​It's Smog vs. Respect In LA's Battle for Bass

The tumultuous sibling relationship shared by bass music brethren dubstep and drum and bass has a uniqueness to it in Los Angeles. Jungle found a home in LA's underground in the early 90s and has held steady for decades as the tides have turned and changed around it. Respect, LA's longest running weekly, operates as both a museum and a lab, holding true to thematics of days gone while also concocting future sounds of bass.

On the other end of the tempo spectrum, when dubstep hit in the mid-late 2000s, it hit hard, and SMOG has always been the biggest dog on LA's 140bpm playground. There's never been any question. But whereas in many parts of the world, there's seen a separation between the two scenes, in LA, they're very much cut from the same cloth. Except for one night a year, when the gloves come off, and SMOG and Respect go to battle.

This Saturday, May 16, two of the West Coast's most essential bass music establishments will go head to head for a night of b2b sets at the House of Blues in Hollywood. These parties are always a celebration of bass, and although they often begin in the deepest realms of two-step and jungle, by the end of the night, it's a tear-out clusterfuck and both camps are getting down.

To get your ears appropriately whetted for the occasion, we had scene stalwarts Steady and Scooba, bastions of knowledge and respect in their own rights, throw down all over the bass spectrum. Steady opens up with some true grime tings and rolls through the deepness, but fifteen minutes in and we're already head banging before Scooba reminds us how many million ways to die there are and sending all units to Brixton.

RSVP.

SMOG is on Facebook // SoundCloud // Twitter
Respect is on Facebook // SoundCloud // Twitter // Instagram