On Sunday, September 13, The Crypt will fill with the sounds of jungle and drum & bass as NOLADNB brings its Jungle Punch series back for another session, this time featuring Canadian duo Reflektor. With releases on labels including Shogun Audio and Symmetry Recordings, the duo brings an international perspective to a lineup that also highlights the local community, with 45auto providing support and Zerokreap and Chvp3l making their Jungle Punch debuts. That mix of established artists, international guests, and DJs getting their first opportunity isn’t accidental. It’s been part of Jungle Punch since the beginning.
From a Tiki Lounge to a New Orleans Staple
NOLADNB is a collective of artists and DJs dedicated to pushing drum & bass and jungle music in New Orleans. The group works to introduce the music to new audiences while keeping its roots and history at the center of the scene.
Jungle Punch started in 2021 at Portside Lounge, during a time when simply getting people together required a little more planning than usual. Before COVID, NOLADNB’s Coastill had moved into a house on the same block as Portside’s owner, Danny, and the two became friends. Danny also happened to be a longtime friend of Glassy Eye from his days playing in bands. As the pandemic changed life across New Orleans, the crew spent more time at the bar and looked for ways to support the business. Once the city began allowing restaurants to operate at 25 percent capacity following the rollout of vaccines, NOLADNB saw an opportunity to bring people together again while keeping the gathering small.
The first Jungle Punch was a private party limited to 25 people. Guests had to sign up in advance, and the event was organized around the restrictions in place at the time. The name came from the venue itself. Portside was a tiki lounge, so Jungle Punch seemed like a fitting name for a night built around jungle music. The party was a success. The following month, the capacity restrictions had been lifted, and Jungle Punch took off. There have been a few breaks along the way, but for more than five years, the series has continued to bring people together on a regular basis.
It’s About the Music
For NOLADNB, Jungle Punch was never intended to be a showcase for the collective itself. It’s about the music, the community, and cultivating new talent. Each month, the series makes a point of including at least one DJ who has never played Jungle Punch before, alongside one of its residents. The lineups are built to bring different sounds into the same room while giving newer artists a chance to play for a crowd and build connections.
NOLADNB puts it more simply: if you don’t cultivate new talent, eventually everyone becomes an old head and the scene dies off. For Jungle Punch, giving someone their first booking isn’t a side project. It’s part of the point.
A Community That Becomes a Family
I played my first Jungle Punch in February 2022, and I clicked with the NOLADNB crew almost immediately. What stood out to me was that the scene wasn’t about clout or how much “pull” someone had. It was about the music. The group was welcoming from the beginning, and the relationship quickly moved beyond playing shows. Over time, NOLADNB became a family, especially through my relationships with Glassy Eye, Coastill, and Brother Electric.
They booked me before I had even changed my name to Stemmily. My first show as Stemmily was a NOLADNB show. They taught me about the history of the music, gave me guidance as an artist, and continued to support my journey. For me, Jungle Punch was never just another booking. It was one of the places where I found community.
More Than One Night
That sense of community is part of what makes the series matter beyond any individual lineup. NOLADNB has watched DJs come through Jungle Punch early in their careers and eventually go on to bigger opportunities. Some of those artists have remained connected to the New Orleans scene, while others have carried those relationships into new cities and communities.
My own path is one example.
Being part of NOLADNB eventually introduced me to Mississippi D&B and 360 Degrees. Those connections later helped lead me to Community DNB in Denver and Ghost, and eventually, Drum and Bass Proper.
That’s one of the things that can be easy to miss when looking at a monthly event from the outside. A first booking might only last a few hours, but the relationships made in that room can stick around for years.
Five Years Later
Jungle Punch has changed since that first night at Portside. The venues have changed. The lineups have changed. The scene itself has changed. What hasn’t changed is the effort to make room for new people.
On September 13, Reflektor will make the trip from Canada to The Crypt, bringing an international act into a lineup that also includes 45auto and two DJs making their Jungle Punch debuts. It’s a fitting snapshot of what the series has been doing for the last five years.
Jungle Punch isn’t defined by a particular headliner or a single era of New Orleans drum & bass. Its history is spread across the DJs who got their first chance there, the regulars who kept coming back, and the relationships that continued long after a night at the club ended.
Five years in, the idea is still pretty simple: play good music, take care of the community, and keep making room for the next person.
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