Have you seen the Bellisa X Resinous stickers?SPOTTED: Plastered around the local Black Swan, streets of Bristol, travels down to Frequency in Portugal, outside the Berghain nightclub in Berlin and many other random places—like on the back of a big yellow van…
Why are they Bellisa X Resinous? Because our clothing goes hand in hand with the free party culture and therefore a free party sound system that is Resinous.
I think many of you reading this will know what a free party is and will have been to many of them. but for those who haven’t a clue what I’m on about, I’m here to briefly explain. A free party is essentially an illegal rave. They are made up of a peaceful gathering of people, large or small, either in the middle of nowhere or city warehouse, usually led to by an answer phone message that’ll will most of the time lead on you on a wild goose chase around the countryside: “turn left at the tree with green leaves and then a right through the hole in the fence”. Then once there, the night and day or however long the party goes on for is yours to enjoy, to dance your worries away in front of all genres of music played through a large sound system/s until either the generator runs out or the police shut it down. Then its clean up, sober up and leave.
AND you ask, why are they are in our lives?
Free parties are built up on a strong traveller history so If you haven’t already educated yourself then please do read up about them as its very interesting. ( Or get a boyfriend that won’t stop talking about them so that you are aware of every significant event ever in the free party history.) I went to my first one when I was 17, that was down the road from my house in a underground mine: Black Steps. This party was very small but the experience was something so totally new and different to what I’d been to before that I was keen to go to another one. The next one happened to be the 2013-14 NYE Bristol Paint- factory party… I remember walking in with my friend holding hands because we’d never seen or felt anything like it before and looking at each other like ‘Oh my god…this is amazing.’ Pretty sure there was something like 2000 people in one huge warehouse. And let’s just say that was an unforgettable night. Since then I’ve been to a fair share of parties. I’m not a regular every- weekend- see-you-at-the-stack attender, but if there’s one on I’m in the mood for and can persuade some friends to go, then I’ll be there.
There’s a unique community at these parties that you will struggle to find anywhere else. A community that share a love for music whether it be tek, drum and bass, bassline or trance. A community which encourages a different freedom for humanity. A place where anything goes; you can do what you want in-keeping with a mutual respect of each other and the land; be who you want and wear what you want. Hence why Bellisa X has grown from this scene. It’s a break from the basics and chores of society, to have fun with people and music you love in a blissful setting. My favourite time is always at morning sun-rise when you get to see for the first time where you are- a place you’ve spent hours travelling to- and its almost always in beautiful place.
Free parties aren’t for everyone and I can understand if you don’t like the grunge under-ground side to life, but they are a incredible scene to even experience just that once. Please don’t take this blog as promoting an illegal activity.. It’s only a honest report.
If you’ve been following our Instagram for a while now and have wondered where a lot of these people are that wear Bellisa X – I hope this has shown that they are probably in quarries, warehouses, forests, barns, fields etc. And at festivals like Balter, Boomtown, Illusive and largely dotted over the South West rave scene (in particular Bristol and Devon.) Please please don’t think if you aren’t part of this movement then Bellisa X isn’t for you, it is. It’s for anyone to wear what they want, when they want and how they want and I can’t stress this enough. This blog is just to show you where Bellisa has grown from!
Soooo that’s enough about Bellisa; let’s move on to the X that is Resinous.
Resinous are primarily a free party sound system (also available for professional hire outs.) Since before meeting them I’d previously only ever been in front of their rig and not seen the work that goes on behind the scenes. I was surprised at how much effort and thought goes into organising a party or event. There are so many things to consider: van hire, generator hire, transportation, location, site access, party line, deciding link-ups, organising everyone involved, set times, meet up’s, setting up, logistics and DJ’s.. not to even mention the amount of work that went behind building the sound system for everyone to enjoy. I would love to go into more detail on how the organisation works and the little details that you wouldn’t expect but of course I don’t know whose reading this and wouldn’t want to give any secrets away. But next time your sat in a random car parking waiting for the 2 hour late party- line to come then please be patient and understand there is probably a reason why the crew is being SO long. (As a driver I appreciate how frustrating this is when everyone else is drunk in your car and you must be the responsible sober adult.) I don’t take much part in any organisation as don’t have a clue and certainly can’t lift a chair let alone a speaker. I’m more of an observer. However, I have been driven around location hunting, forced out of bed the night before UK TEK to meet up with another sound system 2 hours away to look for a location AND taken over role as Resinous PA when my boyfriends phone is going off left right and centre whilst he’s trying to do last minute organisations and drive at the same time…
Resinous DJ's playing at St Pauls' Bristol wearing the new T-shirts
So what’s next?
Coming up this weekend is the Resinous b-day bash so it would be brilliant to see some of your faces there. They’ve also just launched their new clothing line of funky T-Shirts designed by Gert- Rude which are available to purchase through direct message on their Facebook page or through myself. And in the meantime I’ve picked some of my favourite mixes from the Resinous Kartel Dj’s to get you in the mood for this weekends antics. There’s plenty more on their soundcloud so go check it oooout!
Love this blog post Bella! X you defo have a way with words – couldn’t of explained partying better myself 😍!! Xx