Happy 3.31

HAPPY NU YEAH, rising from the ashes of the infamous Phat Festival, is offering a 24 outdoor party with a difference in Nelson this New Years. In a summer peppered with a myriad of festival style events HAPPY head honcho Dave White who ran Nelsons iconic Phat Club for over 10 years is using the name of his new party to describe not just his own changed view of life but that of his Happy Collective Crew. He shopped the world stage of seminal instigators of new electronic music with a credit card born more of personal reputation than dollar volumes to find what his crew consider to be players not just at the top of their own artistic game but who also conduct/seduce & corrupt collectives of artists thru the development & promotion of their own record companies & events. KLUTE UK aka Tom Withers first met White in a seedy punk rock venue, the Camden Falcon on a wet Monday night in London back in the early nineties when Whites punk band LUNG were touring Europe & when Withers was playing drums for his punk outfit THE STUPIDS. Fast forward to the Phat years & Klute became a much loved regular both at the club & the festivals with Withers now head honcho of the primoidal Commercial Suicide Record label, known for releasing a different style of cutting edge drum n bass that also infused other genres into its beautiful & scary soundscapes. Forward fast to New Years Eve & Klute will be bringing in the 2015 bassline for hundreds of happy party goers in the scenic native bush clad Smiths Ford, high up in the Maitai Valley just 20 minutes drive from down town Nelson. But not wanting to be confined to one genre of music, White’s crew have also managed to convince dubstep/alternative artist DISTANCE aka Greg Saunders, also from the UK but currently living in Austria, to leave behind the comforts of a northern hemisphere new year & spend many hours enduring the nuances of international flight to come to the Maitai Valley & converse musically on a massive bass heavy soundsystem, originally built for the Phat Festivals, with devoted & White states quite frankly “spoilt rotten” party goers. Distance is known for bringing aspects of metal such as Pantera into the heavy heavy dub he shares with the world & his record company Chestplate Recordings is one of the most sort after labels in the dubstep genre to date. That is of course unless you want to mention USA based KURSK, label owner of Innamind Recordings, who will be playing with Chch dubstep icon ILL FIGZ. Or Waiheke Island Auckland based OPTIMUS GRYME, who has multiple releases across a raft of genres but who be bringing the banging drum n bass to wind in the new year. Add Auckland based female soul-slayer MISFITS OF ZION with her mad hip hop influenced unique view of sonic pleasure & locally based nationally significant treasures ORGANIKISMNESS & OLIE BASSWEIGHT. Then once the morning light surfaces Australian based psy-trance soldier GROUCH will be harnessing the surviving energy of the masses, definitely taking no prisoners. Other highlights on this journey of extreme bass include LIAM NIKO (Australia), Lily UNSUB (formerly Alexis K of Auckland), SOLID STATE (Chch), HENDEASE (Westport), GRYND, RELAPSED, LUCCID, ACETECH, ELUSIV, OBAY, PAULEO, COLLATERAL DAMAGE, SPORATIK & SANDCASTLE playing a range of breakbeat, trance, house, techno, breaks, dub, dubstep & drum n bass.
The gates open & music starts at the R16 Happy Party at noon on Wed 31 Dec & parking/camping is free on site close to the dancefloor action. A bus service will run from outside the Sprig & Fern in Hardy St, downtown Nelson, to the site at regular intervals throughout the night, with return trips from 11am in the morning.
Glass, dogs & bad attitudes are banned from the party, with an experienced security crew trained at the Phat Festivals & operated by EMAC security controlling key aspects of the event throughout the night. A massive soundsystem, awesome light show including lazers, portable toilets, coffee & foodstalls will be on site, cash sales only. Punters are encouraged to dress up their campsites with $2 shop led or solar lighting with prizes up for the best dressed campers.
Tickets are going fast & limited this year to 1000 to ensure everyone has a comfortable time & room to camp/dance. Tickets can be bought at Gizmos in Bridge St or online at www.cosmicticketing.co.nz
For more information checkout the Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/events/884751308205082/?context=create&source=49
White’s advice to potential punters : Come dressed for any type of weather with a big phat smile on your face & look after your mates.
White says The HAPPY Collective has big plans for the new year with 2 other gigs already confirmed including bringing the original Rave instigator & junglist from the UK DJ APHRODITE back to his old original club, now called PARADOX on Bridge St on Wed 4 February & a daytime SWEET AZ SUN FESTIVAL in Blenheim’s Lansdowne Park on Waitangi Day Fri 6 February featuring TIKI TAANE & a host of NZ bands including several from Nelson.
After 3 years in the wilderness since the demise of Phat , White states with a sly grin he is HAPPY to again be back in the business of providing alternative options for those bored with traditional middle of the road musical options & again be bringing the bass.