MOKOTRON - THE UNITED TRIBES OF BASS Release Show at Whammy
Friday, April 12 2024
Photographs by Josh Diprose
Words by Spike Keith
When I arrived at THE UNITED TRIBES OF BASS release show earlier this month, the music was already pumping as I descended the steps into Whammy Mainroom, finding a packed dance floor ready for tonight’s festivities. Tino rangatiratanga and United Tribes flags hung draped behind the stage, flown in the shadow of this current government’s erosion of Te Tiriti and tino rangatiratanga.
The United Tribes of Bass is the latest release from Tāmaki Makaurau-based producer MOKOTRON (Ngāti Hine) on Sunreturn. The project brings together Māori and Cook Island Māori electronic artists for an album remixing MOKOTRON’s steadily growing back-catalogue. MOKOTRON is one of the most exciting producers to come out of Aotearoa this decade, fusing breakbeat, electro, te reo and more into aural transmissions of sci-fi Māori futurism. Drawing on a lineage of techno collectives like Underground Resistance and Drexciya out of Detroit, or movements like darkside jungle in the UK, MOKOTRON’s stated aim of “decolonising the dancefloor” is an attempt to imagine alternative futures through music, and the communal space we share when experiencing it.
Big Fat Raro aka Tokerau Brown (ia, Kuki Airani) performed a set that was off the wall and off-kilter in the best way, with him reigning his desk of synths and pedals into a techno-tinged dancefest. A highlight was his remix of Colonised Existence, retitled DECOLONIZE EXISTENCE, a reimagining of the original track’s message with new vocals into a squelchy acid dance anthem. Akcept (Ngāti, Porou/Tūhoe) then took over as the next artist up, pulling out a barrage of steppy bassweight tracks with tribal percussion flairs that shook the room and the dancers contained inside. After finishing off his set with his stellar dubby halftime remix of HĪRERETIA RĀ, MOKOTRON took centre stage at Whammy, the room ripe with anticipation for his appearance. He launched into his absolutely electric live set, dropping live vocoded vocals and taonga puoro over some of his heaviest electro and techno-influenced tracks, and a few unreleased songs that took his sound in a much more garage-influenced and club-ready direction.
Caru was next for another DJ set, launching into his signature style of dark uptempo garage and drum workout tunes, not to mention spinning his stellar remix of TAWHITO, chopping the original breakbeat track up into a choppy and steppy club track. Netana finished off the night with a killer drum and bass set, topped off with his remix of GUIDING STAR.
THE UNITED TRIBES OF BASS release show was a vision of a path forward, where electronic music and Māori identity fuse to create truly future worlds, and bring people into that world through the transcendental power of the dancefloor.
Hunter Keane, MOKOTRON + guests took us through the remixes on THE UNITED TRIBES OF BASS during Totally Wired’s segment ‘Long Player’. For the full rundown of the album, listen here.
95bFM 
