Trips through the Archives

Mystic Stikums

Back2Bassics was a three-day festival tucked away in the woods of the lower mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The plan is to make this party an annual tradition and I was excited to be invited to play the first one. Back2Bassics was setup like an old school rave. The location was only given out on the day of, the camp site was by a beautiful river, and there were loads of BC DJs booked. Unfortunately, I got Covid and was unable to play! This was one of two gigs at the end of August and beginning of September that I had to cancel while I rested up.

There used to be a club night in Victoria, BC in the early 90's put on by Noble House that was also called "Back2Bassics," and later just "Basics." I think the name of the festival was to recognize that. I had a couple of sets booked, one for the night and another for during the day. I don't usually decide what to play beforehand, I always have a number of directions which I can go in. However, this mix is some of the music I hoped I would get around to playing during the night. I have been playing a lot of house and techno these days, but when feeling out the night ahead of time I was attracted to the more underground side of percussion-driven and melodic breaks. 

When the party-goers came back to civilization and told me about how it went, I heard that the old-school DJ's had also brought out their breaks, even the house DJs. Some even went back to the past and dropped in some early 90's breaks. Over the years I have found that music and the selection of music can be magical. There was no overall theme to the party that selected DJ's who were going to play a certain genre, and unwittingly I would have fit in with the way the music flowed throughout the festival. 

If people are interested in hearing more, I'll post the rest of the music I might have played that night. I hope you enjoy this taste of what could have been, and I'm looking forward to seeing you at Back2Bassics for next year! 

Tracklisting 
Artist - Track - Label

1) Jeremy Olander, featuring Skye Love - Hollow Halls - Vivrant
2) Jody Wisternoff and James Grant - Free Fly - Anjunadeep 
3) Bondarev - Shadow (Anthem Of The Past Cinematic Mix) - WARPP
4) Annéke Laurent - Gravity Code (Martin HERRS Remix) - ID
5) AFFKT - Dust (SNYL Remix) (Sincopat 110 Rmx) - Sincopat 
6) Sasha Carassi, featuring Ami Saint - Solastalgia (SC's Dub) - INILX
7) Thirsty Eyes - Heyoka (Sasha Carassi Remix) - Voltaire Music
8) Indie Elephant and Kole Audro - Biglong (Original Mix) - JEAHMON! Redux
9) I Promised Mom - The Mermaid's Tale (Mattia Pompeo Remix) - ILINX 
10) Anatolian Sessions & Danny Shamoun - Amida (Sasha Carassi Remix) - Qualista
11) Sasha Carassi featuring Elonora - Blackness (In the Silence Mix) - INILX

Cover art by Luke Summers

Yoseff Samchuk 8 - @Back2Bassics - Sept 9, 2023

Here is the my live set from Bass Coast Festival 2023 with the full drum kit. 

The entire set was also filmed and is available to watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRECm1FxbOQ&t=3139s

Follow me on all Socials at @ItsRumpus

Live at Bass Coast 2023 (with full drum kit)

When music had teeth- Speak Your Truth

Kiss The Ring 

Verse 1  
They line up in gold-plated halls,  
Billionaires, cowards, and desperate thralls.  
Polish their lies, bend on one knee,  
Selling their souls for a piece of the feast.  

Pre-Chorus
They chant his name, they play the part,  
Dead-eyed puppets with hollow hearts.  
Trading their spines for power and pay,  
As the kingdom crumbles, they look away.  

Chorus  
Kiss the ring, bow your head,  
Feed the beast ‘til nothing’s left.  
Bend the knee, sell your soul,  
Join the feast while the country falls.  
Line the pockets, drown the poor,  
Take it all, then ask for more.  
Kiss the ring, kiss the ring—  
While the world burns, they worship a king.  

Verse 2  
Silicon kings, senators blind,  
Sucking the marrow from futures they signed.  
Algorithms pushing the lies they tell,  
All for a handshake and a taste of hell.  

Pre-Chorus 
They rewrite the rules, they silence the past,  
Sycophants praying the empire lasts.  
But history’s watching, the cracks run deep,  
Their towers will fall while the people weep.  

Chorus  
Kiss the ring, bow your head,  
Feed the beast ‘til nothing’s left.  
Bend the knee, sell your soul,  
Join the feast while the country falls.  
Line the pockets, drown the poor,  
Take it all, then ask for more.  
Kiss the ring, kiss the ring—  
While the world burns, they worship a king.  

Bridge
Not for the workers breaking their backs,  
Not for the teachers under attack.  
Not for the sick left out to die,  
Not for the truth they crucify.  
Not for the ones who still believe,  
That freedom’s more than what they can bleed.  

Final Chorus  
Kiss the ring? I’d rather fight!  
Stand for the ones they left behind.  
Burn their thrones, break their chains,  
Tear down the altars built on pain.  
No more silence, no more fear,  
No more bowing while they sneer.  
Kiss the ring? **Never me.**  
I’ll die on my feet before I live on my knees.  

Outro  
I will not bow.  
I will not break.  
For love, for truth, for all that’s at stake.  
I will not bow.  
I will not kiss the ring.

Kiss The Ring

I'd love to return to my home province and rock the pines roots to tops! This is my demo mix I'm submitting to apply to play Electric Pines in Nova Scotia, Aug 2025. Check out electricpines.ca see what's up! For all you following my Y Afterhours series, these are the tracks I threw down at Freedom Fridays, Feb 28, 2025. Enjoy!

Electric Pines Demo: (Y Afterhours, Edmonton AB, Feb 28 2025)

Driving Funky Tech House Bangers BangersBangers

Locomotive#4

SnarkleFarkers unSCruz 2025

Lucho Live at Secret Garden 2025

Here's a free 20 minute relaxation to sleep hypnosis recording. This is for all of my insomniac friends who REALLY need it! Try it out for the next few nights and let me know how you like it!
All my best,
Daniel


Sleep Demo - 128kbps

DanielGross1966