Spiral Tribe
Encyclopedia
Spiral Tribe is a free party
sound system
which existed in the first half of the 1990s, and became active again in 2007. The collective originated in west London
and later travelled across Europe and North America. According to one member, the name came to him when he was at work, staring at a poster of the interconnecting spirals in an ammonite
shell. The group had a huge influence on the emerging free tekno
subculture. Members of the collective released seminal records on their label, Network 23
.
The largest and most famous party the group organised was the Castlemorton Common Festival
free party in May 1992. Thirteen members of the group were arrested immediately after the Castlemorton event and were subsequently charged with public order offences. Their trial became one of the longest running and most expensive cases in British legal history, lasting four months and costing the UK £4 million.
Regarding Castlemorton, Nigel South states that "the adverse publicity attending the event laid the groundwork for the Criminal Justice Act 1994
".
Low and Burnett opine in Spaces of Democracy that "Spiral Tribe, with their free and inclusive parties, succeeded in constituting an alternative public space, rather than just a secret one."
s throughout Europe, then it slowly dispersed with some members taking up residence in Germany and Holland and releasing work on Labworks and many other techno labels. Individual members of the collective joined other sound systems, did squat art events or pursued other interests.
From the summer of 1994 a number of free parties were organised by Spiral Tribe members throughout Europe. When the parties were large festivals with an open invitation to other sound systems and artists to participate, they came to be known as teknival
s. In tribute to this collective, the type of music predominantly played at early teknivals came to be known as spiral tekno.
Parties included the following:
In 1997 Spiral Tribe toured America with an impressive rig and crew, joining forces once again with free party systems. They were instrumental in the initiation of the Autonomous Mutant Festival in July of that year, which continues to this day. The 13th Festival was held in 2009.
Members of Spiral Tribe have included the following artists:
Sebastian (alias 69db),
Mark Stormcore,
Lol Hammond
,
Zander,
Simon (alias Crystal Distortion),
Jeff 23 (alias DJ Tal),
Ixindamix,
MeltDown Mickey,
kaos,
MC Skallywag,
Debbie (aka Pheen X),
Timmy Tribe,
Paula,
Sally,
Alex 65,
Steve Bedlam,
Orinoco (AKA DJNerate),
James (alias Jack Acid),
Stefnie,
Little Ez,
Nigel (alias Edge),
DJ Crafty (T.C.),
DJ Aztek,
DJ Manic Josh,
DJ Renegad Sid,
DJ Charlie Hall,
DJ Mr K,
Hamish,
Darren,
Dougie,
Sacha,
Old Frank,
Paul,
Sim Simmer,
Joe,
Tim Evans (Heathfield),
Sancha,
Dom,
Mitch,
Terminator Chris.
. Images for musical releases, posters, backdrops and flyers featured the number 23. Parties were often organised on the twenty-third day of the month. Members sometimes recorded under the moniker of SP23, and the record label itself was called Network 23.
, as a result of the publicity generated from their involvement in the organisation of the Castlemorton Common Festival
. Three EPs were released and two albums, one merely a compilation of the tracks from the EPs, the other a full album entitled Tekno Terra.
Members of Spiral Tribe also released records on their own label Network 23
.
In 1997, Techno Import, a French commercial distributor, compiled a CD entitled Spiral Tribe: The Sound of Teknival. The CD consisted of previously licenced material via Big Life Music, Rabbit City, Drop Bass Network and Force Inc. It was released without any consent from members of Spiral Tribe, was advertised on television and sold at least 30,000 copies. Spiral Tribe issued a statement against its release which began, "F**k Techno Import, Spiral Tribe Is Not For Sale", and had to take quick action to ensure the name Spiral Tribe was not copyrighted by Techno Import.
Note: They also released EP 23 No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 (World Domination Part 1, 2 and 3), as well as a few untitled promo CDs, but there is little documentation about these vinyls.
In 2005, the label Network 23 Repress was set up to re-release tracks from the Spiral Tribe back catalogue.
Free party
A free party is a party "free" from the restrictions of the legal club scene, similar to the free festival movement. It typically involves a sound system playing electronic dance music from late at night until the time when the organisers decide to go home. A free party can be composed of just one...
sound system
Sound system (DJ)
A sound system is a group of DJs and engineers contributing and working together as one, playing and producing music.-Origin:The sound system concept originated in the 1950s in Kingston, Jamaica. DJs would load up a truck with a generator, turntables, and huge speakers to set up street parties...
which existed in the first half of the 1990s, and became active again in 2007. The collective originated in west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and later travelled across Europe and North America. According to one member, the name came to him when he was at work, staring at a poster of the interconnecting spirals in an ammonite
Ammonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
shell. The group had a huge influence on the emerging free tekno
Free tekno
Free tekno is the name given to the music predominantly played at free parties in Europe. The spelling of the word tekno is made to deliberately differentiate the musical style from that of techno...
subculture. Members of the collective released seminal records on their label, Network 23
Network 23 (record label)
Network 23 was a record label founded by the Spiral Tribe sound system in 1994. It stopped in 1996.-History:In two years Network 23 released a number of records by members of Spiral Tribe under various aliases such as R-Zac, Stormcore, SP23, and Crystal Distortion.The Spiral Tribe sound came to be...
.
England
From 1990 until 1992, Spiral Tribe were responsible for numerous parties, raves and festivals in indoor and outdoor locations. These mainly occurred in the south of England.The largest and most famous party the group organised was the Castlemorton Common Festival
Castlemorton Common Festival
The Castlemorton Common Festival was a week-long free festival and rave held in the Malvern Hills near Malvern, Worcestershire, England in 1992....
free party in May 1992. Thirteen members of the group were arrested immediately after the Castlemorton event and were subsequently charged with public order offences. Their trial became one of the longest running and most expensive cases in British legal history, lasting four months and costing the UK £4 million.
Regarding Castlemorton, Nigel South states that "the adverse publicity attending the event laid the groundwork for the Criminal Justice Act 1994
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the existing law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights and in greater penalties for certain "anti-social" behaviours...
".
Low and Burnett opine in Spaces of Democracy that "Spiral Tribe, with their free and inclusive parties, succeeded in constituting an alternative public space, rather than just a secret one."
Parties
| Date | Location | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 1990 | The school house, northwest London | First real party organised by Spiral Tribe | |
| June 15, 1991 | Cable Street, Wapping London | Took place in the loading bay of a large warehouse about 5 floors high and open to the sky | |
| June 1991 | Longstock | ||
| June 1991 | Hortem cum studley, Oxford | Weekend long party, Spiral tribe borrowed a local free party soundsystem never to return it | |
| July 6–7, 1991 | Mirage Winchester Devils Punch Bowl | Free party all weekend long; no problems from the police. | |
| July 1991 | Bala, Wales | ||
| August 9–12, 1991 | Liphook, Hampshire | Torpedo Town; no problems from the police. | |
| August 1991 | Chelmsford | Original site in an open mine (natural auditorium) was compromised by police while setting up. Thousands of ravers waited patiently for hours until a new site was found; permission was given for use of a field on private land. | |
| August 1991 | The Cisbury Ring festival, held at a picnic area near Arundel Castle | ||
| August bank holiday, 1991 | The White Goddess festival for 2 weeks on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall | Combined their sound system with Circus Normal (to achieve a sound system of over 25,000 watts RMS) receiving complaints from over 14 miles away. Despite police pressure they partied on until all of the partygoers went home. The event was attended along with a number of other sound systems including Circus Warp and DIY. | |
| September 1991 | The Arches, Deptford | ||
| October 1991 | Northwest London | The green house party | |
| October 1991 | Kent | The Village Idiots festival | |
| November 1991 | Lewisham Library | ||
| December 1991 | Brewery Road | ||
| Christmas and New Year's Eve 1991 | The Camden Round House, North London | The power was stolen from a light socket owned by British Rail at the back of the building and the system went off at 6:30 in the morning when they turned the lights off. Someone then found an alternative power source. | |
| January 1992 | Blackwall tunnel | ||
| February 1992 | York Road, King's Cross | ||
| February 1992 | Numbers Farm, Kings Langley, Hertfordshire | ||
| March 1992 | Tubney woods | Done with the Bedlam Sound System Bedlam sound system Bedlam Sound System was founded in Dalston, east London in 1992, although was involved in organising house parties as early as 1990 all over London starting in a squat in Harlesden, North London. It was a free tekno sound system run by Steve Bedlam and four other people and many helpers... |
|
| March 1992 | Swindon | ||
| April 1992 | Chobham Common | ||
| April 30 – March 3, 1992 | Lechlade | 25,000 people | |
| May 1992 | Castlemorton Common Festival Castlemorton Common Festival The Castlemorton Common Festival was a week-long free festival and rave held in the Malvern Hills near Malvern, Worcestershire, England in 1992.... |
||
| June 4, 1992 | Canada Square, next to Canary Wharf, London | About 1,000 people managed to dance for a little over an hour before 300 police sealed off roads and moved in to make arrests. | |
| July 1992 | Smethorpe Airfield | ||
| August 1992 | The Cisbury Ring festival | The police allowed the party to go on over three different sites. The system was supplied by Big Life Records; it also got split up, and at the end of the parties it was misplaced by a number of different tribe members, to resurface in Europe and around London. |
Europe
In March 1993, after being acquitted of all charges relating to Castlemorton, the group moved to Europe, doing parties in cities such as Rotterdam, Paris and Berlin. Over the next few years, the collective organised parties and teknivalTeknival
Teknivals are large free parties which take place worldwide. They take place most often in Europe and are often illegal under various national or regional laws. They vary in size from dozens to thousands of people, depending on factors such as accessibility, reputation, weather, and law enforcement...
s throughout Europe, then it slowly dispersed with some members taking up residence in Germany and Holland and releasing work on Labworks and many other techno labels. Individual members of the collective joined other sound systems, did squat art events or pursued other interests.
From the summer of 1994 a number of free parties were organised by Spiral Tribe members throughout Europe. When the parties were large festivals with an open invitation to other sound systems and artists to participate, they came to be known as teknival
Teknival
Teknivals are large free parties which take place worldwide. They take place most often in Europe and are often illegal under various national or regional laws. They vary in size from dozens to thousands of people, depending on factors such as accessibility, reputation, weather, and law enforcement...
s. In tribute to this collective, the type of music predominantly played at early teknivals came to be known as spiral tekno.
Parties included the following:
- Hellfire, Dublin. early 1993
- Montpellier, France. May 1, 1993.
- Paris, France. June 19, 1993.
- Berlin, German. June 26, 1993.
- Berlin, Germany. December 31, 1993 at the Tacheles squatSquattingSquatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
. - Hostomice, Czech Republic. July 28, 1994. First year of festival later known as CzechTekCzechTekthumb|Cztk00CzechTek was an annual teknival normally held on the weekend at the end of July in the Czech Republic. It attracted thousands of free tekno dancers from several European countries...
. - Vienna, Austria. August 27, 1994.
- Vienna, Austria. December 31, 1994.
- Vienna, Austria. March 4–6, 1995.
- CzechTekCzechTekthumb|Cztk00CzechTek was an annual teknival normally held on the weekend at the end of July in the Czech Republic. It attracted thousands of free tekno dancers from several European countries...
, Czech Republic. July 26, 1995. - Rome, Italy. December 31, 1995.
- Milan, Italy. May 11, 1996.
- CzechTekCzechTekthumb|Cztk00CzechTek was an annual teknival normally held on the weekend at the end of July in the Czech Republic. It attracted thousands of free tekno dancers from several European countries...
, Czech Republic. July 26, 1996. - Vienna, Austria. September 14, 1996.
- Prague, Czech Republic. November 30, 1996 at the Cibulka squatSquattingSquatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
. - Vienna, Austria. April 11, 1998.
- Tribes Gathering, Gouvy, Belgium April 15, 2011
United States of America
Some members of Spiral Tribe toured the United States of America in 1996 and were hosted by Pirate Audio and S.P.A.Z. Soundsystems on a coast-to-coast free tekno party tour.In 1997 Spiral Tribe toured America with an impressive rig and crew, joining forces once again with free party systems. They were instrumental in the initiation of the Autonomous Mutant Festival in July of that year, which continues to this day. The 13th Festival was held in 2009.
Spiral Tribe members
The notion of member of the tribe was very informal; very quickly, numerous artists joined the initial four members, accompanying them on their trips, some for holidays only, others in a more long-lasting way. The public tended to consider every artist performing at one of their free parties a Spiral member.Members of Spiral Tribe have included the following artists:
Sebastian (alias 69db),
Mark Stormcore,
Lol Hammond
Lol Hammond
Lol Hammond is a musician, producer and DJ.Hammond's career in electronic music started in the sound system Spiral Tribe in 1991. Simultaneously he created the production/remix act Drum Club together with London DJ Charlie Hall. Drum Club toured with Orbital in 1993 and released the studio albums...
,
Zander,
Simon (alias Crystal Distortion),
Jeff 23 (alias DJ Tal),
Ixindamix,
MeltDown Mickey,
kaos,
MC Skallywag,
Debbie (aka Pheen X),
Timmy Tribe,
Paula,
Sally,
Alex 65,
Steve Bedlam,
Orinoco (AKA DJNerate),
James (alias Jack Acid),
Stefnie,
Little Ez,
Nigel (alias Edge),
DJ Crafty (T.C.),
DJ Aztek,
DJ Manic Josh,
DJ Renegad Sid,
DJ Charlie Hall,
DJ Mr K,
Hamish,
Darren,
Dougie,
Sacha,
Old Frank,
Paul,
Sim Simmer,
Joe,
Tim Evans (Heathfield),
Sancha,
Dom,
Mitch,
Terminator Chris.
The number 23
From its inception, the group was obsessed by the number 2323 (numerology)
The 23 enigma refers to the belief that most incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23, some modification of the number 23, or a number related to the number 23.-Origins:...
. Images for musical releases, posters, backdrops and flyers featured the number 23. Parties were often organised on the twenty-third day of the month. Members sometimes recorded under the moniker of SP23, and the record label itself was called Network 23.
Music
In 1992, some members of the collective signed to the major label Big LifeBig Life
Big Life was a record label established in 1987 by Jazz Summers and Tim Parry. It featured hundreds of releases from artists such as The Orb, Stare, Yazz, Junior Reid, Coldcut, and De La Soul....
, as a result of the publicity generated from their involvement in the organisation of the Castlemorton Common Festival
Castlemorton Common Festival
The Castlemorton Common Festival was a week-long free festival and rave held in the Malvern Hills near Malvern, Worcestershire, England in 1992....
. Three EPs were released and two albums, one merely a compilation of the tracks from the EPs, the other a full album entitled Tekno Terra.
Members of Spiral Tribe also released records on their own label Network 23
Network 23 (record label)
Network 23 was a record label founded by the Spiral Tribe sound system in 1994. It stopped in 1996.-History:In two years Network 23 released a number of records by members of Spiral Tribe under various aliases such as R-Zac, Stormcore, SP23, and Crystal Distortion.The Spiral Tribe sound came to be...
.
In 1997, Techno Import, a French commercial distributor, compiled a CD entitled Spiral Tribe: The Sound of Teknival. The CD consisted of previously licenced material via Big Life Music, Rabbit City, Drop Bass Network and Force Inc. It was released without any consent from members of Spiral Tribe, was advertised on television and sold at least 30,000 copies. Spiral Tribe issued a statement against its release which began, "F**k Techno Import, Spiral Tribe Is Not For Sale", and had to take quick action to ensure the name Spiral Tribe was not copyrighted by Techno Import.
12" releases (in chronological order)
- The EP
- U Make Me Feel So Good
- Breach The Peace
- Forward The Revolution
- Forward The Revolution (The Youth Remix)
- Spiral Tribe EP
- Sirius 23
- Spiral Tribe Sound System (The Album)
- Tecno Terra
- Don't Take The Piss
- Definitely Taking Drugs
- Expekt The Unxpekted
- SP 23
- Panasonic
- Power House
- Power House 02
- Probably Taking Drugs
- Spiral Tribe 1
- Spiral Tribe 2
- Spiral Tribe 3
- Spiral Tribe 4
- Spiral Tribe 5
- Full Fill Fromage
- Strange Breaks
- Fac'em If They Can't Tek A Joke
Note: They also released EP 23 No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 (World Domination Part 1, 2 and 3), as well as a few untitled promo CDs, but there is little documentation about these vinyls.
Remixes
- The Drum Club - You Make Me Feel So Good (Guerrilla Records)
- Killing JokeKilling JokeKilling Joke are an English post-punk band formed in October 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England; other sources report the band formed in early 1979.Related news articles: Founding members Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker have been the only constant members.A key influence on industrial rock,...
- Change (Spiral Tribe mixes)
Tracks appeared on
- Shamanarchy In The UK
- Survival! The Dance Compilation
- Technohead - Mix Hard Or Die
- World Traveller Adventures
- Aid Asia Compilation
Recent news
A DVD has been released called World Traveller Adventures, echoing the title of a track ("World Traveller Adventurer") on an early Spiral Tribe record, Forward the Revolution. One of the four films, 23 Minute Warning (the name taken from a track on another early Spiral Tribe record, Breach The Peace), featured interviews with several members of the collective.In 2005, the label Network 23 Repress was set up to re-release tracks from the Spiral Tribe back catalogue.
See also
- Network 23 (record label)Network 23 (record label)Network 23 was a record label founded by the Spiral Tribe sound system in 1994. It stopped in 1996.-History:In two years Network 23 released a number of records by members of Spiral Tribe under various aliases such as R-Zac, Stormcore, SP23, and Crystal Distortion.The Spiral Tribe sound came to be...
- TeknivalTeknivalTeknivals are large free parties which take place worldwide. They take place most often in Europe and are often illegal under various national or regional laws. They vary in size from dozens to thousands of people, depending on factors such as accessibility, reputation, weather, and law enforcement...
- Free partyFree partyA free party is a party "free" from the restrictions of the legal club scene, similar to the free festival movement. It typically involves a sound system playing electronic dance music from late at night until the time when the organisers decide to go home. A free party can be composed of just one...
- Free teknoFree teknoFree tekno is the name given to the music predominantly played at free parties in Europe. The spelling of the word tekno is made to deliberately differentiate the musical style from that of techno...
- CzechtekCzechTekthumb|Cztk00CzechTek was an annual teknival normally held on the weekend at the end of July in the Czech Republic. It attracted thousands of free tekno dancers from several European countries...
- Castlemorton Common FestivalCastlemorton Common FestivalThe Castlemorton Common Festival was a week-long free festival and rave held in the Malvern Hills near Malvern, Worcestershire, England in 1992....
External links
- Archive site
- Spiral Tribe mixes from partyvibe
- Spiral Tribe article and interview from Fantazia
- A first-hand account of the events surrounding Castlemorton
- Gallery of Spiral Tribe flyers
- Another gallery of Spiral Tribe flyers
- Spiral Tribe discography from Discogs
- World Traveller Adventurers DVD
- Network 23 Repress
- Network 23
- Tribes Gathering Apocalypse Festival, Belgium
- Reminiscences about Spiral Tribe parties, flyer gallery, record reviews
- Party memories and photos including Spiral Tribe