Man Make Music is a night that's been catching my attention since they first got out there and started promoting nights early this year.
Man Make Music joins the dots between myriad bashy dance music: it's genius idea of the kind that makes you think, 'Dur, it's so obvious why hasn't anyone else done it.'
Respect is due to Amit and Nikhil - above - for being the first to do it and do it in an accessible, intriguing way. Such as this daytime, Block Party.
The soundtrack's loosely, dubstep, grime, drum and bass, fidget house, Baltimore, or just dirty bassline driven dance music from the last ten years. I'm biased obviously, coz this is the music I love. Hard, underground, bass driven music brimming with soul, rawness and energy. Here's an interview that appeared in Metro on Thursday. I will be going to this on Sunday. Though Secret Sundaze is tempting.
Last Sunday, I went to Secretsundaze at Canvas after vowing never to go there following repeated carnival style crushes on the door. We went late, and there was no hassle getting in (apart from having my weed taxed off me on the door. grow up, it was a joint's worth). And I have to say that the Canvas roof terrace is a great space.
I was being offered dabs of ketamine and MDMA at 10pm. Crazy people with no jobs to goto, but overwhelmingly, friendly, generous, hip and sexy party crew.
As my colleague at Metro, who also ended up there, said to me on Monday, 'I felt like Quasimodo in there. Big up to Raving Rubika for persuading me to go (the lesson being that after two pints and two rum and cokes, I'm anyones).
CLUBS
In barely six months four friends who met at University have established Man Make Music (MMM) as one of the most exciting and forward-thinking events in London clubland.
August Bank Holiday’s MMM joined the dots between dubstep, fidget house, grime, garage and reggae, with leading DJs (Mala, Trevor Loveys, Scandalous Unlimited and Soul Jazz) from these respective scenes.
For MMM, the link between these genres is entirely natural and the fact that no one else in London seemed to be pushing such soundtracks, only spurred them on: 'We wanted to see what we could do in London in terms of the music we're into which is bass-driven music and big bashy dance music such as dubstep, grime, d'n'b, fidget house, Baltimore and minimal house and techno,' explains promoter/resident DJ Amit Gudka.
'We got into the Hackney warehouse scene and did a few parties but in March we put on a big night with Blakey and N Type and it went nuts in terms of hype – after that we thought we can really run with this night blending together different styles.'
This Sunday MMM ups the ante further with a Block Party in the heart of London’s alternative raving quarter. Promoters hankering after unusual spaces will be kicking themselves for missing the concrete wasteland behind The Foundry pub, and right opposite the Holiday Inn on Old Street.
The line up certainly fits Gudka’s description of ‘a 21st century block party with a Shoreditch spin on it.' As with all MMM events it’s musically broad but connected with guests including turntable duo C2C (five times team DMC champions) ripping up hip hop and electronica, N-Type’s relentless, slamming brand of dubstep, and Diplo-faves Radioclit (and grime MC Ears) getting bootys shaking with crunching dancehall, Baltimore, and baile funk.
Where did the inspiration for throwing a block party come from?
''The space: it's a concrete, urban space not a park in the heart of Shoreditch and it’s surrounded by buildings - there’s an original Banksy in there - and the fact that it's daytime screams, ‘Block Party!’ explains Gudka.
As MMM ascends London's clubbing ladder through partnerships with some of the capital’s leading clubland players (Egg, the Tenax and Issst warehouse raves), what does the future hold?
'Through this Block Party we're learning how to do temporary, licensed parties and we're keen to do more informal spaces,' says Gudka. 'It adds to the interest, puts a different slant on our nights and we believe there are loads of spaces in London with the ability to surprise people. That’s what we’ve been doing with our venues and line ups, hopefully we can keep it up and stay unique.’
Sunday, Shoreditch Block Party, The Courtyard, off Great Eastern Street EC2, 2pm to 10.30pm, £8 adv, £10 door. Tel: 0870 060 0100. Tube: Old Street
A version of this appeared in Metro on Thursday
