User:Toaduk/Dissident Sound System

Introduction
Dissident is the brand name of a powerful sound system run by a group of underground music enthusiasts who have taken a pivotal role in Bristol's party scene for a number of years.

History
Dissident was originally a spin-off of the Jungle Society of Bristol University in 2001, where a group of previously unacquainted students met and shared their interest in Drum and Bass music in an environment where their often outspoken opinions were not sidelined, and they were free to enjoy their particular taste in music. Dissident was created when these opinions became too far removed from the University ethos and the group decided to extend their freedoms and create club nights without the restrictions placed on them by the university.

What started as an interest in Drum and Bass evolved into a team of DJs and club promoters who over the course of a few years held a string of club nights for students in Bristol. The next logical step was to stop hiring other people's expensive sound systems and build louder, more powerful speakers which were customised to their individual needs (generally involving inordinate amounts of bass). This enabled them not only to reduce their overheads, but also to hire out their sound system, using their club nights as a promotional tool to showcase their latest speaker designs.

Present Day
Today, Dissident is well-respected in Bristol party culture as a high-power, high quality, and above all, bass-heavy soundsystem. They hold regular club nights at the Black Swan (Easton, Bristol), Lakota (Stokes Croft, Bristol) and more recently Clockwork (Stokes Croft, Bristol). They are also invloved in regular 'Link-ups' with other sound systems in Bristol, most notably DMT, P.R.A.N.K and Ketwork32. Under the collective banner of Gener8r, these sound systems meet up with other sound systems from the surrounding area to host club nights which involve as much of each sound system as possible, often resulting in walls of speakers which are so large they obscure the DJ from view, and so loud that ear protectors are recommended and often available at the door.

Team Structure
Although roles are shared amoung the group, the majority of speaker design and manufacture is performed by Disco Dave - an Electronic Engineering graduate from Bristol University - while much of the hire-out logistics are handled by Alkemy. The Dissident brand has also sprouted a spin-off record label called "JungleTek Movement" - mainly organised by Dan Fix - which produces experimental music loosely based around the Dissident origin of Drum and Bass, with influences of Reggae/Ragga, Ragga Jungle and BreakCore. All of the above can also be found gracing the decks with their presence along side Noisy Boy at many of their nights.