Event: Noir Music Showcase w/ Droog Vs Inxec, Catz n Dogz
Venue: Potty Mouth Disco, Netil House, Hackney, London
Date: 04/02/12
Not even an act of God could spoil a coming together of some of the hottest names on the deep and tech house scene in what turned out to be a very snowy night in February. In fact, not even two cancelled taxis, suspended tubes, trains and buses, and a near miss with a articulated lorry could stop HTF from having a right royal rave up at Netil House in Hackney.
Basically the Potty Mouth philosophy seems simple – take an east London warehouse space, add some heavyweight underground names from across the house and techno spectrum, add a sprinkling of impossible to define magic and you have a party full of people there to listen to the music, dance like crazy people and see in the sunrise with gusto.
Judging by how many smiling faces were in residence that night, it’s a philosophy that works well – and one that HTF will be more than happy to repeat in the future!
We caught up with Ben Scales, Potty Mouth Promoter extrodinairé after the snow had cleared to reflect on the night…
HTF: What a wicked venue, did it tick all your boxes?
Ben: Absolutely, the sound was really good, there was an area the djs could go to chill out, and the venue manager was really nice as well.
HTF: Do you think the weather had any effect on people’s spirits?
Ben: We were obvioously disappointed with the snow, there should’ve been 700 people there but there was only about 500 in the end. We made the venue a bit smaller though in anticipation of that, and the vibe was actually one of the best we’ve done in ages. I’ve heard a few promoters have had problems with rude boys and aggressive crowds turning up at that venue, and there was none of that. Just a really friendly cool crowd.
HTF: You had some massive names, who smashed it tonight?
Ben: Although Catz n Dogz were great, I’ve got a personal preference for deep and dark flavours, and Inxec vs Droog were great, they managed to keep the whole crowd there till the lights went up, which is exactly what you want from a dj!
HTF: How do you top this?
Ben: I think it’s a fine balance actually – with the resurgence of melodic house flavours at the moment, there’s a huge influx of the wrong types of crowds into east London parties. Out of town big groups of lads who don’t make for a comfortable atmosphere. I don’t want to use the word chavs, but yeah, chavs. They’re all over Resident Advisor and east london, and are causing trouble at big east london parties. One of the biggest underground london nights which was at this venue the other week had several fights and someone actually got glassed. That’s not great, it used to be a great vibe at that night. So to answer your question – we don’t top this one by going bigger and more obvious, we top it by going smaller. 500 max, maybe more like 300 or 400, and keeping the djs on the lineup not so obvious as to attract the wrong type of crowd. I don’t want people getting glassed at my nights, I want it to stay full of sexy girls and great crowds! Watch this space for our next party at a cool new warehouse space down in hackney…
Deep and dark stuff there from Ben at the end, but you have to hand it to him – the man is totally focussed on putting on a quality party with a vibe to match. If you want to experience the true spirit of London, forget about the west end or the big brands – come be involved with the Potty Mouth experience….
