High Focus Records was established in 2010 to offer a platform for a new generation of rappers and producers in the UK. 

Twelve years on and nearly 200 releases later, our mission statement remains the same; to champion the most forward-thinking artists, with a key focus on strengthening the pillars that continue to unify the scene to this day (and beyond).


~HFR

Lady D is an old school soul and funk vinyl girl with a love for house and liquid dnb music. She works as a mental health nurse educator in NZ and is interested in the space between music and mental health promotion. Check out her Facebook page: Lady D https://www.facebook.com/djmusicformentalhealth/

Lady D runs DJ skills workshops for women at the Wee Treat and is happy to teach people how to mix in her free time:
 https://www.weetreat.co.nz/workshops/d-lady

She occasionally plays at the Dunedin Winter Solstice and local events in Dunedin but is happiest at home pretending its still the 1990s.

Belgium based Turntable Dubbers aka Timaxx & Drezz bring you a steamy blend of reggae, drum & bass, mash-ups, dancehall, jungle, moombahton, trap, bass, tropical beats, and other pieces of funkiness. Uptempo Irie indeed!

KAS:ST WORLD
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Management: dave@milkhoneyla.com
Booking EU / ASIA / AUS: nick.cave@teamwass.com

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.”

Thanks to a string of acclaimed live performances, including shows at the infamous Boomtown and Beat-Hearder festivals, Joe has built up a reputation as a solid performer and an artist who understands the nuances of their artform.

Ass shaking soul & bass from Bristol, UK:

DJ & Producer Chris Munky (Snareophobe) started touring in 1999 in San Francisco & has since toured Canada, the USA, Asia, India, Europe, Australia & the UK; Bombay to Vancouver, ski slopes to Glastonbury, beach festivals to aircraft hangars, both as support and headline act, with a blend of original music, mashups & classic tracks. Soul-laced music selections come from a vast collection of both vinyl & digital archives. DJ sets journey through a range of tempos; spanning jungle, hip hop, garage, breakbeats & dubwise music.

Hosting & dropping lyrics on his own sets, Chris has also been joined on stage by Chali 2na (Jurassic 5), Eva Lazarus, Afrika Baby Bam (Jungle Brothers), Fernquest & Dub Fx.

The Snareophobe LP, made in collaboration with Pete Fibre, dropped on Gravitas Records in July 2013 and includes a wide range of electronic music & featured vocalists.

Pay what you like here:
http://music.gravitasrecordings.com/album/snareophobe-2

Co-Producer on Dub Fx's 'Theory Of Harmony' LP & Honey Larochelle's 'Hijack' EP, Chris also works with a host of different vocalists and musicians across the musical spectrum.
Originals & remixes can be found on MURKT, Liondub International, Scratches Records, Westwood Recordings, Banana Bombs Records, Extra Spicy, Jungle Cakes, Muti Music, Functional Records & Ape Music with support from the likes of Freq Nasty, Villem, Deekline, Ed Solo, Bassnectar, 6Blocc, Calvertron & Ill-Gates.

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Checkout the mixes that were put together for all you bassheads across the globe:

<a href="https://soundcloud.com/dub_fx/live-wobble">Snareophobe Live @ Wobble, Melbourne feat. Dub Fx</a>

<a href="https://soundcloud.com/snareophobe/snareophobe-chris-munkys">Snareophobe - Intransit Mix</a>

<a href="http://soundcloud.com/snareophobe/snareophobe-dub-to-jungle">Snareophobe - Dub To Jungle Mini Mix</a>

<a href="http://soundcloud.com/snareophobe/snareophobe-burning-man-mix-2010-convoy-unltd">Snareophobe - Burning Man Mix - 2010 (Convoy UnLtd)</a>

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<strong>Chris Pope</strong>

Bookings: chrismunkybeats@gmail.com

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