NGW: So tell me how it all started?

Damon: We’d been talking about starting something together but had struggled to find a venue, a few things had fallen through and then a guy came up to me one Sunday while I was DJ’ing at The Cat And Mutton I said “If I were to provide you with a venue could you do something with it”?

NGW: That’s a budding promoter’s dream-come-true isn’t it?

Damon: It was very lucky. We went to look at the venue, which had been previously acted as a dominatrix dungeon, there were still whips lying around and chains on the wall, and we thought yes, this is perfect.

Dan: At first we were a little worried that the venue was so far out of everybody’s comfort zone that we’d have problems persuading people to come.

NGW: But that became one of the big selling points didn’t it?

Dan: Yes. We realised that lots of people we knew lived around there and that Shoreditch has become a bit of a no-go zone on Fridays and Saturdays

Damon: And it’s difficult to do all nighters in Shoreditch with the council clamping down, and constant complaints from residents. 

NGW: So was disco music always going to be the main focus of the night?

Dan: Yes, when we decided to do a night together it was a given that although we’d have the freedom to play whatever we wanted disco would be the backbone of the night. Disco music was the main thing that had bought us together. We’ve all got our own slightly different takes on the disco sound but it was always going to be the essential ingredient of the night.

NGW: Can you explain your different takes on the disco sound?

Damon: Well Dan’s take on it is the gayest!Dan: (Laughs) I play ecstasy disco, high-energy bangers, total screamers, I love an arpeggio, but I also like sleazy 100-110bpm morning music. Basically a combination of bangers and sleaze!!!

Ben: I started out with the old New York classic disco, eventually morphing into Italo, very early house music. I’m very much into percussion. I love cowbells!

Damon: I like a lot of the rockier stuff, and then the sleaze stuff. Deeper, repetitive, almost trancey disco. But of course we shouldn’t really pigeonhole ourselves as we all play all sorts. 

Dan: I also think that the more we play together that more we almost morph into one, we have definitely influenced each other with what we play and buy. Essentially disco is great club music and people seem to have woken up to how much fun it is again after a period of being a bit beardy / trainspottery and not much fun.

NGW: Well this is what’s great about your night; you’ve transcended all of that. You get such a large turnout, it’s lots of fun and there are no grumpy disco collector types hanging around by the decks complaining that the DJ isn’t playing the original Canadian pressing. What’s the secret?

Dan: It’s not a museum - it has to be exciting. We were really lucky with finding the right venue at the right time. I can’t get over how amazing our crowd is. It’s not just people from the disco scene”, all of London’s tribes are there; There’s the fashion crowd, music heads, people that mainly go to gay clubs, or indie clubs or minimal clubs, there’s no one tribe that dominates our dance floor.I think a lot of people are fed up of what “club music” has turned into. 

Ben: And I think the music policy does it’s own job of filtering out that dickhead element that might stray from dodgy house clubs.

NGW: I believe you recently took the Disco Bloodbath experience on the road? Weren’t you doing a party in Paris during the recent menswear shows?

Dan: We were flown over to Paris to do a party with MAN & Colette for menswear fashion week, which was lots of fun. We took over a sleazy dyke club in Saint Germain and our friends from Colette & MAN filled it with fashions great and good. We got the fabulous Loud-E over from Rotterdam to DJ and it was an amazing party. The highlight of the night though, was probably dinner with Karl Lagerfeld. Well, he was in the same restaurant!

NGW: So what’s next for you guys? You seem to have outgrown your original venue?
Dan: The monthly parties will continue but we’ve got to work hard retain that underground, speakeasy feel. We now have to make more and more effort to keep it under the radar!  

NGW: And finally to give people an idea of what they might hear at Disco Bloodbath can you all list five records that sum up the night for you?

Dan Beaumont:

Eartha Kitt - Where Is My Man
Illusion - Why Can't We LiveTogether (Instrumental)
Hercules & Love Affair Mix - Roar
Madonna – Borderline (US Remix)
Viola Wills – If You Could Read My Mind


Damon Martin:

Who's Who - Palace Palace
Cerrone - Hooked On You
Love Fever - Love Fever
Fern Kinney - Tonite (Damon & Fat Trucker Edit)
Doobie Brothers - What A Fool Believes


Ben Pistor: 

Prefab Sprout - Bonny (Leo Zero edit)
Lee Douglas - New York Story
Ralph Falcon - Every Now & Then
Dennis Parker - Like An Eagle
Magnus International - Kosmetisk



NGW