While at university, I sensed a tide of fear amongst students relating to the end of their studies; so long they had been trained and conditioned to enter the semi-abstract 'working world' that it's imminent beginning was palpable. Given the extreme and slightly surreal manner some of my peers adopted to prepare themselves for this (dressing up in what looked like their fathers suits and posing for employment photoshoots, constantly discussing inane business schemes, fetishising Wolf-of-Wall Street esque characters), I decided this was a moment ripe for satire.
I conceptualised an event inspired by 'The Trial', recasting the shady bureacratic figures of Kafka's classic with cutting edge UK club DJs. Juxtaposing the experimental, radical nature of their music I formatted the event as more like a careers fair than a rave, sending up both at the same time. And what better way to decorate the venue than ordering several hundred ties off eBay, and stringing them from the rafters? Naturally, the event was a success, and the event space (a conference room above an Ethiopian restaurant) we somehow secured and dragged a soundystem into to was sold-out almost immediately. My original copy below:
Claw your way to the top of the system...
GIRL UNIT- Chief Administrator
L U C Y - Recruitment Consultant
JAWSIDE - Secretarial Czar
Gregzlar - Careers Counsellor
To get a place on the scheme, you will need to complete THE PROCESS. Forms to be filled in, shapes to be cut and data to be disseminated. Attendance will be mandatory, and anomalies will be corrected. THE PROCESS is beyond genre, but expect to be drawn into a storm of paperwork and body shaking club rhythms. Please bring proof of 5,000 hours of unpaid work and Government approved ID.
Artists:
GIRL UNIT - Chief Administrator
Legendary DJ, producer, and bureaucrat, GIRL UNIT is an all-time favourite of the Incognito team. A Night Slugs mainstay, he had an outrageous hit with his debut single ‘Wut’ and just kept going, with each release turning clubs inside out. Drawing influence from electro, trap, grime, techno, juke and god-knows where else, Girl Unit's sets are legendary: instant favourites from tunes you might never have heard of and classics sounding completely fresh.
L U C Y - Recruitment Consultant
Behind the decks in the rave or behind the desk at a careers fair, you can’t miss LUCY these days. Words on paper don’t do much justice but it’ll all make sense at the time- the world of LUCY goes fast and slow, its rough and grimey but smooth and melodic, and once you’re in its hard to get out. Dip yer toes in the water with her new mixtape, featuring Mariah Carey, free- jazz, and more all laid over twitching breakbeats and shimmering 2-step.
JAWSIDE - Secretarial Czar
Armed with a big stapler and bag of muscular grime anthems, Jawside’s gonna check your paperwork whether you like it or not. Catch him on Rinse FM, NTS Radio and making beats for Boxed on their legendary vinyl pressings, Jawside’s tunes are weighty as anything and end up stuck in your head for days. Playing on a sound-system that’s only gotten bigger since last time, this one’s going to rattle everyone’s jaw-side.
Gregzlar - Careers Counsellor
Gregzlar is going to set you up with an internship, apprenticeship or at the very least a few tunes that’ll leave you dizzy and confused. Loosen your tie to a bassy, freewheeling selection that reaches from dubstep to grime and into the cosmos beyond. It’s hard to stay angry at the system when Gregzlar’s got everyone in the postcode shocking out.
