Following our last Residents’ Hour in Montreal with Music Is My Sanctuary’s Lexis, we return to our native London for a party close to Boiler Room’s heart. Sure to get you moving, Rhythm Section residents Bradley Zero and Mali (aka Z Lovecraft) bring forth a mix that give a taste of the Peckham-Strong collective. Read on to discover more on their free spirited ethos of community, great music and (most importantly) dancing – as told by Bradley and Mali themselves.
“Rhythm Section began as a community radio show back in 2009, and has since grown into a twice-monthly dance, bi-weekly radio show and fully fledged record label. The community dance aspect arose in 2011, whereupon a regular place and space to dance for the Peckham community was lacking. We wanted to create a spot to dance to music in; a party atmosphere conveying a sincere passion for music that embraces the new whilst paying respect to the old.
“The place and space ended up being Canavan’s Pool Club, towards the southern end of Rye Lane, Peckham – a few doors down from Asda. It’s worth mentioning that the venue is a stronghold of community-led activity. It has professional pool facilities, table tennis and cheesy Sunday karaoke. It’s not just for music and dancing. Since 2014, we have run a record label – namely Rhythm Section International – with eleven or so releases (depending how you count it). The label conveys an idea of our musical aesthetic at the dance and most importantly, strives to put out great music made by great people.”
“For each dance, we usually invite a single DJ to join residents all night long, without frigid set times. It’s even the same for guests playing live. This is to ensure 100% vibes, to ease in the dance, and to create a musical resident-guest interplay. This is essential to loosen the dancers’ hips and to explore the wider parameters of dance music. Equally, it often makes sense to work out a structure between guest and resident to give dancers the opportunity to go on a specific journey envisioned by the selectors.
“Hand-in-hand with this is our vinyl-only policy. We also have only two rules: be nice and no photos on the dancefloor! Our vinyl-only policy was originally out of necessity (we didn’t have CDJs, and nor did the venue). This has now become a Canavan’s tradition. Partly an aesthetic choice, it also gives our guests an excuse to dig out their 50p bargain bin goodies from 2004, rarities from yesteryear or unreleased dubplate cuts.
“Our Residents’ Hour (and a half) mix is a big slice of our warm-up set that segues into a b2b with Mood Hut’s House of Doors / Bluntman Deejay. It was recorded live in the dance with two turntables, quality E&S mixer and the all-important dub FX. Enjoy!”
The next Rhythm Section instalment is tonight (Friday 27 May) in Peckham, with Hashman Deejay and Contours on the controls. The next Residents’ Hour episode sees us things getting a little heavier in Nijmegen, Holland. Stay tuned.