Popular drum and bass night Squiggle Dee Mash, which ran for four years from 1998-2002, returns this October after two decades in the wilderness.
Headlining is DJ Rap, ably supported by Ragga Twins and former resident DJs Sappo, Mark XTC and DJ Prophecy.
The event, at Bee House, Deansgate Locks, also promises live PAs from Howie Jacobs from Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, who will drum along to Sappo’s beats and a new collaboration between Mandy Wigby (Lionrock, Sister of Transistors, Architects of Rosslyn) and Kerin aka Che3kz.
Squiggle Dee Mash promoter Ottilia Ordog, who was a University of Salford student when she launched the night in 1998, says she put its trademark fun and easy-going atmosphere down to a number of things, not least the event’s deliberately silly and non-threatening sounding name.
She said: “When I started Squiggle Dee Mash during my second year at university, Manchester’s clubland was not very welcoming of drum and bass nights, and jungle music had a particularly bad reputation with venue owners.
“I chose the name because I wanted something that sounded fun rather than dark and menacing, especially since most clubs didn’t want to host us when they found out we played jungle and drum and bass.
“Some people loved the name, others really hated it, but no one could ignore it!”
Ottilia said her dream was to operate a night that felt like a festival and where everyone was welcome, both students and Mancunians. This, she said, was another key to the night’s peaceful and unique presence.
“As well as the best jungle DJs and MCs, we always had live entertainment including dancers, drummers, fire breathers and jugglers,” she said, “and we would decorate the venues we took over, often taking days to make everything by hand. The festival vibe was very important to Squiggle Dee Mash and set us apart from other events.
“Lots of our regulars started to wear fancy dress outfits. One used to dress up as a witchdoctor. We always said to people that they could get in for free if they added to the entertainment, so people would turn up with didgeridoos and all sorts.”
She also said that her diminutive stature may have played some role in keeping the peace in troubled late 90s clubland.
“I’m a five foot nothing Transylvanian drum and bass and jungle fanatic!,” she said.
“I was nobody’s idea of threatening and, being tiny and female, perhaps I was able to get away with being a bit cheeky without offending anyone.”
Squiggle Dee Mash was a nomadic event, popping up at different venues over the years, including Generation X, Club Havana, UMIST Underground and K2 at Manchester Metropolitan University Students Union, showcasing the likes of Fabio, Shy FX, SS, Kenny Kenn and Brockie, alongside local D&B talent.
Ottilia, now 44 and mum to a four-year-old, went on to work at a young people’s recording studio, Gorse Hill Studios in Stretford, alongside managing Tony Wilson’s grime signing Raw-T.
She eventually set up her own music organisation called BeatBazaar, which runs music and cultural projects for young people, including pan-European exchanges and promotes Manchester’s annual Transylvanian festival Gobefest.
She said that after 20 years, the time just felt right to bring her night back.
“I met up with uni friends after Covid,” she said, “and we all started talking about it. And when I tried our former residents Sappo, Mark XTC and DJ Prophecy, they were all well up for it. It all just started coming together like it was meant to be.”
The full line up for Squiggle Dee Mash 2022, which promises two rooms of jungle, drum and bass, hardcore, hip hop and house is DJ Rap, Ragga Twins, Sappo, Mark XTC, DJ Prophecy, Outlander, Diemond’ED, Veba, MC Madrush, MC Crystalize, MC Chilla and Kerin aka Che3kz (live PA).
Squiggle Dee Mash is at Bee House, Deansgate Locks, Manchester M1 5LH on Friday 21 October 2022 10-4am. Tickets are £12 plus booking fee
