Martyn Pepperell writes in his weekly newsletter Beats N Pieces:
"In the early ‘90s, a new energy was swirling through inner-city Auckland as a generation of New Zealand musicians, DJs, and vocalists embraced the then-nascent sounds of hip-hop, dub, ragga, house, trip-hop and street soul. Three decades so on, one of the best historical expressions of this era can be found in the discography of an independent Auckland record label that saw the future clearly and did the absolute best it could to speed up its arrival, Deepgrooves Records.
Over the last decade, the Auckland-based writer, broadcaster, DJ, archivist, and musician Peter McLennan (Dub Asylum, Hallelujah Picassos) has spent countless hours uploading music and videos from the Deepgrooves era onto his YouTube channel while conducting interviews and research towards his written opus, Deepgrooves: A Record Label Deep in the Pacific of Bass, and the People Who Gave It a Voice.
A soft format coffee table title with over 300 pages and a literal treasure trove of photography and album art, Deepgrooves: A Record Label Deep in the Pacific of Bass, and the People Who Gave It a Voice, documents the rise of one of New Zealand’s truly idiosyncratic record labels and also tells the stories of many of the key players and musicians involved, and just as importantly, expanding out into what they did next. Viewed together, it becomes clear that Deepgrooves was a crucial launchpad for a generation or two - a once-in-a-lifetime type thing.
Inside, readers learn about groups and solo artists like Fuemana, Sulata, Grace, Urban Disturbance, Freebass, Breaks Co-op, New Loungehead and Ermehn while learning about how record labels liked this operated during the era, the clashes between expectations, and the beautiful friendships and collaborations that came out of the friction, fire and fun of it all."
Over the last decade, the Auckland-based writer, broadcaster, DJ, archivist, and musician Peter McLennan (Dub Asylum, Hallelujah Picassos) has spent countless hours uploading music and videos from the Deepgrooves era onto his YouTube channel while conducting interviews and research towards his written opus, Deepgrooves: A Record Label Deep in the Pacific of Bass, and the People Who Gave It a Voice.
A soft format coffee table title with over 300 pages and a literal treasure trove of photography and album art, Deepgrooves: A Record Label Deep in the Pacific of Bass, and the People Who Gave It a Voice, documents the rise of one of New Zealand’s truly idiosyncratic record labels and also tells the stories of many of the key players and musicians involved, and just as importantly, expanding out into what they did next. Viewed together, it becomes clear that Deepgrooves was a crucial launchpad for a generation or two - a once-in-a-lifetime type thing.
Inside, readers learn about groups and solo artists like Fuemana, Sulata, Grace, Urban Disturbance, Freebass, Breaks Co-op, New Loungehead and Ermehn while learning about how record labels liked this operated during the era, the clashes between expectations, and the beautiful friendships and collaborations that came out of the friction, fire and fun of it all."