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Alaia & Gallo are a pair of smart young Italian DJs who have quickly made their musical mark, have turned a number of heads and have laid down some essential sets in the best clubs round Europe. It was back in 2013 that they secured their first club hit with the thrilling house grooves and emotive vibes of ‘Beat of the Drum’. The track shot up through the Beatport charts and eventually hit number one in the house genre. It announced the pair had fully arrived and since then there has been no looking back. 

Every tune this pair has put out has picked up plenty of plays from big name DJs such as Claptone, as well as getting many plays on various radio stations around the world and also being included on Defected Records In The House Ibiza 2016 release. More recently this dynamic duo have turned out ‘Who Is He?’ which was signed to the celebrated Soul Heaven Records label. With lush soul as well as feel good house grooves, the cut became a real crossover success and has won the pair many new fans. Their production style takes cues from many different genres, not just house, and as such each new record they put out is fresh and exciting. With such a diverse take on DJing — which takes them all over Europe — and production, it is no wonder Alaia & Gallo really stand out in the modern scene. Expect much more from this hotly tipped pair in the coming months.

As they gear up to celebrate 20 years of riotous marauding, the Dub Pistols are prepping their seventh as-yet-untitled album in 2017 and there’ll be a documentary about the band dropping at some point in the year, too. And they’ll be out on the road, as usual, of course — the hardest working band in showbiz.

A kinda 21st century equivalent of 2-Tone acts The Specials or The Beat, the Dub Pistols are the quintessential festival band. Coming over a bit like if King Tubby and The Skatalites bumped into Terry Hall at a Goldie gig, the Dubs have reached their two decade milestone with a lot of ups and downs along the way. 

They’ve worked with vocal legends like Rodney P, Busta Rhymes, Gregory Isaacs, Terry Hall, Lindy Layton, Akala and Horace Andy, while the band’s mainstays are fiercely loyal and dedicated. An unorthodox collective of musicians who each have their own personal interests and solo projects, when they come together to form the Dub Pistols some dubwise magic happens.

The rhythm section of Jack (drums) and Dave (bass) are granite-solid, and guitarist Andreas (or sometimes the rock & roll stand-in, Johnny Rockstar) provides all sorts of licks and skanking chords to nice up the dance. The brass section is on fire, and rapper Seanie Tee brings the mic skills to complement main man Barry Ashworth perfectly. They’re a proper gang of outlaws, rebels with a cause, renegade outsiders who know how to bring the good times. If you haven’t seen the Pistols yet
Barry might be the heart, face and mouth of the Dubs, but they are still very much a band — as tight as fuck, and yet able to cut loose to rock venues to the core. Tracks like epic drum & bass cut ‘Gunshot’, ska ditty ’Problem Is’, early beat-freak single ‘Cyclone’ and singalong anthem ‘Mucky Weekend’ have become firm fan favourites, and onstage see the band getting deep, down and dirty. With a nod to their ska influence, and the fact that Terry Hall was an honorary Dub Pistol for a few years, they still do a lively version of ‘Gangsters’ - The Specials’ first ever single. But otherwise it’s all their own work — the back catalogue is rich in flavas.

“The next album is actually a bit more chilled-out than the last two,” says Barry. “It’s still a classic Dub Pistols album, but ‘Return Of The Pistoleros’ and ‘Worshipping The Dollar’ were more club-orientated — leaning more towards peak-time bangers. This album is a bit more relaxed, with a smoked-out reggae vibe — although there are still a couple of bangers on there.”

The guests on the next album read like a who’s who of conscious styles. Dancehall dons Beenie Man and Cutty Ranks, reggae singer Earl16, young hip-hop act Too Many T's, seminal MCs Navigator and the Ragga Twins, and long-time collaborator Lindy Layton (and dope rapper Genesis Elijah??) all bring their unique talents. Some of these will be appearing with the Dubs live over the coming year as the band present a history lesson in all the different bases they’ve covered over the past two decades. With added bass!

Band members may have come and gone, but the progression of the core of the band is constant. “It’s never like everyone leaves at once,” says Barry. “People’s priorities change: they get married or have kids and the lifestyle isn't for them anymore, so they leave — but luckily not all at the same time. So someone new comes in, and suddenly it feels like a new band.”

Glasgow Underground was set up in 1997 by Kevin McKay. He began the label releasing his own music and collaborations with friends and other Glasgow-based artists (Omid 16b, Studio Blue, DJ Q, Harri). Through his DJing and work for various music magazines (Muzik, Jockey Slut, Mixmag Update) he met some of his favourite producers of the time (Romanthony, Mateo & Matos, Idjut Boys...) and convinced some of them to join him releasing on GU. In the early 2000s, Kevin met Mylo and set up the Breastfed record label. The global success of "Destroy Rock & Roll" meant Glasgow Underground was put on hold. After leaving the Breastfed label in 2011, Kevin re-started Glasgow Underground and since then the label has gone on to re-invigorate Romanthony's catalogue with remixes from the likes of Dixon, MCDE, Gerd, Andres, Oliver Dollar, Ejeca, Audiojack, Claptone, Christian Nielsen, Supernova, Jimmy Edgar and Waifs & Strays. The label has also introduced producers like Daniel Trim, Brett Gould, Mia Dora and Illyus & Barrientos as well has releasing established & rising stars such as Metodi Hristov, Stefano Ritteri and Sabb.

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