For obvious reasons, running parties is no mean feat right now. But then again, electronic music promoters have always fostered a sort of resilience that would impress virtually any other industry. Step forward then Nick Castle, a multifaceted DJ, promoter and more recently, label owner, who’s determined to leave an impressive mark on the UK’s club scene courtesy of his Labyrinth brand. Having slowly but surely earned a solid reputation for great shows when the pandemic hit, the team were forced to go to ground over the past twelve-or-so months, but are now firmly back with a bang, just as upcoming shows with names such as MCDE, Dixon, DJ Koze and more would appear to suggest. We put some questions to Nick recently, as he talked us through the new label, its philosophy and his plans for the Labyrinth brand over the coming months…
With festivals returning this summer we are looking forward to the series of events you’re doing with Labyrinth. What is your vision for each?
Our vision for the open air shows at Tofte Manor is for the events to be an encompassing experience, where every touch point of the festival is exciting and meticulously curated.
For example, there is a labyrinth at the site, that copies the design of the Chartes cathedral in France. A labyrinth is a symmetrical shape that creates a unique energy field and walking a labyrinth, is proven to bring peace and clarity to your mind. Guests will be allowed to walk the labyrinth on the day of the event, drink the water that runs through it and we’ll ask them to make a small donation that will be invested back into the local community of Sharnbrook.
We’re working with a world-famous designer, who will be announced soon to build a custom installation on one of the stages that will be installed at the venue for the whole summer. We’ve got a woodman to build seating from fallen down oak trees at the venue. The natural beauty of the site is profound and we want to incorporate that into the experience, as much as possible. Our décor team will be dressing the site to the theme of “labyrinth”. The food, the drink, the sound, the staging, the lighting, the transport, the customer service and more – every touch point is essential and we want our customers to leave and think “wow – they really care about the little things”.
Our London based Labyrinth Sessions series focuses on the return to nightclubs, intimacy between the artist and audience and artists playing long sets that allow them to showcase the full range of their DJ skills and dig deep into their record collection.
How did you come across the idea for the different concepts? What inspired you?
The inspiration for the festival series at Tofte Manor came from our desire to produce shows in unique locations, that offer our audience a truly exciting day out. We’re big believers that we live in an experience economy and our generation of ticket buyers want to attend events, that offer them more than your standard night out. Tofte Manor will be the first of many more unique locations we’ll use over the years.
We also wanted to move away from promoting in London, where it’s a struggle to work with top tier artists due to the insane competition and having to compete with corporate beasts like Broadwick Live, who lock out top talent across their portfolio of festivals and venues. The Labyrinth Sessions series was inspired by my love for seeing artists play all night long. As a dancer, I always want to be the first in the club to hear what music artists are playing at the start of their set and see how they build an energy on the dancefloor. My friends all tease me for this – I always go down to events early and then they’ll come and meet me later.
My most memorable nights out have been seeing the likes of Dixon, Keinemusik and Trikk play long sets. DJing is an art and it’s impossible for an artist to showcase that artistry through a 1.5 hour headline slot. The series aims to celebrate and showcase this art.
I have noticed that you’re using different clubs across London for each event, what made you pick these locations?
I’m pleased you noticed this. We do want to celebrate and support independent nightclubs in London. We chose the venues that we think are the best fit for each show and are the right capacity for every event to sell out.
Our production team will be creating a custom lighting install at each event, to really make each show even more special.
All line-ups are equally different and exciting, is there a particular reason why you have chosen these artists for your line-up?
Because I respect them all and love their work. There are so many artists on our 2021 series that inspire me and it’s a truly a dream come true to be working with them all. The DJ Koze & Co show on August 7th at Tofte Manor is one that I’m particularly proud of curating. We wanted one of our open air shows to feature a mix of live and DJ sets and you would not normally see the likes of José González and Elder Island, playing live sets alongside the likes of DJ Koze, MCDE and Sedef Adasi.
The idea to invite José came from his collaboration with DJ Koze through “Music on My Teeth” on Koze’s Knock Knock album in 2018 and to have an artist involved whose music is as timeless and influential as José’s on one of our events, is really exciting. The day is programmed so that the music will progressively reach a higher BPM throughout the day and will finish with 2 hours of MCDE / Danilo Plessow before DJ Koze closes the show. That final four hours of house and disco and everything in between will be pretty special.
I understand you’re starting a new label. Can you tell us more about that? What kind of sounds are you going for? What is most representative for your label and why?
The story behind the label is a wonderful one. Pional played a track at our Running Back showcase in 2019 that was a gem, I asked him for the ID and it was a rework of Aphex Twin – Rhubard with a sample from Bicep – Glue that a young French producer called Cédric Sheva had made.
I hit up Cédric to see if I could get the track and he sent it to me. I then played it at Motion, where I was opening before Âme and the track got an amazing reaction. I got back in touch with Cédric to see what other music he had and it turned out he was sitting on a lot of wicked unreleased magic. I just thought that music this good deserves to be released and launched the label to be a conduit between this music and the world around us.
I never intended to start a label and it happened by chance by being curious and lucky enough to come across a lot of amazing unreleased music. The label is multi-genre. We’re not aiming to be a deep house label or a techno label and really want to support music from all spectrums of electronic music. This year we have releases coming out that touch on span classic house, melodic house, techno, breakbeat and dubstep.We have a very simple music policy: to release music that makes us feel. Our first release is out on vinyl and digital on Friday 28th May. LAB001 Cédric Sheva: Tour d’Vélo EP.
This will be followed by an Alex Medina release in July and a remix cameo from Biesmans in August.
With the festival world opening back up, do you have other plans for the foreseeable future with Labyrinth?
To continue to create experiences that last a lifetime and grow our festival shows at Tofte Manor, with the roster of artists that we love working with.
Is there anything you would like to say to artists that are maybe seeking a bit of inspiration in these crazy times?
Continue to believe and never give up. The past year has been horrid for any performing artist and they must not forget that their work brings benefits to the world, that a financial value cannot be attributed to. Imagine lockdowns without music to listen to? That would have been hellish. And there is hope. With the vaccine roll out, the world is carefully and slowly opening up and a brighter future for us all is on the horizon. I hear the summer of love is coming…
Lastly, is there anything else you feel like you would like to share with us today?
I wish you could all see the smile that comes to face when I think of us all dancing together this summer. It’s going to be magical.
Labyrinth’s debut release is out on vinyl and digital on Friday 28th May. Listen/buy the release here.
Dixon b2b Âme + more play Tofte Manor on 10th July. DJ Koze, José González + more play Tofte Manor for Labyrinth on 7th August. For further information/tickets on both events (as well as on Labyrinth’s upcoming club shows), check https://www.