By Saffy Wihoite

Artist: Baynk

Date/Venue: 10 July 2019 / Powerstation

Having never seen a DJ live, the closest thing being Pendulum when I was in high school, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  However, knowing that the Powerstation was going to be Baynk’s backdrop for the night and the fact that he is homegrown--a kiwi who spent a couple of years living in Auckland city--had my expectations high yet confident that his BAYNK SOMEONE'S EP II show was going to be amazing.  

Arriving at Powerstation was a wet and chilly experience, but as soon as I stepped under the awning and hustled inside, I felt the walls and floor vibrating with bass and the movements of hundreds of people, and suddenly it felt like summer. Melbourne artist, Luboku opens for Baynk. His electro-synth set making this entrance particularly dreamy.

There is a brief intermission and parts of the crowd break away from the dancefloor in search of more drinks or to join the toilet queues.  Despite it being a Wednesday night, people are going hard, frequently making me forget what day of the week it was.  

The stage darkens; a keyboard adorned with laptops and a turntable are just visible--purple LED lines on an otherwise black stage. Behind the stage is a screen, and I watch it eagerly; knowing that Baynk, along with Spencer Graves, programs the lights and visual for his shows; anticipating the visual medium and aesthetic that the team chose to best embody each track.  

Someone’s EP II has been described as “eternal summer vibes” (C-Heads Magazine) and I had my small doubts that Baynk would be able to bring summer this  rainy Auckland night, but as soon as the backdrop screen burst into various pinks and blues, ebbing and flowing and blooming with the bass, my doubts melted away. Baynk, dressed in all white, tends often to his keyboard and turntable, dancing between the two and around the whole stage, as you would alone in your bedroom.  The opening track is upbeat and gets us warmed up for the full set ahead.

Baynk moves into Poolside (Someone’s EP I)--one of my personal favourites--his backdrop becoming a steady blue as he takes up the mic.  His voice invokes feelings of sand, salt, sun, and the warm haze of being tipsy. The bass is low and shakes every atom in the room, and leaving you yearning for more once it dropped away.  Everybody is nearing in sync, the crowd moving skillfully and making me realise that I cannot dance.  

Along with the keyboard and turntables sat a saxophone.  Whenever Baynk touched it, the crowd would lose their minds and once he started playing, I became a convert.   He pairs the deep baritone of the sax with heavy, thick bass, that echoes and reverberates around your skull and becomes the very pulse in your veins.  

“...slow it down, lil emotional…” Baynk says softly into the mic as the backdrop turns black.  The track has a throbbing, steady bass, which dark blue and static breakthrough the black backdrop in time to.  Still, the lights stay low and dark, invoking feelings of late night road trips, winding through the endless dark, the flick of your cigarette embers dashing off into the night in your wing mirror… a definite jam.

Slowly and steadily, we are bought back up, the stage bathed in violet light, as Baynk gets us to clap in beat a few times.  A floaty-femme vocal is mixed and melded perfectly into the heartbeat bass. The lighting is ethereal to match the pitch and vibe of track.  

Baynk takes the mic again, and sings sweetly, voice ringing out high, a new song from his sophomore album, Somebody’s EP II, Simmer ft Hablot Brown.  “...I keep holding on / so tell me when you're coming back...” Baynk, born Jock Nowell-Usticke, manages to be vulnerable but still, his classic less-is-more songwriting comes through here.  I notice and love this ability often throughout his 75-minute set.  

Something else that I love, though may be common for DJ concerts, is the non-stop playing of music.  In between each track is mini-mixed interludes as well as the tracks themselves being extended and altered.  Baynk makes good use of the Powerstation’s speakers abilities, allowing us to hear (or rather feel) the bass as low and as deeply as intended.  He moves around the stage to the beat of his songs, arms twirling, eyes closed… Baynk is very aware of the part he plays in the visual performance.

The beat gets a bit dirtier here, reminding me of mid-2000s drum and bass, and early dubstep.  Baynk mixes these sounds with old school r&b and early 90’s pop vibes, coming together to make the perfect soundtrack to summer.  With the backdrop and the whole aesthetic of the show, it seemed almost ridiculous that it was winter just outside these very walls, and that Baynk was not playing an open air show.  Fortunately for USA fans, Baynk will be playing at the Life Is Beautiful Festival, as well as Billie Eilish, ZEDD, RUFUS DU SOL. It’s in Las Vegas so hopefully, he’ll be playing on a beach, at dusk, as intended. 

Baynk meddles with his controls, the beat getting quicker and more urgent, and the crowd danced harder.  Tripper bass and electric guitar reverb thudded around the room, embedding into your ears before everything dropped away.  Baynk samples Kendrick Lamar’s Backseat Freestyle, “MARTIN HAD A DREAM,” and somehow makes the song bassier. The bass builds just as quickly as it drops, but this isn’t to say that they aren’t deep, they layer over the top of each other, ringing out.  

The track turns sweeter and upbeat.  Glades dulcet and synth voice pairs beautifully with Baynk’s soundscape, coming together as a confident, happy track.  To add to the classic pop-meets club sound, Baynk utilises his classic saxophone sound, bringing a deepness and space for the baritone to move around in.  He stays with his sax as Off Limits comes to an end, having his own soulful sax moment. 

Go With You has the same feeling as Off Limits; a weird sort of summer-fling love song.  The backdrop is a sunset orange, and warm reds, deepening the feeling of hazy, sunkissed, saltwater vibes.  “Auckland city on vocals, what’s good,” Baynk announces before sampling Drake’s Hotline Bling, with his own beach-party edit on it.  He also samples Sorry Ms Jackson during the night--his interludes are always interesting… Especially when you have eyes on him and can see him fiddling with his kit.  He plays the crowd well, despite seeming the opposite of extroverted. You would think that that would make for distance between artist and fans, but watching Baynk move about the stage, dancing and vibing, feels just as personal and intimate.

This time when he picks up his sax, he plays it more tenderly, more sweet.  This interlude is a little goodbye—a farewell before the farewell—soft and low.  The backdrop dims, lighting him up in typical sax solo fashion. We are heading into the final quarter, the past 75-minutes having gone past in a blur.

A rough and interrupting and juttering beat cuts through everything before slowly evening out, as if tamed by Baynk, before moving into Come Home.  Come Home is a fan favourite, at over 20 million listens monthly (Spotify). It’s easy to see why. The easy-going, 2000 pop inspired track reminds me of a night out; the soundtrack to the montage of you moving from club to club, to house party… The track winds down, as Baynk’s voice becomes distorted and robotic, the backdrop turns black with BAYNK in block lettering, and he takes the edge of the stage.  The crowd sings until the very end, singing voices turning to cheers and Baynk exits to the sound of our love.