Pole, Rob Hall and more hit Bleep43, London

Pole, Rob Hall and more hit Bleep43, London

7 September, 2008 | 1.26AM

• Written by: Lee Smith
• Filed under: Music News: bleep43, pole

Elsewhere, there may be laments about the continuing closures of seminal London clubs, but deep underground, there are still thriving scenes and parties to be found.

One of the most impressive of these is Bleep43, the eight-year-old bi-monthly event run by a small collective of like-minded London residents determined to bring the quality back to the capital’s line-ups.

Now residing at the increasingly-tipped Corsica Studios, Bleep43 has hosted guest spots by everyone from Surgeon to I-F, from Daniel Bell to Convextion, always supported by a committed cast of regularly mind-blowing, lesser-known talents.

Bleep43’s next event, featuring minimal dub don Pole [pictured] and acclaimed Warp / Gescom DJ Rob Hall, takes place on 3rd October at Corsica Studios - we caught up with co-founder Toby Frith to chat about what makes the night special.

Tell me a little about the origins of Bleep43, your aims and inspirations, and how the various people involved came together.

The make-up of the 7 people involved with Bleep43 is quite varied but we all share a love of electronic music.

The big factors in us coming together I would say are the Lost parties and the 313 Detroit Techno mailing list.

All of us attended the same parties without knowing each other in the 90’s, but we came together through the latter during the early part of this decade.

Bleep43 was originally initiated in 2000 by myself and Emile Facey (Plant43) as a source for electronic music but it wasn’t until 2002 when we decided, with the set-up having expanded, to start putting on small parties at Public Life in Shoreditch.

We had a circle of friends, many of whom were bedroom DJs or aspiring producers, and it felt right to give them an opportunity to play and to cement an existing community of like-minded individuals with a smaller, more intimate place to go out to.

This grew steadily until the ownership of the venue switched hands and we weren’t happy with the incoming management, so eventually decided to make a leap up to a bigger venue and thankfully Corsica Studios suited our needs perfectly.

With the move to a bigger venue it’s possible to entertain some of the producers and DJs that have given us a lot of inspiration down the years whilst also giving our friends the chance to play on a quality soundsystem.

If there is an aim as such, it’s just to put on parties that have a warm and friendly vibe where everyone knows each other and give performers the chance to play to a knowledgeable and appreciative crowd.

You’ve maintained a pretty diverse booking policy over the years. What’s your general process for deciding who to book next?

A lot of club nights are too musically homogenized nowadays.

It’s as if the consumer thinks “I want a night of house” or whatever, and then they’ll go to a club and get that to satisfy their need.

There’s very little mystery or serendipity left with the advent of the internet, or indeed a true range of styles being played at so many club nights anymore, and part of our aim is to bring back some of the original spirit - so that’s why we like to mix it up and keep people on their toes to a certain extent.

It’s also important for us to challenge our audience’s perceptions from time to time of what electronic dance music is about.

All involved with Bleep43 are passionate about who plays, and because we all have quite varied taste our line-ups reflect that.

So it might mean dub techno, house and disco for one party, or electro and Italo at the next one.

We’re always keen to push and promote relative unknowns as well, and make sure that they are represented properly, plus the live aspect of performance is a cornerstone of our booking policy.

What have been your most memorable highlights?

Seeing Daniel Bell DJ for over 3 hours with one arm as he’d dislocated his shoulder was quite amusing!

Convextion’s first ever live set for us in 2006 was one that still makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand up, and Surgeon has consistently produced remarkable performances whenever he DJs for us as he mixes it up properly, playing Yoko Ono next to Jeff Mills.

DJ Stingray was outstanding at our last party in April, and it was great to see a whole room throbbing to his unique way of DJing.

But the truly great moments have been friends and long-time attendees at parties playing sets, either as DJs or as live acts.

The parties were initially started with just them involved, and it’s something that is very much the core of our aesthetic and will remain so.

People like Max Duley, VLF, Orphan, Nick Wilson and Jonny McIntosh who are all relatively unknown in the bigger world of dance music have produced amazing performances down the years that will remain long in the memory.

Being invited to play at the most recent Bloc festival meant a lot as well to all of us.

And what plans do you have for the future?

We’re very lucky to be able to work with Corsica Studios who are an oasis of civility and calm in the cut-throat world of London venues.

They also have an amazing soundsystem that they are continually looking to improve, and the venue itself retains a warehouse vibe that is a necessity for parties such as ours.

The rooms are perfect for us as they’re small enough to retain the intimacy that we feel is very important for what we do.

For the forseeable future, the parties will continue on a fairly regular basis as they are, as big parties aren’t really our thing.

Our next party in December is going to be quite special as Scorn is appearing for the first time, and he’s someone that we’ve wanted to book for a while.

Alongside him are Surgeon and Peter Kuschnereit (DJ Pete aka Substance), who’ll be reprising their time from the old Tresor when they used to DJ all night together - I think it’ll be something a bit different.

Our new website has just launched providing a particular perspective on electronic music that was always our initial ambition.

Amongst reviews and interviews there’s also a 2 hour weekly podcast which has been running since 2005, and finally the Bleep43 record label will be launching soon with its first release.

For more info, check out the Bleep43 site, and check out co-founder Plant43’s music for revered British electro label Ai in the player.

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