‘Good music is and always will be the one and only essence’
On the eve of the release of the 21-tune-strong Reload LP part 3 and the 18-hour-strong City Flow festival in Antwerp it was time to catch up with key figure Frank Gunman. Phew!
Remember: when he says CITY, you say FLOW.
Hi nice to meet you. So when did the Reload Part 3 come together? Talk about a labour of love, it’s big.
Hello DNBA nice to meet you too. Well, the idea came together three years ago when we added another third room to our City Flow Festival: this was the birth of the Gun Audio Reload room.
Tell us about the ethos of the label and the live thing?
We established Gun Audio in 2012 and we only do EPs where one artist shows the spectrum they love in D&B. In time we felt like we were in the privileged position to be able to do a compilation once a year where have every single artist who has music on the compilation perform and represent their track on the LP at the City Flow festival.
We’ve done release parties for every release without exception and felt the City Flow Festival is the ideal place to represent and celebrate the Reload LP series.
What was the common theme for this album? What binds it?
In all honesty the hardest part of the Reload LP series every year is actually getting the entire project started.
I try not to plan everything out too much so I can still surprise myself and don’t go into the project too close-minded. I personally love all directions of D&B and I just want to sign good music I actually feel.
I never really have a blueprint of what I wanted the album to look like until I start receiving music for it. During the process of signing new music the feeling of what I should sign next, sort of develops itself along the process.
Only thing I try to keep in mind is to let it come together as naturally as possible although that can be very stressful with a set release date – which is the City Flow Festival – coming closer every day.
I must say as stressful as it is, sometimes it’s the most enjoyable project of the year for me.
So how have you seen the local scene grow and develop?
I personally think locally in Antwerp that the D&B scene has been through a lot in the past few years. I think its fair to say about seven to ten years ago, when I was going out a lot getting to know the genre it was at a point where everyone was booking the bigger British legends.
Then, when actually City Flow started promoting the jump-up tip so many years ago things got more interesting for all kinds of “lesser known” but equally interesting younger artists. In the five years that City Flow has been promoting the genre I feel like the scene has only grown in numbers, massively but perhaps also lost a bit of its authentic, very positive underground feeling we used to have back in the day.
Obviously it’s great for artists, promoters, producers and the unstoppable raver, but we are very spoilt at this point with D&B which is a knife that cuts on both sides: a lot of politics and useless opinions are put out there without any good reason… good music is and always will be the one and only essence.
Nevertheless luckily still a few promoters still educate as well though… Star Warz and Stealth Bombers back in the day have never done anything BUT educate good music, where I was educated so many years ago myself. With City Flow by example we brought back DJ Zinc for the first time after a decade of absence.
It’s not only a dream come true to have the honour to do the first show, but also to see the new generation get to know the older perhaps temporarily forgotten tracks from Zinc and artists like him.
What are standout venues you encounter over there?
I don’t really know where to start as I have had the pleasure and honour to play all over Europe, North America and soon Australia and Asia, but I think in Belgium a few of the best venues we played at were the Magic Spiegeltent – where the City Flow Drum and Bass Festival takes place, Waagnatie, Petrol and Ampère in Antwerp, the Fuse club in Brussels… there are so many other good spots for D&B in Belgium alone where they hold regular quality nights like Entrepot in Bruges, Vooruit in Ghent, Trix in Antwerp and so many more and so many wonderful festivals too.
My all time favorite show has got to be a City Flow show though at Zappa in 2011 or 2012 where we closed down a full house, but let’s move on before I start feeling old.
Tell us more about how the scene and names have developed there?
Some kids, for example those coming from the dubstep hype around 2010 have rolled into the jump up tip after dubstep took a global hit in the face so it’s crazy to go out promoting for this “new” audience nowdays. They don’t always necessarily know all the legends we or I grew up with such as Zinc, LTJ, Aphrodite, Fabio and Grooverider and so forth.
A lot of people have gained a lot of supporters and interest in Belgium over the years, so many producers who passed through City Flow have blown up shortly after they were introduced to Belgium.
A few names that have had a rather large impact on the local scene are mans like Jayline, Levela, Guv, Macky Gee, Nu Elementz, Alpha, Turno, Annix, Filthy Habits and the latest are the brothers Upgrade and Limited but so many more of which, well 99% had their first appearance on City Flow ha ha.
One of the more particular acts in my opinion who always delivers is my dear friend DJ Blackley.
Being a DJ myself it’s hard to be actually impressed by someone nowadays, but this guy keeps impressing me on every show.
An another level are Propz and Rowney for me. They keep bringing the fire every single time, to the point where it frustrates me to think I have a tune before they do when they tell me they have had it for a year… !
They are like family to us and have been a big part of where we are with both City Flow and even more with Gun Audio at this point.
On to tunes, what are some tunes from the album to talk about? I love the Soul Intent tune as well as ‘Tramadol’ amongst others, like ‘Bulldozer’, ‘Plenty of Fist’.
There is a bit of a story behind every track to be honest which might be a bit of a long story all together, but I have tried to represent various sides of the D&B spectrum that I really enjoy on the dancefloor. It’s of course a very dancefloor-orientated album so every deeper slightly darker side of the album simply represents my view of a good set.
I hope people will be able to listen through the album as well as play it out.
The various subgenres, like the perhaps slightly more ‘classical jump up’ tracks from Modi and Supremebeing as well as the more futuristic tracks as well as the rollers and the more steppy stuff in my eyes all work on the floor when played at the right time.
SO the big day is upon us…
I would like to invite everyone to the City Flow Drum and Bass Festival, this Saturday August 8th in Antwerp at the Magic Spiegeltent for another drumhead-rendez-vous. It’s gonna be one for the heads to remember. Cannot put to words how much I look forward to this festival more than any edition we’ve had in the past. It keeps getting more and more interesting and we hope to keep delivering over the next few years.
I hope to see you DNBA guys there too! I’ll buy you a beer.
Any shouts?
Shouts out to the entire City Flow and Gun Audio family Propz, Rowney, Funsta, Unknown, Ruffstuff, my brother Judah and my family out in Toronto with MC Zee, Mr Brown and the crew every time.
Gun Audio’s Reload Part 3 LP features Ruffstuff, Voltage, Supreme Being, Modified Motion & Faction and many more, across a total of 21 tracks.
City Flow