“I still get nervous before gigs, big or small,” Kid Kurse says as we drive to the Backstage Lounge for the TURU vs. SHAH show. Over the past year, Disociate, Kid Kurse, 22:22, and Sinerise have become the TURU Crew, a fresh new collective from the city of Vancouver. In the past year they’ve gone through a rollercoaster ride: a monumental performance at Bass Coast Music Festival on one hand and the departure of two group members on the other.Through the difficult times, it’s been Vancouver’s encouraging bass music community that keeps them optimistic.
Read more on THUMP: Bass Coast 2015 was a Barefaced Bass and Beat Music Haven
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Disociate and Kid Kurse grew up just down the street from each other in North Burnaby, BC. Kurse started DJing at raves while he was still in high school. Disociate wasn’t far behind. “I think we had a weird idea of who the other person was,” Disociate says. “I was hanging out with his brother, so he probably thought I was a punk, and he was Keenan’s little brother, so I thought he was a punk. Needless to say, we were both punks.”
Courtesy of SamuelCotton Photography
All of the members of the TURU Crew found inspiration to work independently, but something was missing. Disociate explains,”We asked ourselves, how do we move forward? How do we become better? The decision we came to was that we needed to become a crew, much like Michael Red did with LIGHTA! and Willis with SHAH.”
Sinerise was added to the crew earlier this year when Disociate scouted her during a live set. Her inspiration for production and DJing comes more from the local talent that surrounds than the far away international giants. “There was always a community feel with bass music that other genres didn’t quite have,” she says. “To say I was overwhelmed with joy would be an understatement. I had to clean my ears out when he proposed the idea.”
Disociate also scouted out 22:22 who came to Vancouver from the UK five years before. When asked if there was any fear that the Canadian scene would be inadequate in comparison to the UK, he echoed the same sentiment as the rest of the crew: “It’s the community that keeps me going.” “I have made almost all of my friends here through shows,” says 22. “I started going to the LIGHTA! shows at Red Gate back in 2009. Seeing SHAHdj’s made me realize there was a scene here that was still very underground.”
Courtesy of Ingrid Land
TURU sees bass music as a niche and never considers what is trending on Beatport’s top 10. The collective is humble and down to earth. They demonstrate a combination of ambition and humility, which is the perfect recipe for success in this industry. According to Kurse, “The only time I wasn’t nervous before a show was at Bass Coast this year; I felt comfortable and calm the day of the set. It was weird, but it just felt right and it went right”. Their past experiences attending local festivals like Shambhala and Bass Coast made playing at them earlier this year extremely special. Their passion pours through the entire set.
TURU Crew is on Facebook //SoundCloud
Disociate is on SoundCloud
Kid Kurse is on SoundCloud
22:22 is on SoundCloud
Sinerise is on SoundCloud
