Oxford has always been a pretty strong place for dub and reggae music, but it often seems that such activity is so busy being, uh, active, that it can slip under the radar for your average music fan in the street. A new website called Sensible Dancehall appeared a couple of months ago to try and redress the balance, and provide a hub and overview of what’s going on in those scenes. More recently, Sensible Dancehall have also announced that they’re starting up a monthly club, ‘Lord ‘av Mercy!’, to act as a common thread between all of the other events that they promote and feature on the website. Robin from Sensible Dancehall kindly gave up some time to tell us all about it.
MIO: Tell us about SNSBL DNCHL – when did it start, what are its aims, and who is involved?
SD: I started Sensible Dancehall a couple of months ago, mainly to keep track of reggae, dub and dancehall events in Oxford. This city has a rich history in Caribbean music, with everything that Aidan Larkin has done with his reggae nights, Foundation Fridays on Cowley Road, not to mention the Hi-Lo bar plus all the superb events at the Cellar, Regal and O2. As well as covering local events, I was keen to incorporate posts from further afield, highlighting new music, events and tours, videos, photos and a bit of opinion. There’s a rich dancehall and reggae scene in the UK and I wanted to show the country that Oxford is doing its ting, and doing it well. It’s been really fun so far, making links with some of Oxford’s pioneering events promoters, bands, DJs and websites as well as reggae & dancehall DJs and promoters in London. I run the site on my own, but I’m looking for extra people to help out with reviews, writing etc. We’ve recently launched a monthly night at the Port Mahon, which my friends have very kindly offered to help with. Again, if anyone wants to DJ or help with anything please drop me a line, the more the merrier!
MIO: Your monthly club starts on Sunday 29 May. What will it be like, what can people expect?
SD: Yes! We’re so excited about the launch night! It’s the last Sunday of every month, upstairs at the Port Mahon and absolutely free. It kicks off this weekend at 8.00 pm, and it should be fantastic, especially as it’s Bank Holiday Monday the day after. Whether you want to dance and get loose, or chill and relax, we’ll have the best reggae, roots, dub and dancehall tracks to soundtrack the night for you. As well as awesome Caribbean music there’s a fully stocked bar, big old flags, and a chiller seating area with newspapers, magazines and dominoes. We’ve even got free authentic snacks for you if you’re feeling peckish!
MIO: What’s the reggae/dub scene like in Oxford??
SD: The Oxford reggae scene is really strong and has been for years. The purpose of the blog was to highlight this, as it seems to slip under the radar amongst the indie bands & dubstep. Everything that Skylarkin has done in the city over the years is fantastic, bringing some massive names to Oxford, as well as great regular club nights. On top of that, there’s Foundation Friday at the East Oxford Community Centre plus lots of interesting localised events in Cowley and Blackbird Leys. The hip-hop promoters Wordplay rep the reggae scene pretty hard too, and of course House of Roots, a Thursday night vibe down in the Cellar. Then there’s the Regal and O2 who put on some wonderful shows, booking Toots & The Maytals and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, amongst others, and the guys behind One Love Festival doing some good work in Oxford. On a different tip there’s Vibe at Lava/Ignite, who recently put on Jamaican dancehall star Future Fambo. There’s so much good and diverse stuff going on. We’ve got a handy Calendar page on our website so you won’t miss a thing!
MIO: How can people help to support Sensible Dancehall?
SD: The best way to support Sensible Dancehall is to read the website and spread the word; tell your friends, sign up to our Facebook and Twitter pages, and come along to ‘Lord ‘av Mercy!’ on the last Sunday of every month.
MIO: Finally, tell us about some all-time favourite tracks of yours that we should check out!
SD: Wow, there’s just so much to choose from! I’ll give you a quick preview of my set for the launch night. The first hour will be reggae classics, second hour we’ll throw in some huge dub plates, then I’ll be playing some more modern Jamaican music, splicing my reggae set with some big new dancehall and soca tracks. Here’s a few tracks that will undoubtedly pop up during my set at ‘Lord ‘av Mercy!’ over the next few months:
Keep up with Sensible Dancehall on their website, and don’t forget about their presence on Facebook and Twitter.