I can openly admit that being the age I am the garage scene had made its mainstream appearance a while before I discovered the genre. Of course when you find something you love, you need to know everything there is to know about it, so in my school boy haste to create some kind of musical identity I brushed up on some UK Garage history wondering why the glory days were over.
Quickly falling for it’s feel good vocals and splashy symbols it was the type of music that got you hooked and unable to contain the urge to dance in the queue for the bar or at least bob your head whilst on the train to work. But has the UK fallen out with the genre and left the safe and melodic confines of the garage or has it just been converted into the guest room where other genres come to stay? Now it’s evident that movements in music come and go as quickly as the fashion that partners them, but in our haste to label genres and confine them to a certain set of rules and regulations, we've lost site of where Garage music came from.
Disclaimer: Before I start I am wholly aware that there has been an on going debate since the conception of dance music as to what element of music belong to what genres but I am using garage as a umbrella term to cover all sub-categories that stemmed to and from it. I'm not claiming that I cover every possible musical/cultural influence on the evolution of UK Garage music.
UK Garage was primarily a product of the early Rave and Jungle scene. As Jungle lost it’s lighter melodic qualities exchanging them for a moodier, heavier feel the door was left open for the Rave scene to hold on to those melodies and incorporate more vocals borrowed from vocal house music, whilst keeping elements of the jungle reggae vibe.The UK Garage genre was made popular through the London underground scene and partnering pirate radio stations. From its conception, garage kept evolving and changing; from 4X4 to Speed Garage, ending up with the 2-step classic that ignited my passion for the genre. Plenty of the 2-step tracks (A London thing - Scott Garcia and I Refuse – Somore) broke through the corporate barrier into the realm of popular music, leaving the underground with further genres such as Break-beat, Dubstep and Grime music. As garage became increasingly popular, collaborations with the like of the RnB artist Craig David saw garage combining with other more mainstream styles of music.
A year ago I got the privilege of interviewing the louder half of Artful Dodger, MC Alistair, who aside from the chat about the quality of the women in the establishment we were in, had a few words of wisdom about the break through scene of 2013 that changed my perception of where garage had gone.
He started with a revelation that knocked the wind out of me...
“Garage as a genre is done”
Now I know this will upset the people, like myself, who are holding on to the energetic nostalgia of Garage, but he continued his thought process to explain how garage has essentially effected most other genres today. He continued by saying:
“Music evolves and it will always evolve, it has to evolve to keep on moving…Music isn’t one genre”
And he’s right. Garage has evolved so much that it has been adopted by most other genres. Over the years Garage evolved through borrowing elements of other genres such as RnB, Soul and Hip Hop and this has inevitably lead to other genres borrowing a little back. Noticeably the dance scene has borrowed from the 2-step era, only this time around the quality of equipment and audio clarity have given this new music a cleaner sound. Alistair finished the very brief chat with a statement that I thing sums up what Garage and music in general, is all about.
“Music is about getting involved in every single genre and loving it”
Maybe it’s through my strive to hold on to what is left of the garage scene that I see quite how much influence it has had on other music genres. Grime, UK Funky and even the likes of artists such as SBTRKT and Disclosure who have broken the crust into the doughy center of what we call popular music, have borrowed elements first stolen by the godfathers of garage. I’m not declaring the death of Garage, because there is still a huge demand for it, I’m saying how influential it has been. On a personal note I think the younger generations of students and young professionals alike might demand a few more years of Garage so I hope that Future Garage can fill that void left by the likes of Danny J Lewis, MJ Coles and DJ EZ.
I started by saying that maybe we've left the garage or maybe it just looks a little different. Now that every other street is getting permitted and more cars are on the road, these new garage guestrooms that once housed other genres are now being converted back to the once glorious Garage personas. Only this time that old rusty door you were so nostalgic about has been replaced by a new cleaner, shiny one.
I’d advise anyone who hasn't taken a bit of time to delve into some garage music to have a listen to the small selection of tracks I've listed here:
1. A London Thing – Scott Garcia Feat. MC Styles
2. Spend the Night – Danny J Lewis
3. I Refuse – Somore Feat. Damon Trueitt
4. Body Groove – Architechs& Nana
5. MasterBlaster 2000 – DJ Luck, MC Neat & J.J
6. Summer of Love – Lonyo
7. So Beautiful – DJ Innocence
8. Moving too Fast – Artful Dodger &Romina Johnson
9. Crazy Love – MJ Cole
10. Do You Really Like It? – DJ Pied Piper & The Master of Ceremonies
Jack Ryan
Read More: Is Ayia Napa The Spiritual Home Of UK Garage?
