Steve Lawler: Testing dance music's boundaries

Steve Lawler: Testing dance music's boundaries

Joseph Mangga, Contributor, Jakarta

England's Steve Lawler -- a Global Underground DJ artist, a
true turntable virtuoso, and the undisputed master of ultra-
spacey, percussive Tribal House -- played at the end of March to
a capacity crowd of over 3,000 people crammed into every shadowy
nook and cranny that Stadium in West Jakarta had to offer.

The promoters -- led by 91.45 Indika FM and Jolt -- did an
admirable job of organizing an event for that was eagerly awaited
by Jakarta's ever-growing clubber population.

A glowing sign with two shots of tequila above the back bar
proclaimed "this could be heaven, or this could be hell".
Surveying Stadium's decor -- with it's billowing red torches,
demonic flying dragon and balconies lined with wrought-iron
cobras -- the statement did not seem too far off track.

Wearing a simple blue T-shirt with white sun-glassed gorilla
stencil, it wasn't high fashion, but Steve Lawler seemed right at
home within the darkened DJ booth. After a funky version of
Brancassio & Asher's Lovely Day, the man settled into a poetic
groove that was virtually unstoppable from that moment on.

Carefully layering tracks like a master seamstress of sound,
his DJing approach was far more subtle and fluid than the brash
and flamboyant style of his predecessor, Dave Seaman, who played
Musro in January.

Steve followed with a lengthy spacey track featuring glam-rock
vocals by what sounded like a freshly resurrected Marc Bolan (a
la T.Rex). More banging and bashing, with relentless jungle
percussion and otherworldly phase-shifting, mixed with the
occasional acapella drop-in of some sensuous female siren or
angry black rapster. The rhythms were at times a bit dark and
monotonous, but that's Tribal House, where the beats hypnotically
swirl and dance like wild pygmies around a central primal pyre of
burning groove.

Lawler, currently ranked ninth in the DJ Magazine reader's
poll, is a rising DJ star who's far from reached his high mark.
Since the infamous "Tunnel Parties" he first organized under the
M42 in his hometown of Birmingham in the early 1990s, Lawler's
lightening-quick hands have graced the decks of many famous clubs
around the globe including New York's Twilo; Pasha and Space in
Ibiza; not to mention Cream, Gatecrasher, Home and Renaissance in
the UK.

This is one seriously committed DJ who is uncomfortable
playing the easy pop-out commercial Trance anthems, and instead
meticulously remixes and personalizes virtually every track he
spins. His current 2-CD Global Underground Nubreed release, and
Dark Drums 1 & 2 remix collections are already considered
bona fide DJ mix classics.

But I'd gladly trade all these for a pristine copy of what
Lawler played at Stadium that night. Personally, I thought his
set was nothing less than a brilliant and intensely-entertaining
display of cutting-edge Tribal-mix wizardry. I exchanged many
expressions of sheer disbelief as he conjured-up one sonic
surprise after another for a full magical four hours.

After the show, I was equally surprised, and confused, by how
many Indonesian clubbers did not fully share in my enthusiasm.
Many claimed disappointment, that the music was too dark, too
slow, too different; that they much more enjoyed the faster,
harder-edged and more up-beat music of other Global Underground
DJs who have visited Jakarta, such as Danny Howells and Dave
Seaman.

Don't get me wrong -- virtually everyone was happily bouncing
away that night, but afterwards many said that Lawler's mellower
blend of Tribal Trance was not their favorite cup of dance music
tea.

A major factor in the reasons behind this difference in DJ
preference seemed to be the amount of previous exposure one had
to the many varied styles of Trance and House music. Most of the
more mature and musically clued-in clubbers thoroughly enjoyed
Lawler's gig; while the fresher, less-fanatical and often younger
crew wondered why in the hell the bloody DJ didn't crank-up the
BPM's and really start banging away.

Jakarta has to remember that in comparison with the UK and
Europe, where House music and Trance have been king on the
dance floors for close to 14 years, the club scene here is
absolutely embryonic.

It's been a little more than two years since the more
sophisticated clubs like Stadium, Musro and Retro have graduated
from playing relentless "four-to-the-floor" Hard House, to the
richer and more varied rhythms and moods offered by true
Progressive Trance.

The more a club scene matures, the more the audience is able
to tolerate longer drop-outs of the massive booming bass kick-
drum that is the signature feature of most House music. The big
bass is often the hook that first attracts a punter to House, but
it is far from everything the musical genre and it's many
subcategories have to offer.

That's not to say that Lawler's presence in Jakarta was
premature, but many were simply not ready to fully appreciate a
progressive DJ that is truly pushing, on a global scale, the
creative limits of what is considered House or Trance. And as
they say, "different beats for different freaks"; this is best
illustrated by the UK's current overwhelming cornucopia of dance
clubs, each featuring on different nights a specific variety or
mutation of what is considered "House Music".

It hasn't happened yet, but someday there will probably be a
Jakarta club night totally dedicated to Lawler's percussive-
dominated style of dark Tribal House.

And style is what it's all about that distinguishes a DJ.
There were no fewer than three tracks that both Lawler and Seaman
played, but the songs sounded entirely different. But therein
lies the magic of mixing music -- it's not what the DJ plays, but
more importantly how he plays and mixes it.

And Lawler's style is unmistakably unique.

After the show, I spied Lawler quietly mulling about the lobby
with a few of the Indika crew, before he whizzed past me. And
then what happened next raised my respect for the man by an
exponential notch or three.

Rather than make a mad dash for the airport, or off to the
comfort of some luxury hotel suite overflowing with local
lovelies, Lawler strolled back inside, out onto the dance floor,
and quietly melded into the throng of clubbers gyrating away to
DJ Bobby's early morning mix.

Two hours later, I'd had enough and was heading home, but
Lawler was still there, prancing away on stage, thoroughly
enjoying the unique atmosphere and energy that the local Jakarta
clubbers had to radiate.

For Lawler, the evening wasn't about the fame or fortune, the
interviews, magazine articles or buzzing around the world from
one exotic location to another in first-class. It was about the
music, and more importantly, the emotion and collective feeling
the music can bring out in people.