New Year’s Eve can be a confusing and frustrating time if you don’t play it right, so we’ve pulled together a few friends to give some advice about the big day and also tell some tales of previous years gone by. As luck would have it, Ruf Dug, O’Flynn, Tom Blip and Garth Be are all playing Keep Hush’s NYE party at Stour Space in London, alongside STW residents. Tickets are £22 and available from RA.
Ruf Dug
2 musical moments…
Tom Noble – ‘Africa Bump’
Wet Play’s first NYE party, upstairs at soup kitchen, 2010-11. What a night, one of the best parties of my life. I remember playing this but that’s about it.
Doctor Rockit – ‘Cafe De Flore (Charles Webster Remix)’
NYE 2007-8, on aboriginal land north of Sydney in a solar-powered geodesic dome, blasting this out as the sun rose. Super vibes.
And some advise for NYE…
OK I’m not a big fan of NYE on the whole. There are shitloads of amateurs out on the streets who don’t belong there, they are just out because they feel obliged to be out and so you got to watch it cos they can fuck up your night real quick. There is plenty of energy in the atmosphere on this night though, and so hiding at home is not always the solution. Best move is to find somewhere that just feels like a sick party, could be any time of the year. Go with ur mates, steer clear of the hordes!
Garth Be
Two musical moments…
Reggie Blount – ‘Traffic Jam’
The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582. I happened to be living it France that year and, well, I wasn’t too keen on the change. Anyway, December 31st came around and back in those days the roads weren’t what they are today. I vividly remember being stuck in a traffic jam and ironically this came on the radio.
Paul Johnson – ‘Welcome To The Warehouse (Original Warehouse Mix)’
I was on my way to a party some friends were having in an abandoned warehouse. I arrived about five minutes before midnight and started banging frantically on the big steel door. A guy I’d never met before opened up and let me inside. It was very dark in there, the music was very loud and there were people everywhere. The guy turned to me and said “happy new year, welcome to the warehouse!” Ironically, just as he said that, the DJ dropped this. Unbelievable really. You couldn’t make this stuff up.
Happy new year hun x
Tom Blip
2 musical moments…
Al Green – ‘Let’s Stay Together’
Cosmic Slop (Leeds) NYE 2014/15. This was a MOMENT… most people go into the new year with a bang but with true style Cosmic Tom turned the volume WAY down and reached for this sombre tune so everyone could shout “let’s stay together” and join arms.
Tag Team – ‘Whoomp! There it is’
I cut my teeth on playing in bars for people who had no time for anything eclectic or super clubby. It’s really easy if you’re a DJ with a name behind you to get the crowd to whoop or cheer to your latest 12” but in many ways it’s way more satisfying to put your finger to those tracks that connect both a music nerd and those with a more general taste. This is unashamedly one of them.
And some advise for NYE…
I think Mark Corrigan from Peep Show summed it up all too well in saying that “it’s a truth self-evident that it’s impossible to have a good time on New Year’s Eve, the pressure’s too immense”, so my top tip is to go to a NO pressure night: small cap, no big DJs, small entry fee with guaranteed good people.
O’Flynn
“Well I can’t remember any music, but I suppose the most interesting story I have is going to a bar on the beach in Thailand in silk white boxers with golden elephants on, with my brother/ sister and their other halfs and playing boules by the sea. The looser had to down a red bull bucket filled with lots of spirits and stuff. Anyway I lost and don’t remember much after but apparently I went up to some hench guy wearing a tank top, he was sitting down just drinking and I bent down grabbed his straw and started to finish his drink, but I have no memory of that!”
