On his birthday a few years back, Greggo Russell rushed from gig to gig to drum for the many bands he was in, then headed to a hole-in-the-wall to hear his friends play the heavy drum ’n’ bass that he enjoys.
Times have changed.
Tonight in the Pulse room at Luxy, Russell, who turned 33 on Wednesday, celebrates his birthday with a handpicked selection of DJs (Lai, Subtle, Chin, Bonestorm, Mixter T) and MCs (Robi Roka, Stoppa, Elias).
Photo: Steven Vigar
“Nothing gets you respect like doing a party at Luxy,” Russell said.
In 2008, Russell, then the drummer in five bands, was booking shows and helping promote four bars, and sending out an endless stream of invites for what seemed to be every live show or DJ event in the country.
“I started promoting using MySpace, and Facebook came around and opened up a whole new world,” Russell said.
But there’s a fine line between providing a much-needed service and annoying promotion. Then Facebook kicked Russell off without explanation. “It made me rethink my strategy,” he said.
At the time, people told Russell that they had a passion for drum ’n’ bass, which he describes as “the heavy metal of electronica,” but venues weren’t regularly including it in their programing. So Russell started his own promotion company, Tranquility Bass.
In the beginning, Russell held events at VU Live House (地下絲絨) because noise wasn’t an issue at the venue. “I had free rein to do whatever I wanted there,” he said. “Once we added some subs … it was a great place for underground parties.”
The parties got better and attracted larger crowds. “We put more into the atmospheric stuff like lasers,” said Russell.
Last month, he collaborated with Spunite and Funktion One speakers for Rumble at Pipe in Taipei. “Rumble was my favorite party I’ve done because it felt so good to hear the music I love on a real sound system,” Russell said.
As for the future, Russell is planning Rumble II in Kaohsiung next month. “It’s time to bump it up a bit. No more speakers popping or noise problems,” he said.
But this weekend, Russell’s focus is on the festivities at hand. “First and foremost, it’s a celebration of where drum ’n’ bass is now in Taiwan,” said Russell. “Then it’s my birthday party.”
Tranquility Bass presents Syncopation 5: The Bash, tonight from 10pm to 4am at Luxy, 5F, 201, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段201號5樓). Call (02) 2772-1000 or 0955-904-600 for reservations (English service available). On the Net: www.luxy-taipei.com. Tickets are NT$300 before 11pm or NT$600 after 11pm with two drinks.
Last Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) detected 41 sorties of Chinese aircraft and nine navy vessels around Taiwan over a 24-hour period. “Thirty out of 41 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern ADIZ (air defense identification zones),” it reported. Local media noted that the exercises coincided with the annual Han Kuang military exercises in Taiwan. During the visit of then-US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August 2022, the largest number of sorties was on Aug. 5, “involving a total of 47 fighter aircraft and two supporting reconnaissance/patrol aircraft.
July 7 to July 13 Even though the Japanese colonizers declared Taiwan “pacified” on Nov. 18, 1895, unrest was still brewing in Pingtung County. The Japanese had completed their march of conquest down the west coast of Taiwan, stamping out local resistance. But in their haste to conquer the Republic of Formosa’s last stronghold of Tainan, they largely ignored the highly-militarized Liudui (六堆, six garrisons) Hakka living by the foothills in Kaohsiung and Pingtung. They were organized as their name suggested, and commanders such as Chiu Feng-hsiang (邱鳳祥) and Chung Fa-chun (鍾發春) still wanted to fight. Clashes broke out in today’s
Xu Pengcheng looks over his shoulder and, after confirming the coast is clear, helps his crew of urban adventurers climb through the broken window of an abandoned building. Long popular in the West, urban exploration, or “urbex” for short, sees city-dwelling thrill-seekers explore dilapidated, closed-off buildings and areas — often skirting the law in the process. And it is growing in popularity in China, where a years-long property sector crisis has left many cities dotted with empty buildings. Xu, a 29-year-old tech worker from the eastern city of Qingdao, has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers for his photos of rundown schools and
At times, it almost seems that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is out to sabotage the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). As if on cue, with the recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers in full swing, Ma thought it would be a good time to lead a delegation of students to China and attend the 17th Straits Forum (海峽論壇) and meet with Wang Huning (王滬寧), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo member entrusted by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to be his second in command on Taiwan policy and to run the United Front Work Department (UFWD) in charge of subverting enemies,
RSS