Vous êtes tous des Animaux. Animaux stepped onto York’s night-life in April as an alternative to the over-saturated house scene. The event series has a simple idea – a night where you can hear and dance to music otherwise scarcely played in the city. Without any ties to a certain genre or venue as well as elements borrowed from a variety of events in Europe (from the promotional campaign to visuals) this makes Animaux a unique experience.
Animaux launched this term/year with a showcase of student DJs from the likes of Theo, Kineza and Clifford’s Tower as well as the founder himself – Endeser, the night drawing almost three hundred students. Following the excitement and wide acclaim Mantas Zalepūga a.k.a. Endeser is now bringing an up-and-comer of the scene – Arka.
Supported by BBC Radio 1, Fat Kid on Fire and Disco’s Dead, Arka promises to deliver an unforgettable bass-heavy hour of music.
We managed to catch up with Arka and ask him a few questions:
What can we expect from your set? What sort of direction are you thinking of going?
“It’s an obvious cliche, but I try to go in to each set with an open mind, without any pre-meditated visions. It all depends on the vibe I’m feeling at the time, and it’s always good to gauge the reaction of the crowd. But definitely sounds from the bassier side of house/techno. I should have a couple of new tracks from myself that I’ll be giving a test run too.”
Your productions combine quite a few aspects of different genres of music – could you tell us more about who inspires you?
“As you may or may not know, I produce dubstep & occasional Drum and Bass under the moniker Fornax, so I always draw influence from those scenes. I’m constantly coming across artists that are new to me and really raising the bar. There is so much good music out there. My recent favourites are a couple of fellas who work under the alias South Royston, look out for them!”
https://soundcloud.com/arka_uk/brotherhood-soundsystem-mix
Local support from Endeser, Synthetic Epiphany and Kineza will help shape the night. We asked them what to expect from their performances:
“As always I will try to bring some unheard of bass tunes from all over the world as well as a few favourites from the techno side of things to prepare you for Arka. Expect a quality night hah!” – Mantas Zalepūga (Endeser).
“I will be going in much darker and heavier than I do when I play as part of Clifford’s Tower. Expect lots of pounding beats and churning basslines, and expect artists like Effy, Mak and Pasteman and My Nu Leng to feature.” – Marcus Levy-Chance (Synthetic Epiphany).
“I have no idea to be honest! I never like to plan sets because for me it’s all about following the mood of the crowd. But I’ve got some new deep and sexy tracks which I’m eager to play out! So, I guess I’ll start out with one of those to give myself some direction and then just flow with the atmosphere which I’m sure will be great – the crowd always help with that!” – Chloe Stavrou (Kineza).
Tickets are now available on Resident Advisor (http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?530508 ), Vanbrugh Stalls as well as Animaux promoters.
To keep up to date with Animaux follow them on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Animaux.York