About a year ago I took two friends who had never been to any sort of rave before to Deep Medi’s 20 year anniversary party at Colour Factory London. It is difficult to fully explain how important this experience was for me, but in this piece I would like to try.

For those of you who don’t know, Deep Medi was founded by the artist Mala, one of dubstep’s OG’s. A label that focuses on the deeper side of uk dubstep, but has since become equally experimental and serves now as a platform for Mala to inspire young producers to find their expression of 140 BPM music. Mala put this well in DJ Mag 2021 when he said “my responsibility is not to mould people, but to observe and encourage them to be their true selves.”

My favourite example of this came from when swindle, london based producer and rapper, came to mala in the early 2010s with a bag full of jazzy grimey club focused bangers. This was a far cry from the deep brooding sounds that had originally defined Deep Medi. Mala seeing Swindle’s passion encouraged him to “do the jazz”. The result is a record that pushes the boundaries of what dubstep can be. Dramatic bass lines reminiscent of a South London space opera, squashed and glittery hitting you from every direction. This, accompanied with wild swinging percussion designed with the express purpose of getting you dancing, and solid, massive kicks and snares that burst through the mix still give it a distinctively dubstep feeling.

Swindle - Do The Jazz (YouTube)

Few people put this much value on authentic expression like Mala, which is why time and time again, I trust Deep Medi to curate a totally unique experience. It’s also why I trusted Mala with this first experience for my friends.

We arrive at 11:10 to an enormous queue, winding from the door, out of the venue gate and around the corner of the club. I had previously been to the colour factory but only ever for “Orii-Jam”, an amazing small Jazz night consisting of maybe 40 people. In contrast there must have been 100 people in this queue and the first set had only just started. As we waited in the queue the anticipation built, I was brimming with excitement. Once I entered the venue, my stomach dropped…

Showing a close friend music, art, or cinema you are deeply passionate about is terrifying. You want to share this amazing experience with them, but you can never be sure they’re going to feel the same way about it. It is incredibly vulnerable.

I spent the first 20 minutes of the night thinking to myself “fuuuuck my friends aren’t going to like it, they are never going to another rave with me”, desperately trying to find my groove. It was then that a deep rush of bass filled the room. As I turned to my friend Angus the tune dropped, tearing its way through the crowd.

In this moment, I watch Angus get it, I see it click.

We did not exchange a single word but in that moment I could tell we now shared an understanding about this thing I loved, and he now loved too.

Turning around I saw my friend Rory completely fixated on the tune, the groove had completely captured him and he was at its mercy - dancing so hard I thought he was going to dislocate his shoulder again.

In that moment I felt a sense of victory - from now on I had just regained two friends who were going to come to every rave with me from that point on.

Every hour from that point the intensity increased and the mighty, towering Sinai Soundsystem was cranked up and up, again and again. I had seen Sinai’s rig in action before but this was by far the loudest sound system I had experienced, which is completely mental when you consider we were at the very back of the club.

At points it felt like you were dancing in treacle, bass carrying you through the motions.

The night continued on a crazy rampage of unforgettable events.

If you have seen the Colour Factory urinal situation you know what I am talking about. It is an exposed metal corridor, barely 2 feet wide. An intimate shoulder to shoulder pissing experience - which if you're the lucky person at the end, means you have to awkwardly wait for everyone to finish before you can leave.

In some horrifying coincidence my friend Max decides to piss at the same time as Sir Spyro, who we just saw murder an hour and half set with surprise guest Mala. Within the confines of this intimate high stakes pissing situation Max …. I just can’t do it. He stands there for a minute when the embarrassment forces him to leave, zipping up his trousers and giving an awkward nod to Spyro who fully knows he couldn’t hack it.

At the end of the night I was filled with an overwhelming feeling of boyish glee and relief.

Angus, Rory and I had been close friends since school, however life had put some distance between us due to the fact that we had all gone to university at separate ends of the country. Whilst there is no doubt in my mind that all of us living in London would have brought us back to being close, this night had done so much more than that.

I felt that there was a new chapter beginning in London and the nerves I had moving back quickly gave way to excitement.