BASS CAMP

The Red Bull Music Academy passed through Madrid last autumn but hasn’t gone for good. Proof of its legacy is its little brother, Bass Camp, which will take place for the first time in our country on 2, 3 and 4 March. In addition to many other musical activities scheduled this year, Matadero Madrid’s Nave de Música will host this first reduced version of the Academy, the prelude to the great event this year in New York. Club session hosts Kode9 and A Guy Called Gerald will share their experiences and knowledge of the world of music through talks and studio sessions along with 20 participating producers, musicians and DJs living in Spain. The participants will have the luxury of the help and advice of Patrick Pulsinger, who will be in the studio during a three-day visit to the Academy as a tutor.

For three days, the twenty participants in this small Academy will have the unique opportunity of working hand in hand with electronic music icon Gerald Simpson (also known as A Guy Called Gerald). Founder of the Manchester band 808 State, Simpson achieved the highest sales rankings in 1988 with ‘Voodoo Ray’, which quickly became the anthem for frenetic acid house music that was emerging at the time. In 1993 he laid down the foundations for jungle with the experimental darkbeat LP 28 Gun Bad Boy and two years later with the acclaimed Black Secret Technology, both published by Juice Box Records. As one of the most respected producers in the United Kingdom, he has collaborated with artists such as David Bowie, Lamb, Goldie and Tricky. In 2010 he published his ninth album, Tronic Jazz: The Berlin Sessions (Laboratory Instinct).

Also featuring at Bass Camp is Steve Goodman, who has spent years moulding underground sound under the Kode9 name through his label Hyperdub, which has released work by artists like Spaceape, Warrior Queen and Burial. He led the programme FWD>> for four years at the British pirate broadcasting station Rinse FM, focused on grime and dubstep. In addition to creating his own label, which has released remixes of artists like Junior Boys and Dabrye Feat, Kode9 has promoted others such as Tempa and Domino, dedicated to dubstep.

Patrick Pulsinger, who will support the participants as a tutor during the three days, has collaborated in previous Academys as a team member and lecturer. German by birth and Austrian by adoption, Pulsinger has become the most international Viennese DJ thanks to his creation of one of the most avant-garde and innovative European labels of the 1990s scene, Cheap Recordings, whose core is made of his own elegant electronic pieces. He has worked with artists such as Robert Hood, Gerhard Potuznik and Chicks on Speed, among others.

Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp will organise a public workshop with A Guy Called Gerald on Saturday 3 March at 4pm (send registration applications aitor@redbullmusicacademy.com). In addition,  at night Bass Camp will leave Matadero Madrid to play in clubs in the capital:

-       Friday 2 March: Kode9 at Holydubs, Siroco (San Dimas, 3)

-       Saturday 3 March: A Guy Called Gerald + Patrick Pulsinger, Mondo (Arlabán, 7)
 

The participants in Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp will be chosen following the same criteria as for entering the Academy: the originality of their proposals, musical quality and the desire to share knowledge, among other aspects. Although the deadline for registration in Bass Camp has already expired, you still have until 2 April to send in your application for the next annual edition of the Academy, which will be held in New York. Who knows? You might even be able to participate in both the national and international versions.