preview
GUEST DJ -. “ Jon Pleased Wimmin at
Up! I
Studio 24, Edinburgh, Fri 8 Dec.
Studio 24 is currently enjoying a .. - popular renaissance of bona fide clubbing, thanks in part to the efforts of mixed progressive house I night Up!. For nigh on a year, the " 5. club has confined itself to the bijoux .' upstairs room and built up residents ~ \ , ‘ Nic Cavendish and Alan James. This ‘ month, they're shifting up a gear.
’We've been getting a great _ response to the club,’ says promoter , a ', David Cairns, ’Really, the big night is
a thank-you to all the people " ’ who‘ve been coming since last ' March, because they’ve made the
club what it is.‘
For the uninitiated, Up! isn‘t your " I"
straightforward prog house joint.
’We started the club,’ says Cairns,
’basically because we were sick of going out and having to put up with thousands of little kids falling all over the place, so we thought we'd provide a space for people who are maybe a little bit older and want to hear some good music.’
If that sounds a little dour, given the place of inebriated youngsters at the heart of nightclubbing, Up! continues the Edinburgh tradition for added extras of the daft variety. And Cairns is keen to emphasise that Up! is no place for the sour-faced: ‘We have a bouncy castle on the dancefloor, which is pretty much unique, and string a clothesline up with loads of stuff pegged to it. Last time we did that, all 150 items were taken down within half an hour and ended up on peoples backs. We just don't see why you can't have a place that's good fun and has good quality music.’
In order to ease the transition between the regular small-scale Up! events and the one-off full scale bash,
Fingathing's Peter Parker and bassman Sneaky
LIVE ACT Fingathing at Audio Psy-Phi ‘0
Fingathing
blur the
a unicrue pairing of Teclinics and upright bass boundaries
Jon's ditched
the club has roped in Jon of Pleased Wimmin. ‘It'll be good to play at a mixed club that isn‘t after a party set or full on hard house,’ says Jon, ‘l‘ll be playing anything from Deep Dish to Bedrock, right across that spectrum. I've always been into the progressive side of things, the pulsing, hypnotic stuff.’
Jon Pleased should fit the Up! ethos like an elbow length glove. The DJ remains famous for balancing serious music with a commitment to lovely frocks and long blonde wigs, a trait he has sadly abandoned of late. ‘When I finished my club, Pleased, I decided to just close that chapter,‘ he says, ‘It‘s almost weird talking about it now. But I think I was always known for my music anyway, rather than just as a DJ who dressed up — I've been booked by clubs like Slam, and it‘s obvious that type of place would only book you on the stuff you play. I still like to have a laugh, though.‘
(Jack Mottram)
to play live One of Our main points is
it 1 to make everyone see that people are . supposed to play instruments, not just W seguencers and synthesisers. That's . g’ , what we live for gomg out live and
playing in front of a crowd, and releasing records is just the natural \.‘-.’dy to build up interest in that '
When DJs talk of the turntable as an instrument, it is often coded reference to the fact that they Will link together an interminable series of flares, drills and cuts for the entertainment of trainspotters
’I hate that" says Parker, reassuringly, '| dismiss the trick side of mixmg, because I'm concentrating on the musical side The whole battle side of things is too much like a circus act for people to accept it as something that is
are all set be t ee n
Substitute Venue (Planet Peach), Glasgow, Fri 8 Dec.
Audio Psr-Phy has built up a loyal following over the years thanks to a perfectly-pitched mix of hip hop derived ITTUSIC and close links with Grand Central, the tytanc’hester-basecl label that's home to the likes of Rae & Christian and Tony D This month the label's most experimental act,
conventional DJ practice anci' a good old-fashioned live band
’We clon’t want people to get confused,’ says Peter Parker, DlxlC-lex'el hip hop DJ and partner to bassman Sneaky, ’We're an act that writes and plays their own tunes, it just happens that ate play turntables and an upright bass We're definitely a live band who've gone on to record mUSlC, rather than a studio-based band trying
truly musical I even sacked off using taxo turntables for a bit, just to hone right in on the music It's just farcical that people say ‘No way! I can scratch with my spine"
'In the end,’ Parker continues, ’we just started messing around one day and we’d never heard anything like it, so we just thOught we should pursue it It's totally unique, and we just \‘Jarit people to hear it ' (Jack Mottrani
clubs@list.co.uk
Word Up
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE between Motherwell and New York? Up until now, a fair bit, to say the least, but with Colours’ new residency at legendary NYC nightspot The Tunnel, the Big Apple and, erm, the Little Tin of lrn Bru will finally have something in common. The first Scottish residency in the States kicks off this New Year's Eve with Colours resident Ian ’Boney’ Clarke and pigtailed former Haysi Fantaysi frontman Jeremy Healy. The British invasion continues.
rnr innitiitrr. Envirtons of o, the iliflt‘ '.eni.e roaitrt the corner from the Corinthian is 'e aunching on ltloncia‘, ‘1 D(‘(é”l‘l)t" l.lcinciay and Tlif’bd'l‘y’ nights are (rune-ct at a gay/straight cro'u't'cl «surely that inc iiicies .'"-(l8°t readersr (llStW'll'r‘iQ .'"n-. of pot) and commerc :al dance than the .isciai gay iiiglit Steps ‘n Britney onslaught It's a mere (3 in, but cheapska’es \‘.li’ be pleased to near that tree basses wli be available in Del's arid the Polo lounge At ‘.‘.‘(’(‘k(>lt(l‘8, tne venae '~.-.ill operate as He II i.‘.::i\ access through We Corinthian s basement club See Listings for full details
THE RUMOUR MILL has been working overtime on the recent announcement that The Venue and Wilkie House are to become sister clubs in the New Year. Contrary to the gossip suggesting that The Venue will cease to operate as a live venue, the real deal according to manager George Duffin is that Wilkie House will move in a ’more commercial direction to reflect the Cowgate's general swing towards students, while The Venue will remain in use as a live venue as well as showcasing more leftfield/ cutting-edge club nights.‘
l‘.lEANWllil.E THE NEW Honeycomb iformerly The Vaults) has started to annOunce their roster of nights Among those already confirmed are Streetlife, Yogi HaughtOn's R8.B showcase and IT, a brand new collaboration bett‘seen the Honeycorrrb and Colours featuring big name guests Luvely and Taste ".'.’|ll also be moving their residencies to the new venue Full details to i()ll()‘.'." soon
HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS GO out to Edinburgh‘s Blame It On A Monday resident DJ and all-round local hero, Dolphin Boy, who‘s just been signed to Tim Love Lee‘s London-based Tummy Touch label.
itli a more
Jeremy Healy
30 "JC‘n‘i; Dec 2000 THE “ST 71