Toddla T's Guide To Notting Hill Carnival Survival

A West London resident himself, the producer and DJ gives us a rundown of what to expect from the Toddla T sound, guides you through some goldens rules on W11 survival, and discusses his own personal thoughts on what the biggest street party in Europe means to him.

To me, Carnival is 100% the best weekend of the year. When I first used to get the train down from Sheffield - I think my first one was 2008 - and then I'd get the tube, I didn't know much about it, or where to go, or that area of London, where as now my studio is bang in the middle of it all. I get to see the area in its normal day-to-day which is quite calm, quite quiet and to be honest, quite boring. Then one day I'll just walk out my studio door, and they'll be steel band practices, all the jerk pots coming out, the barriers being put up, the parades practising, and in a matter of twelve hours the whole area is turned into the most vibrant place. Musically you just never hear any crap music - you just don't. There's all different types of music, all different types of ages, but you never hear anything shit, which I think is quite rare at any type of festival let alone when there's a million people about. I can't wait.

WHERE TO GO

If I wasn't hosting my own system I'd have to be at Digital Soundboy. I used to play there before I got my own sound system and has a similar ethos to mine where it's based in reggae sound and culture, but it's everything beneath that so grime, dubstep, drum and bass, modern house music. I love the fact that Shy FX brought that sound to Carnival first, that modern bass sound in the UK - it's always a wicked atmosphere, and they've got a ridiculous line-up this year. Of course you've got the old reggae sound - Saxon and those guys - and Carnival provides you with a good opportunity to hear that music really loud, and really heavy in an outdoor space. Then you've got Rampage which is always fun, you always get the cream of the crop of new talent from across the globe. In the past they've had big American acts, big Jamaican acts and all the local UK acts as well, so that's always worth checking out.

MY SOUNDSYSTEM

Anyone who knows me, knows that the music and culture celebrated at Notting Hill Carnival is a big influence on the music I make and play. Carnival is like my Glastonbury, my Ibiza, my Miami Winter Music Conference. I always take our events seriously in making sure I can get the best acts down, get the space mapped out, done up and looking amazing. This year we're taking over a little cul-de-sac off Kensal Rise called Alderson Street on the Monday, which we did last year and was amazing (if I say so myself). That's gonna be popping off from midday to seven, with a very very special guest who is the biggest selling reggae artist of modern times, plus we've got a load of air horns and some rum to get things going on the day. My sound system is positioned right at the top of Carnival, so it's easy to access - you're right in it but you're not having to do that hour and a half Carnival trek.

HEALTH, AND SAFETY BRUVA

Now, if it was my first time at Carnival, aside from your phone, wallet, Oyster card and all that shit, you want comfortable trainers as you're gonna be doing a whole heap of walking - that's standard. You want a whistle so then you don't have to buy one, you've got one you can just be blowing at any moment (and you'll be doing that alot), plus what you really need: a hip flask full of booze. The problem with Carnival is the toilet facilities are quite sparse. You're drinking beers, and you're dying for the toilet, so if you're drinking beer you're either gonna spend all day looking for a toilet, pissing against a lamppost or paying two pounds to use someone's, so a hip flask with some nice liquor, that'll get you through neatly and you won't have to be thinking about that all day.

MUNCH

You're gonna get some serious food at Carnival. All the Carribean food - chicken, dumplings, rice, coleslaw and all that stuff. Luckily where our system is there's a food stall right next door who take care of us, but if you're not lucky enough for that of course there's all kinds of food there - Chinese, Japanese, Turkish, plus you get all the street food like roti's and all that - though they're right heavy and you don't wanna bring yourself down or you're gonna suffer from the 7pm flop (slow drinking all day is key here).

AFTER-PARTIES

For after-parties, I always go to the same one, which is Deviation (at Paradise by way of Kensal Green). The beauty of it, first and foremost, is that from my sound system to home, it's literally in between, so I can walk from my sound, go to Deviation, rave and then walk home. It's the most ideal party in terms of geography! Benji B always does amazing parties and at Carnival he really brings it in. I'm playing this year which I'm really happy about, plus he's got Zinc doing a jungle set, he's got Skepta, he's got Mark Ronson, Newham Generals, Martelo, Semtex - Benji goes across the board of sound system music and it's always a really, really special party - Deviation is always my number one pick.

COMEDOWNS

After Carnival, it's the normal recovery process just like any event, except my thing is that my area turns from the most colourful, mental, funnest area in the world, to just another bit of West London come Tuesday - it's a slightly beige and boring neighbourhood, so for me it's particularly hard to battle such a change of atmosphere - my advice for any West Londoners is this: get out of West London. I always see Carnival as the end of the summer, so when Carnival stops - the summer's done, which can make for quite a grim end.

Toddla T

Toddla's top 5 Carnival tracks (in no particular order):

Toots & The Maytals - '54-46 Was My Number'

Shy FX & UK Apache - 'Original Nuttah'

Half Pint - 'Greetings'

Lethal B - 'Pow'

Crazy Cousins - 'Do You Mind'

Catch Toddla T quite possibly blowing up his sound system alongside Annie Mac, Maverick Sabre, Stylo G, 2 Bears, Clean Bandit, Benji B and more at the Toddla T stage at Notting Hill Carnival on Alderson Street on Monday 25th August. 

Follow Toddla on Twitter: @TODDLAT 

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