A few weeks ago John Pell a pioneer of the Wellington's electronic and Dub scene passed away.
On Saturday 4th of July a bunch of his friends are throwing a Memorial Party to celebrate his life.
There will be a Super Sound System created by Mayhem Sound, Laundry and Third eye Hi-Fi. Plus a number of Wellington DJs on the ones and twos.... Danny Lemon, Benthamism, plus more to come.
All proceeds from the event will be going towards John's funeral costs and tidying up his affairs.
The memorial party will be held at Afters Bar in Dixon street.
About John...
He was born n raised in Wellington, From an early age john took keen interest in music, Often making up mix tapes to hand out to his friends.
In the early 90's he worked at the Carpark Club in Wellington.
In 1992 John moved to London where he was entertainment and venue manager at legendary club The Vox, just off the Brixton High Street in London. As well as DJing under the name Roast Chicken, John was the booker for club night The Institute of Dubology, which featured the breath of talent working in reggae and dub at the time. This included legendary sound systems such as Coxsone Dodd, Channel One and On-U, producers including the Mad Professor, Adrian Sherwood, Andrew Wetherall, Rockers hi-fi, Youth, The Orb, and Renegade Soundwave, and regular live acts such as LKJ and the Dub band, African Head Charge, Bim Sherman, Revolutionary Dub Warriors … and many more.
Connections and friendships that John made at that time persisted to this day.
John returned to Wellington with a new DJ name - Goosebump - and set up Bass Nation, then Bass Tech, to bring the music and musicians he loved to Aotearoa.
Many tours took place, including Lee Scratch Perry, Sly & Robbie, Michael Rose, Carl Craig, Mr Scruff, Rockers Hi-Fi, Mad Professor, Asian Dub Foundation, Bomb the Bass, Dry & Heavy, and AudioActive. John did it all!
