In this series, I explore the grassroots music scene, examining the key players, their roles, and the insights they can offer to Joyzine and its readers.
Peckham based duo RadarBase (Mark & Adam), emerged in 2024, fuelled by a passion for ’90s alternative dance music, carrying its raw energy into the present. At the core of the project is a fusion of dystopian lyricism and cyberpunk-inspired cinematic visuals. The name RadarBase reflects a fictional world of outsiders living under an authoritarian regime, finding rebellion and release on the dance floor in the shadow of the radar base.
How did you and Adam get together?
I had wanted to do a band like RadarBase for a long time but had never been able to find the right person for it. Adam was advertising locally for musicians for a new band. I thought the music he’d written so far would be perfect for it so I set in motion a nefarious plan to establish trust, undermine his band then convince him to do RadarBase with me! It didn’t take much convincing as we found we had a shared love for 90s alternative dance music (Produgy , Underworld, Leftfield etc), Britpop and then the indie post-punk with dance energy bands that came after, LCD, Hard-fi, Bloc Party, Franz etc. With the music he’d written already and the material I’d been working on myself it all came together really quickly.
Your lyrics can be quite reflective, yet the overall sound is anthemic and uplifting. Is that contrast something you consciously aim for?
It’s conscious in the sense that we created the RadarBase environment and aesthetic in which to place the songs in. The themes are often about finding joy and hope whilst living under the shadow of an authoritative regime, rampant corporatisation and general enshitification of everything. Having established this, it will then come out unconsciously during the writing and arranging process.
What is your writing process?
The most significant part of our writing process is our listening sessions. It sounds obvious, but listening carefully to the music is so important. Talking through themes, concepts and arrangement ideas is where we shape the initial ideas. Too many previous experiences I’ve had have involved way too much much hammering away before establishing a clear purpose. To keep perspective, we try and have multiple pieces on the go at any one time and we’re both constantly throwing new ideas into the pot so the listening sessions are the focalpoint where we work through these and bring everything together.
With fans singing every word, is the live show your biggest motivation?
At this stage , yes definitely. We have longer term plans to do an album that will be more conceptual with cinematic segues between songs. But an album is something that will happen organically at the right time if and when there is sufficient interest in what we’re doing. Where we are right now, it’s all about the in-your-face stuff with the big choruses that get everyone involved at the live show.
If you could time-travel back to the ’90s, who would be your ultimate dream act to open for?
The Prodigy! As daunting a prospect as that would be! Especially during that Jilted / Fat of the Land period which we both love. The Prodigy is without doubt, the strongest intersection of our shared influences
Have you got any shows coming up?
19th February at The Dublin Castle. It’s such a great vibey venue, we had a great show back in November at Electroniq with Lucida Records, and we can’t wait to come back next next month along with a couple of new bangers to throw into the mix
RadarBase socials | Instagram | Bandcamp
Article by Mr Laurence
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