How did BassRoutes develop and what do we do?

 

Launching from JUICE Drum and Bass nights running in Oregon since 2005, BassRoutes provides exceptional agency service to comprehensively meet artists’ tour and promotional needs. With deep roots producing events, and over two decades of design and marketing experience, BassRoutes builds artists' exposure through highly customized portfolios, targeted media campaigns, and focused public relations. Whether a need for stateside representation, help with the US Visa process, copywriting, or music graphics, BassRoutes is organizing creative visions to best connect musicians to their audiences.

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What’s the story? How did this punk kid get here?

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Chemynne Perlingieri has been a rebel on a mission since an early age, implementing creativity and independence from the norm at every turn. At 16, this teen with a pink mohawk started college and secured her own downtown San Diego storefront, selling hand dyed fabrics custom sewn into funky garments. A love for silk-screening and alternative prints drove her to head east to earn a degree in Textile Print Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She spent the next 8 years doing prints for home furnishings, surfwear, and other apparel companies on both coasts. For five of these years, Chemynne hustled her side-business 'EarthCouture'—a hat company using trim from the fabric industry waste stream as her product materials, starting a lifelong journey toward planet-sensitive work.

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Looking to further expand design skills, Chemynne went back to school for Graphic Design, earning a BFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. There she absorbed the science of branding, mastery of typography, business operations, and marketing. The next several years were spent at three key design agencies in SF, working on everything from trade show graphics for highly recognized brands from  Volkswagen to vineyards, to all kinds of print collateral, art books, and packaging.

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Electronic music was really coming to the forefront at this time, but full time career and school didn’t leave much time for event-going. By chance, Chemynne unknowingly caught Kemistry & Storm at her first jungle show while in university—and a chord was struck. After being raised on everything from jazz, funk, and soul —to punk, ska, and hip hop—an immediate love and curiosity was established for the sounds of drum and bass.

 

Looking for a route out of the San Fran rat race, Chemynne launched a small company dedicated to the pursuit of sustainable design, and left California for Bend, Oregon in 1998. Mulch Design would remain her full time platform for 21 years until 2018. Hundreds of brands were created for eco-motivated companies during this time—for green builders & architects; natural health clinics; organic chocolates, coffees, wines, & ciders; clothing companies; dispensaries, plant nurseries & land conservation organizations; hip bars and restaurants comprised Mulch Design’s client base. Choosing to work with smaller to midsize businesses was always the focus, guiding them into implementing more sustainable practices as well as lifting-up their brands. A few of her more notable projects have included brand work for the band Arrested Development, Of The Earth organic clothing; and Paul Hawken’s Natural Capital Institute. Chemynne also introduced a Zero Waste plan for the Oregon Winterfest, and spearheaded Basic Rights Oregon’s "Support Diversity" campaign, which helped to implement updated state legislation introducing non-discriminatory language in the work-place in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

With a tiny team and a big heart, Mulch Design cataloged many years of award-winning work.

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When did drum and bass really find its way into the full time mix?

 

Listening to drum and bass in the studio with other designers was a regular thing, and over time it went from a sideline joy to a real passion. Noticing that DnB was simply not coming to Bend—in fact rarely to Oregon at all—Chemynne experimented with producing a monthly event at a hip small venue and restaurant called The Grove, starting in 2005. Mulch Design backed the events for years while JUICE Drum and Bass was getting established. Chemynne worked tirelessly at the night concurrently with her design career—in order to afford to keep the music coming to the state. ​

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Moving North to Portland in 2009, JUICE has grown as a staple in the Pacific Northwest electronic music scene—hosting some of DnB’s finest over the years including DJ Marky, LTJ Bukem, Goldie, Ray Keith, Nookie, Ant TC1, Dub Phizix & Strategy, Drumsound & Bassline Smith, Bladerunner, Total Science, Lenzman, Big Bud, Kubiks & Lomax, ASC, Method One, Stunna, Quadrant & Iris, Random Movement, Artificial Intelligence, Dave Owen, T.R.A.C., MC Fava, Atlantic Connection, PHNX, Utah Jazz, dBridge, OmUnit, Technimatic, Zero T, Spectrasoul, LSB, DRS, Digital, Commix, Command Strange, Emma G & MC Tali, Marcus Visionary, KJ Sawka, Mizeyesis, Ben Soundscape & Collette Warren, Redeyes...the list goes on. The sound and culture of JUICE continues to this day to be represented through quarterly IRL shows hosting international talent, weekly livestreams on Twitch, and ever-evolving merch (available on the JUICE website).

 

After another decade passed juggling a passionate hobby for hosting events alongside running a design studio, Chemynne discovering that drum and bass had really become a full time job. Always on the path of being an entrepeneur—and piqued with the interest for helping international DJs to navigate the complexities of obtaining US Visas—Mulch Design was retired; and Bass-Routes, LLC was born late 2018. BassRoutes would be the ultimate vehicle to merge together a professional lifetime of experience in design, marketing, business, branding work, and a mission to support drum and bass artists at the highest level.

 

With nonstop tenacity and 24/7 commitment to the industry, Chemynne is still a rebel with a cause. Bringing fresh energy into the mix of the currently limited US-based agencies focused on DnB—BassRoutes heavily supports the genre stateside by providing a more personalized and comprehensive approach to help artists tour & expand their presence in North America.

 

Currently representing a humble roster of incredible, internationally-known artists, BassRoutes, LLC is growing gently and is dedicated full-time to drum and bass music, the artists, and the culture.