to your audience to say, well they like one thing, but they’re not going to like this other thing.  People are welcome to pick and choose from it.”

 WD: “This is your first full length album right?”

 Underpass: “I actually recorded an album back in 2002, but due to various problems it never came out.  I’m actually quite glad about that now, hehehe. It’s very different working on electronic music than it is going into a studio and recording an album, effectively I live in my studio, and can always work on it, so each track is always an ongoing process.  

It’s not like I show up at Abbey Road on a Monday morning, like, ”crap, ok I have to write something now”!

I sat down in April of this year and just started going through everything on my hard drive. Once I’d figured out which bits I wanted to keep I pretty much spent a week on each track, pulling out all the bits I thought worked, and then writing new beats, recording new sections or re-recording parts, then brushing the whole thing up, and trying to get the production as good as I could.

Some of the tracks like ‘Zombies’, or ‘Hold Your Dreams In’ with Rhodri (from Right Hand, Left Hand), I knew absolutely had to be on there, because they’ve been knocking around for years, and have never seen a proper release for one reason or another.  And it was great working with Hannah Biscombe who has been a good friend for a long time, and we had always talked about her doing a sleeve for me, because I love her stuff”

WD: “It seems like videos and visuals are a big part of Underpass. Is that something you do yourself or do you work with other people?”

Underpass: “My music has always been very visually orientated.  Quite often a track comes from me trying to evoke the feeling of a certain situation that I remember, trying to kind of soundtrack events in my head. I watch movies and short films almost as much as I listen to music, so it was something that I always wanted to do.

 If you look at the music videos of people like Chris Cunningham, they are just so stunning and perfectly suited to the music, to the extent that you almost think the music was made to compliment the video and not the other way around, and I knew we could never do anything that special, but in terms of making something that went with the music, I felt that I really wanted to be involved filming and making the video, even if it meant that it wasn’t going to look anywhere near as polished as getting someone in to do it for me, just because I wanted it to be something that was personal, not just some shiny promo clip to shift units that ultimately had nothing to do with where my head was at, so I hooked up with the talented Steven Hamer, who I was working with at the time, and we just took cameras out and started filming, built up a huge selection of stuff, and then just started editing it over a bunch of evenings together into something that we felt showed the kind of world that we live in and the things that surround us.”

WD: “What can we expect at the album launch?”

Well, I’m going to do a bunch of stuff off the record which is only the second time any of the mellow stuff will get a live showing. I always think that live people are more interested in the danceable stuff, so this is going to be a different kind of show for me, showcasing the other side of what I do for a change. Of course, I’m planning on building the set up so we get to some dirty electro by the end of it, it just wouldn’t be an Underpass gig without some filthy bassline wrongness to end the night!

We’ll be showing the videos too, so hopefully it will be somewhere between a gig, a film showing and a visual installation if it all comes together. Fingers crossed.”

So – there you have it. Underpass at Wonky Disco on the 14^th Jan, 9-1. Delicious, dissolvable dance music.

Evils: rocking Wonky Disco on December 3rd

It feels like Evils has been a looming presence on the Cardiff electronic music scene since…well, since computers n that. Otherwise know as James Hale, Evils has released music on Cardiff’s most forward thinking and influential labels (Boobytrap, Slow Graffiti, Kruger Singles Club and now Shape Records), and his live shows are infamous dens of electronic intensity. If you’ve never heard the Evils sound, then make a beeline for his myspace: 

http://www.myspace.com/evilsmusic 

Now fully equipped with a live band, Wonky Disco is proud to welcome Evils’ laser-guided blend of electronic glitches, synaptic bass lines and machine melodies to the Cardiff Arts Institute on Thursday 3^rd December. Not only is the gig FREE, but we caught up with Evils main-man James Hale for a pre-show chat:

Wonky Disco: We’re really looking forward to hearing some of your new material at Wonky Disco. What’s the response to the latest album been like? Were you pleased with it?

Evils: Yes definitely pleased with it, and the vinyl is proper lush! It was good working with Frank Naughton again who is, in my opinion, a bit of a musical genius. I probably spent too much time getting it out but I’m going to rectify that with some new stuff out soon.

WD: What are you doing now music-wise, working on new material or focussing more on developing the live sound?

Evils: I’m working on new projects, separate to Evils but still electronic. Should see the results of that in 2010. I’m also thinking of starting a label with a friend and we’ve got this interesting music/art project to get off the ground called the Golden Section. It’s basically a massive musical collaboration but I can explain more early next year. They’ll be more info on www.meritone.co.uk soon…

WD: What are you listening to at the moment – got any favourites of 2009?

Evils: The last Plaid album – the one they did for some film last year. House de Racket is a favourite of 2009, specifically their song Synthesiser – that’s a track I like to play really loud on my headphones and dance around in the back garden when I’m drunk on my own at night. It’s a sad state of affairs admittedly, but there you go. Quite liked Joy Orbison and I’ve been listening to Sebasitan Tellier, Chilly Gonzales and The Bug quite a bit too. Also liked the Major Lazer album and Vitalic’s Flash Mob.

WD: And what are your Evils plans for 2010?

Evils: Ha ha Evils plans for 2010 are to release an EP and hopefully work with a vocalist…the tracks are already written…

So – now you know the score, get down to the Institute for an Evils spectacular at Wonky Disco. Pre and post Evils music will be provided by Kruger deejays Adam and Phoenix. Wonky Disco: Delicious, dissolvable dance music.

Wonky Disco has arrived

At last – Cardiff has a venue to be loved and cherished. Somewhere for the capital’s creative people to entertain and be entertained. A home for the disparate souls who would otherwise be roaming the streets, guitar/turntable/camera/pen in hand, eeking out a meagre living from busking and accosting passers-by with tales of a once great musical city. Anyone with a functioning brain and a passing interest in sights, sounds or moving images will find their tastes comprehensively catered to at the Cardiff Arts Institute. Whoop whoop – scan the horizon, tings is looking up round these parts…

And what better way to kick things off than with a launch love-in featuring local bewitching songstress Cate Le Bon, the hotly tipped Joy Formidable and all-round party starter Casper C from London’s taste-making Adventures in the Beetroot Field? Kruger deejays Adam & Phoenix will be there to round things off, premiering the sound of Wonky Disco – the night that will take up residence in CAI’s welcoming bosom, injecting a dose of devil-may-care dance music into the CAI cultural cauldron every 2nd Thursday of the month.

Wonky Disco will be curated by Kruger Magazine – the bi-monthly publication that has rapidly established itself as one of the most respected musical voices in the UK. Expect to hear disco, dubstep, hip hop and house – with wonky bells on. If its innovative and electronic, we’ll play it – cranking up the party heat with music from the likes of Black Devil Disco Club, Flying Lotus, Errors, Modeselektor, Mock & Toof and Joy Orbison.

Wonky Disco will launch on Thursday 12th November, featuring Kruger deejays Adam & Phoenix, plus Spillers man about town and Ba Ba Boom resident Daf. Entry to the venue is absolutely FREE, but expect to be shelling out for new music the next day once the Wonky Disco worm has wiggled inside your ear.

Look out for an exclusive Wonky Disco mix coming very soon…a melting pot of delicious, dark , dissolvable dance music.

Wonky Disco is a party for people with panache.  See you at the Institute!