What made you want to leave Leeds and start doing parties in London? Is it a different ball game?
I grew up in London, so the plan was always to try move back. I lived in Leeds for 5 years and loved every moment. I still plan to run lots of events up there and still have an office and team up there. I just wanted to expand what we do in to London more.
How helpful are local councils with all your projects? Do you feel they are happy to accommodate or that you are the enemy?
I try to avoid them wherever possible. They can be very tricky to deal with. Everyone I know who has tried to run warehouse parties in Leeds has always run in to problems. It’s a shame as there are some amazing spaces in Leeds. But sometimes it’s just not worth the hassle, especially if you have to pull a party a few days before hand when the goal posts get moved or the party gets shut down.
About Global Rhythms – how hard was it to secure Gilles to play for you? Is the rest of the lineup picked to fit with him?
We had Gilles play for us in Leeds a few months ago supporting Bonobo, but I have to thank Simon Denby (Tremors Live) for securing this one, he is my partner in London and pulled together a huge line up for this show with acts we both love and we feel fit in well with Gilles but also stood out as a really solid line up.
There is a real world music vibe at that party – how do you come to such sounds, is it a personal passion? People are often put off by the words ‘world music!”
With the Just A Little parties we always try and do something different, from New York City, Disco, Rio Mardi Gras, Brooklyn Block Party to our Acid Trip party. It makes it pretty tricky to promote as we’re basically putting on a new party each time. So for London we are trying to carve out a slightly different niche with our bookings. The term world music can mean anything to anyone really. We’re just putting on parties we hope people will love!
What are you most proud of to date and why, and have you still got goals and targets when it comes to promoting?
The first Just A Little we put on back in 2012, the entire event cost about £20k to put on and between the four of us we had about £2k in the bank. It was a major risk but we sold it out somehow!
I have always said I want to be the first DJ on the moon, so if Red Bull are reading this, let’s make it happen!
1 August | Just A Little & Tremors present Global Rhythms | Tickets | London