My names Kosta and my early memories of the 80’s. Living in Perry Road was where I was living at the time, the Dug Out was a very major part of that time. I was into reggae music at the time lots of roots reggae; used to go to a lot of sound systems. Listen to thinks like Jah Tubby and Coxsone people like that there were a lot of parties around in those days that we use to go to. Then the sorta hip hop scene came along where obviously people started getting into turn tables mixing music up a little bit more, obviously a new style that time. As far as what we use to do then, we use to kind of have a few parties and we use to have a van, bung all this stuff into the van and go and set up sound systems here and there. One party I remember we had on the Downs, turned up there one day with the decks stuff like that, set up the party up there and it was a bit mad and crazy but for the time loads of people turned up. We used to go down to the Dug Out, a lot of people hung out down there. Good meeting place. A lot of different people, all from everywhere use to mix there. Lots of people from the Clifton scene and lots of people from St Paul’s it was just a big melting pot of people, really good down there.

Well the Dug Out it last till when 1986 I think it closed down. That was the end of that. And that just changed everything really as far as that social scene went really. Well my part sorta happened when you know I had the Special K thing. I opened up Special K. it was just an idea you know, me and Grant were sitting up there in Perry road one day thinking what can I do, you know it will be really great if I can open up this café I had this opportunity so I went ahead with it. I opened up Special K, it was just this idea of having music, hip hop music, pool table, food you know just a place for all my mates to hang out really. And that’s really basically where it all started from. In Special K’s it was a really good meeting place for people a lot of people used to come when they use to set up gigs for guys that are abroad and stuff come over and bring them down to Special K’s so they can have a bit of food and listen to music n play pool. Yeah in the café it was real great you know used to get all the crews hanging out there use to get the Wild Bunch, Two Bad, City rockers boys, you know all use to come and hang out at the café. Down at the St Paul’s festival when the Wild Bunch use to play at the end of Campbell Street we just use to literally plug the system into our house, just literally there and there right at the end of Campbell Street, it was brilliant. Massive sound system outside it used to blast out the street you know, when you see the pictures you will see the system there you will see the people, amazing experience.

Remember also living on City road with the St Paul’s riots were going on, was quite horrific at the that time, literally right outside our front door and use to come home and the police literally everywhere with riot shields that was quite a scary time. You know look outside your window and walk out into the street and just see what was going on, it was quite frightening then.

Started listening to more hip hop music and going out doing DJ clubs n stuff like that not that I was DJ myself, because I wasn’t. Yeah but just use to kind of go round playing doing parties down like Red House you know various places down in Bristol where big parties use to happen and lots of little house parties. Bristol, it was a good place to be obviously there was hardship for different people but it was generally a good place to live, people were starting to mix around you know that slow Clifton scene St Paul’s scene started to mingle in together which before probably didn’t happen. People started mixing together and different cultural things like that and uh it was an opportunity just to open up a cafe and have hip hop music and graffiti and pool table and that sort a type a thing. Was generally started with just my mates hanging out there people coming down eating food and just hanging out really. Lot of my mates would give me tapes and stuff from their DJ sessions. Yeah I suppose it’s important as a historical period in time you know specially that time of the hip hop scene it was quite different it was very new it had come over from America. People were really excited about it different and new.

Yeah its quite beneficial to people in the future to know a bit of what happened back in those days, whether they find it of interest or not its up to them really but as for historical accounts you know everybody got to put there own bit to it. Also there is a lot to be said about historically you kind of got people coming over from America they found it very, very, unusual that you can have a mixture of people, there was black people, white people all in one place doing this thing together musically and socially and they were absolutely shocked in the 80s because it was unheard of in New York or anywhere else in America, according to them. You know, I did use to have people comment in that sort of way, that type of thing, the guys coming over seeing, the graffiti guys coming over from America saying “you know you got a cafe here that you can tag up or do a piece on” you know, it was all under cover they were all doing it on trains, they were outlawed effectively. Even though it was a bit like, that in Bristol, it was still, there was a place for you to come. And that was good a lot of people use to meet up there and do that, to show their pictures and designs and all that sort of thing. Many a famous graffiti artist started there somewhere along the line I think or met rather. At the end of it all, the most important thing that happened to me in the 80’s was that I became a father to my lovely child Isaac.