November 24th was a highly anticipated date for many party-goers with the event Summer Breaks at hand. Held at Metropolis Perth and brought to us by the party professionals – Trafik International, the people of Perth were in for a treat with another instalment of probably one of the freshest parties of the year – with the world’s best in Hip Hop, Breaks and Drum & Bass.

Probably the most anticipated act was Killa Kela, Trip and Skeletrik – making the Spitkingdom Soundsystem. These three run through combinations of beatboxing (Kela), Mc’ing (Trip & Kela), Singing (Trip & Kela) and Dj’ing (Skeletrik). They provide a stage show that takes audiences from hip-hop, ragga, soul, breaks and right through to drum & bass – described as probably one of the most exciting stage shows for this genre.

If you haven’t come across John B in one of his many musical guises over the past decade, where have you been? Classically trained at a young age, this British super producer has gone on to become one of the most eclectic and unique individuals working within electronic music today. Consistently escaping categorization, John’s genre-defying catalogue spans the worlds of Electro, Trance and Drum & Bass, and a few other spaces across the BPM spectrum. John’s career began in illustrious style as the one and only Goldie picked up on this mild-mannered, blonde-locked science graduate and his distinctive drum and bass beat constructions, and he was signed to the legendary Metalheadz label. Tracks such as the euphoric “Up All Night” have become instant classics in the canon of drum & bass, and repeatedly smashed dance floors worldwide. John B quickly became a headlining name on flyers across the globe, and his touring schedule has been non-stop ever since. Establishing his own stable of labels (Beta Recordings, Tangent, Chihuahua and Nu_Electro) to reflect his diverse tastes from liquid funk to Latin, provided the perfect platform for John’s groundbreaking sonic experimentation to develop.

Deekline started collecting records as a youngster, inspired by funk and electro, before becoming interested in hardcore and jungle. His first release was the immense “Don’t Smoke (Da Reefer)”, a bass-heavy, two-stepping beat monster with the catchiest vocal line ever – it was the first record put out on the newly-formed Rat Records, an imprint which still continues to churn out top-quality releases at the forefront of breaks and booty bass.

Wizard started engineering at a young age, working freelance in a variety of London studios – once his talents were spotted, he very quickly found himself working with bands such as New Order and the Chemical Brothers. He picked up the moniker ‘Wizard’ due to his speed, skill and expertise within the studio – as a musician himself, his engineering and production work has gone side-by-side with a healthy dose of creative input.

We arrived at Metro’s at about 11pm, the crowd wasn’t that developed yet but Rintel was playing an extremely tight drum&bass set, filled with funky Rollers and hard steppers. The Spitkingdom Soundsystem was due to play at about 12 midnight, but apparently Killa Kela refused to get out on stage till later because the crowd was not big enough. Come about 12:30am, Trip came out and started hyping up the crowd. For those of us who had seen Killa Kela in 2004 at the World of Drum & Bass Tour – we knew what to expect and more. For those who hadn’t – we’re in for a treat. Killa ran onto the stage and the trio started a hip hop skit where they free styled to beats layed down by Skeletrik. What could only be described next in one word was mind-blowing. Instead of the beats coming from the decks, it was coming from Killa Kela’s voice box. Every snare, every kick drum, every high hat was measured to perfection – it seemed almost unhuman, and people were mesmerised. He did his signature – “Milkshake” by Kelis performance, where he sung and also did the beats and again it blew the crowd away. I’m a tad bit disappointed that he didn’t perform that many tracks from his new album I had recently got my hands on called “Elocution”. I was actually looking forward to hearing a live rendition of “Secrets” and “Standing in the Rain”, but they were no where to be heard during the performance. Nonetheless, the Spitkingdom Soundsystem performance was one of the best on stage performances I had seen in a long time and they definitely provided what they were famous for.

Deekline and Wizard then stepped up to the decks and started playing some party break tunes – however it didn’t really fit what I wanted to listen to that night so we all ventured upstairs to hear the likes of Mystique and Muller playing some quality drum & bass. After a bit of wondering around we decided to venture downstairs again and even met John B himself and got some photos taken with him. He’s a very interesting character indeed. Deekline and Wizard seemed to be getting quite a bit of a crowd, but the tunes reminded me of stuff you would hear at the Cottesloe on a Sunday Session or even Club Bayview on a Thursday night. I was actually waiting for them to finish so that John B could step up, but each to their own – many people seemed to be enjoying the set and having fun so that’s all that matters.

John B stepped up at about 3:30am, a little late for a major international in my books but we were still excited to see what the nu-electro king had in store. His introduction was extremely funny with the chanting of his name “John B!!!!” over the sound system, and his arms rose up like he was some god-like figure. For just an individual he definitely provides a lot of entertainment. I very much enjoyed John B’s set – it had a very nice vibe to it, signature to what he would play – although I did feel like a bit of a geek dancing to one of his tracks called “I’m stalking you on Myspace”. He did however bring back some nostalgia to all the old drum & bass heads with a very impressive 3 track mix – incorporating the old Bad Company tune “The Nine”, Ed Rush and Optical’s “Alien Girl”, and Concord Dawn’s “Morning Light”. It was mixed flawlessly and gave me goose bumps as it reminded me of early days of the MFI, Gravity, Drum Club and Fhz days. His set ended with one of the most famous tunes he’s known for – “Up all night”, which definitely pleased the crowd. I was extremely impressed with John B’s set and wished that he played at an earlier slot – possibly right after Killa Kela instead of Deekline and Wizard, but it was still an extremely awesome night. There was a great vibe, great music and thanks to Trafik and Metros for holding another quality event.

Bring on summer!