New Zealand drum&bass outfit CONCORD DAWN have been around for many years, making favourable impressions in the underground d&b circuit. Now the delightful kiwi duo of Matty and Evan have got the recognition and the plan to see them go places.
After the grand success, particularly in New Zealand, of their latest LP “Uprising”, featuring notable collaborations with Scribe and Salmonella Dub’s Tiki, the world is beginning to recognise the duo’s talents on a large scale.
This is made evident by Concord’s inclusion to the mighty Big Day Out line up; one of the first d&b acts since Roni Size graced our shores. “Yeah, we’ll be playing some new stuff as well as throwing in some old classics,” Matty informs me in a series of familiar kiwi twangs. “We’ve been working on a lot of new material over the past few months, which should surprise a few people. We’ve done one tune which is gonna be on the Hospital label called ‘You Don’t Have to Run’ which will be on the “Weapons of Mass Creation 2” album. That’s something a little different for us.”
Indeed. To the uninitiated, the Hospital label is home to the musical side of d&b, sporting talented tykes like High Contrast and Influx Datum, while Concord are famous for crashing tear out tunes the likes of the mighty ‘Don’t Tell Me’ with Tiki; enough to rattle the teeth from one’s gums. Is this a new direction for the lads?
“We’re just trying to make our sound broader,” Matty quips. “On the other end of the label, we have ‘Scimitar’ on Dylan and Tech Itch’s label, which is the home of dark and nasty. Then again,” he muses, “one man’s broad s another man’s narrow, so the listener can be judge. But it’s good to have a destination, rather than driving round aimlessly, and it’s nice to be diverse and to surprise people. I like the idea of someone listening to a track and saying ‘This is nice!’ hearing who it’s by, and saying ‘Oh shit! I didn’t realise it was by these guys.’
The chat moves on to people like Dillinja and Pendulum; both d&b acts with a very distinct sound. “Sometimes it’s good to know what you’re gonna get,” Matty says, “but lots of the time it’s like watching Australia in the cricket.”
Big Day Out aside, it’s their Canberra appearance to be excited about. With a newly refurbished Toast, the place will also be decked out with a four CDJ set up which means plently of hot dubplate action, extra sound, Tiki from Salmonella Dub on vocal duties, Melbourne d&b stalwart JPS, as well as locals Paf, Para and Buick to flesh out the juicy line-up. “I’m looking forward to coming back,” Matty says eagerly. “Last time was good fun.”
Concord Dawn will play at Toast on Saturday January 29 alongside Tiki from Salmonella Dub, JPS, Paf, Para and Buick.
