Bridging beats: how Xtanki is uniting Lisbon and Brussels through bass music

A conversation with a Brussels-based DJ and producer for Broken Beats Show.

24.12.2024

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Born in Lisbon and now making waves in Brussels, Francisco Estanqueiro, better known as Xtanki, has spent over a decade weaving vibrant bass communities across Europe. From pioneering dubstep nights in Portugal to creating unforgettable jungle and UKG experiences, Xtanki’s journey is a testament to his passion for sound, connection, and culture. With projects like the iconic Mais Baixo Soundsystem and the quirky, crowd-favorite Waffles & UKG events, his work goes beyond music — it's about building families on and off the dancefloor. mʊdʌki, the curator of the Broken Beats show (formerly Naviny z Fluxu), sat down with Xtanki to discuss the underground bass scenes in Lisbon and Brussels.

– How did you jump in the game?

– I started my adventures in bass music around 2010, when I started a website called Mais Baixo, with the main goal to showcase and promote dubstep events in Lisbon. At the time there were a lot of drum’n’bass events but very very few dubstep ones. With the help of several friends I met in college, the project just took off and a small scene started to grow. We started by doing a “dubstep all night” raves but soon realized that we couldn't stand so much time of the same genre. So the project evolved to include more grime, 130 bass (like Swamp 81), UKG, footwork, d'n'b and everything in between.

The project went to become more than just events and we ended up doing a label (with 2 compilations of Portuguese artists), online radio and FM radio shows and in 2015 we finalized one of our great achievements, the Mais Baixo Soundsystem, which we still use to this day (more and more).

Mais Baixo Soundsystem.jpg

In 2017, I started to fall in love with Jungle and started a new series of events called AMEN with other two friends, Y.L.S. and Zero. The first events were mostly local artists but in 2019 we joined forces with Kalimodjo (one of the oldest and biggest DNB Lisbon drum’n’bass promoters) and brought Loxy and OM Unit for the event. The public reaction was way bigger than we expected. Since then we have focused on doing at least one big AMEN party and more recently AMEN Boat Parties.

In January 2020, I moved to Brussels for work reasons and didn't expect to be so involved with bass music as I was in Lisbon. Because of an old connection I had from Mais Baixo RoodFM radio show days, Matt, I actually ended up playing a b2b there and got to know some of the people involved in the bass scene there. After COVID hit, there were no events but through radio shows, livestreams and beers, I kept those connections alive and ended joining Bassin Records (big up Baptist!) and Eyesome (big up again Matt!) the same year. Since 2022, I was also blessed to be able to crossover Lisbon's AMEN concept with one of the biggest d'n'b/jungle/bass promoters in Brussels called Mentality, and we’re going for the third collaboration – Mentality x AMEN – in April 2025 (still to be announced!) I’m proud to say that now I’m part of a big bass family in Brussels too.

– Are there waffles at Waffles Kru events? Describe the vibe a bit.

– Waffles & UKG is actually one of the most fun projects I’m part of. It started with a request to do a flyer for a UKG party happening in Brussels and while discussing ideas with the party organizer, Chubbz, we tried to add something with a Belgian feeling to the flyer. First idea was to add Fries but we ended up going for Waffles. The party was a success and Waffles & UKG became its own concept, still going to today. The second party we wanted to continue the “fun” part of the project and we added some Waffles on the ceiling for the people to grab. There’s always free waffles at the party, people really love them and work hard for them. Since then we brought some of the big artists in the scene like Soul Mass Transit System, Interplanetary Criminal, Main Phase and High Rise (Dwarde alias) and even started a label and a producers collective called Waffles Kru (which I’m part of). We never expected to go this far, but apparently we can’t stop and already have a lot of releases planned for 2025.

– Can bass- and technoheads make friends at raves?

– It seems like bass fans usually don’t like techno and vice versa. Until recently I was a bit more strict with the genres I like to hear on rave but if I go to a techno party, I can’t seem to stop thinking “there’s an extra snare missing here”, to make it more breakbeat. But we can all be friends, just don’t try to push your own “genre-agenda” in the middle of a rave, that can be annoying.

– From your experience, did COVID impact socialization at the raves, and if yes, how?

– I think COVID came fast and went away even faster. Once we got the “COVID is Over!” rule, parties and concepts just started multiplying everywhere and “normality” took over again. I really don’t think it changed that much on the raves but I actually prefer to socialize outside the raves (before or after) because the volume is always too loud to have a proper conversation or if I’m backstage, I feel like I’m missing the rave.

waffles ukg party waffles kru playing.jpeg

– Are there community radios in Lisbon? What’s specific about them and how do they impact the overall scene?

– We do have some community radios in Lisbon fortunately. From the top of my head, there’s Collect Radio, Lusophonica, East Side Radio and one the originators Radio Quântica (but not so active these days).

I believe community radios are super important and extremely necessary but if for some reason they don’t accept your radio show/program/concept, they can act as exactly the opposite, you feel like you’re shunned out from the “Community”. Most of the time it’s not even the radio’s fault as I believe most of them get “too much” emails from locals and foreign DJs trying to play there. Also, for me, it’s a shame that video is always needed to have a radio these days, but hey, whatever makes music reach more people!

– How did you start producing, what it means to you and how does it feel to play your tunes on a proper sound system? Which soundsystem that would be?

– I started producing around 2019, just doing small loops on Ableton Live. I always had a big curiosity on how to do it, especially being surrounded by very talented people. I think Y.L.S. was a key motivator on this, always challenging me to go to his studio with him, even if I didn't understand any of the terms (“what the fuck is compression mate?” ahah).

COVID was actually really the jump start to take it a bit more seriously as we challenged ourselves to turn AMEN into a label and release a collab tune between us three (Zero was in Lisbon, YLS in Algarve and I was in Brussels).

I released my first solo tune (not a remix or collab) this year and had a pleasure to hear it and play it on my crew’s Mais Baixo Soundsystem. That was definitely a special feeling, it felt like a full circle moment. DJing my own productions on my own soundsystem. Damn!

– Name three favourite production tools and why you favor them.

– I still consider myself a very amateur producer but besides Live’s own VSTs, I always end up using Serum, Analog Lab and Vital. More recently I discovered Splice, it’s definitely worth the money even if some of the samples seem overused these days (just put it on Random discovery mode).

– What are the producers or musicians you look up to? What makes you feel like that?

– I really love a lot of genres and producers, so this question is always complicated to me. I can say that some artists really changed my view on a genre, for example, Kid Lib when I heard his album Kid Lib & Friends - The Tow Truck LP made me a real jungle lover for the first time. The same thing when I saw Mala in 2010 playing dubstep at Mungo’s Hi-Fi Soundsystem at Outlook Festival. Another artist I really really like is Lorn, his productions are original, heavy and unique.

– What’s the idea behind the selection for the set? Tell us a bit about the mix.

– I love playing jungle at parties but for recording mixes at home, I usually end up going for dubstep, UK garage or slower things. So this time I thought about challenging myself a bit with a 160 BPM mix, also to promote my latest Fim da Rave EP out now on AMEN Lisboa. Ah, and added an exclusive tune too (never played before). Hope you like it!