Disco, line-dancing and traffic cone toilets: an interview with Glitterball

Disco, line-dancing and traffic cone toilets: an interview with Glitterball

12 October, 2011
by: Emma

As part of our ongoing series of interviews with our favourite promoters, Emma McAlpine speaks to the guys behind Glitterball.

I almost gave up clubbing about a year ago. A nasty experience in Cable, with an overcrowded dancefloor full of gurning teenagers jerking like zombies to relentless, souless techno, left my friends and I running home for an early afterparty. At least we could rely on the people and the music. Now I'm a lot more choosy. The venue can't be too big (sorry Fabric you're dead to me now); the DJs can't be so well-known they attract club tourists and the promoters need to be in it for something other than the money.

There are plenty of excellent small gigs in London delivering fun, unpretentious music to an up-for-it crowd of people, most likely conserving their energy for one belting party a month. You just have to find them. Step forward Glitterball promoters Marcus Blunt and Simon Busby. Bored of "standard, cookie-cutter, impersonal nights", they decided to throw the kind of party they wanted to go to, something "really decadent, different and unique." I chatted to the pair about drawing inspiration from the early days of disco, traffic cone toilets and impromptu line-dancing...

How did Glitterball start?

Simon: It started as a joint birthday party, which I’d shamelessly modelled on the New York Loft parties that every disco DJ and his dog wishes he’d been to. It was a lot of fun and went rather well, so it seemed foolish not to have another crack. Then I met Marcus at a festival we both DJ’d at, struck up a friendship largely based on height and music, and decided to pair up. Parties are best run by at least two people I think – thins out the egos!

Describe the first gig. What went wrong/right?

Marcus:  I wasn’t involved with the very first one so this is from GB2. The night was going perfectly – the room filled up to capacity, everybody dancing, old friends catching up and so on – but the venue owner was some kind of coke-head lunatic who got pissed off that there were too many people dancing and not enough people drinking. He nicked all our door money and shut the power down an hour early, halfway through Simon playing Patrick Cowley’s 15 minute version of 'I Feel Love'. Needless to say we’ve not used that venue again!

What's the musical policy at Glitterball? 

Marcus: We don’t really have one – although if you had to pin it down, it’s probably loosely based on that original open-minded disco ethos. We intentionally keep it open to maintain a proper house party atmosphere. The bulk of records played will be made up of proper house and disco, but we also play some dub and reggae, afro-beat, old funky rock records, electronic 80s and all the bits in between.

Can you give us a tune that perfectly sums up the Glitterball vibe?

Marcus: Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band 'Savannah' – It’s a Norwegian dub record with loads of drama and a serious bassline. I’ve played it (early on) at every party I think.

Simon: Dinosaur 'Kiss Me Again (Side B Version)' – What more could you want from a record? Written by Arthur Russell and Nicky Siano and with David Byrne on guitar. Kiss me again!

What do you think are the most essential ingredients for a good party experience?

Simon: It’s really important that the music is always great, and that applies as much to the soundsystem as to what the DJs play. So many great parties are let down by bad soundsystems. It’s a hard thing to get right but worth taking time on.

Marcus: And two hours of the same four bar loop is not welcome at Glitterball. It’s also important to show that you care about the crowd and put some visible effort into things – make every party feel like a really special occasion. Atmosphere is crucial.

Simon: Oh, and it’s VERY important not to take yourself too seriously. I think a sense of silliness to proceedings translates really well to the dancefloor.

You change venues every time. Which has been the best and why?

Marcus: I love our current venue – a great dancefloor in a converted garage, with lots of comfortable seating for people who want to chat and catch up and cocktails served out of a pimped-up van! We had a couple of parties in a crazy place in Dalston which were pretty special. It was essentially someone’s house, set over two floors with an indoor balcony. The gent’s toilet was an upturned traffic cone in the owner’s shower and it was so hot it was raining sweat inside. People were dunking their heads into big buckets of ice water to keep cool!

What's the hardest thing about throwing your own night?

Marcus: Making sure each party is different and better than the one before it! We put a lot of legwork into finding odd, characterful venues and spend ages making plenty of decorations by hand.

Simon: Thankfully we have an in-house décor genius, Rhalou Allerhand, who comes up with our inspired theme choices and spends ages cutting, sticking and painting things to make sure our parties are a visual treat as well as an aural one.

What’s been your favourite Glitterball memory to date?

Marcus: Perhaps impromptu line dancing to Sister Sledge’s 'He’s the Greatest Dancer' in a railway arch in Bethnal Green. Also seeing Emmanuel Jal’s head pop out of the crowd as we’d just played the Henrik Schwarz remix of his track at the Valentine’s bash. Apparently he was only in the UK from Sudan for a week so it was quite a coincidence!

What other promoters are you impressed by and why?

Simon: It’s rare to find nights with a really clear-cut identity, but one that springs immediately to mind is Lowlife, run by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton. Lowlife was the first time I realised that going out to dance didn’t have to involve posing and listening to the same type of music all night. The fact that it’s been going for over a decade and is still always highly enjoyable is a testament to how well they’ve nailed the whole party formula. We’d be lying if we said that we weren’t inspired by what Bill and Frank do there.

Describe your dream Glitterball party – venue, DJs, crowd etc...

Marcus: All our friends together on an enormous psychedelic bus with Grace Jones on PA and monkeys in dinner jackets working the bar (free of course).

Simon: It’d be me DJing, all night, with Marcus working on the door. Haha.

Glitterball IX: Nam Baby! with special guest Andy Blake is on Saturday 15th October.
Visit www.glitterball-london.co.uk for more details.

Photo credits: picture 1 - Mark Pringle, pictures 2 & 3 - Kevin Chesnais
Return to Spoonfed's London Clubbing homepage.

Emma