Promotion:
Below are listed a small selection of the events I have organised during my time promoting in the last 20 years. There are so many more I could mention but I am lacking artwork for many of them and it's difficult to remember all the names, venues and DJs.
Aural Sex
My alter ego DJ Promo came into existence in 1997, when I was asked to help promote Monday nights at Crossbar in London. Historically, the night had been impossible to get going, so the club called me in to give it an adrenaline shot to the heart. I duly stationed myself behind the decks, gave it everything I’d got, and DJ Promo was born. Dubbed Aural Sex and boasting glamorous girls draped in the doorway calling out “Free Aural Sex”, the event was an instant success: suddenly, film directors were calling up asking to be put on the guest list (although I’m still not entirely sure they got what they came for!). Guest DJs included Pressure Drop,
John Stapleton and Laidback.
Main Course
First served up in 1997, Main Course – which focused on funky house – was a weekly Saturday night residency that toured several London venues, including The Zd Bar. The flyers were designed to look like a menu: “DJ Promo Serving Up A Deliciously Sexy Set”. I played my first 12-hour set in Camden’s WKD front of 1,600 people and later took the night to Sub-Logic. Everywhere we went, the night was a raging success.
Good Life
Good Life represented a collaboration between myself and DJ Kei. Kei’s early attempts to run Good Life at London’s legendary Wag Club had floundered, but by moving the night to Sub-Logic, using my extensive mailing list and playing “club classics from yesterday and tomorrow”, the new-and-improved Good Life smashed all bar and attendance records – our cue to go global.
Better Life
After DJ Kei and I ended our partnership as promoters, I staged one final party using the same mailing list and ethos to honour an existing booking. Changing the name to Better Life, I put together an inproved line-up and my favourite flyer of all time: me in a jacuzzi with a naked girl on each arm!
The 3rd Dimension
The 3rd Dimension was a night based on a hedonistic cocktail comprising myself, Pedro G and Enrique Soto. Known collectively as 3D (three DJs from three separate continents: Britain, Portugal and Spain) never before – or since – have I felt such a strong musical connection with any other DJs. The three of us share strikingly similar taste in music, yet play in vastly different ways.
Pixelfree
Best described as “House With Tribal Tendencies”, Pixelfree was an experiment in pushing the boundaries of an art/music collaboration. The night’s musical element featured many of Melbourne’s most progressive and tribal house names, including Nick Dem Q, Dean Millson, Sasha Petrovic and Gavin Mak.
Balbalika Grooves
A charity event I organised with a friend featuring 20 DJs over 12 hours. We were raising money for the Balbalika Trust which Every year helps 1000’s of Nepalese children. We organised all sorts of fundraising activities including a delicious Nepalese buffet included in the ticket price. DJs included Gavin Keitel, Nick Dem Q, Simon Coyle and Andi Red.
The Drum Is God!
The Drum Is God! was five years in the making. Opening night saw the queue stretching all the way round the block of Melbourne’s Two Floors Up, out onto Lonsdale Street and on past the late night garlic sauce souvlaki hang-out Stalactites (apologies if you’re not familiar with Melbourne CBD). The night broke the venue’s bar record by $4,500. After one further party there, TDIG! took a year out before a one-off event at Melbourne’s Brown Alley, and featured three international DJs along with Promo, live percussion, live sax and a host of local DJs.
Guinness World Record Attempt
Full details of this event are listed in the GWR section of the site and although the event was subject to so many complications, went ahead receiving global attention and received all sorts of television, radio and additional media coverage. I ended up DJing for 87 hours breaking the Guinness World Record by 3 hours. The submission of data for the attempt to be qualified is still taking place and proving to be as big an undertaking as organising the event in the first place! The whole event was to raise money and awareness for two Australian charities and I have commited myself to continue raising money for both those charities and undertake additional charity fundraising work where possible.
Decoded
Decoded was a joint venture with Melbourne promoter Erica Chestnut who runs Freefall Promotions. Together under the guize of A Solo Chestnut Production ran this increasingly successful event at Tilt in Melbourne, attracting a larger audience every month.
Eventually Tilt closed and we are launching the event here
in London, UK on the 6th of October 2008
Cant Stop Wont Stop
Teaming up with a crew hosting a weekly party at Herbal in Shoreditch, London; I have been involved in all the artwork for the event including flyer and poster designs. For the difficulties of running a Sunday night event especially the competition for that time slot, the event has gone from strength to strength. Sadly, Herbal closed its doors for the last time in 2009 and I moved on to focus more on production
Spangled Love Monkey
Launched in 2009 at the Canal125 bar in Kings Cross, London; Spangled Love Monkey ran weekly every Friday before going monthly later in the year. Featuring a broad selection of music depending on the crowd with requests accomodated whenever possible. It has been quite a fun experience playing old house along with new minimal, latin along with techno. In 2010 we've expanded the DJ line and changed the music policy to incorporate a broader variety of sounds.
Swear
During the 1990s, I was head of promotions for Swear, a chain of footwear outlets, which at that time numbered over 28 stores in more than 10 countries. My main role was to orchestrate club promotions and I was flown to Portugal to DJ at fashion shows; dealt with the events promoters on London’s psychedelic trance scene; worked with acts such as Lab 4 and Tinrib; produced numerous DJ mixes exclusively for Swear and even coerced my best buddy at the time into having the company’s logo tattooed on his back.
Miscellaneous
In between the shenanigans described above, I’ve also spent time helping to promote parties in Europe, America and Japan and numerous venues and events in Australia.
