Sin City Massive: Sinning In LA Storms Park Plaza With The Stanton Warriors
Listen to the Stanton Warriors mix here:
Those that know me best have seen and often been the beneficiaries of my vast record collection. My friends know that I’m always on the hunt for the next great discovery and over the last few months alone, I’ve gotten them hooked on the pulsating grooves and swirling echoes of Pitch Black, kicked back with them to the relaxing vibes of Sven Van Hees, and had some crazy nights set to the energetic sounds of Way Out West. But recently I showcased some of my more sinister musical picks, when I introduced my crew to the music of the Stanton Warriors.
It’s no secret that Duke DuRock likes his bass boomin’, but the team had no idea just how heavy I like it until they heard the Warriors drop some of their trademark breakbeats, which literally shook the window panes of the hotel. These Stanton Sessions have transfixed me since they invaded the electronic scene at the beginning of the decade. Now almost a full ten years later, they are the unquestioned kings of the breakbeat scene, consistently coming in #1 on the esteemed DJ Magazine poll. Perhaps that’s why I love them so, because they stay true to the breakbeat formula I’ve always loved, but they infuse it with elements of American hip-hop, electro and reggae - all wrapped around the baddest, booty-shaking beats your ears will ever hear.
“It’s all very different sorts of styles of music, but the whole thing flows,” explained Dominic B, who along with production partner, Mark Yardley, make up the group. “It’s always good, grooving bass music, so we still have that ethos of like, all different sort of grooves, so that it doesn’t matter if one has a rap in it or the next has some sort of rock, punky sort of thing. It’s just like a great mixtape, but we have a proper flow because some mix tapes are too much madness.”
Their live shows are a rarity in clubland, in that their sets are not primarily centered around playing other people’s tracks, but rather, each and every Stanton set is made up of mostly their own material. This makes it difficult for any DJ to copy the now signature Stanton Warriors sound.
“I’d say about 80% of the stuff is our own, whether it’s a remix or an original track,” Dom said. “A lot of our stuff we don’t actually give out to anyone else either, so the resident DJ you heard play last week won’t have these. I think for this (Sin City Massive), if we just had an hour, we’d just go for the jugular, like, bang, bang, bang. But it’s two hours, so we’ll mix it up, plus we’ve got a lot of new album material to test out as well.”
The duo crafted their most cohesive and sinister mix to date with the release of 2008’s award-winning, Stanton Sessions Vol. III. Since then, Dom and Mark have been cooking up new creations in the lab, which is where studio vituoso, Mark, usually resides. But he made a special exception when deciding to join Dom on the jaunt to Los Angeles to play the Sin City Massive.
“Most of those things kind of stem from our live sets,” Mark explained.
In our DJ live sets, we try out stuff and when it works, we’ll go, ‘Okay, that’s good,’ make a note of it and then put it into a mix tape or a Stanton Sessions volume, those ideas are pretty organic.
They’re keeping tight-lipped about details on the new album, but I managed to get some scoop that there’s a plethora of surprise guest vocalists planned, including some “notable names.”
“There are some interesting vocalists that we’re working with,” Mark told us. “But they had to be right with the track we were working on, it couldn’t be a big name for big name’s sake. They had to work with our particular sound.”
It’s a sound that has already established itself in the breakbeat and electronic music worlds, but in working on tracks with American hip-hop legends such as Big Daddy Kane and Twista, not to mention the endless hip-hop samples they’ll throw over their own beats on those Stanton Sessions albums, it’s now possible to picture a Dr. Dre/Stanton Warrior team-up in the not-so-distant future.
“We have some rappers on the album, so we’ll be able to make tunes which may make other rappers want to work with us, like you say,” Dom agreed. Then Mark added, “We’ve also got female rappers on the album as well, so that will be early next year, middle of next year, something like that.”
On this night, the Warriors came through on their promise to test drive some of their new material. Alongside these future floor-fillers, we also got a heavy dose of some of my favorite tracks, such as the aforementioned Big Daddy Kane-lead, “Get Wild,” and their cheeky new remix of The Beach Boy’s classic, “Good Vibrations.”
The lads delivered a set that was the standout of the festival and also won them a legion of new warriors to add to their army. The duo clearly were in their element and have told Sinning in LA that they plan to record here for a month in January. We of course are only too happy to play host.
“It’s a great scene, we love it,” Mark said. They also love our delicious sushi and clearly have had an eye for gluttony on this particular tour. “Well it was definitely gluttony yesterday. We got off the plane and went to our hotel and the first thing we did was call room service.”
Then Mark chimed in, “This was an hour before a big sushi meal mind you.”
“But it was mac & cheese,” Dom said as he broke into a classic, cheshire-cat style grin.
We’re certainly not ones to judge and we soon discovered that when you’re hanging with the Warriors, you’re liable to discover a whole new realm of deviance.
“We’re living the eighth deadly sin,” Dom said. “The Stanton sin.”
Now that’s certainly one that we don’t mind dabbling in. One listen to fresh the mix that Dom and Mark have prepared for you will attest to that. They were even kind enough to include that rather tasty take on The Beach Boys too. Just watch your window panes.
Photos By: Smash LeFunk & Sandy Bottoms
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