CityLife

Murkage Cartel go in deep

MURKAGE CARTEL: Big plans (and sunglasses)

WHEN Monday Murkage joined the droves of indie, Hacienda throwback and even more indie club nights of Manchester back in 2007, its creator was on a mission. 

While some people thought the urban-electro vibes of Murkage were a way to bring elements of the London scene up north, or get indie kids into skanking out to the latest grime or dubstep, David Lewis - AKA Murkage Dave - just wanted to prove his own talents. Murkage just happens to do the other two things too.  

“I started Murkage because I had a garage record,” says Dave. The track, ‘Hands On Her’, remixed by producers Sunship, was an underground hit and featured on national compilations such as the EZ-mixed Pure Garage. As well as singing, the London-born promoter and DJ decided to pull all of these talents together for Monday Murkage.  

It emerged to considerable success. “Because of the name – Murkage is a slang word [for winning against someone] – people got the vibe and started coming down.” And because of its burgeoning popularity, other projects including Dave’s dubstep night, Dubstep Gives Me Nightmares, got put on hold.  

Not just about music  

More and more people were buying into Murkage; so much so that it moved from SubSpace on New Wakefield Street to the more spacious One Central Street in September last year. The proof lies in how Murkage Dave describes the typical crowd: “It’s more of a lifestyle thing, it’s not just about music – it’s bought into the idea that it’s a culture.”  

Securing sets from the likes of dubstep gods Drop The Lime, Toddla T and Rusko – he played Area 51 and One Central Street in one night to sell out crowds – alongside local hip-hop legends Broke ‘n’ English and grime DJ Chimpo, Murkage is eclectic and keeps its ears to the street.   

“We play old rave records from the 90’s, old-skool garage and cutting-edge stuff that you won’t hear anywhere else,” Dave says. They certainly don’t take themselves too seriously either; hits from Chaka Demus & Pliers and Bomfunk MC’s are known to have been played there too. Clearly not taking itself too seriously, Murkage has a fun and relaxed feel.

“We don’t have a dress code; we don’t need one because it’s about vibes. When you come to Murkage, everyone’s going crazy, there’s an atmosphere,” Dave exclaims. “You don’t see everyone standing round drinking one drink, trying to stunt.”  

Sound selectors  

All of this success doesn’t just lie on Murkage Dave’s shoulders though. He later teamed up with Manchester promoter and DJ Tony Bennett to form the current Murkage team, while eleven other sound selectors make up the recently formed Murkage Cartel.       

“It was born out of the fact that there’s a few of us – in fact there’s 13 residents that play Murkage.” These include recognisable names like Dizzietron, DJ Dialog, Klepto and Sapnarella. “We’ve played at club nights around the country including Bigger Than Barry in Birmingham, Bristol’s Shit The Bed, and in Preston too.   

"We realised we were going down well in other cities, and at other people’s raves in Manchester too. We tore Prostitutes And Policemen up, and we’ve played Contort Yourself and Sex With Robots. It would always go down really well, so we thought that we needed to do something with it.”  

As for the present, clubbers can check out Murkage Cartel’s dedicated website and blog and listen to their mixtape. And those who want to get even closer to them can pick up a t-shirt at the mammoth end-of-term event Murkage Goes Balls Deep at Moho Live and the recently rebranded Blink (formerly North) on Friday 12 June.  

Really hard dubstep  

Murkage Dave detailed what’s in store at Balls Deep:“We like to book DJs and artists that people don’t think of booking, or can’t book, so we’ve got a few surprises up our sleeves. We’ve got High Rankin who does really hard dubstep, Mumdance, Virus Syndicate, Heavy Feet, Rich Reason,  Kanji Kinetic, a performance from myself, and one I can’t mention – it’s too controversial.”   

Another artist that’s been making waves in the underground will be appearing to make it a memorable Murkage: “We’ve also got Red Hot doing a PA of Junior Spesh. It’s a YouTube phenomenon; I went to see Plastician play the other day at Sankeys, and he played that as his last tune and the crowd went crazy. We want to make it a special night.”  

It sounds like it will be – a perfect finale to eight months of weekly bass and bleep-filled raves.   

However, there’s more in store; there’s a national Murkage tour in the pipeline: “The long-term vision is for Murkage Cartel to go on further. We’ve got plans to make records,” Murkage Dave confirms. Coming from someone who’s created all of this in just under two years, it’s best to take him seriously - catch them now before the rest of the world does.  

The Murkage Mashup continues to run at The Corner in Fallowfield throughout the summer.