You’re also a resident and promoter at The Night Institute. It must be nice to hold a residency and practice your craft week in week out to a club crowd. It seems like we’re seeing less and less resident-led, community-based club nights now as people move towards large festivals and big clubs to consume dance music. How has a weekly residency helped you? And how can promoter combat this shift away from big summer event festivals?

I had a whole lotta fun when we were running The Night Institute on a weekly basis, but I’m finding myself in a much better headspace creatively now that we throw our parties much less frequently. I think the weekly element was important in terms of nurturing a community and creating an affordable alternative music experience. We have a lot of regulars that have been going to the parties from it’s very first venue!

We’ve had girls who have met their boyfriends at the parties, and are still together. More importantly, as a DJ it gives you scope, flexibility that is transferable outside the residency. In answer to your question on how to combat ‘large event’ syndrome, I’d say afford opportunities to talent on that basis, but maintain a quality control on who you book. We rarely booked guests and for our residents parties had numbers of right up to 500 capacity at points (50 at points too – who wants to be DJ’ing the first week in January?!). 

Despite this, we were able to create opportunities for at least 30 new artists over the 3 years without sacrificing the musical direction of the night. This builds a scene that naturally supports good people and isn’t ‘exclusive.’ Throwing crazy money at internationals is just fighting fire with fire if you want to steer things away from ‘big events.’ Balance is key.