oscillate

club events 92 -97

hia on the decks (all events) + live :

Bonds aug 93 -june 94

this was our busiest year ,oscillates every other week plus hia playing live dates around the country & abroad at the same time as dj'ing & helping set up at the club.

each one was memorable , autechre playing one of their first ever live dates,a one -off 'bring a cushion night' with mix master morris on the decks & jony easterby giving a performance with his sound sculptures, miked up to catch the sounds of his red hot dripping metal & flames,(the bouncers looking on agast),& other b'ham artists bringing in huge sculptures to the club.

another highlight was when biosphere played. the first time an act from another country had come to oscillate,so there was already a special air of anticipation when he went on.Bringing his own visuals, as he begun, a great wall of red hot molten lava appeared to be pouring out from the backstage wall .

charlie, an about eighty years old magician who'd been spotted doing his magic tricks on the street & invited along, gave a couple of startling performances, escaping from chains,swallowing razors,lying on broken glass,making water vanish - on one occasion accompanied by a suitably off the wall & crazy dj set by dr.alex patterson.

the vegatropolis cafe joined us during this period,serving the best selection of home made cakes, tea & samosa's tasted in a club & soon it seemed that people came to oscillate as much to meet & make friends,& sit & chat in the cafe,as to dance & listen to the acts.

a popular misconception : oscillate was not a sit down ambient club where all were comatose on the floor -the dance floor was always filled .The music was experimental varied & changing in pace (years before london journalists claimed london dj's had just invented a new 'freestyle' genre!). The regular crowd who came to oscillate seemed to have the ability to dance to any slow grooves,weird grooves,or plain off the wall experimental madness that bob & dave spun on the decks, or that the live acts played -something we've not noticed anywhere else , particularly in london where it seems that music of a less than frantic pace tends to get sat down to!this was one possably one of the reasons many of the acts who came to oscillate said it was the best club they'd ever played at ....that, plus the finest of sound systems ,visuals & tunes of course!)

oscillate at bonds was great while it lasted, & is the period most people who came remember best.However towards the end of our time there, the club 'security' were flexing their muscle, & beginning to make clear that it was they, not the club owners,(& certainly not us) who controlled the venue. They began to treat our crowd badly,plus some dealers tried to get in on the act, and it all came to the point where we felt it best to move on.......................................... many people have said that oscillate was one of the only clubs they'd been to where, if they chose to take chemicals,they'd have a great night, but equally, if they chose not to,then they would have just as good a time, because the quality of the music,visuals,& general atmosphere made the night happen ,with or without.

hia / pentatonik