UGLYFUNK

Uglyfunk is fast becoming one of Britain's most prestigious underground techno labels on the scene today. Originally conceived as a mere launch party for Scott Robinson's debut EP on cluster, the label and night itself has since grown to inconceivable proportions and one could plausibly say is filling a gap in a scene that has sadly been overlooked by many.
The initial concept behind the formation of Uglyfunk stemmed from the fact that scene had become saturated with a monotonous, unadventurous sound that was becoming increasingly less inspiring to both the punter and the agitated onlookers. Realising the sounds he wanted to hear just weren't available, Grant Barber decided to set up his own label which would branch away from the relentless formulated techno the scene had to offer and steer away from the over experimental sounds that were killing the dance floor...and thus the unique formula of Uglyfunk was derived.
Beginning at the 'Amorphous' nights in Leicester, Uglyfunk began its road to success by playing a variety of venues across the East Midlands from Club City in Leicester to the Marcus Garvey in Nottingham with guests such as Tobias Schmidt, Oliver Ho, Subhead, Chris McCormack, Mark EG and Space DJz gracing it's line-up's. As things began to take off, a tour around Europe was next on the agenda, as they took their unique funked up style to Czech, Hungary and France, breaking the customary 180bpm of most surrounding systems.
By 2000, things were really starting to kick off as relocation to London was imminent and 2 nights followed suit. These were an immense success and only went to further the determination of the Uglyfunk crew in their aim of providing a difference to an otherwise saturated scene. With names such as Tobias Schmidt, Paul Gannaway, Groove Asylum and Rob Stow on the line-up, Uglyfunk were showing they were definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Finally in June 2001, Uglyfunk released its first EP by Mark Hawkins, DJ, producer and promoter of Uglyfunk. This was not the first release for Mark Hawkins who has been DJing for 5 years and producing for 3, previously releasing stuff on a spilt EP with Michael Forshaw, Djax Up Beats, Pro-Jex, Ibrahim Alfa's Automatic before releasing Foot and Mouth on Uglyfunk. This was a sign of things to come as reviews poured back and it received critical acclaim. To follow, Uglyfunk were to stage their biggest night since their outset with a line up to die for featuring techno legend Neil Landstrumm, Subhead, Sativae main man Steve Glencross, Cut_out and Mark Hawkins. A multitude of highly successful nights have followed, the most recent being the the Angel that saw Jackstar main man Paul Langley rockin it up to a mentalist crowd.
On the production side, Uglyfunk 2 has just been released with trax by Scott Robinson, ED-IT, Data Bomber AKA Esther Ofei and Danish Djax/Pro-Jex artist, Ruben Andersen. Uglyfunk 3 is also due to be released in the near future with trax by Uglyfunk's own Mark Hawkins, called 'Diabolical Liberties'. This is just one of many release that Mark Hawkins has on release, for has also got tracks due for release on Horspielmusik and Jackstar, as well as DJing across the country and Europe with nights such as God on 21st December and Stammheim , Kassel in Germany on New Years Eve coming up on the horizon.
Uglyfunk has filled a void that has sadly been forgotten in the techno world, moving away from the formulaic repetitive loops of the norm, they have chosen to provide nights and trax swimming in funked up beats and bucket loads of bass.