We get to know York’s Indigo promoter Luke Davies ahead of his I Love Acid showcase at Wire next month on 29th July 2016.
Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from and what do you get up to day to day? Are you involved in a lot of musical projects?
I am Luke Davies 30 years old. I graduated University in Nottingham which was the foundation for all my previous musical projects.
I used to run events at Stealth nightclub for several years; however my roots are based in Yorkshire hence moving back.
I am part of a collective called Texture, which has a solid crew living between York – Leeds and we make up several outlets including Space Ritual, Indigo & Texture.
My role within the collective focuses on promotion, talent scouting and bookings, whilst also being the Grandpa of the group : )
Have you organised many events in Leeds? What do you like about the place? Do you have a clubbing history here?
This will be our debut show in Leeds.
The music scene in the city is vibrant with lots of top drawer promoters, events & venues. Moving across has been on the agenda for a while.
I think one of my first clubbing memories in Leeds was 2008. My friend from the label / night Wigflex played at the time a skwee showcase for Kellie Adams & Konductors Lab.
What is the music scene like in York?
When I moved to York in 2012 I quickly learned Freakin had legendary status in the city, and rightly so after promoting parties and building a community for 20 years.
York is full of talented promoters and DJs. I believe the scene has continued to develop over the past few years. A distinct lack of venues seems to be the common issue.
I have however noticed this has brought about a new wave of smaller independent parties who focus on upcoming artists and I think this can only be a positive.
My top recommendation in York at the moment is Rhumboogie. An independent event at Bar Lane Studios. The selectors play all vinyl and residents include Leeds based DJ Anthony Dobson.
It’s a BYOB party so feels less sanitised and all the door money is donated to Choose2 a disabled youth club who use music and art therapy.
Tell us a bit about the I Love Acid label and night. How did it all start?
I Love Acid started life as a one-off party back in 2007 is titled after Luke Vibert’s anthem of the same name. The club night & record label celebrate the sound of the Roland TB303.
The ILA label was established in 2014 and puts out vinyl only releases, which are all hand numbered and stamped. Limited to 303 copies each. No represses. No digital.
Could you tell us a bit about the artists you’ve got playing on the night?
A mixture of hosts, residents & producers make up the forthcoming showcase.
Joshu Doherty (Posthuman) is one of the leading members and someone I was keen to collaborate with.
Currently he is the new producer at Altern8 alongside Mark Archer, Label Manager at Balkan vinyl and promoter at ILA real talented dude, who will be performing a live set.
Support comes in the shape of Paul Wise (Placid) an ILA resident who has a love for the sound of Chicago between 86-89, Detroit techno and hosts a wicked cast called “were going deep”
Nigel Rogers (Perseus Traxx) Yorkshire based producer, pure acid hardware junkie with releases on Bunker, Chiwax, ILA and Crimes Of The Future, a good friend who actually helped the ball rolling when putting this showcase together top bloke.
With your Indigo-303 brand, you describe the sound as ‘futuristic’. Do you still think the acid sound is futuristic, considering that is is such a late 80s and early 90s signifier? What else is futuristic in the music that you listen to?
As mentioned earlier I am part of a collective. As time progresses in Leeds hopefully people will learn more about the sounds both Texture and Space Ritual focus on but we want to take our time introducing.
Indigo is a new experimental platform, it is not set to a specific genre it is designed to showcase upcoming labels / artists on the rise and provide freedom.
At heart I am a promoter and my passion lives with bookings and providing a platform for others to elevate themselves on.
I would like to think that helps the future of the scene & development of new artist and labels at the right time, in my eyes being on pulse and future. I use the term “future” in the description.
I think the right producer can be innovative and futuristic in thought, at the moment the acid sound has a bright future, with many younger producers / promoters drawing influences from that era of both production and event promotion.
A wicked quote that I read I feel sums up the interview:
“There’s something about acid that transcends simply being a ‘genre’. It sums up the sound of the TB-303 – but also a certain era of house music and a social movement, all in one.”
Be sure in the meantime to check out Space Ritual Spacecasts featuring the likes of Balearic Social, Joe Morris, Private Agenda, Cooper Saver and many others. https://soundcloud.com/space-ritual-music
And Texture captain Longman’s productions which have in recent times debuted on Romanian label CerSenin Records.
https://soundcloud.com/longman-texture/longman-unidentified-groove-low-quality-snippet-forthcoming-on-cersenin-records