Scaffolding

Prologue (pre 2014)
Old Trafford—Whalley Range (M16)

These times it was all Nasty Crew, BOMB Squad, Mike GLC, Frontlinerz, Ruff Sqwad , BBK, N DUBZ, Davinche &&&. Flicking between Channel U and MTV, the diversity in sound was unmatched, and the music was fire then. Jungle, rap, garage. Flirta D+D Double E. Lyricism was outrageous. Punchlines, charisma, flow. Griminal + Dev. Locally: Young Burgaboy the school starlet- brought it closer to home. Slay + Shifts, Remdog, Wrigz + Liqs, Closer, Recneps /RSC &&&. Reminiscing on “Mayhem—We Big Like” making the FIFA soundtrack. Watching Channel U was the first time we could see people that looked like ourselves, with creative freedom on an open platform in the UK. An original UK sound would make a significant impression on us.

Street culture, a mix of Manchester and London lingo, DIY videos. Link ups with friends. Nokia>Bluetooth batting tracks. Lunch break: Chicken Splits @ Chicken Run. Bullet hole in the corner of the window. A mirror of the crew culture, sets, bootlegs and war dubs. Lords of the mics, watching battles taking place in the Basement of Jammers Mums House. Listening to Dizzee + Slimzee sidewinder on repeat , and Crazy titch. Trips to marvins barbershop. I would go to see my cousins in Peckham. We’d visit a friend. Mic stand, pop guard in a box room. Cousins with the same influences as us growing up were rookie and started to play around in FL studio. That would be the first introduction to a DAW. FL Studio. These would be the foundations of a creative spirit.

Moving around North, Central and South Manchester a lot. Jumping on and off the number 85 bus, Moss side to Piccadilly, Night time, Boutique & M2, Sipping E&J, 17/18 Bus, Langley to Urmston, 256, Church Road. Every day with life long from Alex Chapman (AEC). BOMB Squad—“I Just Wanna Be.” Kano, Wretch, Dizzee would prove the potential of an organic UK energy to sit with more popular music. Sirens. Moss Side, Brantingham Road, Langley Lane.

ATC/BTC (2014)
Bradford–Manchester–Leeds (BD1–M1–LS1)

Departing from our youth and arriving at the crevice of adulthood. Embracing Manchester’s history with dance music. Walking into local record shops and charity shops. Eastern Bloc, Vinyl Exchange. Analysing album artwork properly for the first time and being given various records over the counter to open up our music palette. More and more time spent in sonically giving environments.

Travelling between Bradford Interchange–Manchester Piccadilly and back. Becoming used to long and extended repeat journeys. Listening to music, to get through the journey. Deepchord , HVL , STL, Quantec . Dusty, moving. The wash and grinding of train engines buzzing overcast noise battling with the earphones adding unintentional layers and texture to the sounds in-ear. Becoming used to this background noise. Its proximity to the electromagnetic sounds of dub techno would fall deeper in love. Hash Bar Loops.

Living on Grove Terrace, run down ends in BD7, but cheap rent so calm settings, student living. Bedroom is the studio, a 10×10 metre room, Wardrobe on its side making for a mixing desk table. Comfy settings, comfy music. Sleep and records. Bought our First pair of 1210’s. M-Audio Midi Keyboard, 12 Channel Mixer, MFB 522, Korg Kaoss Pad, Korg Microkorg. Urmston. The stereo system in the bedroom Attic. Low volumes at late times. Quantec and bowls of loose tea.

The Canon EOS 5500D played a huge role in developing a visual image to accommodate the sound design. Being able to record and map out the surroundings and use them as a framework to build the concrete and urban environment into sonics. Always capturing our journeys, building banks of images, references.

The Basement became a spot of productivity later down the line. Below the concrete: dark, cold but cosy. A hundred tealights, grinders + incense smoke. Inspired the B Side. Seeking a refuge from the rave with relaxed settings. Our boy Mide ridin’ out the sessions every time. Upstairs bedroom. Wardrobe on the side, makeshift mixing desk table. Time didn’t run like normal. Moving about a lot and getting inspired by those journeys around concrete and industrialization. Dubstep Allstars Vol 6, Cooly G+Burial, Bug, 2562 on rotation. Boxcutter-Glyphic. Important pieces of music for us to digest.

Primerose Avenue (2015)
Urmston–Middleton (M41–M24)

Post student life sees a return home to Manchester, seeking shelter in the suburbs of Urmston and Middleton.

Energised by the reception and the inner workings of label Wheretonow?, the new leafier surroundings saw a departure from the previous industrial release with an organic approach inspired by namesake Primrose Avenue the local avenue once visited as a route to remove the weed smell. HMRC Uni loans funding experimentation with hardware & eurotrips. MFB, Roland TR-8, Microkorg and our first twelve channel mixer. So many wires and extension plugs experimenting with different combinations. The wardrobe was flipped on its side which made an essential worktop space with no leg room. That was the vibe.

Deepchord, STL, HVL and Kassem Mosse were on heavy rotation with late night Discogs dives. Our first European show was Berlin, Loftus Hall, Soundscapes Versions.

Terekke first UK gig courtesy of Taff / Bohemian Grove. A significant party experience for the city, a party with great influence on the city and recipients of Bohemian Grove’s tasteful curation. Hands dirty. Kickin it with local friends in Soup Kitchen and Eastern Bloc records. Moved in with close friend Will Boyd who runs Sferic and also worked alongside him at Boomkat as distributor. An expanded portfolio of music aiding our musical education and at a quick pace.

SDTL (2018)
Northern Quarter—(M1/M4)

An end to dislocation. Back home. One of the first times since school days we were in the same city for an extensive period of time.

“Somewhere Decent To Live” attempted to fasten the connection between one’s presence, and the experienced reality due to location and other external influences. The project served as an encouragement to embark on an inward journey, one of self-reflection, and offers a remedy for survival in a chaos-ridden and vulnerable environment. Response to loss.

Having recently settled back in the industrious nightlife surrounding the M1 habitat notably (Flat 23). These new urbanised surroundings saw the musical direction continuing the memories of the underbelly of the city by processed field recordings of the new post-industrial city. A forgotten, almost ghostly nod to the once famous red brick space raves and decaying rooms such as Sakibar and Thebunker (Pre-White Hotel)–West Indian influences of dub and jungle recapturing the memories of the nineties youth. Heavily inspired again.

Self-collected field recordings, emotive soundscapes and fraying voice notes, deconstruct the elements akin to dub and techno to re-contextualise them in a contemporary setting. Focus on intricate sound design, immersive texture. Drenched. Convergence and disparity between warmth and cold, mellow and discordant. Emphasis on the humanity of dub, removing the mechanistic nature of techno and representing this sound in a free and limitless form.

Mixtape “hybtwibt?”—Untitled w/ Tibyan Sanoh (2020)
Old Trafford–Berlin (M16–10247)

2020, the turning point for race relations across the world specifically, an introspection of the Black experience in the west. Potential for these events to have significant effect to promote necessary change; uncertain. The resulting social unrest across the globe and personal loss, deep chats and self reflection. Upset, angry, confused. These issues for us could no longer be ignored. Back in childhood territory and living together for a short period in Old Trafford (M16). The “hybtwibt?” mixtape was made.

Response.

A collage of productions, samples old and new were put into a mixtape format taken from our special NTS show of the same namesake, to commemorate and bring to light the voices of the most marginalised. All proceeds were for charity as a ‘pay as you want’ through bandcamp self released.

Shortly after a commission with Huddersfield Contemporary brought the SA project inline with close friend, film maker and multi-disciplinary artist Tibyan Sanoh. The resulting project “Untitled” highlighted the emotive and vulnerable side of the Black body and how its contrasting portrayals in the media is generally negative and stereotyped.

A short film of Tibyan’s footage taken in the UK, Germany and Sierra Leone (including friends and family) was the perfect connection with the SA experimental sound. Back to back conversations, sending files online between Manchester and Berlin. “Untitled (To Describe You)”.

&&&&now…
Still wandering,
Scaling,
Scaffolding.

Epilogue 2021

Cranes in the sky.
Holding. The Skylines Together and
Rain drops smear on phone screens.
Smoke screens or
A Pittar Pattered Window
and a Litter Laced Street.
Rain. Drop
Lets you see the colour brighter than it was before.
Floors and
Curbside, Conversations.
Phone calls between
Station to Station.
Phone call. Masked by the
Sounds of trains overriding earphones, Loud.
Blow Steam. Blow Loud.
No smoking allowed. Signs on
Lampposts, and Lighters.
Lighthouse.
Arndale, Bright Red and
Double Yellow.
Flickers in a flame
Blue, Black and greys.
Moves Fast, Moves Slow
Redemption in Darkness, and in Light.
Meet me at…
My home is your home. TBC.