Pogo DJs

Frank’s Night Off – Tonight!

James Furness — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:59:35 +0000

From this month’s mailout…

A very quick email to let you all know I will be taking a brief respite from my all-consuming day job to play some tunes tonight at Frank’s Night Off. Only a brief respite though, as I will be kicking off the festivities with some chilled out minimal techno and house from 10pm-11pm so that I can get home before turning into a pumpkin.

So get down early to avoid disapointment and enjoy a night of the very finest techno and house!

Frank’s Night Off – Friday 9th December @ The Russian Bar (Shoreditch)

We’ve booked the basement of the Russian Bar. It’s small, sweaty and great fun.

We will be playing the best techno and house. The DJs will be, in random order:

JAMES FURNESS
DISCO PATRICK
MJOOGOO
BUMP
M-JOE
LO TONE (live)
DR WOO

@ Russian Bar, 267 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8AS

Free before 12, £5 after. 10pm-5am

Links: Facebook | Google Map

Glue’s 2nd Birthday this Saturday!

James Furness — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:56:37 +0000

From this month’s mailout…

So, the weekend has landed (well, almost!) and it looks set to be a scorcher… Probably not on the weather front, knowing the good old British summer, but because it is Glue’s 2nd birthday this Saturday!

For this rare occasion they have a number of surprises and treats in store including a line up picked exclusively from Glue regulars and residents, providing you with the opportunity to feast your ears on a delectable smorgasbord of beats without any of that Prima Donna nonsense that headliners are sometimes known for (I’m looking at you Grace Jones)…

…well ok perhaps one Prima Donna as the lovely people at Glue have given me the honour of headlining their wonderful evening. And to celebrate this special occasion I have been digging in some unusual crates to find something really… quite different… for your listening pleasure tomorrow night. And that’s all I can say on the matter. Catch me 12.30-2.15am tomorrow night at the Horse & Groom to find out more!

As usual entry is free before 10pm, or a mere £4 after 10pm.

Glue – Saturday 23rd July @ Horse & Groom (Shoreditch)

Incredibly Glue is two years old! Seems like only yesterday we were pacing around the delivery room, anxiously awaiting of the arrival of London’s brightest new club night. Yet here we are, entering the terrible twos and as always ready for some serious partying!

To mark this very special occasion we’ll be putting on a very special night with four of our very favourite DJs, not to mention a few birthday surprises thrown into the mix too.

Playing the peak time slot is regular guest and all round DJ hero, James Furness. He first played for us at our very first We Have Fun way back in 2008 and has been back many times, including several iconic sets at Glue. Expect some real treats for the big birthday party with his set taking in house, electro, breaks and a lot beside.

Ending the party on a high will be Glue’s very favourite Northerner, Lovely Andy. He too has played for us many, many times, first as Fatman 88 with some dark and heavy techno and more recently as Lovely Andy with a slightly happier set. He’s played Glue a couple of times in the last year, each time better than the last, setting a very high standard for himself – we’re pretty sure he’ll better it again this time…

Kicking the celebrations off is a man that is no stranger to Glue – back from his baby enforced hiatus is Hell Yeah! The former resident and co-creator will be once again be gracing the decks at Glue, playing some funkier tunes at the start of the night and no doubt setting the party up perfectly for the chaos that will follow!

Finally, we have our loyal and most trusted resident, bump. He’s played more Glues than anyone and set the musical tone perfectly each time. So once again he’ll be doing his techno thing and taking the Horse & Groom from a nice little pub to mental party zone in 105 minutes!

So don’t miss out on the best birthday party ever!!!

However before the big day itself we wanted to share the party spirit with you so here’s a special birthday mix that Lovely Andy has done to get us all in mood – http://soundcloud.com/lovelyandy/lovely-andy-presents-glue

And to get a taster of Glue, check out mixes from our nights on Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/having-a-laugh

@ Horse & Groom, 28 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3NZ

9pm-4am, free before 10pm/with guestlist, £4 after

Links: Facebook | Venue | Google Map

September Social!

James Furness — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:07:18 +0000

From this month’s mailout…

A short update this month just to let you know that both Shakes and myself will both be returning to support the 2 Bit Thugs at Glue this Saturday in Shoreditch. Expect a frenetic and fun mix of electro, gangster house and anything with a bassline from the ‘Thugs, and of course the usual dancefloor destruction you’ve undoubtedly come to expect from the Pogo DJs!

In other news, it has been an interesting few months since my last email, some highlights including playing an electro swing set for a 1940s themed party filmed for ITV (transmission date TBC), and of course having finally moved in to my new house a few months ago!

On the moving note I have of course been concentrating on sorting out all the important furnishings such as sofas, shelves, and err of course a suitably large PA system for my decks, which has finally freed up my studio monitors for me to set up a proper studio downstairs! Some photos over on my Facebook page if you’re curious…

Of course finally having my studio sorted means that my quest to hone my production is back on and I have been redoubling my efforts to finish my Neon Highwire remix plus working on a new track I have started with Shakes – watch this space!

For Saturday, as ever I have a few guestlist places available which will get you in for free. If you’d like a place either reply to this email or click here to register your interest. For everyone else it’s free before 10pm, or a mere £4 after. You can catch me playing from 10.45-12.30, and Shakes from 2.15-4.00.

Glue – Saturday 18th September @ Horse & Groom (Shoreditch)

So it’s September, back to school and back to Glue! This month we have a very special lineup as our residents take a break and we invite back some old friends and some very exciting new ones!

Headlining the night are 2 Bit Thugs, a DJ pair we’ve been hoping to get to Glue for a long time and finally they’re here! Playing a frenetic and fun mix of electro, gangster house and anything with a bassline and an attitude we think they’ll fit perfectly with the Glue ethos!

Along with the Thuggish headliners we have James Furness and Shakes, once the pair were partners known as the Pogo DJs but now their ride alone, both on a guest to find the biggest baddest basslines and heaviest party tunes. Expect a collision of electro, breaks and house.

And finally opening the party we have Dr Woo, a newcomer to Glue who’ll be playing a warmup set that will run from chilled techno to full on party starters!

@ Horse & Groom, 28 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3NZ

10pm-4am, free before 10pm/with guestlist, £4 after (request guestlist)

Links: Facebook | Venue | Google Map

Shakes starts to crack the charts

Shakes — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

As the Shakes remix of Jurassik - Baby creeps up the Beatport Breaks chart and gets a play on Annie Nightingale's Radio 1 show it's all getting a little exciting in the studio.

https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/269000/Baby

Supatronix Records have started a youtube channel so you can catch demos of the latest releases and perhaps the odd sneak peak at future releases, so go and check it out.

The next Shakes original, Biggest Drop, has been polished off and sent for mastering and the Jurassik remix is sounding tight. Also in the pipeline is a track to be released on New Zealand label Double Deeze. There is a double A-side in the early stages too, a couple of remix projects and the plottings of a vocal collaboration.

If you can't wait for all of this then get to my facebook page, join and once we reach 200 people I will give away my Shake-Up of Doctor P - Sweet Shop.

Doctor P - Sweet Shop (Shakes's Bray Cup Shake Up) by I Am Shakes

Get your hands on a free copy of Shakes’ bootleg of Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me

Shakes — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:00:00 +0000

With a summer of anticipated releases ahead I've had this bass driven little gem mastered for my own sets, but I didn't want to be selfish and keep it all to myself. Starting with one of the most iconic vocals in dance music all it took was a huge wad of bass, some big drums and a touch of reverb to create this haunting, gut churning monster.

Jam Hot by I Am Shakes

All you need to do to get this track is join my facebook page, so you can keep up to date with future mixes and tunes.

Then just email me at Stewart@pogo-djs.co.uk with your name to get the link.

New Shakes Tune!

Shakes — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:10:04 +0000

Biggest Drop by I Am Shakes

Hopefully to be released this year is my new tune, Biggest Drop. I finally bought Ableton 8 at Christmas and have managed to fit in some free time in front of a computer every so often. I wanted to make a Stantons style tune with most of the bass coming from a big 808 hit under the kick, but once I started looping the melodic percussion over it and found the vocal sample announcing "the biggest drop (something I deleted) in the world" I heard a big bass line in my head coming in on the drop and went looking for the sound to make it work. I put the rest of the track together fairly quickly then had to set about adding layers, distortion, drum compression, EQing etc to fill it out and it eventually became this huge sounding beast.

I'm definately on a steep learning curve and I'm incredibly greatful for those producers that have given me the feedback and advice that has made this a vast improvement on the last tune on the engineering front.

Here's to the next :)

Free remix of Ripgroove

Shakes — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:00:00 +0000

It's been an interesting year for me, branching out as a solo DJ as the other half of Pogo (James Furness) had to do some soul searching and find his own sound. This pretty much coincided with me leaving London and disbanding our show on iBreaks. I've had a lot of fun popping back to London playing at the likes of We Have Fun and Supatronix, though there's only so many times you can play for the same people. So over the summer I started focusing on developing my production skills as my musical outlet and hopefully promotional tool. Having taken on the important job of reviewing tracks for This Is Breaks I was interested in trying to do my bit for the scene by producing breaks rather than the electro people might have expected from me. The result was my first release in November (Radio Epidemic) and a couple of other encouraging ideas.

There was a remix competition to work on the classic Double 99 - Ripgroove back at the end of summer. At the time I was getting Radio Epidemic signed and tweeking that all the time as well as starting full time work so I didn't get a chance to make something for the comp. I had managed to make something that sounded promising though, so I still went back to it whenever I found any studio time. As it is there are no clever drum edits or spectacular effects, but some solid beats, the charm of the original and some nuskool synth work make it a proper party banger that I wanted to share.

So especially for all Pogo fans here's a special Christmas/pagan Winter gift:

Double 99 - Ripgroove (Shakes' 2009 Breaks Mix) by I Am Shakes

Download and enjoy!

See you in 2010.

Christmas Chillout Podcast

James Furness — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:57:34 +0000

As you can probably guess from the title, this month’s podcast is a bit more chilled out than usual, helping you to round off your Christmas holiday with an hour and a half of relaxing tracks (of course with a few bangers in the middle for good measure)!

Unlike my normal podcasts which are mixed live, this is my first experiment with mixing on my computer using Ableton Live as I haven’t had access to decks throughout Christmas.

As always you can leave your comments using the form below, or on my Facebook page.

Tracklist

John Tejada - Alone With You (feat. Carl A. Finlow) [Plug Research US]
Kriece - Cork In The Ocean (Jim Rivers mix) [EQ Grey]
Slam - Staccato Rave (Silicone Soul's Darkroom Dub) [Soma]
Motorcitysoul - Space Katzle (Jerome Sydenham Remix) [Songbird Holland]
Tim Deluxe - Espoo's Rose (Original Mix) [AT Records]
One Plus One - No Pressure (Deadmau5 Remix) [One + One]
Milton Jackson - Cycles (Original) [Freerange]
Solee - Impressed (Original) [Le Bien Et Le Mal]
Phonique ft. Erlend Oye - Casualities (Club Mix) [Dessous Recordings]
Andy Caldwell - Warrior (Andy Caldwells Electric Re-Rub) [Om Records]
Maria Edesse - Maria (Damir Blazinic Remix) [BikiniTracks]
Sebastian Ingrosso - Kidsos (Original Mix) [Refune Records]
Infusion - Legacy (Junkie XL Remix) [Audio Therapy]
KOS - Its Not The End (Original Mix) [Familia Recordings]
Joris Voorn - Blank (Original Mix) [Green]
Nathan Fake - You Are Here (Live Version) [Border Community]

Download Christmas gifts from the Stanton Warriors

Shakes — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:14:43 +0000

Those prophets of the broken beat have once again shown their infinite humility and generosity by offering up their latest bootleg remixes to their loyal followers for free. Down at The Boom Town Blog videos are often posted with their latest remix and bootleg projects and, more often than not, the tracks are eventually put up for download. The duo had this to say:

“It’s just a little gift to show our appreciation to all who have supported us this year by buying our records or coming to our shows and making this one of the most exciting years for us yet…see you all in the 2010 for even more. Mark & Dom”

Their reworking of Young MC's Know How is a funky booty shaker with that ultra-recogniseable guitar riff from Isaac Hayes's Theme From Shaft and Young MCs lyrical attitude. Booming kicks and the amen break bring it up to date with some clever editing and very little modern synth work.

Good Vibrations was seemingly knocked up in an Australian hotel room while on their similarly named tour. The build up and breakdowns are big room hands in the air affairs with the Beach Boys classic giving everyone something to sing along to. The cheeky use of a sample from Marky Mark's (aka Mark "Max Payne" Wahlberg") chart hit of the same title is used as a punctuation mark between these euphoric moments and the big buzz-saw bassline that kicks in to knock you back into dancing mode.

Go download here and Merry Christmas!

Shakes – Radio Epidemic OUT NOW on Control Breaks

Shakes — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:09:17 +0000

Next up on Control Breaks is first ever release from a DJ/Producer whose been making waves on the Breaks, Electro and Fidget scenes for some time now as Shakes throws out his debut in the shape of 'Radio Epidemic'. Once part of the fabled Pogo DJs, Shakes has recently being making his own path, DJing solo at a range of events including regular guest slots at hot London night We Have Fun, at every event playing outstanding sets that straddle a range of genres.

With 'Radio Epidemic' Shakes takes this DJing style and makes a tune that will happily sit in any cross genre set and many a purist one too! The tracks takes it's main elements from the latest breaks but adds a dash of the modern electro style and a pinch of toughest fidget vibes. All of which combines into an awesome track that'll fill any dancefloor in any decent club!

On remix duties we have Dom Almond, a producer who has been prolific in recent years with a host of releases on a number of big labels, both original tunes and top remixes including a serious banger for Control Breaks. With 'Radio Epidemic' he takes the original in a slightly harder and more pure breakbeat direction , toughening things up without losing the originals charm.

Be sure to check out http://www.controlbreaks.com or http://www.myspace.com/controlbreaks for more details and a taster from both mixes.

Check it at Beatport or any of the other digital stores.

https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/206271/Radio%20Epidemic