ongoing process of restructuring continues to produce an array of interconnected
scenes that combine to form the wider British dance culture.
Currently, throughout London, specific scenes focusing on UK garage,
underground trance and techno and drum ‘n’ bass music have continued to adapt
and adopt an array of supporting structures to encourage their development in an
increasingly competitive market. This has included the creation of scene-specific
niche media in the form of magazines and websites dedicated to certain genres,
coinciding with an increase in specialized record shops catering for individual or
related scenes. Distinct forms of visual imagery associated with these scenes have
emerged and are now clearly visible in the advertising and marketing of events.
When discussing flyer designs, Nathan Brett suggests that, as a medium, flyers
‘boast more freedom of visual expression than almost any other area of commercial
art and design’ (1996:1). Brett also asserts that, in contrast to the images of rock and
pop musicians, dance music lacks an obvious visual focus. Therefore flyers are left to
convey the ‘spirit, emotion or vibe of a club’ (ibid.: 1), which is why UK garage
flyers have adopted slick design protocols that often incorporate sexualized imagery
of female clubbers and references to champagne. Reflecting the glamorous dress
code associated with UK garage events and the upwardly mobile aspirations of its
participants, this design style is clearly distinguishable from the psychedelic imagery
favoured by the underground trance and techno scene, which alludes to its
participant’s favoured repertoire of recreational drugs. More recently, flyer-
distribution companies have begun to create scene-specific flyer packs, handed out
at related events or distributed through associated record shops, adding to a further
separation of musical scenes existing in London.
It’s a London thingSince the late 1990s, UK garage music has been a predominant feature on London’s
unlicensed network of pirate radio stations (Braddock 2000:66) and the scene has
up until recently dominated much of the capital’s clubland. Participants at UK
garage nights generally reflect London’s multicultural and multi-religious diversity.
Second- and third-generation Afro Caribbean, South and East Asian, Greek,
Turkish and Irish youth are an integral part of the scene, and at events held in
London there is usually an equal mix of white and ethnic-minority participants, the
majority of whom were born in the UK. However, this can vary and will often
reflect the socio-demographics of a particular area, especially if an event is heavily
advertised on a local pirate radio station, as this is more likely to attract a specific
local crowd. Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol have also developed sizeable UK
garage scenes and many UK universities are regularly visited by touring UK garage
artists. In a secular society, the UK garage scene provides participants with a sense of
belonging to a wider community, which is accessed through participation at UK
garage events and continually reinforced by listening to pirate radio.
The genre’s crossover into mainstream popular music culture has enabled many
within the UK garage scene to develop a range of successful music-industry careers
186 CIARAN O’HAGAN