Profile

Unity Dub (aka Bill Bevan) loves BASS. He specialises in sets for second rooms and chillout spaces to create an environment for people to gather and celebrate, whether to dance or to lie-back and chillout. Bill began DJing in 1991 when he was an archaeologist moving from one site to another in England and working every summer in central France. He organised parties for archaeologists playing classic Jamaican and UK reggae, dub and ska mixed with some hip-hop and punk. He was drawn to the consciousness raising lyrics of roots reggae and the hedonistic dance pleasure of ska, something which is still central to the music he plays. In 1999 visited Jamaica to visit Bob Marley's house to celebrate the birthday of reggae's best-known 'prophet' and to collect rare records. When he came back from the Caribbean that he decided to experiment with more modern forms of dub suitable for chillin' and dancing at trance and techno parties and that was when he began to play out much more regularly.

The dub in Unity Dub's sets is fused with trance, techno, ambient or breakbeats. His chillout sets tend to have a groove to them so that people can sit and talk to friends or get up and dance while having a break from the full-on music in the main room. His upbeat sets tend to be block-rocking, get-down-and-party, high-energy celebrations with people grinning, bouncing, shouting and clapping. Each set tends to be a journey, helped by the greater musical freedom allowed by playing in second rooms. It is difficult to know what to call this type of music, maybe acid dub or 21st century ska?

He promotes Sundaze, who have been organising audio-visual chillout events in Sheffield, UK since the beginning of 2000. The monthly night mixes DJs, live musicians, VJs and installation art to create a space for people to gather and relax. The Sundaze Crew also create and perform live DJ soundtracks to films, such as 70s sci-fi movie Silent Running or Luc Besson's Subway, at the Showroom Cinema, put on events in art galleries and museums, and organise chillout rooms for trance parties. He is resident at Destination Venus and Disoriental in Sheffield and Undertow in London, where one of his sets was described as 'transporting me to a lively market on a sunny Caribbean island'. Recently he has also played festivals such as The Big Chill - UK, Solipse - Zambia, BOOM - Portugal and SolaLuna - Greece, and at the Tribe of Frog, Planet Zogg and Headcharge parties.

Best DJing moment to date.
Playing on the main stage at Solipse, Zambia a week after my birtyhday in 2001. I first on during the dub night so started chilled and took up the beat to a full-on dance tempo. The 50k rig in the open air meant I could crank up the bass without it distorting.