Helmed by London promoter and artist Krankbrother, Re-Textured is the multi-sensory festival which takes over the capital’s rave hotspots for a week of audio visual masterclasses. This year saw the festival climb to new heights, as they hosted one of the leading venues in the world; Printworks London.
Known for curating lineups which delve into the deepest and darkest shades of electronic music, their inaugural show at Printworks was no exception. A comprehensive billing of in-demand and legendary talent filled the lineup, touching every corner of the harder and heavier genre collective.
The newly opened Inkwells room featured the likes of Nkisi, Baby T, LSDXOXO, a b2b from Stenny & Skee Mask as well as Hector Oaks. Meanwhile the Live Room found Rodhad & Vril, VTSS, Rebekah, Paula Temple and Helena Hauff. To complement the music on the night, visual artists Pedro Maia, Matt Woodham and Theresa Baumgartner took control of the lighting and giant LED screen in the Live Room. Jam-packed with body-shaking beats, mind-bending visuals and unforgettable moments, here’s just a few of our standout highlights from the show.
Seeing the “Live Room” in full swing
Printworks was formerly one of the biggest printing presses in Europe, printing newspapers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The “Press Halls” room, while the jewel in Printwork’s crown and still retaining some original machinery and industrial features, isn’t best suited to live performances where a huge screen or more space is needed.
Enter the “Live Room” – situated the other side of the Press Halls (they literally swap the bar over). The space feels huge and open, catering to around 5000 ravers. Full speaker stacks hang from the ceiling ominously, delivering thick and clear sound no matter where you stand. With more room to dance and see the visuals, we were pleased to finally see the room used!
Hearing Baby T perform for the first time
Corrr. This one was hefty. Baby T is one of the aliases for Canadian-born, UK based, DJ, producer, and broadcaster B-Traits. Using this alias for the heavier and more underground hardcore, breaks, and techno, we were excited to hear what Baby T had in store for the illustrious Inkwells room.
Donning her black ski mask, even though it was an early set, we knew as soon as she stepped up to the decks it was going to be a heavyweight 90 minutes. She subtly built the energy in the room, leaning into the crowd’s reactions as the tempo rose. Keeping us on our toes as she pushed the boundaries between upfront techno, electro, breaks, and jungle – we were hard pressed to ID much of this set. One thing is for sure though, she had everyone’s heads bopping while she was in control.
VTSS’s Printworks debut
Poland’s high-flying DJ & producer has been causing a storm in recent years, with her undeniable and downright dirty playing style. Breaking down the boundaries between techno, trance, gabber and beyond, Martyna Maja has drawn global appeal by blurring the lines between electronic music’s wildest sounds. One venue she had yet to conquer was Printworks.
Her debut here couldn’t come any sooner, and boy was it worth the wait. Despite only having a 75 minute set, she rattled through tracks, pushing us from pillar to post. Tunes such as Space Frog’s mix of “Headhunter” by Front 242 and an ID remix of LSDXOXO’s “Mutant Exotic” had the energy in the room positively pumping throughout.
Skee Mask & Stenny playing Goblin by Coki
Simply mind-blowing. We won’t be forgetting this until the day we die. Germany-based artists Skee Mask & Stenny proved to be the ultimate pairing. Dipping in and out of genres with ease, every new tune caught us off guard and left us with no clue what would come next – just one thing was guaranteed, the shock and amazement on our faces.
One particular track where this was the case came from the outrageous 2009 dubstep classic “Goblin” by Coki. It sounds like what the devil eats his breakfast to. Don’t just take our word for it – check out the vid below.
Theresa Baumgartner dousing the room in hell-spawned red visuals for Paula Temple’s set
The penultimate artist to play the Live Room for Re-Textured; Paula Temple, best known for playing absolutely raucous sets where tempo doesn’t matter, pushed the crowd further and further into the depths of hard techno. Alongside her was Berlin-based visual artist Theresa Baumgartner, who matched Paula’s incessant records with her mind-melting visuals.
A standout moment came as she doused the room in hell-spawned visuals, filling the space with an eerie red mist as the spot lights swayed your vision from left to right. It felt as though we were being summoned to Hades’ lair, crossing the lava river toward the underworld. Bravo.
What a carefully curated audio visual extravaganza Re-Textured put on. From start to finish, they showed a clear deviation from the norm, and we can’t wait to see what they put on next.
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