Get ready for a 10-1 years celebration of Dub Club events from Melbourne to Byron. Resident soundsytem Heartical Hi Powa will be stringing up their set to play un-diluted reggae and dub music in its traditional medium, alongside Miss Brown’s Caribbean Kitchen.

Door pressure $15
Please no glass bottles. Taking your rubbish away with you would be most appreciated.
Most upful and respectful behavior, mugs and thugs will not be tollerated.

Shuttle service available _ sms scott on 0413293587 for call back

Making Waves And Turning Tides – A DubClub Story

Reggae music and sound system culture is not something deeply associated with the Australian musical landscape. We have to ask, why is it that a music genre that is largely followed and loved by many in other countries, has been more so less appreciated in this corner of the globe. To understand this we have to consider reggae as ‘culture’ music, with its genuine trans continental influence being based on migration, also that the culture itself is often stereotyped or even misrepresented. If one might be interested enough to look beyond the international hits of the great Bob Marley and the clichés of dreadlocked ganja smokers, we can learn of a rich vibrant culture that elevates and uplifts the spirits of many. We must also appreciate the music has evolved in studios and forwarded by soundsystems for 60 years, often accentuating the lower frequencies to a point where one just has to simply get up and move to the infectious rhythm and melody of the bass line, creating the atmosphere.

Australia during the 50’s and 60’s was not a destination for Caribbean migrants to bring their musical traditions and even today it seems the music continues to be suppressed by a ‘white’ dominated culture, that hangs in the shadows of its colonial history. Throughout the 90’s and even today, the weekend club scene is predominantly focused on DJs playing other dance music genres. While in fact these have all evolved from the Jamaican tradition of soundsystem culture, this vital progressive element is overlooked by many and had been the missing link within Australia’s underground music scene for many years. However that said, there does exist a niche and underground musical movement that has been on the bubble for some time now and DubClub has been a key contributor towards this.

To tell the story of DubClub we must take a trip back to the early 2000’s in Melbourne. Back then reggae was beginning to reach a new audience as a young enthusiastic radio show presenter called Jesse I had managed to bring the music from Sunday afternoon chill sessions into a Saturday night club setting with his evergreen event More Fire. This became the corner stone of the local reggae movement in Melbourne and paved the way for many other associated events to spring up in the bars and clubs around town, mostly with the emphasis on progressive Jamaican music and dancehall. Stryka D a good friend of Jesse I, had arrived from UK and while becoming involved with the local scene he recognised that the soundsystem culture purveyed by the British reggae movement with its sub genre Dub was un-represented. Stryka D saw the opportunity to contribute something new and refreshing. Around this time a former soundman from the legendary UK sound system Jah Trinity had migrated to Adelaide and was developing his new sound system Earthshaker, reinforcing Stryka’s ambitions to build his own, which became known as Heartical Hi-Fi (later Hi-Powa). Essentially, this is the foundation of Dub Club Melbourne.

Once the sound system was complete and ready for play, a suitable venue was needed while proving to be quite difficult, a struggle which continues for reggae music and soundsystems. Most clubs tend to favor more commercial music for their weekend patrons and venue owners often don’t understand the cultural concept of the sound system or why it should be brought into their club, when they have their own PA equipment. Never the less a rundown basement bar in the city called the Green Room was re-discovered, the space being ideal, as it was originally built as a ANZ bank vault and had no noise restriction. In 2007 it was transformed into The Night Owl, and became the home of Dub Club Melbourne. Heartical Hi-Fi now finally had the platform from which to represent and play without limits and regular dances, aptly named Basement Sessions where held. Being unique and innovative, Dub Club Melbourne made waves within the Australian music community, as it was the first club night of its kind. The sessions provided a place where dub and reggae fans could experience the music in its traditional medium and introduced sound system culture to a new audience.

Basement Sessions ran solidly for just over 8 years before calling the last one in December 2015. Over this period the Heartical crew and DCM hosted many special guest artists and sound systems including Earl 16, Cheshire Cat, Mad Professor, Tippa Irie, Mungo’s HiFi, Charlie P, Macky Banton, Jah Trinity, Zion Train, Alpha Steppa, RSD, Chantdown Sound, Adrian’s Wall, Earthshaker, Naram, System Unknown, Solid Foundation, 420, 2Kings, Lotek, Chris Jay Dubwise, Boover Banton, Iron Dubz, Foundation Sound UK…

Today Heartical Hi Powa and Dub Club are based in Byron Shire. Leaving a legacy behind, the sessions have been inspirational for others to build up their own custom built sound systems, pushing the movement further. Now in 2017 Dub Club reaches 10 years of dances, with celebrations planned for both Melbourne and Byron, where Heartical Hi Powa has teamed up with Ku Promotions and continues to play for the people with correct weight n treble.