The London Club City team manage to catch a few minutes with Blake, the guy behind the Dirty Disclosure events, to find out what it’s all about and their exciting party at Pacha this weekend.

The following is a transcript of selected questions within the interview. To hear the full interview, please download the audio file using the “Quick links” box at the top right of this page.

Today we’re joined by Blake from 2000BC promotions who run an event called Dirty Disclosure down at Loop Bar in Croydon. How did Dirty Disclosure come about?
Basically I was doing a lot of social events with my day job and I was taking a lot of people down to Loop Bar and the manager offered me an opportunity to run a promotion there. I took it on and that’s how it started out. It could’ve been a risk, but it worked out and since then we’ve just grown.

If you were to describe the music style of Dirty Disclosure, what would you say?
It’s basically advertised as dirty house. It’s electro with a bit of funky house at the start of the night. The Croydon crowd is not a London crowd. They’re not into the really hard sound. We keep it slightly commercial at the beginning of the night and progress from there.

Your next party is a massive one. You’ve joined forces with Connected and are taking over Pacha this weekend for the Bank Holiday Sunday event. How did that come about and what’s it all about?
After my first night back in December I was approached by Jesse about running a room for him at nights he was doing at Ministry. At the time I turned it down as I didn’t feel I was big enough but told him that I would love to work with him in the future. In about May I turned up to one of his events and he asked if I was interested in doing the Bank Holiday Sunday event, and I just couldn’t turn it down. Tickets are flying, there’s a real buzz on facebook and I can’t wait for it now.

Dirty Disclosure has been running now for 9 months. Where’s it going from here?
I’ll be back at Loop in October for my return party. There’ll also be a huge Halloween special in November and I’m doing NYE there as well. I’ve got some wicked line ups sorted, so watch this space - there’s big things going on in Croydon.

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With a host of exciting events coming up over the next months, London Club City decided to have a chat with the guys and find out how they became the talk of the town and what they’ve got planned for the future.

The following is a transcript of selected questions within the interview. To hear the full interview, please download the audio file using the “Quick links” box at the top right of this page.

I’m joined by David from Local Heroes. You form one half of Local Heroes along with your colleague Greg. What’s Local Heroes all about?
Basically, we DJ together. We used to DJ separately for years, but then the Local heroes name came to both of us and we thought it sounded like a good name to push for - it’s a little bit quirky, and that was that really. We came up with the branding and how we wanted to exhibit ourselves to people and it’s moved on from there.

One of the taglines I’ve seen for you guys is “All killers, no fillers”. Do you want to explain what that means?
We don’t like to play a track just for the time in a set. Every track we play we like personally, we listen to it at home and on the way to work. We’re not going to play anything just because other people are playing it or to fill a gap in a set, you know every tune we play  we’re behind 100% and that’s just the way we are.

Your next big event is this weekend for Dirty Disclosure at that Bank Holiday Sunday event at Pacha. Tell us a bit about the night.
It’s been a long time coming now. Disclosure has been getting packed out time after time at Loop in Croydon. I’ve never seen anything like it before in that area. It’s time that it got stepped up a bit and Pacha came about with Jesse James from Connected. When the opportunity arose it made perfect sense to combine the two events and put on a great party.

There’s lots going on in the world of Local Heroes. For those who want to keep up to date with your news, events and mixes, how can people get in touch with you?
We’re in the process of putting together a website right now, but we are putting all of the information on our facebook group [see link in quick links box] and we also run competitions and things on there for free tickets and Local Heroes merchandise so go and sign up.

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The guys behind the label, Trevor and Brad, also produce under the alias of Leisuregroove and have had a string of top quality tracks coming out of the last few years. They’ve just launched their artist album - “Leisuregroove WMC Miami Sampler”. After hearing some their latest tracks London Club City arranged an interview with Trevor to find out more about what’s going on in the world of Leisuregroove…

The following is a transcript of selected questions within the interview. To hear the full interview, please download the audio file using the “Quick links” box at the top right of this page.

I’ve been hearing a lot of your tracks recently, but Leisuregroove has been around for nearly 6 years now.
Yeah that’s right. In and out of the scene between the US Garage sound and House music.

What styles of music are Leisuregroove producing at the moment? Just house or are you experimenting with other genres as well?
We’re producing House, but actually we’re also doing a little bit of Hip Hop for someone as well. We’re just doing all round production really, but our first love is House music - that’s our main style. We do work with artists who produce other styles such as Hip Hop and Rap and release under the same name of Leisuregroove because we want to become recognised as global artists, you know?

Your artist album, “Leisuregroove WMC Miami Sampler”, is out at the moment, do you want to tell us a bit about that?
It’s a compilation of 10 tracks that we’ve produced over the last year and forthcoming releases that we have coming out over the next year. It’s basically a sampler of the stuff we do. The album features a variety of guest artists and songwriters and it really is a wide mix of tracks. We’ve gone from electro to soulful house though to minimal, and it’s just to give people an idea of what we’re about and what we can accomplish.

What have you guys got coming up over the next year? Anything interesting?
Yes! We’re starting a new label called Digital Disco. We’re currently working on writing some house music for this label, but we’re trying to write a specific style of house music to suit it, so we’re really working hard on that. We’ve got a big track coming up for release in October called “Untrue”. This track features Joe Kellington and is a full release on a German label. This track will also feature a remix from Ian Carey so it’s quite a high profile thing for us. I can’t wait to hear what the remixers come up with, and people are tipping it to be a big track so that’s great. We’re also working on a new album which we’re looking to release towards the end of this year, or the beginning of next.

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I really want to bring a sexier funkier vibe to the night. I want to bring on board artists and DJs that are passionate about what they do and will put an extra oomph into their performance. I really do feel there is something missing and I’m hoping pinXX can tap into it and become a name that everyone associates with GREAT parties!

There aren’t a huge number of female promoters in the scene, and I’m really excited about this one. I totally agree with her that more effort needs to be put in by everyone involved in the party, whether it be the DJs, or even the crowd. Having spoken with her, I really believe that Lindsey and everyone else involved with pinXX has what it takes to accomplish these goals and throw a truly amazing party!

It’s the pinXX launch party tonight, so if you’re around get yourself down to Mish Mash in Clapham (directions here) and join in the fun. I’m assured that you won’t miss the venue as it will be transformed into a glowing pink haven! There’s a great line up as well:

Martin Archer (Kiss 100)
James Murray (Pacha, Turnmills, Island)
Chris Cae (Pacha, Turnmills, Fridge)
Meerkat (Gigalum, Inigo, The Key)

Entry is FREE if you get there before 9pm, £5 after that, and the night will run until 2am. Seriously, make sure you attend this amazing launch party and go down in the history books! Check back over the next couple of weeks to find an interview with Lindsey about the ethos behind pinXX and what the future holds in store!

See you on the dancefloor!

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DJs and Performers on the night:

• SS RADIO DJ’S
• ANDY CRUISE (BALDEELOX)
• DARREN HOLLAND (BALDEELOX) + HD-1
• SCOTT WATSON (BALDEELOX)
• DOOBIE J (HOSTING A VIP ROOM WITH CITRUS SOUND)
• ANDREW SUSU (Baldeelox)
• JAMIE THOMAS (FEELIN MUSIC)
• DEANJAY (DEEP & SOULFUL HOUSE LOVERS, SOS-MARBELLA)
• LIVE PA AMRICK CHANNA (Celebrity Records, Baldeelox)

In addition to this, there will be 5 themed V.I.P. rooms. You heard right, that’s FIVE seperately themed V.I.P. rooms:

VIP room 1: Hosted by Citrus Sound
VIP room 2: GIRLS ONLY
VIP room 3: Electronic Cigarette room
VIP room 4: Special request room ONE BIG DVD PLAYING SOUL CLASSICS ALL NIGHT.
VIP room 5: Hosted by Night-Angels-

Tickets will be £5 on the door before 11pm, £10 after. If you’re lucky enough to have one of the Baldeelox Miami wristbands or are wearing Hard 8 clothing you will get in for FREE! Whilst at the party why not treat yourself to indian head massages (£6), a hand massge (£5) or both (£10)?

Make sure that you download the flyer for this event and check out the Baldeelox guys at their various websites using the box on the right hand side of this page.

Watch out on London Club City for an interview with Darren Holland from Baldeelox within the next few weeks.

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Taking a time out of their busy schedule, House Freaks promoters DJ Flee and Sonny Taylor, spend a few minutes talking about House Freaks with London Club City.

The following is a transcript of selected questions within the interview. To hear the full interview, please download the audio file using the “Quick links” box at the top right of this page.

What style of music is House Freaks playing? What’s it all about?
Sonny: Well House Freaks, you know, does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s anything from funky house, a bit of commercial house, all of the way through to dirty electo.
Flee: It’s just house in general - the best house tunes around! What people want to dance to, all clubbers!
Sonny: House is house.

So you guys have both DJ’d at loads of venues around London and the UK. What would you say has been your personal favourites in the capital?
Sonny: Turnmills, Turnmills.
Flee: I don’t know man. I have had some naughty nights. There’s so many. I was a resident at Factory for about a year, and I’ve had some funky sh*t go down in there. I think the best place in the UK was Hidden. It’s the one that sticks out for me. I’ve got some great photos and memories from there. Although not in the UK, Ibiza always sticks out in my mind. I played at a bar out there, at the top of the West End, and it’s why I carried on DJ’ing.
Sonny: I loved Turnmills. Turnmills, Turnmills, Turnmills! When I got told I was going to play at Turnmills I was like “Yeah I can do this”, but I was really nervous. When I got handed the flyer, I was like “yeah I can do this” but getting more nervous at the same time. Then when I turned up at the venue I saw my name on a 6ft poster with the likes of Judge Jules, and I just sh*t a brick – LOL! I managed to do my set, come off and I’d had a wicked time. Later on, another DJ came on, and he was a bit pants, and I got put back on to play a graveyard set!

After your next event, on the 19th July, what are your plans for House Freaks?
Flee: Just getting the night established really. Obviously things take time and we just want to get it established.
Sonny: We’re looking to run two nights in August. We’re looking at Venues to throw the two different nights at two different venues.
Flee: As it stands now, things have been really busy putting plans in place for the future, and things are going a lot smoother than they did with the previous parties which is a good sign.

Guys, you do a London radio show, can you tell us a bit about that?
Flee: It’s on Select UK, and they throw the Heavyweight House parties which is a big, big night. Trust me, it’s the nuts. We’re on the station Saturdays 3pm-6pm. It’s the drive time show for all of the people driving around in their cars. We play the best house music around, throughout the whole of London on 99.3FM.

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The London Club City team, managed to catch a few minutes with the man behind these nights, Jesse James, to find out a bit more about Connected and what we can expect from the future.

The following is a transcript of selected questions within the interview. To hear the full interview, please download the audio file using the “Quick links” box at the top right of this page.

When Connected first started, back at Bed Bar 3 years ago, your music style was primarily funky house. How would you describe your music style now?
We’ve really moved on as far as music’s concerned. Connected’s now a cross over of funky electro and tech house - That’s the best way to describe our sound I think.

Connected not only run events in London, but also outside of London as well. Where do you run the nights and what’s the difference between these crowds and those in the capital?
We run nights in Reading, Brighton, Glasgow and anywhere that will have us really. If you’d have asked me two years ago I would have said that it was 100 times better, but now with the following that we have, it’s a completely different buzz. A lot of DJs know that some of the crowds in London used to be a bit stush and stand around to look cool, whilst outside of London people had no inhibitions, they totally let themselves go. In the last couple of years, especially with our crowd, it’s changed. I would say our crowd is the best crowd in London, in fact, the best crowd anywhere in the UK.

In the 15 years you’ve been a DJ, you’ve played in the UK and various places around the world. What would you say has been your favourite venue in that whole time?
Last Saturday at Koko, in the main room, takes some beating. I think it’s a tossup between the main room at Koko and the main room at Ministry Of Sound. Ministry just because of the sheer quality of the sound and the DJ booth, but to look up at that crowd spread pver 3 tiers and a dancefloor at Koko, when it’s rammed, is just something else.

Can you tell us a bit about the next Connected event?
The next event that we’re running solely on our own is at Pacha on Friday 18th July. We will be flying Robin S over from the states. She was the girl that sung the biggest club classic record ever, “Show Me Love”. There has just been a load of remixes and it’s currently number 1 in all of the club charts. The event is going to be huge and tickets are already flying out of the door.

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We at London Club City manage to catch a few minutes with Andy Collings, the promoter behind the nights, to find out what these events are all about and why you should get down to the night!

The following is a transcript of selected questions within the interview. To hear the full interview, please download the audio file using the “Quick links” box at the top right of this page.

Andy, the Get FunKT nights, started out in Kingston before they moved onto Clapham. When did they start and how did they come about?
It’s 3 years ago now. Because I DJ myself, I wanted a platform to promote myself initially, and I had always wanted to run a boat party. I’d never seen one run from Kingston-Upon-Thames, there were plenty of people around there, so I thought I’d book a boat and run my own. It all really stemmed from there.

When did you first get into DJ’ing?
It was a long, long time ago actually. I’m in excess of 40 now, it was back in the days when I used to go to a youth club in a little Cornish village, in deepest, darkest Cornwall. I essentially started as a youth club DJ and would go to Woolworths on a Friday afternoon and buy the top 10, take it down to the youth club and play the tracks. There was no mixing involved at this point, I’d never even heard of mixing at that age. From there, a Dj was booked every fortnight to come and play, so I started playing on the same night as that guy, and he took me on as an apprentice going around doing weddings and the like. So, I’ve always been involved in music, and playing music.

The Get FunKT and Freshly FunKT nights that you run are hosted at Inigo and Gigalum, respectively. How often and when are the nights run?
The first Freshly FunKT party was at Gigalum on 15th june and the next one is on the 20th July. After that i plan to run them more regularly, maybe every six weeks. I think if you do something too often, people get too familiar with it - less is more. The Get FunKT nights are thrown on the last Wednesday of every month, 8pm until 2am. It’s really for the people who like a little wrongness mid-week.

For the DJ’s who are just starting out in the scene, what advice would you give them on their quests to DJ stardom?
I think the best advice is to get into producing your own tracks and/or remixes. It’s something I’ve been meaning to get into, and I have some time in the studio over the next couple of weeks. The other important thins is being a bit of a personality. You need to get out there, you need to speak to people and make friends. The sad thing with being a DJ nowadays is that you need a following. Most promoters expect you to bring a crowd with you in order to get a booking. I don’t know whether I agree with it or not, but unfortunately that’s the way things are right now.

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As Keisha’s House takes to the Thames, in the form of her bi-monthly boat party, London Club City catches her up with Keisha before she sets sail on Saturday 5th July.

The following is a transcript of selected questions within the interview. To hear the full interview, please download the audio file using the “Quick links” box at the top right of this page.

When you started out DJ’ing, 13 years ago, what were the first steps you took to getting some decks and learning to mix?
Basically the first step was when I used to go to Ministry when I was about 16, I used to go in the VIP room where Stevie P used to play, and I absolutely adored him - like a god. So I decided that it was something that I just had to do. I asked my Dad if I could have a pair of decks for Christmas and he agreed. He didn’t buy me Technics, because he wasn’t sure if I ‘d stick with it, so he gave the money for some Ariston decks. They were quite unusual because they had a rotary pitch control, but they were very accurate and good to learn on, so I cracked away and spent about 10 months teaching myself and mastering the art of the DJ.

You’ve graced the decks at some great venues both in the UK and abroad. Can you tell us about some of the venues you’ve played at and what you remember about them?
One of my fondest memories is getting to play in the Ministry Of Sound, because that was where my clubbing really started. Back in the day it was un-commercial and there was a large group of people who used to hang out together there. Basically that large group of people moved on to a party called Pengeparty. This night started out as a house party, but quickly moved onto clubs after putting the floor through in the house at the second night. As this event grew and grew, they eventually booked Ministry Of Sound and that’s how I got to play there. I’ve played in the lounge, the VIP room and the main room on several occasions. It’s every DJs dream to play the main room and it was absolutely wicked!

What’s the difference playing to crowds in other countries, compared to those in the UK?
I love playing in Spain because the crowd are very, very up for it. They all dress up, even the non-gay guys dress up camp. I think it’s because the sun’s out! I played an outdoor event, where the vibe and feeling just make it something special. You know, you’ve gone there, you’ve been flown over and you’re getting all of the special treatment, so in that way it’s different. At the same time, I can do a gig back here and I can meet the needs of people, absolutely rock it, not play one floor filler, and have people with their hands in the air. I’ll interact with the crowd and you get the same buzz from that too.

Aside from DJ’ing, you also run events called “Keisha’s House”. You throw them every 6-8 weeks. Your next one being on the 5th July and it’s a boat party. Do you want to tell us a bit about that?
The boat party is a boat that goes up and down the Thames and I’ve been hosting them for quite some time. There’s kind of a formula to how it works and I’ve learnt that and made improvements. I used to do the parties with a partner, and we’d throw them during the day, but we’d end up with quite a few no shows as people were having to get to the pier early in the morning. I decided to throw the parties myself, and start them at 6pm in the evening. That meant that even if someone had a late night before, they can still get there as we don’t expect them to arrive until 5:15pm. That gets everyone standing, waiting to get on the boat. Whenever I do a boat party, it always has a theme. The theme for the forthcoming party is “summer”. This means people will come dressed up in anything they relate to summer - e.g. bikinis, big sunglasses, hats, surfboards, swimming shorts, Ibiza girls, etc.. When people arrive and they’re looking at each other and their outfits it adds an element of fun, and builds a nice warm crowd before they even get on the boat. It also makes it nice when we take pictures of the event. The music policy is purely funky house and classic anthems. I play at the parties myself, and there is a really good vibe, everyone has a great time and we all go onto an after party to continue the fun.

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I managed to catch a few minutes with brothers Dean and Charlie to find out how Night Owl first came about, what exciting plans they have for the summer and the future of the brand.

The following is a transcript of selected questions within the interview. To hear the full interview, please download the audio file using the “Quick links” box at the top right of this page.

Nightowl promotions is a bit of a strange name, where did the name comr from and what’s it all about?
Charlie: Dean mostly came up with the name, we thought about owls coming out at night
Dean: Being night owls ourselves, it seemed like the right thing to have as a name. We’re up partying all night

You’ve only been running events in London for just over 6 months, but you guys have been going out and having it large for some while. What’s been your favorite venue in London over the years?
Dean: It’s a tough one.
Charlie:Turnmills was always a favorite for me.
Dean:Turnmills was good. I still really like Ministry, I think it’s one of the clubs that consistently put on big line-ups with a great sound system.
Charlie: It’s well laid out as well.

When you guys are thinking about your parties and how you’re going to put them together. What sorts of things do you think about?
Charlie:Obviously music plays a huge [art in it. That’s what it’s all about. You’ve got to tap into yuor crowd, realise what your crowd wants and supply the djs that the crowd want to see. For us it’s important to ensure we enjoy the music as well. That’s why we started the parties. We want to throw a party that we’d want to go to.

What are the plans for night owl over the coming years? Where do you want it to end up?
Charlie:  I think for the next year, we’re happy just building. It’s a slow process, we’re building our parties, taking each step as it comes.
Dean: We don’t want to run before we can walk.
Charlie: Eventually we’d like to take it as global as possible and create a strong brand.
Dean: Whilst we do that, though, we still need to keep in mind why we started and why we do it, and that is to party. We don’t ever want to get so big that we lose sight of that.

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