CLUBS LIST
urges
DJ Harri of Glasgow‘s Sub Club talks to Colin Steven. LISTINGS: EDINBURGH 65 GLASGOW 65
Man from
Atlantis
Down at Glasgow‘s Sub Club big changes are afoot. Two clubs have closed down and two new names are there to take their place. And, as Colin Steven finds out, Harri the D] has learned to mix records now,
only to a DJ‘s playlist. and you would think every DJ would have mastered it even before setting foot in a console. Not so I larri. who openly admits only learning last year. ‘lt‘s only from
boys.
3 great working relationship with Stuart and Orde
. over the years. However. Dling almost everywhere in the last three years hasn‘t helped
l Harri‘s profile a great deal. chiefly because he
hasn‘t pushed himself in the same way as the Slam
: But success is on the horizon. as he is now on
i the all-important record company mailing lists.
l Added to that are all the recent changes which
' have been taking place at the Sub Club recently. Gone are Blackmarket and Hallelujah: taking
' their place on Thursdays and Sundays are Exodus and The Power respectively. For the first time on
. Saturdays a club is being brought in. an indication
ofthe flagging fortunes ofthe once-legendary Saturday night.
Harri will be DJing with Orde and Stuart at
even though he still doesn’t have a surname.
Going back just a few years to pre-Slam days seems an awful long time ago. What changes have there been in the club scene apart from obviously different music? For me. the biggest changes are that our DJs have finally learnt to mix properly. and Red Stripe Crucial Brew isn‘t on sale anymore. In' 1987. when the Sub Club was still Lucifer‘s. it hosted the best club in Glasgow. Beatbox.
Those were early days for rap and house. which were still considered by many to be passing fads. The pioneering DJs at Beatbox were Gerry McGlaughlin and Harri: and whereas Gerry has gone on to bigger. if not necessarily better things. like managing a bar in Soho. Harri is still plugging away over the turntables. getting more and more professional. and gaining the respect ofeveryone from your ordinary punter to perhaps the most difficult to please. his fellow DJs.
The noble art of mixing is second in importance
hearing Orde and Stuart that I began learning to do it. and realising that it does sound better ifyou can get yourselfto a certain standard.‘ he says. ‘When we did Beatbox we had half a dozen cans of Red Stripe. and just banged the records on one after the other. We didn‘t give a monkey‘s. but it was good because the people that came were pretty much the same as us anyway.
‘The good thing about getting better at mixing is that you start to get a better grasp. There‘s records you listen to at home and think “that‘s really brilliant“. but you try mixing it a couple of times at home and it just doesn‘t fit. It‘s a shame. but you‘re not going to be able to play it. lfyou want to keep a vibe over the whole night. it‘s very important that the records run smoothly together. Since I have learnt. I‘ve come on more in the past year than the three or four years of DJing before that. I was playing what I thought was credible music. but not being able to string it together properly.‘
The groundwork laid down by Beatbox ultimately paved the way for Slam‘s success. but Harri has no need to be envious. as he‘s enjoyed a
Atlantis on Saturdays and with Nigel on Sundays. Not suprisingly. he‘s optimistic about both nights: ‘We hope that Atlantis will be more ofa return to what the Sub Club used to be like on a Saturday. Musically. I want to play more slow stuff. especially more reggae. but not loads. as I know a lot of people don‘t like it. More mellow house like Frankie Knuckles. garage and hip-hop. I honestly hold out hope for Atlantis being the best club in Britain on Saturday nights come the summer. We‘re licensed till 5.30am and it‘s always good in the Sub Club in the summer. We‘ll be playing music more conducive to the summer than techno and new beat were last summer.
‘On Sundays 1 want it to be more like what I used to do on Sundays in Fury Murrys. so it will be relatively commercial. It‘s to get a crowd initially. that‘s the best way to start any club. You can‘t really play good. new. interesting music till you‘ve got them there in the first place. They‘re not going to come and take the chance.‘
Harri DIS, andplays more reggae, but not loads. at the Sub Club on .S‘alurdays. See Listings.
FLORAL RIOT
Experience an indie explosion at sonic ilower grooves at Floral Riot, the most recent club to emerge irom Edinburgh’s blossoming alternative scene.
This, however, is notiust another gothic monstrosity, but an event which covers the whole independent spectrum, irom the Scottish bands oi 1980 to the Mancunian madness oi 1990, with the addition oi original '60’s sounds to educate the uninitiated and place the emphasis iirmly on danceability.
Floral Riot aims to appeal to all those interested in that which deviates irom the mainstream, encompassing both younger clubbers presently being introduced to this category oi music by bands like the Happy Mondays, and
seasoned campaigners who can still recollect the hedonism oi the Backroom.
With such clubs as Immigrant and Powerto their credit, organisers Mark and Ian considertheir fingers to be iirmly on the pulse oi public opinion and are certain that this venture is one which is long overdue in the city-a tact which seems to be borne out by the attendance Iigures on their opening night last week.
Floral Blot at Network 2, 10.30pm—4am, £2.
PLAYLIST
1. PrimalScream: Velocity Girl 2. The Pastels: Holy Moly
3. The Charlatans: Indian Hope 4. The La's: There She Goes
5. Sonic Youth: Teenage Biol
INSOMNIA
li sleepless nights prove a problem, allow Edinburgh’s latest club to prescribe the cure. Hyped as an oppurtunity to experience the ultimate rave, Insomnia aims to combine an eclectic blend oi indie dance with garage and deep house to come up with something really worth losing sleep oven
Organised by the Cooke Twins, lormerly associated with ventures like Freedom and Breathless, and responsible in the past ior bringing acts with the stature at The Shamen and the James Taylor Quartet to the city; Insomnia intends to combat the accepted club/gig iormat and provide a unique nightlife strategy with broad appeaL
With a playlist comprising oi the minimal amount oi hardcore hip hop in orderto eliminate the aggressive element in clubbing, and a future schedule at big-name guest appearances, this multi-media event should certainly make a viable alternative to counting sheep. Insomnia at Wilkie House irom 19 April, 11pm—3am. 23/22.
PLAYLIST
1. Adamski: Killer
2. The Shamen: Pro-Gen (Move Every Mountain)
3. Man Machine: Roboto
4. Outoithe Ordinary: The Dream (Remix)
5. Joe Smooth: They Want To Be Free
The List 20 April — 3 May 1990 65