Welcome to the Garden 2019

Welcome to the Garden – Nozstock’s booming backyard. Our melting pot of bass music is back with a bang. Home to hip-hop, drum & bass, reggae, rock and everything in between, everyone is welcome in our garden – as long as you abide by our one rule. It better be loud.

By day the Garden is an idyllic scene overlooking lake Noz – a perfect spot to soak in the sun and visit the garden bar – all to the soundtrack of some dazzling music. By Night? It’s a haven of bright lights, thundering beats and ear-shattering basslines.

This year we’ve got an arsenal of musical weaponry ready to launch assault on your eardrums. Heading up the lineup – we’ve got UK dance heavyweight DJ Zinc. Sending heavy subs and skatty breaks since the days of Super Sharp Shooter, Zinc’s legendary status is in no doubt to those in the scene. Traversing through all areas of UK Bass music, from d&b, ragga-infused jungle, 2-step garage and traditional breakbeat, Zincs gathered a fair few tricks up his sleeve over his 25+ years in the game. After leaving the D&B scene for a while in the mid-noughties and moving onto pastures new, recent performances including dynamic b2b’s with special request have re-energised Zinc, and he’s here at The Garden, ready to teach us a thing or two.

Alongside Zinc we’ve got one of underground musics most renowned hosts in SP:MC. An unbelievably versatile MC and undeniably talented rapper in his own right, SP’s hosted events for Metalheadz, Autonomic, Hospital, Digital Soundboy, Soul:R, Innerground and more as well as his own label Shogun Audio. SP’s ability to guide you through a set is second-to none, his talkative delivery glides you through the dance, making you feel as if every word is exactly in its right place. As well as MCing, SP is a renowned DJ in his own right, with his records garnering heavy rotation from D&B icons such as Andy C, DJ Marky, Friction & Goldie.

Joining the D&B crew we have veteran DJ & Nozstock regular Randall. with a career spanning over two decades, Randall has steadily built a reputation as one of the best DJ’s the UK has to offer, bringing an army weighty dubplates every time he steps up to DJ. A true D&B and Jungle legend, Randall’s set is never one to be missed.

Representing the Jump-up side of D&B, we have DJ & producer Turno. With a growing presence in the scene, Turno’s name is ever-present on lineups across the U.K, bringing a high energy- quick mixed pace to the dance. With bangers such as The Invaderz being heard frequently in the rave, Turno’s face-melters are sure to be blessing the D&B scene for years to come. Not for the faint hearted.

As per usual we have some pillars of the UK Hip-Hop community representing on The Garden stage. This year we’ve got iconic bar-spitters from across the isles, both past and present.

Mud Family originator and Finsbury Park icon Skinnyman, will be blessing our ears with his street wisdom-laced lyricism this year. Reinstating his importance as one of UK Hip-Hop’s most distinctive and important voices with a string of performances over the last few years, Skinnymans politically-charged bars motivated and inspired a generation of hiphop heads with unforgettable tunes such as “I’ll be surprised” and “Fuck the hook”  from the culturally profound “Council Estate of Mind” — and now he’s back, mic in hand, ready to do it all again.

Joining him we have two High Focus Records stalwarts ready to bring some bars to the Garden in Dabbla and Jam Baxter. Both rappers possess the unique ability to bounce, weave, duck and dodge between darkness-laden flows and bouncy jovial beats – balancing murkiness and playfulness as if it were notihing.

Baxter’s outlandish content & trailblazing style presents him as one fo the most enigmatically engrossing acts in the UK Hip-Hop scene. Known for old-school hip-hop staples such as Brains, these days Baxter tends to experiment with his flow and style – tracks such as “for a limited time only” and “mask” show his sonic exploration, but his signature personality always remains the most prevalent factor.

Dabbla’s dexterity from boom-bap to trap allows him to bring an energy to his music which permeates throughout his live performances – his rapid-fire flow has been known to cast a spell of carnage from stage to audience. From Psychoville to Death Moves, Dabbla’s lyrical skill and darkness casts a mesmerising spell when he’s on-mic – we can’t wait to see what these two High Focus OG’s have in store.

We’re delighted to welcome back genre-bending grime-punk fusers Pengshui. Made up of Prav (Foreign Beggars), Illaman and Submotion Orchestra’s Fatty, each artists brings a bag-full of musical pedigree, which combines to form a fiery blaze of musical energy. After last years performance there was no way we could keep them off the lineup this year. If you like your music hard, this isn’t one to miss. Here’s an example of the energy you can expect

Bringing the flavour this year we’re buzzing to see what our Boom Sound takeover has in offer. Head Honcho Gardna has steadily built a reputation out of Bristol with his mic-controlling mastery – from dancehall to reggae and D&B. Joining him we have MC and singer Eva Lazarus,slowly on her way to stardom, conquering each genre one by one – all while unsigned and self-managed. There’s nothing this woman can’t do, from reggae bangers with Mungos Hi-Fi (Amsterdam & Live my life), to big name crossovers with Swindle (Knowledge), Eva’s versatility presents her as one of the most exciting voices in the UK Bass scene right now.

Joining them for Boom Sound we have chameleonic DJ & producer Prince Fatty and his trusted MC Horseman. Both respected artists in their own right, Fatty and Horseman drew attention as a duo from a collection of dub-sprinkled, reggae-topped hip-hop covers. With tracks such as Shimmy Shimmy Ya and Insane in the Membrane getting dropped regularly at sound-system nights across the U.K, theres no doubt you’ve heard Fatty’s bouncing-steppas and Horseman’s deep patois flow in a dance near you. Not one to miss – it’s gonna be a lot of fun.

Joining them we have Boom Sound residents Kreed, Asbo Disco and Fat Stash who will be handling proceedings from the decks.

Representing the ever-growing UK Bassline scene, we have one of the scenes most prominent next-gen artists in Notion. With tracks such as Vex garnering support from UKF and B2B’s with baseline VIP’s Darkzy, Skepsis, Holy Goof and Bru-C, Notions stock is rising within the UK bass music community.

Reppin the Old School we have breakbeat & Hip-Hop DJ A Skillz. The U.K based artist is known for masterfully chopping and flexing funk with Hip-Hop (Poppa Soul) and we’re excited to see what his progressive mixing has in-store for us this year.

Rounding off the Garden stage this year we have Nozstock regulars Rumble in the Jungle, sure to bring the steppa style thats catapulted them to the forefront of Bristol’s lively music scene.