15 Years Gretchen

30 YEARS RECYCLE feat. Congo Natty + Alley Cat

Gretchen, Berlin · Map

This night happened — Sat 10 Oct · 11:59pm → 6am Sun

12 € – 20 € · 18+ · Good Day Berlin Kultur und Veranstaltungen GmbH · Bass · Drum & Bass

Press play

Alley Cat

On Resident Advisor

Who was billed15 artists

In the order the promoter listed them.

Set times were not published.

Most of these pairings were meeting for the first time that night.

the pairs that have met

63 of the 105 pairings on this bill were first meetings.

Mc Jamie White and Box1 — 7 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Survey and Mc Jamie White — 7 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Mc Jamie White and Impulse Basskultur — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Mc Jamie White and Mr. Jay (Recycle/D) — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Survey and Mr. Jay (Recycle/D) — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Survey and Box1 — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Mc Jamie White and Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D) — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Sat 13 Sep 2025.
Box1 and RECYCLE — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Sat 9 Aug 2025.
Mc Jamie White and Deviate — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Survey and Deviate — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Box1 and Mr. Jay (Recycle/D) — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Sat 9 Aug 2025.
Box1 and Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D) — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Sat 9 Aug 2025.
Mc Jamie White and RECYCLE — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Sat 25 Oct 2025.
Box1 and Impulse Basskultur — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D) and Impulse Basskultur — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
RECYCLE and Mr. Jay (Recycle/D) — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Sat 9 Aug 2025.
Flower (Recycle/D) and Deviate — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Flower (Recycle/D) and Impulse Basskultur — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Impulse Basskultur and Deviate — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Mr. Jay (Recycle/D) and Deviate — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Mr. Jay (Recycle/D) and Flower (Recycle/D) — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Mr. Jay (Recycle/D) and Impulse Basskultur — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Mc Jamie White and Flower (Recycle/D) — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Survey and Flower (Recycle/D) — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Survey and Impulse Basskultur — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Mr. Jay (Recycle/D) and Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D) — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Sat 9 Aug 2025.
Survey and RECYCLE — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Sat 10 Oct 2026.
Box1 and Box 2 — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Sat 11 Oct 2025.
Bassism and Deviate — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Bassism and Impulse Basskultur — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Box1 and Bassism — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Box1 and Deviate — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Box1 and Flower (Recycle/D) — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Flower (Recycle/D) and Bassism — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Flower (Recycle/D) and Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D) — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Mr. Jay (Recycle/D) and Bassism — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D) and Bassism — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D) and Deviate — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Mc Jamie White and Bassism — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Survey and Bassism — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
Survey and Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D) — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Thu 2 Oct 2025.
RECYCLE and Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D) — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Sat 9 Aug 2025.

Berlin 1996. Ein Ort, der wie kaum ein anderer, ein absoluter Magnet war - und immer noch ist - für Kreativität jeglicher Art. Genau hier treffen sich in diesem Jahr eine kleine Gruppe gleichgesinnter, um ihrer Passion für ein Musikgenre eine Plattform zu geben. Ein Genre, das selbst noch in den Windeln steckte und gerade erst begann, klare Richtlinien zu definieren: Drum‘n‘Bass.

Und jetzt schauen wir zurück auf drei Dekaden voller wundervoller Momente. Wir feiern 30 Jahre Recycle - Berlin's finest Drum'n'Bass. Von uns im Icon gegründet und im Gretchen fortgeführt, ist Recycle damit europaweit (und ggfs. auch weltweit) die am längsten existierende und regelmäßig stattfindende Drum'n'Bass-Reihe.

Wir sind - genau wie unsere lokalen Residents N'Dee oder MC Jamie White - mit Recycle erwachsen geworden. Wir sind stolz darauf, dass wir noch immer Besucher*innen der ersten Stunde unter unseren Stammgäst*innen haben. Vor und hinter den Kulissen haben sich Freundschaften fürs Leben gebildet - und wir sind glücklich, dass sich mit uns eine solch enge Gemeinschaft mit teils familiären Bindungen entwickeln konnte. Zahlreiche internationale Künstler*innen wie Fabio oder Grooverider - die Wegbereiter des Drum'n'Bass in UK - zählen ebenfalls seit 30 Jahren zu den von uns gebuchten Acts und sind Teil der Familie.

Mit Recycle halten wir die Fahne hoch für einen Musikstil, der immer wieder für tot erklärt wurde und wird, dessen Musiker*innen sowie die kleine, feine Fangemeinde sich aber eigensinnig gegen dessen Verfall stellen bzw. sich gleichzeitig gegen eine Kommerzialisierung (wie z.B. im Dubstep) wehren.

Der 30. Geburtstag steht im Zeichen der Vergangenheit, die hier auch noch Gegenwart und hoffentlich auch Zukunft ist. Mit Congo Natty aka Rebel MC, Pionier im Jungle (und damit indirekt von Drum'n'Bass), kommt ein Urgestein ins Gretchen. Die in London lebende US-Amerikanerin Alley Cat ist seit 1997 treue Weggefährtin. Auch der Mannheimer DJ Bassface Sascha ist seit Ende der 1990 mit uns am Start.

Fehlen dürfen natürlich nicht unsere lokale Recycle-Family sowie unsere befreundeten Drum'n'Bass und Bass-Crews Impulse Basskultur, deviate und Bassism.

Eine Veranstaltung im Rahmen vom TAG DER CLUBKULTUR.

Für diese Veranstaltung bieten wir ermäßigte Tickets an, um auch Menschen mit kleinerem Portmonee Zugang zu Kultur zu ermöglichen. Diese Kontingente sind limitiert und nur bei TixforGigs verfügbar. Wir vertrauen auf Eure Selbsteinschätzung: Wenn ihr könnt, bucht Standard-Tickets und überlasst die ermäßigten Kontingente denjenigen, die gerade sehr sparen müssen.

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For this event we offer discounted tickets to give people with less money still access to culture. These quotas are limited and only available at TixforGigs. We trust in your self-assessment: If you can, please book standard tickets and leave the reduced tickets to those who have to save money at the moment.

from the promoter’s listing on Resident Advisor

Who they are

Congo Natty
London, United Kingdom
“Mikail Tafari aka Congo Natty aka Conquering Lion aka X Project aka Rebel MC has lived a fascinating life but, he says, his story isn't really his story, it isn't about him.”
their own biography
the whole biography
Mikail Tafari aka Congo Natty aka Conquering Lion aka X Project aka Rebel MC has lived a fascinating life but, he says, his story isn't really his story, it isn't about him. “It’s the journey of my ancestors – the journey of the children of slaves.” Mikail, then just plain Michael West, grew up in Tottenham. His father came from Kingston, Jamaica, his mother from Wales. He didn't even know that this was unusual until he started at school and someone commented that his mother was white. Looking back, before that he didn't really know what race was or was meant to represent. Music was an ever-present, not just from his parents, but all around him. He first DJed at a party aged ten, when the DJ got “lean up” and he had to take over. He got a pound for his troubles and felt puffed up with the praise. The local youth club, Trojan, invited soundsystems in every Friday for a dance and every Friday he was there. Before he was twenty he and some friends started their own soundsystem, Beat Freak, playing hip hop, reggae and the house records that were just starting to penetrate the streets of London from Chicago and New York. Love of music ran alongside a need to take care of business and a healthy disrespect for the law. “We didn’t have anywhere to play so we had to break into places, then set up a dance and charge at the door.” Playing out with the sound led Rebel to record. He had a crazy mix he did with a beat and the Eastenders theme tune, so he found a studio where he could make a version and put a rap over the top. Having done one, his appetite for the process grew. He wanted to get back in and do more, develop his ideas a bit more, work it out. It was this urge to spend more time in a studio that led him to Double Trouble. He was flicking through a music magazine looking for somewhere cheap to record and he came across a place in New Cross that was only £5 an hour. It was Double Trouble’s studio. He started working out of there and, at some point, they all decided to collaborate. The results were “Just Keep Rockin’” and “Street Tuff.” It’s easy to hear them now as pop music (although the blueprint for grime’s chart ascent 15 years later was in there, too). That wasn’t how they were envisaged. “They were still kinda hard tunes. They were breakbeats with reggae samples and everything. They weren’t started off as being pop tunes. We done the tunes in New Cross and then they were floating around for about a year. We’d started recording other stuff, still growing and moving. Then all of a sudden there was a label that was interested.” Tafari sums up the experience of being fed into – and then spat out of – the mainstream music business. “At first it’s all good. At first. It’s a bit like Hansel and Gretel when they get to the house and they’re hungry and there’s all sweets and so on. But then you start to feel a little bit sick and then we all know what happens next. The machine that loved you decides it hates you.” Rebel MC had already moved on, too fast for the backlash to harm him. With the albums “Black Meaning Good” and “Word Sound And Power,” and the single (and label) “Tribal Base” he was already marking out the roots of what would become Jungle. He started and ran a series of labels, Tribal Bass, then X Project, then eventually Congo Natty, from which came some of the defining releases of the day. “There was a revolution of self. Artists realised they could do it better than the labels. Because the labels were blind right then. Every ten or fifteen years you get to that point with the labels where they’re out of touch. I started my label X Project – without no name – cos I didn’t want people knowing it was me. Because once they know it’s you, ‘Oh, it’s Rebel MC, it’s Street Tuff innit?’ Without that it’s free. You’re free.” From ’92 to ’94 he and others developed Jungle into the defining sound of the era, one which musicians are still coming to terms with to this day. Jungle took the bass of roots and dub reggae and reinvented it. “Jungle carries a sonic that is so mystical that if you entered a dance in 1994 you went through a portal. And you were there, in the zone. B-line, unadulterated b-line. Jungle came with this frequency that shocked everything in British music.” For Tafari, “Jungle was a revolution. Jungle was the first time we’d got our own music, our own way of talking, our own way of dressing. Everything. And it’s from this fusion of British, African, Indian, Jamaican, Chinese – this melting pot. And that’s Jungle music.” But, like all revolutions, the powers that be wanted it shut down. Its high water mark was, in Rebel’s own judgement, the Notting Hill Carnival of 1994. “I saw what Jungle did at Carnival. The vibration got so hyped until it just went crazy. The frequency got so powerful. And that’s why Jungle got the fight it did. How did we go from that to drum and bass? Jungle is like a mirror that was broken into many, many pieces.” This reaction coincided with a profound change in Tafari’s spiritual life, as this was the year he embraced Ras Tafari. “I saw Ras Tafari, Haile Selassie I and that changed my life. I took on the realms of Ras Tafari as a Rastaman. But the journey of Ras Tafari is not just about saying ‘I’m a Ras Tafari’ and wearing the colours and the natty and everything. It’s more about the life. The journey. We’re all imperfect. Everyone has sinned – and will sin. As a Rastaman we’re trying to eradicate negative traits – hate, anger, aggression. All these things are based on fear. Ras Tafari in one word is love. And it’s living love. True love is the hardest thing to live by. You have to love your enemy. You have to bless someone who’s cursing you. I’m not on that level. I’d love to be on that level. To be like Gandhi. He don’t get angry. I get angry!” From his father, Rebel bought the house in Tottenham he’d grown up in and ran his operations from there, surrounded by his family, his old bedroom now his studio, his living room full of the 12”s he was pressing and selling. “My yard was full of tune – like a warehouse! We’d broken away from the whole machine. We were running our own mechanism, our own threads.” He combined his Tottenham operations with making trips to Jamaica to reconnect Jungle with the culture from which it had taken its most important influences. Here he made contact with Rasta communities as well as playing Jungle in the heart of the Kingston slums, the experience of which led to the release of the album, “Tribute To Emperor Haile Selassie I.” But the business of selling music became less important as Rebel’s spirituality grew. “As a Rastman you have to ask what you’re aiming for. My aim was always to get to Ethiopia and get out of Babylon. Getting out of Babylon meant gathering the family, getting rid of all the things that tie us down. And that was the point of my journey. So when I was making the music now, this music was going to set me free. But also was a message, an important message for this time. So it got to the point where it wasn’t about the music business for me.” In 2007, he and his family finally left and moved to Shashamane, the land Emperor Haile Selassie I left to the Rasta and other Caribbean citizens who wanted to return to Africa. It was a whole other world – daily power outages, no running water, whatever you wanted being built by your own hands, as well as the single largest Rasta community in the world. But something was tugging Rebel back. The importance of the visionary – of literally seeing and hearing guidance from Jah – is a central but misunderstood part of Rastafari. Mikail Tafari is a visionary twice over. Jah told him to return to the UK and make music. He tried to ignore it, but when things began to go wrong with the business he’d left in London – which was supposed to pay him the income his extended family were relying on – he knew it was time to go back to Babylon. He arrived in the UK in late 2008 “with thirteen quid. I got three little ones and two bigger ones and my wife. And thirteen pound. That’s not a good look. So at that point I started again.” That new start reaches its culmination, its zenith, with “Jungle Revolution.” Ten tracks long, featuring all of the extended Congo Natty family (plus, in the form of Skip McDonald and Adrian Sherwood, a healthy link to On-U Sound as well), it clearly lays out the way in which Rebel sees Jungle as a re-boot of roots reggae for a new century. Full of blood and fire, the sternum-buzz of sub-bass, rapid fire drum breaks, sweet hooks, righteous anger and professions of love, it’s the kind of passionate, committed, raw and spiritual, beautiful record that doesn’t come along that often. “The message of reggae is Ras Tafari and Ras Tafari is love. They sang about love your brother but they was also prophesying and talking about the system, talking about things that were going on in the world. I saw Jungle as being that same music, where we were going to spread a message. “Jungle is a part of all musics. It’s not just this new music. Blues man are junglist. Jazz man are junglist. Hear their story – it’s jungle’s story. You see this journey over and over again. The journey is the journey of the African slave. If you look at music, what these people have given to the world – Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, whoever – it all comes from suffering. From poverty, from racism. And this music keeps coming out of their soul. And I see Jungle as our soul in the 21st century. But this time it’s got no colour. It’s not the black man’s story no more. It’s our story. We’re all in a kind of slavery now. Modern day slavery, mental slavery.” He stops and takes another pull of ganja. “I got my army greens on for a reason – I’m running a revolution.”
Alley Cat
London, United Kingdom
“Extended biography: 2024 was a seminal year for Alley Cat - who has been DJing since 1997 — It was the year she released her debut artist album ‘The Widow Project.’”
their own biography
the whole biography
Extended biography: 2024 was a seminal year for Alley Cat - who has been DJing since 1997 — It was the year she released her debut artist album ‘The Widow Project.’ Selected as one of Bandcamp’s Best of Electronic Releases of the year , as well as receiving a 5* Review from Joe Muggs via The Arts Desk - ‘The Widow Project’ also charted in iTunes / Apple Dubstep for over 5 weeks continuously. 2025 will include more releases for the DJ / Producer on her own imprint Kokeshi as well as on other labels —- In the meantime catch her on her Kool FM radio show broadcast live at the Rinse FM Studios in East London.
SoundCloud ↗Bandcamp ↗Discography ↗
Their RA profile lists Offshore Recordings, Kokeshi and Reinforced Records.
Survey
Berlin · 8 bookings since Oct 2025
Their RA profile lists Flexout Audio, Eternia Music and DSCI4.
Last at Gretchen in Aug · often with N'Dee (Recycle/D), Box2, BOX1:RECYCLE, none of them here that night
Mc Jamie White
Berlin · 19 bookings since Sep 2025
“Jamie is a Mc legend coming from the capitol city of germany , Berlin.”
their own biography
the whole biography
Jamie is a Mc legend coming from the capitol city of germany , Berlin. He was the first generation of Junglists in this country, doing it since the early 90's, when he started to write lyrics he was only 15. On the mic for almost any big name in the Jungle/D&B scene (name one ..) he was booked all over europe, asia and the usa. In 2000 he was booked as the first Jungle/D&B artist to the UK. He performed in London, Bristol and Oxford and this wasn't the last time he stood on stage in the motherland of the genre. Up to now he's still one of the most mentioned Mc's and it seems like he's not willing to quit yet! He's also working for one of the main Clubs for Jungle/D&B, and any other kind of leftfield beats aswell, the Berlin Venue Club Gretchen where they run the "Recycle - Berlin's finest Drum'n'Bass" events which he is part of since the very beginning in 1996.
Their RA profile lists BMG and Universal Music.
Recently at Gretchen, Bi Nuu, DSTRKT Club Berlin · often with N'Dee (Recycle/D), Box2, Tommy Lexxus, none of them here that night
Box1
13 bookings since Aug 2025
Last at Gretchen in Oct · often with Box2, N'Dee (Recycle/D), Dirty Plates, none of them here that night
RECYCLE
4 bookings since Aug 2025
Recently at Gretchen · often with Box2, Antibling:Promassive, none of them here that night
Bassface Sascha (Future/Stereotype/D)
N'Dee (Recycle/D) *live
Mr. Jay (Recycle/D)
5 bookings since Aug 2025
Last at Gretchen in Jun · often with Box2, Clee (D), Barry T (BF Rec/BassFieber/D), none of them here that night
Flower (Recycle/D)
3 bookings since Oct 2025
Last at Gretchen in Jun · often with N'Dee (Recycle/D), MC Mace (Recycle/D), Clee (D), none of them here that night
Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D)
5 bookings since Aug 2025
Recently at Gretchen · often with N'Dee (Recycle/D), Soniq, Box2, none of them here that night
Box 2
6 bookings since Aug 2025
Recently at Gretchen · often with Box 1, Knieseberger, Laurin, none of them here that night
Bassism
2 bookings since Oct 2025
Recently at Gretchen
Impulse Basskultur
5 bookings since Oct 2025
Last at Gretchen in Jun · often with N'Dee (Recycle/D), Box2, Soniq, none of them here that night
Deviate
4 bookings since Oct 2025
Last at Gretchen in Jun · often with N'Dee (Recycle/D), MC Mace (Recycle/D), Clee (D), none of them here that night

names these artists often play with — not that night

Box28 with Box1, 8 with Mc Jamie White, 3 with Impulse Basskultur, 3 with Mr. Jay (Recycle/D), 3 with Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D), 3 with Survey and 2 with RECYCLE
N'Dee (Recycle/D)10 with Mc Jamie White, 6 with Box1, 4 with Impulse Basskultur, 3 with Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D), 3 with Survey, 2 with Deviate and 2 with Flower (Recycle/D)
Soniq4 with Mc Jamie White, 3 with Impulse Basskultur and 3 with Rollin MC (VUP/Carepack/D)
Barry T (BF Rec/BassFieber/D)2 with Deviate, 2 with Flower (Recycle/D) and 2 with Mr. Jay (Recycle/D)
Clee (D)2 with Deviate, 2 with Flower (Recycle/D) and 2 with Mr. Jay (Recycle/D)
BOX1:RECYCLE5 with Mc Jamie White and 2 with Survey
BOX2:BASSISM4 with Mc Jamie White and 2 with Survey
MC Mace (Recycle/D)2 with Deviate and 2 with Flower (Recycle/D)

141 said they were going — busier than a usual Saturday at Gretchen.

how this compares

Median final count, Saturdays at Gretchen73
Middle half finished between22 and 151
Past Saturdays at this venue counted34
Counted7 on Tue 11 Aug, 141 on Sat 17 Oct

The room

Gretchen — 236 events and 654 distinct artists since Aug 2025.

Most-tagged here: Jazz (27), Electronica (23), Bass (6), Funk / Soul (6) and Hip-Hop (6). genre tags on this room’s listings

Who put it on

Good Day Berlin Kultur und Veranstaltungen GmbH — 215 events and 550 artists since Aug 2025.

Also that night

how these 3 are connected

Fever AM X Banoffee Pies (Tickets Available at the Door) — RA tags both listings bass — and that one also dub.
Machine Lab: Clubnight with Live Acts & DJs - Techno, Trance, DnB — shares 22 artists with this room, Upzet among them.
SOUP — shares 10 artists with this room, Upzet among them.

Links on this listing

Gretchen