Rosie Riot chooses her Top 5 Boiler Room Festival Bass Acts

Rosie Riot is a South London bass and garage DJ, Mode FM radio show host, and pioneer of the UK’s underground bass scene. Emerging from London’s garage scene, her sound has been shaped by the new generation of bass and UKG artists such as Mind of a Dragon, El-B and Otik. Her sets harness a back bone of breaks which she punctuates with heavier bassy riffs, dub and tribal percussion. Influenced by UK funky and tribal beats, the pulse of her sound is always centered around bass and percussion to give a large portion of Riot clout.

Winner of 2019’s London Sound Academy’s Mix competition to open the Together stage at SW4 festival this year, and the sole female DJ to perform at this years UKG Fest, she is making waves on the UKG and bass scene. Charismatic, energetic, and discerning in her choices, her sets are hard to pigeon hole, and easy to dance to.

As a regular face on Peckham’s thriving art and music scene, we ask Rosie to recommend her top 5 acts to watch this October at the Boiler Room Festival which kicks off next month in the heart of SE15. We home in on the Bass day on 11th October which showcases exciting talent from the emerging underground bass scene.

1) SNØW

The original of ‘Running’ by UK Funky hero and head honcho of ‘Kicks and Snares’ Roska, is a modern day masterpiece in UK funky and soulful house, harking back to the dulcet tones of ‘Falling’ by DJ Kent. But when Snow adds his rolling tribal percussion to his potent remix, we instantly transcend into a storming modern day D’n’B anthem. This is testament to Snow’s energy; tribal, bumpy and rhythmic, with soaring strings and samples ingeniously placed to add some zing to the heady beats. A must see for any UK funky or tribal addict.

2) L U C Y

Bristolian grime producer L U C Y has been making waves on the underground scene for a few of years now. She emerges from the shadows donning her surgical mask like a modern day bandit from Hades’ underworld. There is an eerie mystery to her that makes her performances captivating. Her set at Swamp 81 last Easter was a dark lesson in how to transform classic grime into something altogether more interesting. She punctuates classic and recognisable bars with glitchy techno accents, or a 90’s break reminiscent of an acid era warehouse rave. It’s this subliminal transmutation that makes her stand out. She is an iconic modern day hero of the underground bass scene, and one to watch.

3) Jossy Mitsu

Birmingham bred bass weaver Jossy Mitsu has a remarkable talent for seamlessly blending everything from tech, breaks, jungle, UKG and everything in between, and yet nothing ever sounds out of place. Now based in London and a regular on Rinse FM, she’s opened for Fabric’s 19th birthday party, annihilated the Moat at Outlook Festival, and of course, has impressed at Boiler Room. Her passion for unearthing new digital delights, peppered with old school garage gems takes you on a truly exciting voyage of dark bass. A sublime example of a once exclusively 2-step, and now experimental and pioneering bass DJ.

4) Benteki

Reprezent Radio favourite Benteki stormed the show with his Cooly G fundraiser back in February, and leaves us in no doubt he’ll do the same at his next Boiler Room showcase. He’ll keep his versatile blend of Grime fresh with the soaring wave of a Mura Masa remix, or a meaty modern day Donaeo anthem, whilst retaining a classic sound when entering in the likes of Flirta D or Novelist. Go see him if you like your grime with a fresh spin, he won’t disappoint.

5) Mollie Collins

A bass day wouldn’t be a true bass day without a Drum ‘n’ Bass set, and Mollie Collins is not one to miss. A true drum ‘n’ bass breakthrough sensation, Mollie is not only flying the flag for emerging women in bass, but she’ll likely drop her set and knock them all out the park. It’s easy to dismiss our old friend D’n’B in a sea of more subliminal and experimental bass sets but sometimes you need to give the people what they want – pure turbo charged unadulterated rolling power. A residency on Kiss Fresh, support slots for the Prodigy (RIP Keef) and production entree ‘My Baby’ have sealed the deal to make her a true D’n’B modern day icon.

Wildcard – DJ Plead

The term ‘Midi East’ might not mean much to most, but this coined phrase really summaries Plead’s sound. ‘Ruby’, one stand out track, was reportedly the first piece DJ Plead created on Ableton, and yet is a modern day masterpiece in percussion and vocal hooks. It transports us to an Urban Souk, or a smoky opium den packed with belly dancers; another world. Evocative and hypnotic, DJ Plead is well worth checking out.

Rosie Riot SW4 mix can be heard here :

Mode FM show can be listened back here:

Follow Rosie Riot on Instagram @rosieriotldn