Given it’s struggle to gain any, breakout, national success it’s fair to believe that the North East’s dance scene remains an unlimited pool of untapped talent; with it’s structure, perhaps, remaining a philosophy rather than a thriving musical scene.
Taking the initiative, local agitators, Tunnel Club, are on a mission to raise awareness of the scene promoting not only themselves and their new album, but also other dance talent across the North East. “We feel, really, that the North East’s dance scene is vibrant and full of really interesting artists” says Graeme Stoker, one half of Tunnel Club “and actually once you start to check out some of the artists from the region there’s some amazing work being done. The challenge, in some ways, is making it all work and helping us all to be heard”.
Currently it’s the ‘being heard’ challenge that Tunnel Club are most interested in finding a solution to. Championing a DIY ethic, Graeme, and musical partner Stephen Key, have been hard at work in creating their own electronica ecosystem, a way of promoting themselves and regional talent, consisting of running their own label, hosting live events, Djing a local radio show, and crowdfunded their new album ‘Exit Space’.
“We’re really proud of this album and wanted to see how the industry could work for us by helping to fund the record and give our music a greater reach” continues Graeme “ultimately we decided to crowd-fund the album to see if it would help it be heard, and it’s been an overwhelming response, well surpassing our targets”.
Pre-orders from as far away as America prove that the crowdfunding idea, and their music, are making the right noises. “We’ve thrown everything we have into this album and it’s a real journey across our electronic influences, which is everything from The Orb to Orbital to electro-pop. The reaction we’ve had to the album so far has been brilliant and we can’t wait for it’s release”, a suggestion NARC would echo on an album which draws on a wide range of sounds, spanning from downtempo opener ‘A note to say’ to acid influenced bangers ‘Vanish Point’ and ‘Focus’.
Supporting it’s release, the duo are set to host, and curate, Northern Exposure, a live electronic event showcasing some of the best in live underground electronic and dance music. “We’ll be playing at the show” says Graeme “but our aim is also to showcase some talent from the North East and we’ll bring with us some amazing support live acts and warm ups. Ultimately this is an opportunity help others in the scene share their voice. The North East electronic scene is really inclusive, diverse and accommodating and where we can we try to help those who could use some support. We try to do the same with our show on Slink Radio. We want people to enjoy not only our music, and our live experience, but also dance music as a whole. Our aim is to make people smile, dance, and throw their hands in the air”.
With a superb new album, and the next instalment of their live show in place, Tunnel Club are ready to make a noise. Let’s hope that others outside of the region get to hear it, because it’s certain that Tunnel Club will take others with them.
Tunnel Club will perform live as part Northern Exposure on November 3rd. New album ‘Exit Space’ is set for public release on 30 November and will be available on limited edition vinyl and digital download via all good digital stockists.