Drum and Bass Artist Roni Size to Set World Record for Deepest Rave, 1,375 Feet Below a Welsh Mountain

Hardcore ravers - including a DMY reporter - will descend into a Cwmorthin slate mine with G-SHOCK Sessions as part of a pioneering sound experiment.

Next Thursday 15 October, drum and bass artist Roni Size will play a one-off G-SHOCK Sessions event 1,375 feet below a mountain in Wales, in an attempt to set a world record for the deepest underground rave.

Joining Roni will be a DMY reporter and a limited number of ravers, who have the chance to participate in the event via public ballot.

To reach the dancefloor, Roni and the ravers must traverse dark underground passages, zip lines, ravines and abseils in the abandoned Cwmorthin slate mine in Eryri, North Wales.

The unique event is part of a sound experiment that will capture the mine’s seismic response to the music and feed it back into Roni Size’s mix. The performance will be broadcast via Starlink on G-Shock Radio, so those at home can follow along. The full set will later be available on Mixcloud.

Places for the event will be allocated through a public ballot at https://gshock.casio.com/uk/mudman, with entries closing on 9 October.

For Roni Size, the underground setting marks a return to his roots, coming up through Bristol’s sound-system and rave scenes. A Mercury Prize winner, he shaped the early sound of jungle and drum and bass and brought it to wider audiences.

Speaking on the one-of-a-kind experience, Roni Size says: “Back in Bristol, we’d put on a party wherever we could, and some of the sounds came from what we called happy accidents, playing a track at the wrong speed, hearing something that sounds new but still works. Raves could take place in some crazy and unexpected places, on someone's front lawn, down in tunnels, but what I've always done is play to the environment, and the crowd. The set is a living, breathing thing that reflects the people there with you.

That’s the spirit I want to take into Cwmorthin. By the time we’re 1,375 feet underground, everyone there will already have shared an adventure. And how much more could you reflect the environment than by pumping a set into the mountain, hearing the sound travelling through the slate, rock and mud, and bringing it back into the mix. It's the most underground of underground raves ever.”

The event marks the debut of G-SHOCK’s new GDG-B100 MUDMAN, a watch designed for extreme environments, built to withstand shock and dust, and it's mud resistant and water resistant to 20 bar. All those completing the descent into the mine will become the first to get their hands on the watch before its public release.