Ritual is a relatively new night that is already shaking up the scene in the capital. What started as a run of summer parties across a few afternoons has now become a monthly event at EGG.
Once again taking place during the afternoon, the night plugs a gap for those wanting to go dancing earlier, and if they do they will find Ritual is about more than just good music. It also boasts top of the range production, colourful dancers and a tribal setting which all add to the occasion. With their quest to bring the mystics of ritualism to London’s city centre, we speak with promoter Richard Stone ahead of the November 5th winter launch event with Leftwing & Kody plus secret headline guests.
See also: “The music is banging every time without fail.”
Ritual London made its name in London this summer at Madison, how did you get to that point, what was the aim, the vibe, the plan for the night from the start?
Both Dan and I had been working at Madison as DJs for a couple of years and always wanted to throw a party there, previously we’d been running an event called Confession which saw guests including Butch, Boris Werner, Riva Starr & Patrick Topping play for us. We wanted to do something musically in line with that, but under the guise of a daytime party. The vibe of Ritual is really just good quality music with an uplifting vibe, dancers, face painting and amazonian themed decor throughout. We try not to take ourselves too seriously it’s more about having fun with your mates whilst listening to good music! We encourage people to dress as flamboyantly as possible!
Tell us a bit about the work involved in the run up to a Ritual event, what are the key things you guys need to consider?
The main challenge is to get the people there, so a lot of time goes into marketing the event, sending mail outs, and getting our core crew of friends down to the parties and building it from there. Another challenge has been securing the artists we’ve been using. We’ve had some high profile guests so there’s a lot of cans and can’t do’s we’ve had to navigate around in order to stick to contractual agreements and ensure everyone has an enjoyable experience playing for us.
Once the night has kicked off what are your jobs on the actual day, what can be a challenge sometimes?
We’ve been doing everything ourselves from pitching in setting up decor and sound, to organizing guests list and staff, hosting the DJs and dancers, policing behind the DJ booth to stop randoms and hangers on swiping the artist rider which let me tell you is a never ending task.. But we wouldn’t have it any other way, it’s always best to have a hands on approach and it ensures we’re in control of the event even though it can be stressful at times!
Tell us a bit about the artists who played for Ritual over the summer, how did they capture the essence of Ritual?
We’ve been lucky to have some amazing artist over the summer including: wAFF, Sasha, Steve Lawler, Eats Everything, Patrick Topping, Mark Knight, Richy Ahmed, Kydus & Darius Syrossian. So far everyone has played a great set and rocked the crowd, and most importantly turned up on time! It’s hard to pick a favorite set as each and everyone has gone off. We’re excited to have Leftwing & Kody and one of our favorite acts at our winter series launch on the 5th of November also!
What made you want to come back and do a winter series? Did you see a gap to plug?
There seemed like a real sense of community at the parties and it’s so nice to see the same faces turning up time and time again. We got so many nice comments and so much positive feedback we decided we’d run all year round!
Why Egg?
What made you want to party there? It’s just a phenomenal venue with a great sound system and it’s the right size in the main room for us as well as the right vibe for a day party. It’s not currently open on Saturday daytime so it will be entirely our own crowd we’ll take their, which will let us continue where we left off.
The place has had some touch ups recently right?
Can you tell us about them? Yeah they’ve roofed the garden for winter and added a really cool mezzanine balcony, it’s got a really quirky open air smoking area. But most importantly the sound system is slamming! First and foremost for us, the music has to be right and we will not touch an event with a barge pole unless the sound system is incredible. As DJ’s ourselves there’s nothing we can’t stand more than listening to a pony sound system!
Tell us about the winter series, Leftwing & Kody will be headlining the launch amongst 2 secret guests, can you give us any insight at all?
Yep Leftwing & Kody have been smashing it all summer at Warriors and releasing pure quality records, we really like their music and record label, it’s the sound we strive for at Ritual. Our 2 secret guests are a duo taking the scene by storm, everyone will know them and love it when they turn up and see them play! We can’t announce them as they have other London shows near to the time..
Why should people come to Ritual? What makes it a unique to every other London party?
Most importantly the music is banging every time without fail. Our crowd is a nice mixture of people from all walks of life who are there to have a good time and just have a laugh. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and we’re there to have fun with you. I’d would say one advantage of coming to Ritual though is you can have a full day of debauchery and still be able to get up on Sunday! For us it’s a game changer!
5 November | Ritual – Winter Series Launch | Tickets | EGG
