The beat goes on: coz it's all about the bass

Run your finger through the history of techno and you'll eventually come to the source: Belleville, Detroit, in the mid-1980s.

It was here that the Belleville Three - Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins and Derrick May - first melded Chicago house, funk, electro and electric jazz to create the blueprint for techno music.

Clubbing is threaded with the histories of warehouse raves, inner-city politics and underground counterculture and its early soundtrack was a blend of techno and acid house: alternative electronic music.

Nearly three decades after techno's inception in Detroit, one of its founding fathers, Kevin Saunderson, was on the decks at a small basement nightclub in Rosebank, at a weekly event called TOYTOY.

I talked with Fabio di Cosmo - owner, promoter and DJ at And Club and the legendary TOYTOY events - about the history of techno in Johannesburg and how a niche event that used to lose money became one of the city's biggest underground dance music parties.

Reflecting on his initiation into Johannesburg nightlife during the 1990s, Di Cosmo recounted stories of a club called Idols which would later become the iconic ESP. During the mid-1990s, inner-city Johannesburg loved rave music and Di Cosmo immersed himself in that scene. He started to draw a distinction between the music he was hearing on the radio and the alternative, electronic dance music that reverberated through city raves. He decided to DJ, regularly rummaging for vinyls at House Africa Records, on Louis Botha Avenue, and it was here that he first met fellow DJ Graham Hector AKA G-Force.

In 1997 Di Cosmo moved to London and when he returned to Joburg in 2000 the rave scene had fizzled. Deep house was taking off in a big way, and although he enjoyed the sound, Di Cosmo felt it wasn't party music.

Realising Johannesburg club culture was missing an alternative electronic scene, he and Ryan Vermaak (Dogstarr) began throwing their own parties.

The first TOYTOY was a one-off event at Carfax, and saw the venue draped with inflatable toys. The aim was to fill a gap in Johannesburg's club culture, offering the best of alternative electronic dance music, and attracting international and local talent. Often they would lose money.

"We used to spend ridiculous amounts of money on sound. Double, triple the amount of money that other promoters would spend because we believed this was the most important part of the event," said Di Cosmo.

Undeterred, they decided to host the event weekly. The first was held in the basement of Capital Music Café in Rosebank. "On the first night we had about 30 people and we had an international DJ. It was horrific. We thought, 'What have we done?'

"Slowly, somehow, we started connecting with an audience and people started coming."

It was during their time at Capital that Saunderson featured in the line-up. At this stage TOYTOY drew an older crowd, many of whom were friends of the organisers, but it was starting to attract younger people, which the organisers found heartening.

From early on, the organisers of TOYTOY were fanatical about the sound quality, investing in the best systems. "People felt the music. Really in their bodies. The bass was powerful. Without that, TOYTOY wouldn't be what it is now."

When Vermaak and Di Cosmo opened the first And Club in the basement of Braamfontein's Alexandra Theatre, TOYTOY became the Friday night party. They later moved And Club to Gwi Gwi Mrwebi Street in Newtown, and were "absolutely pedantic" about how they wanted the space laid out.

The crowd travel mostly from the northern suburbs, but some come from as far as Pretoria and Centurion.

"I'm a firm believer in inner-city clubbing" says Di Cosmo. "I just don't think it should be in the suburbs. At all. From a noise-level point of view, to people out on the streets. And just the edginess of what the city brings you."

The predominantly white party-goers at TOYTOY are not representative of Johannesburg's inner-city working class but they have become significant participants in the city's night culture, where TOYTOY features prominently in the weekly calendar. Today the party attracts about 500 clubbers weekly and features top international and local acts.

Because the music and the immersion are the main focus, TOYTOY doesn't allow photographs, and cellphones are discouraged.

"We don't want you on your phone" says Fabio. "It's about bringing you into the music. Close your eyes".

The next TOYTOY is on tonight at And Club in Newtown. www.and.nutickets.co.za