Begin with The End

>> Layo & Bushwacka! fuse five years of funk

by CHRIS HATHERILL

"House heads will like what we do very much," Layo Paskin carefully explains. "Even though it's not exactly house."

"Hi-tech electrohouse breaks?" I offer. "But with a minimalist thing going on--"

"Plus a little drum & bass. I think it'll go over very well in Montreal. The house crowd knows what's up and I don't think they'll be disappointed--as long as they're an open-minded house crowd. An open-minded tech-house kind of crowd."

This isn't going as planned. Layo and I are trying to eloquently explain why everyone and their housy techbreak-loving dog need to turn out for the London-based duo's second touchdown in Montreal. Since Layo's exhausted after a six hour drive (for Britons that's a gruelling cross-country marathon), I guess it's up to me.

If you're familiar with Mr. C you've already got half the story. Rewind to '95 when he, Layo, and partner Matthew "Bushwacka!" B were wiring up the last few speakers at their new London concept-club The End.

After years of promoting, DJing, producing, engineering and all that, the three felt it was time to take it up a level. Well, two levels, technically. In the main room, Mr. C used strange voodoo magic left over from his rave days with techno nutters the Shamen to fuse underground U.K. house with big U.S. techno names like Derrick Carter and Juan Atkins. In the darker recesses of the lower level, Layo & Bushwacka! switched up everything from breakbeats to electro to house beats and jungle bass--all in the midst of a club with a top sound system, round-the-block lineups and a constant stream of big names from every genre. Under these ideal scientific conditions, Layo & Bushwacka! inevitably found their current sound.

"It evolved into what it is because we've been in this so long, and we've always been open to a lot of different types of music," he explains. "The End was the perfect place to bring it all together because everyone's usually really forward-thinking and up for it. They don't freak out when you throw in some evil drum & bass noise or some crazy African percussion, which lets you try new things. Otherwise you're just stuck playing the same shit to please people."

After years of practice, tours that have taken them as far as South Africa and an "album of the year"-style album, Layo & Bushwacka! can now try new things and please people. Though centred in breakbeat, their precisely engineered tunes resonate with a danceable, housier vibe that takes in smooth dark bass, sharp breaks and beautifully sculpted atmospherics. Live, Layo promises they'll wreck it up on as many decks as they're given, but asks for one small favour.

"Make sure you stay for the first half hour at least. We're always sort of wooden for the first bit. Once we've danced around a little we loosen up and, you know, get funky. Well, not such much funky as, um..."

"Groovy?"

"More, I don't know, bouncy..."

Anyhow, you'll like it. Trust us.

At Jingxi, Saturday, Aug.12, 11pm, $8