The guy who put Saturday night on the map
Nicky, your love of music is stuff of legend. You got the boot from your first job at a menswear shop in North London for spending too much time in the record store two doors down. So what artists were you listening to that converted you into a life in dance music.
“Well in those days the radio was the only medium for us all, it was the late 70s and we were all listening to DJs like Chris Hill and Robbie Vincent who’d be spinning wonderful artists on labels such as Salsoul, Prelude, West End and SAM. Then the 80s came about and Hip Hop and Rare Groove exploded with the likes of Def Jam leading the way forward.”
What was early family life like?
“Well my mum is still my best friend. I didn’t see much of my dad, he disappeared when I was young. A few years ago I got an e-mail through Facebook from a girl, it turns out she was my half sister and I discovered I had four half-brothers – a whole new family. They came to one of my parties shortly after, one of my half-brothers is a DJ, it’s a bit frightening, he’s like a mini me.”
What made you want to become a DJ in the first place?
“I found myself standing on the balcony at the Royalty Club in Southgate watching Froggy (who was one of the biggest DJs of the time) mixing two copies of Instant Funk’s ‘I Got My Mind Made Up’ and thinking, “I wanna be a DJ” – which back in those days was hardly considered a good career move. I never had enough money to buy a set of decks, Technics 1200\s had just come out but I do remember waiting for Mum to go to work so I could borrow her hi-fi and install it in my bedroom next to mine where I would practice for hours on end dreaming of the day when I actually played to a crowd, in fact come to think of it I was the original bedroom DJ. After numerous unsuccessful auditions, I finally found an agency that booked DJs for the Disco Pub scene that had sprung up around the Old Kent Road and in 1980 got my first ever paid gig. I started to work 4-5 nights a week at various South London dives longing for the day when I would play in stylish venues and to bigger and better crowds. I finally realised that one way I could make this happen quicker was to put on my own parties. When I first started to organize nights out back in 1984 the whole club thing was very different from what we have come to expect in this day and age. Even if you were clued up, back in London in 1984 you had a very limited choice as to where you could spend your Saturday night. If you knew the score you managed to get hold of a ticket for one of my Special Branch parties or “Doo’s”, where, along with a relatively unknown at the time Pete Tong, we combined Hip Hop, Rare Groove, R&B and early House in one room while Gilles Peterson spun a more Jazzy eclectic mix in the other room.”
At some quite remarkable venues…?
“Yeah, well back then it wasn’t like it is today where you can just walk into a venue and hire it. Those days were different, club owners were different. So I had to think about weird and wonderful venues for my events, Lords Cricket ground, London Zoo, The Natural History Museum, Chislehurst Caves and Thorpe Park.”
Okay let’s get the obvious subject out of the way. 1988 and Ibiza. Holloway, Oakenfold and Rampling strike gold. But why did you choose Ibiza in the first place?
“Well I’d been running holidays to Ibiza for a number of years for kids, up to 300 people at a time so I knew it was a great place to go on holiday, but we knew nothing about what lay ahead.”
Were you aware of Ecstasy and the whole Balearic beat before you stepped into Amnesia that night?
“Not at all, I was really anti-drugs back then. I’d throw people out of my clubs for smoking a spliff. It was actually the DJ Trevor Fung who tipped us off about Amnesia, he was working at The Project Bar on the island and one night told us about two things we should try, this club called Amnesia with a DJ called Alfredo and something called Ecstasy, a tablet that would change everything.”
What records can you remember from that first night that Alfredo was spinning?
“Oh sure, Nitzer Ebb ‘Join In The Chant’, Kate Bush ‘Running Up That Hill’, ‘Icarus’ Stone Fox’, loads of early Chicago House, stuff on Trax and DJ International. A weird mix, some Soul, Funk and Pop but it all seemed to work perfectly.”
You came back started ‘Trip’ at The Astoria, Oakenfold created ‘Land of Oz’ at Heaven, Danny Rampling ‘Shoom’ – so that was Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays sorted for us all then – which do you think was the best night out of the three?
“Mine, but I was obviously going to say that wasn’t I? ‘Shoom’ never really did it for me, I was all about the big Saturday night out. The opening night I expected maybe 600 people, we had 2000 through the doors that night and 2000 in every week for two years. I still get people come up to me and talk about those nights. We had the likes of Dave Morales, Todd Terry, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May and Westbam on, they weren’t anything like the legendary names they are now however, always the pioneering sort I stuck my neck out a bit and gave them some of their first ever gigs in the UK during this period. Of course the exploding Acid House phenomenon couldn’t stay out of the spotlight for long and I decided to change the name of ‘Trip’ to ‘Sin’, because of the misinformed media exposure and panic tabloid journalism that Acid House was attracting at the time. It had also become a regular experience for the Charing Cross Road to be blocked with dancing, smiling faces when the club ended, the police at the time had absolutely no idea as to what was going on, and just stood back in amazement.”
Tell us about the famous Ibiza quarry party in Ibiza, not exactly a smooth ride…
“Maybe I was a bit naive for that one. The quarry is such an incredible venue, MTV took it over a few years later. I had everyone on from Sasha, N Joi to 808 State. But unfortunately hundreds got in for free via fence climbing and dodgy security. You live and learn.”
How has London clublife changed since it exploded back in the day when you were running things?
“The West End is completely dead at the moment. All the bars and clubs are chasing the China White ‘footballer/WAG/hooray Henry’ clientele. People don’t need to go into town now, all of the cool venues are all around the edges of the centre of town- places like Shoreditch, all up the Harrow Road and south of the river. All of these Gastropubs and places owned by DJs and promoters with 2am licenses are running away with it. I do my new ‘Desert Island Discs’ night at The Mason Arms and we are already getting 600 people. No hassle with drink prices, parking problems, it’s all on their doorstep.”
Best and worst thing about living in London?
“I truly believe London is the capital of the world. Everything you could want is here. Sure, it pisses me off sometimes, it’s an expensive place to live, there’s too many people and there’s nothing fucking worse than getting onto a packed tube on a hot day. Oh, and I hate chavy hoodies.”
1990 saw you put your money where your mouth is and invest in bricks and mortar and the opening of The Milk Bar on London’s Charing Cross Road. A whiter than white decor, a capacity of only a few hundred – it was the staple diet for London’s cooler clubber. Oaky on a Friday, Tong n’ Dorrell on Saturday, Emerson on Mondays, Rampling on Wednesdays (which was impossible to get in with Jenni Rampling on the door), Blocko and Lisa Loud getting F.U.B.A.R.’ed on Sundays – the club came completely against the grain on the back of the big M25 and countryside raves that were attracting 25,000 plus – why did you choose to go minimal?
“Dan you are a promoter, we all know every club has a shelf life of two years of being cool. The door policy is so important but after two years you go from a really good crowd who are onto the new big thing, then you get the coach parties from around the UK, then the Hen and stag parties and then you get anyone piling in – yobs and the whole football gang crews. I saw it coming and decided to react against it before the nights at The Astoria were tarnished. I wanted somewhere where I wanted to party. The Milk Bar was perfect.”
Another interesting event you promoted over in France…
“Ha. It is the one event that I’m really proud of and which was a spectacular achievement by anyone’s standards back in 1993 when we took three thousand clubbers to Euro Disney in Paris for a one-off event named Dance Europe .This was originally supposed to be on site at Disney until three weeks before, when Disney Corp. got cold feet and cancelled the event worried about their family image and anticipating the potential for “Mickey Mouse on Acid” stories in the press. Determined not to be beaten, I jumped on the train went over to Paris, secured 13 hotels nearest to Disney for the accommodation and bought three thousand passes for Disney which are valid for any day so they could not stop us using them. The event went off despite all odds and non-stop rain, and was very memorable. Inner City, Sasha, Tony Humphries, Sven Vath, Oakenfold, D:Ream – the line up was incredible, even if it did piss down.”
Best album ever made?
“Stevie Wonder ‘Key of Life’. Twice a year I find myself putting on this record to remind myself how beautiful it is.”
Next event for Nicky?
“Watch out Centre Point!”
Who is your best friend in clubland?
“My good pal Roy The Roach.”
Biggest celebrity you ever had on your dancefloor?
“I suppose George Michael at the opening night of The Velvet Underground.”
What record would you choose to have sex to?
“Anything, I would be bloody chuffed just to be getting it, I wouldn’t care if the Shipping Channel was on.”
What record would you choose to chill to after a club?
“Anything by Julie Cruz such as ‘Falling’.
Biggest DJs, in your opinion in clubland right now?
“Oh wow. Norman Jay as he is consistently brilliant. Sven Vath because he just keeps pushing it forward and Carl Cox – the main man. But Dan, every DJ thinks he’s the best in the world.”
After the lease ran out on the Milk Bar you opened The Velvet Underground just round the corner on Charing Cross Road and a few other small venues. A few years later you sold your shares to fund a project that never came off, a new club in Soho that failed in getting planning permission – you went off the rails, succumbed to the depths of alcohol and cocaine – what were those times like before – story about who paid – what is rehab like – 7 years when not networking fell off radar lose touch –
“Yup, as with several things in my life, purely by accident I managed to find a site just around the corner from the Milk Bar in an old Salsa Restaurant and the Velvet Underground was born. In the three years that I was at the helm of the club it’s fair to say that everyone who was anyone in dance music graced the decks there. During this period we also opened MARS back on the old Milk Bar site (on a short lease) which while only ran for a couple of years, was still successful and organized dozens of other one -offs. But life doesn’t always go the way you want it. To finance the new club project I sold my stake in the clubs ‘to my former partner Leon and proceeded to waste a year and a half of my life and all the money I had on getting that big new club in Soho off the ground, which sadly due to planning permission never happened. My fall, when it came, was just as big and spectacular as my parties – suddenly I found find myself club-less, money-less, drinking out of control and firmly in the grip of cocaine fever. Something had to change – and that something was me. So I sorted it out, but those seven years being clean saw me not networking out there, I wasn’t mixing with all of the DJs, promoters and bands and I sort of fell off the radar. I lost touch with people, thankfully I am now moving forward.”
What do you make of Ibiza today?
“It’s fucked. The Euro has killed us all, hey, it’s still fun out there but there are only maybe two nights making a profit on the island.”
Would you ever own a club again?
“I’m not sure, if I had a dream budget and I didn’t have to be there five nights a week then maybe. That’s what fucked me up, ten years in my clubs nearly every night of the week. I would now like to grow old disgracefully.”