Cyfweliadau / Interviews
Sometimes interviews event organizers, DJs and musicians from the North Wales scene.
INTERVIEW NO.1: AUG 2006
BYD MAWR EVENT ORGANIZER DEWI / DJ FLUFFYLOVEBUBBLE
See the Byd Mawr website for more info.
1. Could you begin by telling us about your events background? What sort of things have you done before Byd Mawr?
I've been DJing since the mid 80's because I got fed up of going out and hearing cheesy music. I started doing Green Party benefit gigs putting on African bands at the old Pola Cinema in Welshpool. I had an old school mobile disco with flashing lights but didn’t really play out - just house parties and stuff -although I did DJ at my own wedding reception! Then the whole rave scene exploded and it seemed that everyone I knew was buying decks- I helped out a few free party crews around Mid Wales- I was old enough to have caught the last bastions of the great free festivals like Stonehenge and it was such a brilliant feeling to see people partying in fields again at self policing events with no aggro or trouble in sight- just like we’d done in the late 70’s/ early 80’s. After DJing techno for several years I got bored with the music and went back to playing what I used to play (and still do) and without looking for it the bookings just keep coming in- its six years later and I haven’t stopped since.
Being involved with Samba Bangor for several years was also a great learning experience and their Absolutely Braziliant gigs proved to me that the mix of live bands and DJs was definitely the format I wanted to go down.
My absolute DJing highlight has got to be helping Techno Tribe put on the Pink Palace in the Green Fields at Glastonbury in 2004- 7 days of hard work, fun, laughs and a fantastic up for it crowd- people were saying we were the “new lost vagueness” but we never got asked back…a bit too full on for the Green Fields mafia I think!
2. And tell us how you chose the DJ name Fluffylovebubble (a fine choice)?
Why thank you... people love it or hate it...I have moments where I think something less ridiculous might be more professional but believe it or not I have a number of people who go into open revolt when I talk about changing it. The name was chosen at a time when superstar DJ culture was really up its own arse so my statement was to find the most stupid name I could and take the piss. It did also accurately describe the feelings of seeing the Orb in a field in 1993 but you had to be there I guess!
I’m at a stage where I either change or use it forever..so I’ve compromised and decided that from now I’ll only use the phonetic Welsh spelling……
….fflyffi lyf bybl ….I think that’s really gonna mess with people’s heads…!
3. What is Byd Mawr, and why did you and the rest of the crew decide to set it up?
I've been going to WOMAD for over 20 years and just wanted to see those types of bands without having to travel miles away to see them. I know there are loads of other people who feel the same way and if you want something to happen sometimes you've just got to do it for yourself. And as much as I love dance events you can’t beat live music so it’s always been an ambition of mine to combine the two.
We live in a fantastic part of the world but sometimes we're too insular and I think its important to remind people that there are different cultures that exist out of our North Wales bubble
So Byd Mawr is the vehicle and we’ve set it up as a not for profit company whose purpose is to positively promote multi-culturalism through the arts. It means we can access grants and schemes like Night Out but long term its only gonna last if we can get gigs to break even. In that respect we’ll always be grateful to Banda Bacana who played a second gig for us for nothing when we lost all our money on our first gig..cheers guys!
4. Which of the nights organized by Byd Mawr have been your favourite?
They're all great! But seriously, judging from the feedback it’s got to be Nuru Kane and the Johnny Clarke ones- I still can’t believe we pulled off two such mind bendingly brilliant gigs in the first year
5. Which other events in North Wales have you really enjoyed this year?
It’s been a good year- Drymbago played a wicked set at Bindi Slippage, Attila the Stockbroker & Tracy Curtis at the Vic was top drawer, and I really enjoyed the best bits at Sesiwn Fawr- Seth Lakeman, and Los Ajabos especially. Most bizarre has got to be Natacha Atlas hanging over the crane in Victoria Dock and I also loved taking my lad to see Whole Lotta Led at Theatr Gwynedd which was totally rock n roll!
But the best was seeing Gwilym Morus and his new band at Caban- you couldn’t get more intimate and the music was literally causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up- its work of true beauty and genius.
6. What events is Byd Mawr bringing to North Wales in the next year?
Well we’re trying to balance between what we can afford and what we’d really like to do- we’ve got Kissmet the bhangra band coming soon, and probably another 4 or 5 gigs to arrange over the next year. We’ll definitely put more African stuff on, some 70s roots reggae and we’d love to hear ideas from people on who they want us to book
7. What is the worst part of organizing events?
•running the guest list
•having to make people pay to get in
•arsey managers
•Getting to the venue and remembering you’ve forgotten to pack something basic (usually headphones and one time my records!)
8. And what is the best part of organizing events?
•The teamwork in getting it together.
•Seeing people’s smiles when they hear amazing music.
•The atmosphere when a gig gets going.
•People you don’t know coming up at the end of the night and saying thanks
9. What do you think of the events scene in North Wales? Is it vibrant? Is there anything you think we really lack up here? Have we enough venues? Enough variety of musical genres?
Up to the last couple of years I never played outside of the free party scene- since all that started to stop we’ve been lucky with the emergence of Hendre Hall - most legit venues are rubbish but Hendre is a jewel because the environment and the vibe are just right- you know its special when people like Johnny Clarke and Nuru Kane tell you what an amazing place it is- I mean they’ve been around the world and still come here and see it as somewhere totally unique with a great crowd.
Hendre works because it tries to be eclectic and doesn’t think that any type of event is better than any other - I think its also shown that if you get the little details right and make it as relaxed as Malcolm and Penny have done- then people respect it and want to come again and again. It’s also been a catalyst for its own scene- think of all the great bands that have grown up around it like Drymbago, Red Stripe and Banda Bacana- we’re really lucky!
I can’t speak for the rest of North Wales but everywhere should have a Hendre – that’s my theory!
10. Describe your dream event: which bands and DJs would play (assuming money was no object, and dead artists were alive...)?
Blimey that could take days to answer..! but off the top of my head- a free festival with everything I missed first time round....Hendrix, Zeppelin , Free, Gong, Hawkwind, a 70 roots reggae and dub all nighter, funky morning sets from James Brown and Funkadelic, prog rock afternoon with Yes,Genesis, and Van der graaf Generator, a punk rock explosion with the Pistols, Clash – some classic African stuff like Fela Kuti, Real sounds of africa, Bhundu Boys, techno mash up with System 7, Eat Static and a 6 hour Sven Vath set with lasers- and to round it off Toumani Diabate and Ali Farka Toure in the chill out chai tent….phew…need to go and lie down now!
