A Portal of Toss - a post about Joy Orbison
Updated: Dec 16, 2024
22 October 2023
The original post was first written and posted to instagram in 2023. Here I have edited and extended it a bit. Think of the insta post like a radio edit, and this is the full 12" version.
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This one's been a long time coming.
You can keep your original copy of Hyph Mngo - it's been the obvious choice for a very long time now.
This guy is as mainstream as the 'underground' can go for me, without it being off putting by the horde of newcomers of which we see wave after wave as the boiler room hype machine continues to kick start new careers.
Some artists are just so effortless in their approach though. Sprezzatura. Less is definitely more when it comes to Pete O'grady aka Joy Orbison that's for sure. His minimal online presence for maybe a decade or so, kept just like that despite that tune arguably sparking off a new genre and movement. If you think he sounds fresh today, just imagine hearing him and the likes of Julio Bashmore in 2011 when you couldn't easily find these gongs on YouTube... streaming platforms barely being a thing at that time.
In the last year I've written quite extensively about a particular strain of club music that's been released since the very early 2010's so consider this post as the 'genesis' for that era. The source of the river, if you will. Or maybe it was the Daphni post. These articles can be considered the same as when Jeremy Clarskon, James May and Richard Hammond embarked on that journey through Africa trying to find the source of the River Nile. I hope you find these posts equally as amusing and informative as I found watching that.
Fresh off the back of seeing Joy O DJ 3 times in the last year too, which I think takes the total amount of times to 4. First was way back in 2017 when I attended my very first Boomtown Fair - when looking at the line up for it, I thought this is definitely not my thing. Too much dnb I thought. But I was new to the excitement of "raving" in this way, as opposed to binge drinking in clubs similar to that of the Oceana chain. It was that and the very first lo key family which fuelled that decision. Out of the entire 4 day weekend, I only wanted to see Giles Peterson, who was playing on the Thursday and then Joy O go b2b w/ Ben UFO and Mr Scruff for 6 hours on the Sunday. That was it.
Otherwise I would have played ‘Come on Eileen’ when the pretty girl asked me one time while DJing in 60mpc some years ago - did I play it? Of course not!
The 6 hour set was the perfect way to close out the weekend. They each did 90 mins solo and then went b3b for the last hours. These guys are all top selectors - we’ve not gone into detail yet on the topic of 'selectors' much yet, but once I’m done w/ these posts you’ll hopefully see a tapestry of anecdotes woven together, surrounding a scene of DJ’s and producers who all take a similar approach when it comes to sharing music. And fittingly, Joy O has also curated a compilation as part of the Dekmantel Selectors series, which I did not write about in the initial instagram post, but I do have in my collection.
Really what I think it comes down to is that all these DJ’s are interested in many different styles of music. I won’t say they play everything, because that is such a broad term.
I work in the corporate world, where most people still don't know what Boiler Room is. So saying that I play everything, when they ask, and they always ask, would be a complete lie. Otherwise I would have played ‘Come on Eileen’ when the pretty girl asked me one time while DJing in 60mpc some years ago - did I play it? Of course not! Instead I proceeded to flirt heavily until she put her number in my phone and I continued my night selecting obscurities from my UDG bag.
Really, from where I stand, these select group of individuals are some of the best tastemakers in the DJ game. Yes, I’ve written so far about predominantly white men, but I haven’t had a chance to touch yet on Theo Parrish, Ron Hardy, K-Hand, Nancy Noise, Bradley Zero, Jossy Mitsu etc on their impact on my style - so be patient, Andy… ;-)
Really, from where I stand, these select group of individuals are some of the best tastemakers in the DJ game.
Here are a few Joy O records in my collection that I will leave you with;
Thee first album "not album" from his production work. Released on dance music stalwart, xl recordings. A mixtape with production range that will make you realise genres are great to an extent - they allow you to package up your music in a digestible and marketable format, which we love as consumers - but there's so much more to music than one word can capture, as you slowly find out by the time you are done listening to 'rraine, which closes out the A side of the vinyl and personally my favourite track from the entire thing.
Spoken word elements throughout, like the skits you’d hear on the early Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers LP’s, but not as explicit on the content. I first heard him do this, almost exclusively, in mixes like the one he did for the Dekmantel Podcast where you hear Ray Keith talking on the topic you'll read most about on these pages - what it takes to be a proper DJ.
Alongside Overmono, here we have another XL recordings release and arguably tune of 2019. I've noticed a big shift in club music culture since 2020 and I would say both artists featured here played a big part in disseminating this music to a new and younger crowd - particularly those youngers who felt they missed out on their formative nightlife years during 2020 and 2021.
This tune was the immediate precursor to all of that.
I was throwing quite a few illegal raves during this time. Two were very successful and this period, combined with where I was at musically, came together like a cheese board and red wine at Christmas. Like Four Tet and Floating Pints All Night Long @ De School. In late 2018 I closed out a party at Bomo Bunker (old Empire club, now called Bear Cave) and the following 18 months I would say followed with heavy club music themes described above where I touch on Boomtown. It was my experimental phase and the dictator of this depended on the type of venues I shared music in - play music to fit the setting, as it goes. The trouble is w/ experimentation, it can often be unpredictable and you’re not always aware of what elements of the experiment you’ll keep with you forever. What are the long term effects? For all it's benefits, what were the drawbacks or costs? If I'm completely honest, I heavily explored the hedonistic side associated w/ this world of heavy, darker club music too and my mental health also took the corresponding and appropriate shift - all the things attached from still being at the afters well after the sun came up, talking absolute shite too. The foggy brain from smoking too much, the feeling of emptiness when you've done what feels like the 147th walk of shame, to distancing from those close to you. Which is a weird thing to experience when you first can't quite understand the feeling, let alone finding the words to explain. Despite all this, and I've said it many times before, it was the best and most interesting time of my life for sure. I have no regrets.
What were we talking about again?
Bromley appeared in many a recorded festival or club DJ set in the year of it’s release. Overmono went on to blow up after this and were on every stinking festival or day party line up when the world reopened again. I honestly don't think I could escape hearing their names either on instagram or radio shows during this period, especially as more of my peers started paying attention. I was fortunate enough to attend a Warehouse Project event in November 2021 but it was so bloody rammed that we couldn't fit into the room to see them do a live show - a pre-requisite for my experience 2 years later when Fred Again popped up to DJ w/ Four Tet and Skrillex at the same venue. It was phones recording video everywhere.
A tune that is still doing the business nearly 5 years later though - even James Blake played Bromley in his 2023 Boiler Room appearance.
I don't know if it's official, but i reckon there's enough evidence that this 7" release by 'Sin Falta' on Youth is by Joy O himself.
B1 on this release is the same as 'glorius amateurs' on still slipping. and his Q1B release on Hinge Finger has a tune called 'Sin Palta'
Diamonds is huuuge. The best of 100 bpm digi dancehall dub techno whatever.
Shanti Celeste put me onto the record when she pitched it up during her Essential Mix of 2018. Pitched up like 27% too so it's not like I could even shazam the thing. I've been nicking that little trick here and there when I can. Purely for the ego boost to say I can play a 7" record in a dark nightclub at peak time. In your face Red Greg.
For those of you local to BCP, this is exactly what I’m doing when I attend those B.Y.O.V Sunday’s at The Wight Bear. I am trying to showcase that there are still simpler ways we can make this DJ thing exciting. Adding more buttons and options to your digital repertoire ain’t the way to go for me.
Diamonds is huuuge. The best of 100 bpm digi dancehall dub techno whatever.
"What I do is a direct result of this music and I'm indebted to the sociological factors that brought it to life," explains O’Grady. "The UK at its best is a celebration of diverse cultures intertwining and creating beautiful results. Hopefully this collection of music can document a piece of that. Now more than ever, it seems important to acknowledge and celebrate this."
I won’t elaborate too much on this compilation just yet - I’m yet to collect all the Dekmantel Selectors in the series, with only the Lena Willikens edition missing from my collection. I've owned the 004 copy since late 2017, I remember playing it out a fair bit at student parties of that era. One that stands out was the Rave 4 Refugees party planned by Poppy Bullen and her cohort. It was the looping techno madness from Santos Rodriguez aka Artwork that did the business on that occasion.
Peter O'Grady is as good as it gets. Someone I've tried to emulate where possible when it comes to this music thing. He's got that working class london thing I always gravitate to. Think Kate Moss, or Eastenders, maybe throw a few Guy Ritchie film characters in there too.
He’s the sort of DJ that regardless of where your entry point is into this game we call DJing, whether it’s the young drum and bass fan at 19 years of age, attending Jump Up DNB nights @ The Old Firestation or throwing dead nights @ The Vault w/ terrible artwork to boot. Or if you’re based in Bristol and have been collecting records since ya da handed you his old collection from days of free squat raves in Wales and Gloucester. I feel like Joy Orbison’s gravitational pull will inevitably bring you to him - he plays house, techno, dubstep, garage, jungle, grime - even did that bloody tune w/ Kwengface, which I’m so sick of lol.
He’s getting his flowers in recent years too. And good for him! From where I’m sat he is straddling a real fine line between being on every bloody line up, having his songs featured on the Chelsea football club or GTA's Los Santos, but still does some of his own small cap parties like the All Night Long @ Village Underground early 2024 or the ‘Just For You’ club night at fabric.
Balance.
Till next time xx
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