Pioneering Bass Party Get Low Celebrates Its Third Anniversary Tonight at the Vagabond
photo by Roxie / Smileforcamera.com
Tonight Get Low, the monthly bass party at the Vagabond devoted to all things bass, celebrates its three-year anniversary. In nightlife terms, that’s nearly eons. But since Get Low started as a subsidiary of the Vagabond’s hip-hop-centric Thursday night, Shake, it’s always managed to look forward. When it started, dubstep was still an underground thing in the States, with just enough people interested in it locally to pack the Vagabond’s main room.
“It didn’t really strike me to throw our own event until I saw the dubstep explosion during WMC of 2009. That’s when you could feel the energy about to reach the boiling point, and I decided downtown Miami deserved to be in on this sound,” says Jason Jimenez, co-owner of Sweat Records and a co-founder of both Shake and Get Low. “I knew it would be a perfect fit with at least some of our hip hop crowd would get into it, and since the beginning we’ve converted plenty of bass lovers.”
As dubstep has changed — to put it mildly — so has Get Low, continuing to dip under the surface for the next low-end sounds and introducing them to Miami first. The party was the first to bring original dubstep icons like Mala, Silkie, and company to Miami outside of WMC. These days, the bookings remain similarly eclectic and creative.
“Our resident DJ, Juan Basshead, gets worldwide respect in the dubstep world as a DJ, as head of the Basshead Music Label, and for his time running Laundry Bar/Black Sheep back in the day. His philosophy has always been to play good music without worrying about genre or style, as long as it rocks the party,” Jimenez says. “Get Low still brings the biggest underground dubstep names around, so I’d definitely still consider it one of those parties. Thing is, I never said it was only that, so I think it’s funny when people get mad for not hearing straight up dubstep at our events. The tagline on the first flyer was, ‘Dropping dubstep and all that dirty, heavy, party bass,’ and that broad mission is still in effect.”
These days, besides the requisite womp-womp and wobble-wobble, at Get Low you’re just as likely to hear emerging genres like grime, moombahton and its offshoots, juke, bounce, and future r&b. That always includes a heavy dose of tracks by Miami artists, something of which Jimenez is particularly proud. “It’s always been a secret mission of mine to push bass music production forward, and not just to party, down here,” says Jimenez, “and after three years I’m truly proud of these artists.”
As a taste of what the party and the growing scene around it has fomented, the first 100 arrivals tonight get a free compilation featuring all local talent, from artists like Adames, Ark IX, Juan Basshead, Jumanji, Henry Krinkle, and others.
At the same time, everyone who shows up tonight gets to hear the first-ever Miami performance by Japanese producer Goth-Trad, as well as another roof-rattling performance by New Zealand duo truth. “Goth-Trad made some of the first dubstep I ever heard, and that influence never left me, so it’s an honor to finally bring him to our party,” says Jimenez. “Truth is a couple of badasses from New Zealand, and when they played here last year, I swear it felt like the roof was going to cave in. They bring the super heavy bass that you will feel in your ribcage.”
As a taste of that free local compilation, download Bats’ track “Double Talk” below. For the rest, head to Get Low at the Vagabond tonight.
Get Low Three-Year Anniversary Party, featuring Goth-Trad and Truth, along with residents Juan Basshead, Ashworth, MC Jumanji and Nome, Jenry Krinkle, Okulus Anomali, and Tall Jamal. Admission is $10 in advance from wantickets.com; age 18 and up. Call 305-379-0508, or visit thevagabondmiami.com
Did you seriously just call Grime an ‘emerging genre’ ahahahaha. Come on.
Emerging for Miami club audiences, yes. It’s not like you go out and hear grime everywhere, no matter how long it’s actually been around. That was the context in which I meant “emerging genres,” but perhaps I didn’t make that clear enough. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.