A local group called Bassline Conversions is breathing life into the Brantford EDM scene with their underground concerts. Bassline Conversions’ mission is “converting people from the mainstream to the underground with amazing bassline music”.
“Unlike Hamilton and Toronto, Brantford doesn’t have an EDM scene. Our aim is to bring electronic music to Brantford, techno to be exact!” said Saad Asif Sheihk, aka DJ DAAS. “My aim is to get rid of the few top 40 clubs in Brantford, or at least get better music in those clubs, and you probably know exactly what clubs I’m talking about.”
On Oct. 24, the three DJs took over a self described secret and intimate venue, turning it into a club scene. Tickets were $10 ahead of time and had the location printed on them (spoiler alert: it was at the Train Station Cafe). The organizers tried to keep the scene as underground as possible for as long as possible, refusing to sell tickets at the door and promising for them to sell out.
The music that was played crossed over all styles of techno. The event page advertising the event said they wanted to take audience members, “deep into the abyss” of the genre, and it worked. All three had their own unique sounds and kept the audience energized throughout their performance. DAAS started the show off strong with the biggest crowd, moving on to Matt Gridin and then No. 1 DINOsaur and his quirky set to end off the night.
As the night went on, numbers in the audience rose and fell, with only a few hard partiers left, when No. 1 DINOsaur ended his set. Even with Homecoming, Golden Hawks made it out to the Via Rail station to jam and have a good night. Around 30 people showed up throughout the night, some staying longer while other just to check out certain sets. The event was not strictly a Laurier student party either. Most of the audience was made up of local community members who came out to see what local talent had to offer. According to Sheihk, this was not exactly quite what the group had hoped for in terms of turn out, but they made due with what they got and put on the show as if they had the crowd they wanted.
