Grimelock (Stainage, Belgia)

What does Grimelock family represents? Here are a few hints: an explosive live show, a successful club night in the heart of the European capital and a brand new record label. Kalib and Marsellus Wallace are two young producers from Bruxelles that formed Grimelock a few years ago. It took a lot of dedication, work and nonetheless, talent to become arguably the most representative grime/dubstep acts that emerged from Belgium in the past two years. Their sets are diverse and bounce between grimey basslines and deep melodies that lay upon the fat beats while MC’s Maelan and Dynamic hype the crowd and add up their flavor to the mix.

The guys were kind enough to provide us an exclusive and detailed insight into their work so far and future plans.

Where does the name ‘Grimelock’ come from? How and when did u start it?

Except the fact that there is “grime” in our name, there is no real significance behind it. We just thought it sounds nice.
In 2003 we organized along with the Boups Kru a big party in a train station. One of the main guests was Plasticman (yes, at that point he was still using his first name). We discovered him through the compilation “Grime” on the Rephlex label. It was a moment we were a bit tired of the drum and bass sounds which we were mixing for 6 years at that time and didn’t really had fun anymore with it. Listening to the Plasticman mix was like a fresh blow. The day after, we stopped producing drum and bass and started the 140 bpm dirty bassline business.

We started mixing under the name “Crazy Crew” in ‘98. After that we formed the Naya Sound System along with Dave and MC Champatah.

We organized several free parties and hosted a weekly show on the famous (and regretted) online radio boupsradio.com becoming kinda popular as a drum and bass collective. But as we already said, after a while it turned out that we didn’t find anything fresh in the drum and bass releases so we were starting to quit the scene when we discovererd the grime and dubstep.

Which are your influences? From early musical experiences to the latest…

We try to take what’s best from all our influences and listen to all kinds of music from rock to hip-hop, to soul and all electronic genres…. Wallace and I started to have an interest in the electronic music at the same time. Mo’ Wax, Ninja Tune or Warp releases and all the new shit around ‘95… It was so fresh to us, a really exciting period. Until then we tried to follow all the new stuff but we cannot really say that we have a reference and we don’t say that we are original as well. We just take what we think is good from everybody and blend it with our Brussels influence.

When did u meet Maelan and Dynamic?

We knew Maelan for a long time. He left Brussels for 4 years to study music in a UK college (in Brighton). It was the time Dizzee (Rascal) was releasing his first album, and dubstep was a new thing. He discovered that there and when he came back we already had started Grimelock. As we were already friends and we were playing the songs he was listening in the UK our collaboration came naturally. We met Dynamic at a party organized by sir Bunzer0. He was hosting a bit that night, and I asked him if he wants do some shit with us…. Grimelock family wuz born

This year you had a lot of gigs abroad, which one was your favorite and why?

Always a tricky question… We try to have fun everywhere we go. To be really honest with you, Summer Break was a headshot. Sunny weather, crowd, a nice welcome and the show!!! We had such a blast that night, I think it’s actually the most impressive night abroad we had!

You were one of the first crews to promote grime/dubstep in Bruxelles/Belgium. Tell me how Stainage started as a party brand, its background and where it is going.

Always a tricky question… We try to have fun everywhere we go. To be really honest with you, Summer Break was a headshot. Sunny weather, crowd, a nice welcome and the show!!! We had such a blast that night, I think it’s actually the most impressive night abroad we had!

We always liked to organize parties so we naturally started to organize dubstep parties in Brussels (we were the first ones to do that along with Bunzee). The name came out like that, no explanation about it, just check your web resource if you want to find out héhé…
It gained fast a good reputation and became one of the reference parties in Brussels and even in Belgium. We tried every time to book UK big names (full list available on stainage.com) and ensure our fellow producers and djs (Saviour, Alchemyst, Bunzer0, Momoneyhoney and many more) a good place to play with a quality soundsystem and lots of headz bangers in the venue.
After a while, the quality level of our crew’s productions got really good and started to have a really positive feedback so we decided to go on the next step with a label 100% dedicated to Belgian artists. With the help of Cargo Records this became possible easily and here we are. The first EP is out and the next mp3 and vinyl releases are ready to hit your local shops.

What do you think about the Belgian dubstep scene and its progression?

We have a lot of really good djs, the scene is something real and has a good audience. All the UK djs say that Belgium is a fucking good place to come and play! To be honest what I think is really missing in Belgium are the producers. It’s cool to play UK songs but the real shit is to play your own material and make the crowd bouncing with it. I’m glad we have Stainage to freshen things a bit!

Which artists do you think are the freshest at the moment? (Belgian & International)

The best Belgian producer is Saviour, no doubt about it! I really think our mates from Lowup are also doing a great job with their baile funk parties. I discovered lots of great artists through Mellow (the kuduro sound system is really high level right now) and Mad Decent is a really exciting act to follow.

When did you start producing?

Ages ago We started it with the help of the great producers Kay and Nitrox. They introduced us to the basics we still find useful even nowadays.

What is your studio setup?

PC Dualcore 3.0 Ghz / M-Audio Audiophile soundcard / Cubase SX3 + a bunch of VSTs and two Tapco monitors.
Nothing really fancy

Which are your favorite tools?

Soundforge, Vanguard, Albino, Kontakt.

Where do you get inspiration?

It’s always a new story

Stainage 001 has just been released. It features two of your tracks and two tracks from Saviour. Who else is signed to the label? Future releases?

The next EP is going to have tunes from Alchemyst and Maelan and Grimelock.

Who does the distribution?

Cargo Records UK worldwide. Order it, yeah?

You also release in digital format?

Yes. There will be an mp3 release out soon in the form of a four track EP from Saviour, hot as hell!

What is the feedback you have so far for the label?

The first EP got a good reaction so far. The funny thing is that the most melodic song “Glow” got the best response. Cool to see that we don’t need dancefloor bangers to be able to sell.

What’s your opinion on internet networking? How important is it in what you do?

Of course, you can’t promote your shit without internet nowadays; we made so many good contacts through the net. The promoters discovered our universe through it and we got bookings. Our songs and mixes are on lots of forums. Internet is exciting, but on the other hand, our first release is already on torrents, which sucks. It’s really a new era and we still need to fix stuff. But yeah I don’t think we would be where we are right now without our Myspace and that kind of tools.

What would you have done if it weren’t for the music? What are you doing besides music?

Besides music, we do music… Several months ago we started the website http://inyourbass.com in order to promote all the good things that come out from Belgium. We are also setting up a project to give free music lessons and learn the kids to use a computer to do music. We think it’s a cool way to discover new talent and to encourage more producers in our country.

Chart time…

In no particular order…

The Pharcyde - Bobby Evans mix (just all the pharcyde best shit in one mix!)

Basement Jaxx - You Can’t Stop Me (Stephen Emanuel remix)

Roots Manuva - Let The Spirit

Buraka Som Sistema - Kalemba Wegue Wegue

Alchemyst feat. Maelan - Feel The Heat (stainage)

Pink Floyd - Wish You Where Here

Kode 9 - 9 Samurai

The Bug feat. Warrior Queen - Poison Dart

Universal Project - Haunted Dreams

House of Pain - Jump Around

LINKS:
http://www.myspace.com/grimelock
http://inyourbass.com
http://stainage.com