EMBRACE THE CONFUSION
Chaos. Bedlam. Absolute Overstimulation.
Sometimes you just need music to be visceral.
You need it to literally reach out of the speaker, grab you by those cheeky chops of yours and hurl you, your senses, your thoughts and all your emotions around the room like a rag doll.
Or match your energy so much there’s enough fuel to send you to space.
Or fill you with so much cathartic joy and escapism you no longer care.
Or drown them out so loudly you can’t possibly think of anything else other than what you’re listening to.
For some it’s metal. For others its dnb. For others its hardcore, punk, gabber, crossbreed, speedcore, breakcore, hard house, or good old fashioned bloodclart jungle tekno.
Whatever your favourite dish is, tuck in m8; the more extreme ends of music come with the healthiest menus. It’s literally been proven to calm you and benefit your mental health! (Big up these academical Aussies)
“When experiencing anger, extreme music fans liked to listen to music that could match their anger. The music helped them explore the full gamut of emotion they felt, but also left them feeling more active and inspired. Results showed levels of hostility, irritability and stress decreased after music was introduced, and the most significant change reported was the level of inspiration they felt.”
And this is the shizzle that’s inspiring us to explore the full gamut of our frazzled souls right now.
Yes, it’s Dysfunction. The latest misfit to join our menagerie. We’ve been supporting each other for several years now, including this exceptional mix from last year, but the Confusion EP is a major step-up in our collaborations.
It came about through a recent Demo Drop. September’s show with Sonnet. We heard the track Hypocritical Oath (a track that nods heavily back to a golden era on Ram Records) and I knew it was time to start A&Ring an EP with them.
Before I knew it, I was swimming in donk dynamics, crossbreed chaos, dubstep damagement and proper heavy tech two-step dnb. Four cuts all right on the edge of where they’re meant to be, these are by far Cai’s most physical, forthright and wild designs.
Whether it’s the industrial strength wrecking ball swing of the 140 cut Tremens or those neck snap rimshot fills on the 1.21 giggawatt riffage of Failsafe, the addictive drive and mild spice of nostalgia on Hypocritical Oath or the utterly hectic hedonism of the title track, all of these cuts hit the spot unapologetically.
And now, just two months after we signed them, they’re yours. Here’s the link. What are you waiting for?
Like all releases, I’m so proud of this. And I’ll admit, I’m extra buzzy because I made the artwork and video for it. Working to Cai’s vision and bouncing it back and forth with them to develop it, it was an inspiring process and enjoyable for both of us. This is the beauty of collaborating and why labels will never truly die - no matter how empowered individual artists are with current tech and apps - labels are crews of like minded souls helping each other. Mini communities, focusing on the shared output that will always be louder, brighter, more extreme than the sum of its parts.
This is the soul of 1 More Thing. It’s much more than a sound or a style.
Bedlam Bliss
This time last week Lakeway and I found oursleves back in Plymouth to headline the Bedlam Ball.
Having already played their pop up the month before at Mrs Brown’s Bakery, this time we were in a proper nightclub. A really cool old school type of one where the decks didn’t look over the full dancefloor, they were kinda at the side. It’s hard to describe but easier if you check this video…
The psychology of this was great. I find big dancefloors very daunting and start to panic and draw for bigger and bigger bangers when I see people leaving. But here you had a small spot for mates, nerds, trainspotters and random wavey types who can’t be bothered to venture further into the mob and then a much bigger dancefloor almost behind or beside you. This led to a lot less distractions, a lot less worries and a lot more freedom behind the decks.
If you find yourself in Plymouth please do seek these cats out. In fact even if you don’t find yourself in Plymouth but you fancy a mission, we’d recommend seeking these cats out. They started as a post-covid camp out / free party vibe and now they’re one of the best attended multi-genre nights in the town.
They’re also home to resident Plasmator. An amazing artist who has supported 1 More Thing since day one and shares many interests and reference points with me. He’s a flipping legend tbh and our studio link was well overdue so I ventured down to P town super early last week to spend the day with him and make a bootleg of trance tune. Binary Finary - 1998. It was his last tune before I took over and both sides of Images Nightclub dancefloor seemed to enjoy it. I don’t produce and have only been on / collaborated on a few records (most notably the recent Don’t Stop tune with Deerhill) but what a thrill that was. Making a tune in the day and playing it in the night is an absolute buzz!
We’ll be putting that out into the universe at some point soon - and an extended video on their story - but in the meantime here’s me and Plazzy suited and booted in his studio, ready for halloween carnage.
Join us IRL this month…
We got two get-togethers this month where you can catch up with us or check us online.
Sat Nov 8 - our final BMC takeover of 2025
Tomorrow we’ll be heading to London for our last BMC Radio show of the year. It’s been a real honour working with BMC this year. The first Saturday of every month we’ve had the space and freedom to connect with so many different DJs and crews and artists. We’ve signed music there, we’ve made friends and we’ve recorded over 40 hours of mixes!
Now for the final seven hours. A full day takeover from 11am-6pm myself and Lou Nascent will be joined by the likes of Larnie Moles, Evergreen, Taman, Val Enfys, James Spyro, Still Image and my old friend Slade who I used to DJ with many many many moons ago.
Tune in and join us - https://www.mixcloud.com/bmcradio/
Better still, come down to the Pacific Tavern, Rotherhithe if you can. It’s the big blue storage unit in the beer garden. Come and say hi!
Sat Nov 29 - The 1 More Thing Christmas Office Party
If you’re in the Essex area. Specifically Southend On Sea then maybe join us for our final get-together of the year at a spot called The Bunker in a micropub called West Road Tap.
This is another special one as it’s in Sonnet’s home town and we’ll be celebrating his new EP Bobby with a whole host of crew and close friends.
24 Karat badman Danny Styles - one of our most consistent and fierce supporters - is joining us for the ride as are Glitchgirl, new duo Shoal & Gonebrook (aka Chords and Paleblu) will be showcasing their exciting new euphoric sound. There’s some super cool b2b action going on with both Lakeway and Scartip doing toe-to-toe for the first time and friends Fireworks Factory and Katamine (AKA Bairn) slapping each other with rave gems. Plus plenty more!
We’re really excited for this one. It’s free entry, it’s a proper little intense spot and we’re going to go loco as we celebrate Sonnet’s release and everything else we’ve achieved this year.
By then we’ll have just dropped Fireworks Factory’s new release too. But we’ll save that for another Substack. Until then, happy raving, healthy raging and please dont forget to check Dysfunction’s EP!
Peace
NoDave Columbo Jenkins