Well, I've been pretty absent (3 million new messages since I last
checked), but you know what they say, "better late..."
I'm fascinated by all these folks with inside info who seem to know more
about UR's plans than UR. Where to start...?
Number one, I was unaware of how far all this miscommunication had spread.
If I had known, UR would've responded earlier. Two, the
reality is that UR had not made a decision about the extent of its
involvement in the event until recently (this afternoon?). But, and
this is to help explain some of the confusion, UR *had* made a
commitment to participate *in some way*. This was misinterpreted as
confirmation of the entire ISF crew. Not the case. I'm going to
apologize for any fan confusion on the behalf of UR.
As for the lineup from UR...James Pennington was discussed as a live
performer along with Agent Chaos. I say "discussed" because we had
not confirmed this with him.
As for the other members of UR/ISF/Red Planet, etc...believe it or
not, UR has *never* completely issued a list of all its members or
affiliates, and even moreso, Red Planet (trust me, 313 gossip aside,
there are more Martians than even Mr. Pennington is aware of, I *know*
this). Has anyone noticed that some tracks may be listed as "Andre
Holland," or "Mad Mike," or "Drexciya," but there are others listed
as "Underground Resistance"? There are reasons. There are members of
UR who have been working on tracks, creating hits, who, truthfully,
have not really done much publicly. Hell, Andre Holland may NEVER
perform live...or he might next time around, we'll see. What I'm
saying is, Clandestine has been with UR for a long time, he
has spun for UR in the past (under a different name), and, for
reasons which are his own, he *WANTS* to be Clandestine. Is a group
like UR going to argue with that? I'll also clue you in that one of
the musicians going over is another long time UR member who, while
unbilled, has produced tracks and will, no question, perform one or
two of them.
The bottom line on all this is, while there *were* issues with the
promoter, simply because you don't readily know the names UR mentions
doesn't mean they are folks we picked up off the street for show.
Truthfully, folks didn't know who the Interstellar Fugitives were when
we went over last time. So. They were, and still are, members of UR.
And they represented properly, if I don't say so myself (if you thought our
show was f*cked up, please email me privately and tell me
why!).
Is anyone familiar with Hipnotech? Another UR affiliated label. No
producers are listed, only tracks, but I can tell you, it's the same
deal. UR members and others have participated without label credits. One
guy is...working...with the Roots. But he's managing to do many
things at once. Still, if other folks want to have their name out,
they may do something on a label like Upstart/Urban Slang, yet another UR
affiliate. Mark Flash was doing work with UR for a long time, but his
first label credit came on UR's remix for E-Dancer's Bango (released on
PIAS in Europe only, I believe). He is no less a member
of the UR family because he has never had a titled release on UR
proper (truth be told, I think Mike knew him *before* he met up with
DJ Rolando). Hell, Agent Chaos had a track out on Metroplex *BEFORE*
his UR ep came out. Is that significant? What this goes back to
is the music. The music comes first. If this was a scam, we'd be
saying so, but again, UR *will* be present, and we *will* give you a
great night out. If you're looking for Drexciya, I'm sorry, but
they're somewhere underwater doing whatever Drexciyans do.
Again, sorry for the confusion.
Cornelius
PS-"Mad Mike" Banks is a producer, NOT a DJ. He is also an exceptional
MUSICIAN, having played a number of instruments with a number of
individuals in a number of styles, but a turntable was never one of >them!
Other folks might do well to follow his lead...
