After two years of running amazing parties across Yorkshire, Limit come back to Wire to celebrate the anniversary, inviting Harrison BDP to lead the festivities. We caught up with Matt and Sammy to reflect on the work they have done so far.
You are known for your ‘Limit Social’ events. How did you come to put on this style of party? And what has the vibe been like at those so far?
Sammy: There’s so much local talent in Leeds and the north, we wanted to put a night on that showcases all the amazing DJ’s around the area and at an affordable price so everyone can enjoy the party. They have been some of the best Limit nights without a doubt.
Matt: Definitely, the socials really took off and showed us that you don’t really need a big name headliner to bring in a crowd and set an amazing vibe, when you can do that with a bunch of amazing locals DJs. It really took it back to what we believe DJing is about, good vibes, good people, no egos and having fun. They helped us connect more with the local scene, bringing different brands and DJs together to all showcase their sound. We curated it so the sound evolved through the night and each DJ was complimented by the next and It really helped showcase a wide selection of electronic music and have been some of our busiest and most fun nights
You started off in Huddersfield – did you grow up there? What’s it like? What were you first few events like there, without such an established scene as in Leeds?
Matt: No I’m from Leeds actually, I only moved to Huddersfield for University and started Limit in my final year back in November 2015. There isn’t much of a underground house and techno scene in Huddersfield. There’s no competition really as each year there is always just one major event that did parties every month everyone knew about, unlike Leeds where there are multiple big events booking international DJs on the same night and week. It was good in the way we had no competition and a smaller town so easier to promote and get known but it didn’t really get the kind of reaction as well as it has in Leeds and our music policy was very different. We worked closely with the club so all our parties were free entry and they were always really busy, but the crowd just wasn’t as open to experimentation as you get in Leeds, we had to play it safe a lot more over there which is why our booking policy in Hudds focused more around upcoming tech house acts such as Solardo & Latmun while moving to Leeds has really let us flex our booking muscles and bring more unique and underground house & techno acts.
Did you always plan to move to Leeds? What does this city have that you couldn’t get in Hudd?
Matt: Yeah I had always wanted to do events in Leeds since it is my hometown and especially at Wire as it is my favourite club here, I’ve grown up going out to nights at Wire regularly over the past 5/6 years. The crowd is more receptive and open and it is such a more vibrant city with a bigger genuine interest in Underground music with its own culture here. I feel at home in Wire to be able to go and play and to have such an open atmosphere and good reaction to the music we play.
As Yorkshire natives, do you feel a strong connection to the scene here? How do you feel in relation to the student population that dominates the city? Are there a conflict of interests between the two communities?
Matt: Yeah having lived here and grew up going out to events all around Leeds I have seen it evolve and it’s really blossoming especially this past year with an influx of quality small nights on a similar level to ours. Everyone is pushing really good quality underground dance music and bringing a lot of interesting acts to Leeds. Especially rate Love Muscle, Nord, Brotherhood Soundsystem, Walking Through Sound, Primal Sound & Treehouse, Out of Space at the minute. The majority of upcoming DJs in Leeds I know really have that drive and passion for digging for the craziest and maddest tracks like any good DJ should which is what I like to see. Don’t feel there is much of a conflict from either we all tend to just blend together, but midweek shows are almost impossible when students aren’t around over summer.
Sammy : I am a student here, not a Yorkshire native but don’t think I’ll ever leave haha, coming up to Leeds was the best decision I could have made, the scene here is nothing like what I’ve seen in the past, there’s such a community for underground music, it doesn’t matter if you’re a student or not if you enjoy or perform any music there’s somewhere for you to go, and people who have the same interests as you.
How did your links with Endless City come about? What do they do?
Matt: I met Jamie while working at Church nightclub. We were looking for a new artist for our Limit Social 002 in February and he came back with some wicked artwork, they have been our go-to guys ever since. Jamie and Aaron handle all our visuals, artwork and online promotional content for us and we are constantly surprised by their creativity and ingenuity as well as been some of the soundest guys and wicked DJs too. They have a studio above cosmic slop we try to visit as much as possible and they work with MAP charity there!
How was the boat party you threw? How does that work in Leeds?
Matt: Mental, such a vibe. We rented a big sound system and took it down with our decks. The boat captain said it was probably the biggest system they had seen on it with it only fitting in just an inch from the roof of this tiny canal boat haha Was very limited capacity could only fit 44 people on but it became a proper intimate vibe, Was just so surreal that we pulled it off. Sailing down the canal, under bridges and through locks while smashing out some of our favourite tunes with all our friends proper raving away. Hasn’t been a party quite like it.
Sammy: Possibly my favourite set so far, just because how intimate it was and how we actually rocked the boat, just didn’t seem real playing on a canal boat! Definitely a highlight and can’t wait for the next one.
You operate a strict ‘bangers only’ policy at your nights. But what do you listen to when you are wanting to wind down?
MATT: I’m really enjoying a lot of Jazz, African, Latin & World music at the minute as well as dub, downtempo, ambient & more chilled out house and disco. Some of my favourite artists I like to chill with include Young Magic, Alfa Mist, Gidge, Toro Y Moi, Burial, Oscar Key Sung, Barbatuques, Yussef Kamaal, Shigeto, Keaton Henson, Rejjie Snow and Four Tet. Favourite labels at the minute include Disco Halal, Emotional Especial & Multi Culti.
Sammy: My favourite music to listen to chill out to is usually stuff like Kaytranada, FKJ & Tom Misch. I also like jazz and dub from time to time and really getting into African disco as well with artists like Fela Kuti, Dele Sosimi and The Funkees to name a few.
Limit is almost two years old – which parties have been a highlight for you so far?
Matt: There’s been two many highlights over the time we’ve been going and its hard to pick as we are always striving to better our parties each time and bring something unique to each one that makes it as special and exciting for us as it is for everyone attending. Our collab show at Church with Manchester Oasy in September which we did Under the sea themed with Mak & Pasteman b2b DJ Haus was insane. Décor and detail goes along way and it really brought another element to the party and they really smashed it on there first B2B. By the end everyone was dancing on the stage, flying around with all these jellyfish and props we built which was amazing to see. Boat Party was probably my personal favorite, nothing really compares to playing on a boat haha. Other notable nights were the first two socials especially our march one with B.K.R, Harrsion BDP at our summer social, Maurice Fulton 3HR set back in November, & Our last party in Huddersfield with Josh Butler in September last year.
Tell us a bit about your next party at Wire.
Matt: We will be celebrating our birthday at Wire Wednesday 29th November, which marks 2 years since Limit started in Huddersfield and just over a year in Leeds since we launched last August with Marquis Hawkes & Elliot Adamson, so we are going back to the social idea for this one with our residents, some of our friends and special guest Harrison BDP back up for this one. He fully smashed it at our summer social back at Wire in June earlier this year and really became one of our good mates so were all happy to get him back up to party with us! Also on the bill is KVNG, Kuroko (Witch) , Milo (Revamp), Baba&Ganoush plus all our residents, Will Hampson, Lorcan James, Rowland & Myself.
What is next for Limit? Any big plans?
Matt: As always we will be continuing to champion the underground and bring some of our favourite artists to this city. Currently lined up we are hosting room 2 at Canal Mills on NYE and have a collab show locked in with our good friends at Revamp on the 13th Janaury at Wire which will be announced in the next week or so! Me & Rowland will be heading to Sheffield to spread them Limit Vibes at The Harley on 8th December and I will be playing main room Church at the Christmas free party on the 8th. Were in the process of locking in some huge names for us next year but I cant say much more than that as of yet. When summer comes around though we will be doing more boat parties for sure and will be hitting up a few more festivals. Possibly doing a string of free parties at district too and we want to launch a label next year so we can showcase our own and friends amazing music who don’t really have any way to do that at the minute. There is no Limit. See you in the dance xx