For Theo Fabunmi Stone, aka Bryce’s Brother, and Alex Dique, the London-based DJs, broadcasting and music research duo collectively known as 404 Eros, narrative, community and DIY ingenuity are at the heart of everything they do. As Stone puts it, “We always look at the story we want to tell and ask ourselves the best format for that.” In recent years, their shared ethos has manifested as themed DJ mixes and audio documentary pieces celebrating lovers rock, UK street soul, and Miami Bass, their beautifully packaged ‘5enses’ cassette mixtape series, and a risograph printed zine of early 1990s Memphis hip-hop album covers.
“Generally, we find an artist or a label that opens our minds up to a whole community of artists and the infrastructure around them,” Stone explains, mentioning South African bubblegum music and Detroit electro as examples. “One of the interesting parts is getting a sense of the undercurrents and the key players,” adds Dique. “With street soul, it was [the producer, filmmaker and social rights activist] Toyin Agbetu. Once you find those people, they help you explore the things happening around the music, allowing you to better contextualise it.”
Stone and Dique, who were raised in South and West London respectively, started DJing together in 2016 on Balamii Radio in Peckham. “We have really good memories of starting out on Balamii,” Dique recalls. Once a month, they’d play a two-hour set of jazz, broken beat, house and techno on the station before spending the rest of the afternoon and evening socialising in the area.
“We’d do our show, hang out with the guys at YAM Records next door, eat at Taco Queen, and then DJ at Rye Wax,” Stone enthuses. “Our show was 1-3 PM, so we played or talked about music from 1-9 PM on Friday in Peckham, which is such a fun time.” Eight years later, however, with the businesses Stone mentioned either permanently or temporarily closed, their memories almost feel like oral history from an increasingly distant era.
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