The Rave Report Zine launch and Planet Wax record store fundraiser
On 1st October 2022 I threw a party at Planet Wax Record Store to launch my printed zine that celebrates three years of Rave Report!
The event was the proudest day of my life. The community came together to raise £550 for the record store and I sold 50 zines on the day and I’ve nearly sold 100 more online. The crowd was top tier (obviously, it being our crew) and the DJs excelled themselves!
It was all thanks to Chris Dexta (Planet Wax/Diffrent Music) and David Stretch, (AKO Beatz) who sponsored Chris’s design work. I’m lucky to be surrounded by amazing friends like these two who are established in the scene and act as mentors. Both Dexta and Stretch called me separately and told me I should put my work into physical format.
We had VXRGO blending Ragga Jungle with UK Garage, followed by Dexta and Pepsi Slammer on the House and Garage bangers. Then N.E.Girl took us on a journey through Footwork, Deep Dubstep, Dark Garage and Techno, and after Stretch came through with his impeccable Jungle selection. To close, BusyFingers and Troppodaffy switched up the vibe with my fav kind of Future Beats and Hip Hop.
Here’s some flicks by Apps and Rahael, photographers from our rave scene
I’ll never forget the afternoon Dexta finally sent the zine to print. I was sending him and Stretch voice notes crying happy, exhausted tears after pulling an all-nighter to get the final edits done in time for the launch.
What’s in the zine?
I chose to open the zine with Steph O Driscoll’s interview about the healing and transformative power of raving. Then I curated a selection that represented rave scenes you maybe didn’t know existed from different corners of the globe - like Russia, Brazil and Cambodia. I also wanted to ‘over represent’ African scenes given that it's the continent where all our music originates from. That’s why there’s three features from Senegal, Kenya and South Africa. I put in a long read for AKO Beatz to represent our own London Jungle community, and closed the zine with a call to action on how to use underground music to ignite political change by Osc Kins.
You’ll also find photography sections from my bestie Rahael and rave photographers in our scene (Apps, Jagoda and Tony). I also wanted to give free advertising space for our community like my other bestie Estelle Du Jour, who offers a private DJ rental service, or AAJA: our scene’s local community radio and event space in Deptford.
Why N.e.GIRL and me are the cover stars of my zine
Not only am I proud to call DJ N.E.Girl a bestie - I’ve done the most collabs with her for Rave Report! We’ve done two music documentaries together (here and here), 1 Rave Report article, 1 podcast, printed in DJ Mag (left) and online here; and Mixmag together here. She’s Copenhagen-based but we still have regular calls and visits and raves. She gave me a ton of industry advice. Plus we share the same birthday! The cover picture was taken by Jagoda Kotlarz at Corsica Studios after her incredible Jungle and 140 set at Rupture London.
