Brotherhood Soundsystem was started in a solitary Manchester basement back in 2010 with its roots in free parties, small club nights and dub-reggae. In late 2011 the soundsystem was transported across the Pennines along with its two owners, where the duo would quickly become a trio consisting of the ambitious DJs and producers, Silas & Snare Surgeon, and an avid sound engineer, Titan.
The years that followed saw Brotherhood Soundsystem develop exponentially. Their first sell-out event in early 2012 led them to prove their worth time after time selling out 10 shows in multiple different venues ranging from intimate 400 capacity gigs, to infamous 1400 capacity parties. As the brand developed further they took on more resident DJs and MCs including; Reme, Hijinkx and MC Splinter and played extensively around the North-West.
Following their own success they immediately began working very closely alongside some of the biggest names in Manchester and Leeds including; Vagabondz, Subdub, Horizons Festival, Hit&Run, Bigger than Barry, Jungle Jam, Mint Festival and Just A Little hosting multiple different rooms and bringing the party to pretty much every venue in Leeds. Their DJs and soundsystem took up residencies at most of the aforementioned events, whilst their own events became notorious in Leeds for their high energy, versatile bookings playing alongside some of the best local artists on the circuit.
From it’s humble beginnings, the brand and soundsystem have developed in tandem with one another and are now an eclectic conglomerate of DJs, MCs, sound engineers and visual artists collectively driving this brainchild of three Leeds residents to the forefront of the music scene in the North-West and beyond. Alongside it’s crew, Brotherhood Soundsystem has made appearances at Brainchild Festival, Beacons Festival, Outlook & Dimensions Festivals, and now, the infamous Gottwood Festival, we caught up with Silas, George and Will to find out more…
Leeds has always played an important role in the development of the urban music scene in the UK with a host of influential and important brands and artists having their roots in the city. What have you guys brought to Leeds that makes you stand out from the crowd?
The scene in Leeds was certainly like nothing we’d experienced before, and between us we come from Manchester and London so we’re hardly inexperienced in being involved in musically diverse cities. We brought our soundsystem across from Manchester with us, and that’s really been the driving force being our success from the start. Although Leeds has got some really amazing veteran soundsystems knocking about, there was never really a group of students doing the same thing. We’ve had the rig with us all the way from halls and put on some really special shows with it, the brand really wouldn’t be where it is without our ‘trusty’ soundsystem (and all of our hard work of course).
A vital part of any night’s success is its resident DJs, how have your residents established themselves in such a musically vibrant city?
When our first residents ‘Silas & Snare Surgeon’ met in Leeds they both had a real passion for the music they were playing. They spent most of their time behind a pair of turntables for a good 4 months at the start of Uni trying to expand their mixing style. Now they’re at a point, dare I say it, where they play highly versatile and eclectic sets, racking up countless residencies at the biggest nights in Leeds and playing at some of the biggest and best festivals and events the city has to offer.
Other than Gottwood, have you got any major plans in the pipeline for 2014?
We’re really looking forward to our 2nd birthday event in March. Our 1st birthday was our debut show at our new 1400 capacity venue and it was really something special. We’ll be out at Horizons Festival in 2014 and hopefully back at the infamous Outlook! Other than that, we’ll be taking on events full time as of 2014 so expect the usual antics much more often!
What’s been your favourite event so far and why?
Definitely our event at Full Circle Emporium, it’s a warehouse style space that’s about 500 capacity and has a mezzanine style bar on second floor that looks out over the dancefloor with a spiral staircase going down! It was a really intimate gig and we were allowed to do a lot with the space, and we even managed to get a montage of it…
If you were stranded in a festival site with access only to the main stage, what six records would you want with you?
Silas:
Will:
George:
What are you most looking forward to about being a part of Gottwood Festival?
It’s a festival with a lot of hype surrounding it. Really looking forward to checking out the site, we’ve heard a lot of incredible things about the location. Of course the stellar line up is always a winner. Thanks for getting us on board!
Words by: Silas Howison-Waughray