The Lure of The Jungle: Junglemico First Birthday Party

Founder and drummer Liu Wei and his bandmates in the Junglemico Project use traditional rock instruments to jam on the kind of dubstep, deep techno, and brake rhythms usually spun on sterile turn tables. It may not seem natural to give those glitchy, modern genres an analogue twist. But Liu Wei (aka Mico) says there was no easier way for him to evolve as a musician.

What’s the toughest gig you’ve played?
Four years ago I played with my ex-band, Junglecat , at a jazz club in Hangzhou. This night club was by the beautiful West Lake, but they charged RMB 800 for VIP seating. During our set, some Chinese and Korean guys kept playing a finger-guessing game, really, really loudly. I just had to stop playing. I pointed at them with my drum stick and shouted, ‘If you don’t wanna listen, please get the f*ck out of here!’

Why call yourselves Junglemico?
Actually I don’t like this name. At first I used it just because I wanted to make a new band, make a new sound. I was anxious to play on the stage, so I told the other cats in the band ‘If your guys have a better name for us, just let me know and let’s see if we can all agree.’ I’m not an individualist, I love being in a band so much.

Then why did you break up Junglecat?
It was my first band. We had a female American singer, a guitar, bass and keyboard. We played some drum n’ bass, house music, and some funky rock stuff. But after three years of that I felt bored and wanted to try something new. I wanted something deeper, stronger, something more straightforward and more electronic.

Where do you even begin to try and create dubstep, techno and break live?
The biggest challenge for us is making it sound more human, but without losing the original catchy, electronic sound and feeling. We try to mix both well. We try to make people dream in their dance.

For audiences, what are the biggest advantages of hearing these genres live?
It’s more human, more dynamic. More powerful, and more intensive.

How did you first discover dubstep?
I was in London in 2008, and I walked into a small dirty bar. It had one DJ who was playing dubstep. That dirty, nasty wobble bass sound really hit me. Suddenly I realized this music could open many new doors for me.

Hear Junglemico’s naturalistic dub techno at 2 Kolegas on May 11 at 10pm (call 8196-4820 for more info) and Temple on May 12 (call 6407 6778 for more info).

Photos courtesy of Liu Wei

Comments

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Aye... laddie needs to go read up on the origins of dance choonage!

Obviously Kyle knows nothing about the topic.

Spelled "turntables" wrong too... *facepalm

Squeeze me? ....Turntables aren't "sterile"... and they aren't "brake rhythms", its Breakbeat or Breaks. :O)