Episode 83 is here and it’s the perfect soundtrack to spring. Carl Higson from Cumbria based club night Electric Boutique has put together an hour of house music perfect for the lighter evening and warmer weather we’re going to have for about 3 weeks (We’re in Manchester after all).
Catch our interview with Carl below.
Hey Carl, thanks for coming on the blog, I’m really excited to chat with you. I always like to start these interviews by asking my guest to introduce themselves and tell us a bit about their DJ’ing journey. So when did you get started as a DJ and what has your DJ journey looked like from then until now?
Hi Liam. Thanks so much for inviting me on, really appreciate it! I’m originally from Manchester but have been living in Kendal in Cumbria for around 8 years now. Although I got my first decks around 2002, I didn’t really start playing out until around 10 years later. I actually started in Goa, India where I played chilled sunset sets and built up the vibe into the night.
I used to play for 6 or 7 hours on the most beautiful beach. At the time it was just some fun, but we used to get regulars in the bar from all over the world and playing long sets there was a really good DJ’ing education.
After a few years doing that we moved back to the UK and up to Kendal and I luckily got to know a few like minded people who were into similar music which got me gigs all around Cumbria. This also gave me the confidence to start my own night with a few friends.
I’m also part of a group of DJ’s called Underground Kollektiv, which has been a brilliant group to be a part of and also has a record label where I’ve been able to release my own productions.
They have also put on events in Manchester and more recently as Amsterdam Dance Event which was a blast to play at!
You’re based in Kendal in Cumbria. What’s it like throwing parties in that part of the world? Are there any unique hurdles you have to overcome or are there any advantages that come with running an event away from your “traditional” UK clubbing capitals?
We decided to set up our own night in Kendal just as there wasn’t really anything going on at the time where you could hear good electronic music. Kendal had previously been known for being a great night out, but like many other towns, lots of pubs and clubs had shut down.
We launched our night at a bar called Ruskins and it went really well. The owner is really enthusiastic as well and put a new sound system in for us and we’ve had a great relationship with them ever since.
The main challenge of putting on a night in a small town is that there are simply less people who are into niche genres. Saying that though we do have a really good small loyal following. On the positive side though, unlike in cities, you’re not up against a lot of similar nights on a Saturday night and it’s easier to spread the word when we have a night on.
How did you go about starting Electric Boutique and what are your plans for the future with the brand? Any grand ambitions or do you just want to play great parties in a place you love?
We originally ran a night called The District Discotheque at Ruskins with 2 friends. Although the night was a success, lockdown came along and I decided to start something new. As we’d already done nights at the venue before then Ruskins was the obvious choice.
I’d learned from our last night that though having too many people involved in the planning of each night caused issues so I thought I would just do it myself and invite other DJ’s I know from across Cumbria and beyond. Brad who was part of The District Discotheque night also wanted to come along as a resident and another guy Luke approached us about being involved. Luke had a lot of previous DJ experience and has also added amazing visuals and lighting to the night (along with being an amazing DJ and great fella too!)
At the moment our ambition is just to have fun and grow a good following of people who like what we do.
Moving on to your mix can you give us a bit of an insight into how you put it together? Do you like to meticulously plan your mixes or was this a very organic process?
When it comes to live DJ sets I just have a loose plan but for a recorded mix I plan it by track. I’ve got quite a lot of really nice deep house that I don’t get to play out so much so thought I’d go through my collection and pick out some of those tracks for the mix.
Are there any standout tracks for you in the mix you wouldn’t mind sharing with us? Any tracks that never leave your bag or ones you return to time and time again?
The Ron Trent track Pop Dip and Spin, 2nd track in is a record that never leaves my bag. I love both tracks on this record and they’re perfect warm up material. Also the next track by Motor City Drum Ensemble, I have 3 Raw Cuts records which always sound good.
The 6th track in the mix is called Largo by an artist called Naveed who is actually one of my cousin’s friends in Manchester. Again all 3 tracks on this 12” are class. There’s also a couple of tracks on the Shall Not Fade label who are consistently quality.
Finally, what’s on the horizon for yourself and Electric Boutique are there anymore parties on the horizon you can tell us about?
Yes we’ve got 5 more parties planned this year at Ruskins (next one is on 1st April) with some class DJ’s coming to play.
We’ve also just set up our first ticketed event which we are very excited about. It’s going to be at an amazing local brewery called Lakes Brew and we’ve got a brilliant band called High Fade playing live, along with a support band and us DJ’s spinning too. That’s on 13th May.
We’ve got a few more things planned too but these are still in the early stages.
