Show notes
When it comes to electronic music, few cities can
touch Bristol or London. Renowned for their diversity and rich
musical offerings, both have graced us with a cultural significance
that’s very much their own. How fitting then that they both played
key roles in the life of Bearface. Born to Punjabi-Indian parents
and raised on a diet of eclectic sounds, the DJ/producer was born
in Bristol but decamped to London during his formative years in
the late 90s. It would prove to be an inspiring move.
Bearface has come a long way since then. These days, he is
busy working on the Beartone label, which itself has enjoyed
great success recently courtesy of the recent San Jose EP. A
perfect example of where the producer is at right now, the breezy
sounds of the EP has endeared Bearface to a whole new
audience, and ultimately led to his music being signed to the
mighty Exploited, where Claptone and Purple Disco Machine
leant their support to the brilliant sounds of ‘Moon’. The sound
on San Jose is a far cry from his early days as an acid jazz
percussionist and his breakthrough track, ‘Bare Brass’, coming
from his and Max Mistry’s Bana Kuba moniker.
There were steps between these two. Soon after he started in the
acid jazz scene, he became a regular at clubs such as the
iconic Plastic People, where his love affair with all things house
music only intensified further. “I always love the music that the DJ
was playing at 3am”, says Bearface, and an infatuation with the
sounds of Masters at Work, Mood 2 Swing, Ron
Trent and Chez Damier would appear to cement the point.
“Whether it was French touch or house music from Chicago, as
long as it maintained that dreamy, futuristic sound I was hooked”,
he says. A born creative, it wasn’t long before he began to
experiment with music production himself. After honing his sound
over a number of years, his first release, the ‘Bare
Brass’ track, became KISS FM’s ‘Track of the Week’, an
accolade that eventually got the record signed to Roger
Sanchez’s Stealth label and licensed to compilations
by Defected and Vendetta. From this, Panasa’s career was
born.
Following on from ‘Bare Brass’, he released several more tracks
on Stealth under the Bana Kuba alias, including ‘Tribal Dancing’
which became a fixture in his sets for some time. Since then, a
host of labels have taken on his music, including Exploited,
Volupso, Clubstream and Clubstar, to name just a few.
Alongside this, many DJ’s of renowned talent have lent their
support to him, with Hector Romero, Danny Tenaglia, Todd
Edwards, James Zabiela and Groove Armada all showering his
music with praise.
The Bearface alias started in 2013 with the founding of
his Beartone label. The first release was ‘Tuba’ and the label has
gone on to release more of his music, which has also been
featured in multiple compilations.
Related Weblinks
https://www.facebook.com/bearfaceme/
https://soundcloud.com/beartonerecords
https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/bearface
https://www.instagram.com/hellobearface/
Booking: beartonerecords@gmail.com
Label Beartone: beartonerecords@gmail.com
PR: stephen@eureka-artists.com
Social Media: patricia@dellabellamanagement.com
Track List:
Bearface-Yogi (Beartone
Records)
David Gtronic-DRZN
(Tervisio Records)
Bearface-Mumbai Nights
(Beartone Records)
Gout du Grove-Grove
One (Tealer Records)
F.eht-No Sense
(Bosphorus
Underground)
Subb-an, Archie
Hamilton, Enzo Siragusa-
Playdem (Fuse London)
Pancho Villa-Raman
Taco (Beartone Records)
Guti-Red Eye (Cuttinʼ
Headz)
Bearface-Rise(Kdub)
(Beartone Records)
Bearface-Fade Feat.
LoveChild (Beartone
Records)
Ricardo Villalobos-Back
and Forth Feat KE (Hot
Creations)
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