FRESH JUICE: THEE ALPHA AND THEE OMEGA VOL IX - CLAN DESTINE CLICK

We caught up with label honcho Carl who has been steering the ship behind one of Glasgow's best kept secrets for the last 10+ years.

Words by Oisín Campbell/ Design by Michael Savage

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The true underground is given centre stage once more from Clan Destine on this release which is available to purchase digitally or on cassette on Bandcamp now: clandestinerecords.bandcamp.com/album/thee-alpha-and-thee-omega-vol-ix

Glasgow's Clan Destine Records arrive with the ninth installment in their 'ALPHA AND OMEGA' compilation series with a disturbing concoction of booty shaking juke, footwork, jungle, breaks, grime, electro, ghetto tech, hip hop and phonk.

A collection of trax from global producers, Clan Destine have made a knack of connecting with artists from far and wide on their now vast discography.

Initially a platform for the post punk scene in Glasgow around the time of 2009, the range of sounds and styles that have come out of Clan Destine since its initialization have been immense. A platform for the experimental, for the dark and mysterious, the label has an output of well over 200 releases on Bandcamp, beit compilations, EPs, LPs, mixtapes or mixes with alumni from all over the world.

How would one best sum up the world of Clan Destine? 'A total hot mess' says Carl. A label that promises to strictly release only what they enjoy. 'We don't want to belong or fit in anywhere and don't give a flying f*ck about the music industry, it's all about the music'. When digging through the releases that have come out of the imprint, it is evident that there are no patterns. Every release has its own unique identity, with each one giving the middle finger to the rule book in a true punk, DIY fashion.

This motive has seen the sound of Clan Destine constantly diversify from its original punk roots into the realms of hip hop, electro, ghetto tech, trap, black metal & more. All these sounds filter through the gothic aesthetic that the Glaswegian outfit has become renowned for, resulting in some of the most interesting and obscure releases you're likely to endure in a calendar year.

This progression into further underground sounds was not planned, and more a natural progression for the label. 'Nothing is planned. I just put out stuff I come across that I like. I grew up listening to hardcore punk and hip-hop, black metal and thrash. Anything fast that you could skate to and then from that anything weird like industrial and goth. At the same time I got into djing jungle, techstep, and hardcore at free raves and festivals. The label reflects that and is similarly all over the place. With that being said, I did a lot of hard techno, speed core, hardcore compilations in 2020 and started doing the ghetto rap/ electro Alpha and Omega V/A's for something different to do, which was then followed by a bunch of solo releases of the same style'.

With this being number 9 in the series, we are once more treated to a plethora of sounds that ebb and flow between soothing and blistering, with the transition from WOJAVELLI'S 'FADE IN 2 U' into 'RUN AWAY BEAT' from ConzOner typifying this.

Though the internet is rightly viewed in a negative light these days with its fuelling of toxicity and hate, it is still often an oasis of creativity for many, something we have come to discover here at Plant Bass'd. The same can be said for the folk at Clan Destine who have been able to globalize their alumni and platform a crazy release schedule with a helping hand from the infamous world wide web.

'I'm always looking to hear something new. I don't care where anyone is from, what they do for a living, who they fuck or what sex they are or identify with.Though I do like the diversity of sounds and people we have released over the years and I think we have released something from every country, definitely every continent, which is cool I guess. I have no idea how we keep up. It's a crazy but fun release schedule'.

In this edition of the compilation alone there are entries from Texan 'mister stickman', French/ Morrocan outfit 'JANTES', Sydney based 'adrian asher', Berliner's 'DJ Slim Booty', 'DJ SLUDGE, & 'Moodrich', 'DA GOBLINN' of Toronto, Uruguayan 'AGUSTIN G', Sao Paolo's 'Martinelli', as well as a host of Glasgow based producers and more from further afield.

Our interest in Clan Destine came about through discovering their electro and ghetto tech releases through various Bandcamp binges, which led to us enjoying the many other sounds within their arsenal. When asked about the upward surge in more experimental dance music, Carl dissected the cyclical world of music and trends.

'Theres always been a war going on, governments trying to fuck everyone over and cling on to power, but I must admit this global pandemic we are hopefully coming through the end of is a new one for me. People always want to party and maybe it's better to go screaming and happy into the void, the last bit of real estate we all end up in and have to face. It's just an evolution of breaks culture and it will keep on'.