Everyone has a story. Growing up in Essex and a passion for music has led to dubstep fans Stevey Porter and Kieran Wilson signing up the artists they want to download and setting up a residency at Finsbury Park’s island music venue, Silver Bullet. Interview by Nicola Baird
Stevey Porter and Kieran Wilson – founders of Route1audio – a record label, blog, club night and TV channel.
Stevey Porter, 28, & Kieran Wilson, 27, spot me in the Park Theatre first – despite both wearing identical white Ts with the Route1audio.co.uk logo emblazoned on the front during an interval of Jack & the Beanstalk which sees the normally sedate bar fill with over-excited children. It’s good to be finding out more about their independent record label, route1audio – which focuses on bass music around 140 beats per minute (bpm).
Kieran Wilson. Pic credit Mark Davies http://www.markdaviesone.com
“It’s dubstep,” says Kieran, “but our dubstep is not massive arenas and huge flashing lights.” He takes out his ipad and scrolls to one of the songs they’ve just put out on their first year anniversary seven-track vinyl sampler (and 13 track digital album). It’s a melodic song, no words, that’ll be liked by dub, reggae or jazz fans.
“We were both massive fans of Joss Ryan. We wanted people like him, and within a year of Route1audio he’s signed something to the label and performed at our first birthday event,” says Stevie (here’s a taster of the track Modesty).
Red Bull bike champion in Finsbury Park at the gig with Kieran’s brother, Connor Wilson.
The celebration was held at Silver Bullet, a cosy bar on Finsbury Park island opposite the tube station. “People were talking as they smoked outside in the street telling passers-by “ ‘this is good, you should come in’,” says Stevey. “The atmosphere was really good,” adds Kieran “and my brother spotted Danny MacAskill*, the Red Bull sponsored mountain biker going past, so we asked him in.
“We’ve agreed to do our nights quarterly. The next one will be around March.”
Silver Bullet for Route 1 Audio’s anniversary birthday – next gig will be around March 2015. Pic credit Mark Davies http://www.markdaviesone.com
Places Stevey & Kieran like in Islington
Stevey & Kieran: The Silver Bullet (on Finsbury Park island) needs an honorary shout. It’s a really good place and open really late.
Stevey: I went to see a gig in the Union Chapel not long ago. It’s an awesome place.
Kieran: There’s a tiny bar along the high street near Angel, the Ladybird, that I like. I stumbled across it looking for somewhere to have a drink after a meal. It’s a really good place, laid back with cocktails and decent music.
Stevey & Kieran: We’ve just come from the American Diner. There are branches in Camden, Hoxton and off Essex Road. It’s for secret fat people: a place to get pancakes and bacon, chips and root beer.
Stevey Porter. Pic credit Mark Davies http://www.markdaviesone.com
Both Stevey and Kieran grew up in Essex, respectively Loughton and Romford, and studied music technology but it’s not until November (2013) when they were in their mid 20s that they set up Route1 audio. Over the year they’ve become highly proficient at running their record label business off their laptops and phones. “We did our first release in January 2014 and the new compilation is our fifth release. Plus we’ve got five more in the pipeline over the next few months,” adds Stevey.
Now that Route1audio has a regular slot at the Silver Bullet they’re keen to know Islington better. In fact Stevey’s dad was born at the Whittington hospital though his family soon moved to Hoxton. Kieran, an Arsenal fan, associates Finsbury Park with freedom… once he’d started studying at college in Hackney he’d come over to N4 to DJ on Heat FM the pirate radio station run alongside a collection of MCs and DJs from a tiny flat up a flight of stairs in a tiny back room. “The first 16 years of my life all I knew was Romford, so coming out of there and seeing all the rest of London just reminds me of my first experiences of the world! Heat FM was a great way to build up a reputation – and there was no social media then. The most we had was a Nokia 3210 so you could text a radio station to get a shout out!”
With a residency at the Silver Bullet, tracks from their favourite artist and plans for five new releases in 2015 – plus their own TV channel it looks certain that Stevey and Kieran are going to take Route1Audio exactly where they want to go.
Route1audio 7 track sampler – vinyl £10 (comes with full digital version) or digitally (on line, prices vary but approx. £7-8)
Digital Release Links
- Beatport – http://www.beatport.com/label/route-1-audio/37606 £8.32
- iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/vol.-1/id939214169 £7.99
Vinyl Pre-Order
- Route 1 Store – http://www.route1audio.co.uk/#!store/cdxf £10
- Bandcamp – http://route1audio.bandcamp.com £11 [inc. full digital download]
Website: www.Route1Audio.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/route1audio
Facebook: www.facebook.com/route1audio
Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/route-1-audio
- Also on internet radio on www.fokus.fm every Sunday 10am – 12pm and also www.Bassport.fm every fortnight Monday 6-7pm [starting 15th December]
- They sell merch on our Route 1 store too here: http://www.route1audio.co.uk/#!store/cdxf
Words*
Danny MacAskill is famous for tricks (eg, on and off a red phone box), see the video of his journey from Edinburgh to home on the Isle of Skye here http://www.redbull.com/en/bike/stories/1326300894274/danny-macaskill-way-back-home
Over to you
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