Rob Swaine talks dream party line-ups and Apocalyptic wildness with founder and DJ Dekker.
This month the ever-impressive Apocalypso crew join forces with purveyors of cool, Dummy, to bring you one of their most exciting line-ups to date. Mad Decent heavyweight Mumdance and Canadian melodic wunderkind Jaques Greene are joined by Unknown to the Unknown (the new project from the man behind Hot City) in the basement, while Dummy curate the ground floor with an all-star cast including Skull Juice and Lower. We got in touch with Apocalypso founder, Dekker, to find out a little more about one of East London’s best-loved club nights.
So does Apocalypso come with any particular ‘mission statement’?
I’ve never tried to articulate it before, but I guess it’s something like wanting to put on really fun parties which are gimmick-free, unpretentious raves, but at the same time trying to consistently have the freshest, best, most interesting line-ups. What this has always meant in practice is booking people that are either my heroes, or whose records I’m playing in my DJ sets at any one time.
Since John (John & On) got involved in the project a year ago he’s added a whole new dimension to the programming. Between us we have broad taste, which is reflected in the line-ups, which often span different genres. But the booking policy is still basically people whose records we’re playing, or people whose musical altars we worship at just a little bit, for whatever reason.
What’s been the wildest Apocalypso party to date and why?
Ooh we’ve had a few crazy ones recently! The Christmas special was pretty, erm, special! Jesse Rose turned up unannounced and played for nearly three hours with Riva Starr, Zombie Disco Squad and other assorted seasonal drunkards all in the booth whoopin’ and hollerin’. Other than that, MJ Cole / Greenmoney was pretty amazing, as were TEED (live) and Girl Unit… and going a bit further back James Lavelle was mind-blowing, on a very different tip.
Had any nightmare events along the way?
At the first one we did at the new venue (The Queen Of Hoxton), some dude fell over and smacked his head on the road outside the club. For two hours there was an ambulance outside with its blue flashing lights coming through the windows and travelling across the walls. They didn’t want to move him for some reason. I think everyone thought it was part of the club's lighting rig, and carried on oblivious. I was a bit worried, but apparently he made a full recovery.
If the metaphorical ‘Apocalypso’ were to come, should we be scared of the world’s impending doom or prepared for a serious tropical dance off?
Both! Even if the end is nigh, its always worth getting the maracas out.
Ignoring financial restrictions, who for you would represent the ultimate Apocalypso party line-up?
Daft Punk feat. Prince
Deodato vs Vangelis vs Eno (Live)
DJ Assault + MC Scatman John
Rolling Stones (1967 line-up) (DJ set) in the bar
Kubrick Vs Coppola in the VJ booth
What can we expect from this Saturday’s event?
We’re really excited about this one. The guys at Dummy mag are kindred spirits in terms of their approach to backing quality new producers, and this hook-up came about because we both wanted to book Jaques Greene for a party and they were having trouble securing a venue – so we said why don't you come and join in with us! Jaques Greene is bloody amazing and this is the first time he's come over to Europe from Canada – a lot of people are excited about his set.
Then of course Mumdance has been at the forefront of the new wave of quality bass music coming out of the UK – we've had him in before and he always smashes it. He's a very worthy headliner. We also have Unknown to the Unknown – a brand new project which you'll be seeing a lot more of over the summer – coming from a very well known nu-garage proponent. We got in there first so we're feeling quite smug. Then all the guys Dummy have brought in to play the other room are amazing and will provide the perfect complement to the basement line-up.
The only sad thing about this party is that I'm not going to be there! I've just found out I'm going out to WMC that weekend and couldn't pass it up. It's the first Apocalypso I've missed in four years so I'm a bit upset – but I suppose there are worse places than Miami to drown your sorrows...
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