Episode 48 is coming at you from Manchester-based clubbing institution Kiss Me Again. Anton, Matthew & David founded Kiss Me Again three years ago. They started life throwing monthly parties in the basement of Soup Kitchen and have more recently been on Boiler room TV, played at Homobloc and have become a fixture of Manchester’s alternative pride events.
Hello Kiss Me Again (David, Matthew & Antoin), thank you for coming on the blog! Where should I start, you’ve had an amazing three years. You started life throwing monthly parties at Soup Kitchen in 2016 and you were on the Homobloc lineup just last year (Nov 2019). That must have been a pretty mad journey could you tell me a bit about it? What made you start Kiss Me Again?
Matthew: It was Soup Kitchen who suggested the idea to us. They had a spare Saturday in a matter of weeks, so it was suggested we host this LGBT club night, just to see how it goes. We had to come up with a name pretty quickly so I chose the name of one of my all-time favourite records. Fortunately, the night was a huge success and we’ve been putting on parties ever since. It’s been fantastic how many people come back every month and they absolutely love the atmosphere. It’s their party as much as it is ours. It was great to be part of Homobloc, it was humbling to be recognised and included alongside so much DJ royalty.
Antoin: Yeah special shouts to John Howes and Grant Peacock, who were both working at Soup Kitchen at the time Kiss Me Again started, for being the catalysts behind the night starting in the first place. I hadn’t actually met Matt and Dave before we decided to start Kiss Me Again, so we’re a manufactured boy band of sorts – except we’re all gay rather than just one. Really, we’ve just been ploughing away every month since that first party and the whole process of getting a bit of wider recognition has been gradual.
David: It still kinda takes me by surprise sometimes. Like we’re just doing what we love doing and it seems that people are into it for the moment. It’s been really great getting to know and working with some other great parties in Manchester, like High Hoops and Meat Free. Feels like a nice little community we have going on here in Manchester and I’m pretty chuffed to be part of that.
Do you have a favourite Kiss Me Again party? Has there been a specific point in the past three years that you’d say really sums up the ethos and mission of Kiss Me Again?
Matthew: There are some key moments that stick in your mind. Hosting big DJ names like Ben UFO, Call Super and Midland was very special. On the flipside, we’ve had so many friends come through and play for us who have gone on to phenomenal success. I really love the last hour of the night where everyone knows that it’s almost time to go home and pretty much anything goes. We’ve had some genuinely emotional moments on that dancefloor.
Antoin: When I say every guest we’ve ever booked at Kiss Me Again has been amazing I’m genuinely not exaggerating. We intentionally only book people we already love as DJs, and many of them are already good friends of ours, so it’s incredibly difficult to pick out a favourite. There are two parties that stick out for me in particular though: Savile in October 2018 which was his first ever time in the UK. He completely got the vibe of KMA and Manchester just from walking around, asking some questions about the party, and he played an absolute blinder which everyone loved.
The other one was October last year when Sofie K and Club Rush played – not much to add to it other than it being totally loose, joyous carnage with the best music. Everything just happened to come together that night. I think if we do have one ethos, it’s just making sure the people we book are on the same wavelength as us, and it’s worked so far.
David: Yeah it’s just so hard to pick out anything specifically. Everytime we do one I have a moment when I feel like this is the best we’ve done yet, but I think that’s just because each one is so different. Each party has its own unique vibe and we’ve just been really lucky with our guests so far. That said, the time when Aya and BFTT jumped on the decks with us at the end of the Hesska and Clemency gig is pretty stand out!
‘There’s a real renaissance in Manchester happening at the moment for queer clubbing.’ They’re not my words but the opening of the 2018 boiler room doc Fleshback. What, in your opinion, is continuing to drive this renaissance and where do you see the city’s queer scene heading next?
Matthew: The Boiler Room party was a fun experience, you can see that for yourself on Youtube. Even though I was really ill at the time, can you tell? I had pneumonia apparently. We weren’t included in the Fleshback documentary so whatever renaissance they were talking about there, obviously we weren’t part of it. Manchester has always had a rich underground clubbing music scene which has been mostly inclusive. I think what we’ve seen in recent years is the desire for those of us within that music scene who do identify as queer to push through and make ourselves visible. What drives us, is our friends who are talented producers making amazing music, which is played by the talented, and for the most part, local DJs that we book to play for us.
David: Like Matt says, the queer scene has always been there in various different forms. Maybe it’s the case that it’s a little more fashionable right now. But even when it’s less fashionable we’re always there, just doing our own thing and hoping people are having fun.
You’ve been known to keep your event headliners secret until the last minute at your Soup events. That’s a really cool (and, some would say, a brave move) what is your reasoning for this?
Matthew: I think we’ve only done this twice and it was down to simple practicalities, nothing more. We wanted our regulars to be able to come. If we advertised Midland on the posters then all the tickets would sell out and then it might as well just be any other club night. It’s very important for us to make sure the crowd is queer or queer-friendly and the Soup Kitchen door staff do an excellent job of striking that balance.
As well as running club nights you’re also NTS regulars. How has radio influenced your success? Do you think getting on the airwaves is essential for clubbing brands to succeed in the hyper-saturated market we’ve got in the 21st century?
Matthew: I think the radio show runs well in parallel to the club night. If you listen to our radio shows, there’s some dancefloor music but it’s catered more for home listening or headphones music on the go. We play a lot of new stuff on the radio and try to give our mates who make music some exposure.
Antoin: I love doing NTS and I think it gives us an ability to play music and exhibit our tastes beyond what you would play in a club. Club and dance music makes up only a part of what I actually listen to every day so I think it’s important to reflect that.
I also think it’s great for us to be able to showcase new music, particularly from friends, to anyone who might be listening. I think we’re aware we’ve got somewhat of a following at this point so giving a platform to the amazing producers and musicians who are doing great things right now is definitely something we look to do. After all, they’re the ones who actually create what you listen to and we’re just the vehicles to share it!
I think it’s certainly helped us get a bit more of a profile outside of Manchester and the shows work as great promo for the night. But it’s really difficult to say if it’s actually brought more people down to the club than we would get otherwise since we’ve been doing the show almost as long as we’ve been doing the night now! The show is ultimately just for us to have fun with and play music we love and anything that comes with that is a bonus.
Thanks for catching up with me today. The last thing I want to ask you about is your future plans. What’s on the horizon for Kiss Me Again? We’re all in lockdown at the minute whilst we deal with the Covid-19 crisis but once social distancing rules have been relaxed again where do you see Kiss me Again heading next?
Matthew: We’re just gonna keep on doing what we do. In many ways, we’ve already achieved any ambitions that we may have had at the start. We’ll keep doing it for as long as it keeps being fun. I’d really like to do some more festivals and more gigs abroad. Glastonbury would be amazing.
Antoin: We’ll still be at Soup Kitchen every first Saturday of the month for the foreseeable, once the Covid-19 crisis subsides and we can get back to running events! We’ll be keeping our usual mix of out-of-town guests (a couple coming from the States this year) and local favourites of ours, some playing for the first time, others coming back again!
