Two ex-pats who settled in LA, Mark Logan and Damian Murphy, recently touched down in Dublin to showcase a new sound-system project.
Mark, who left Ireland’s capital not long ago, and Damian, who was part of the halcyon days of Manchester clubbing in the 90s, are now making waves in the City of Angels. While Mark thinks LA club culture is thriving now more than ever, he hasn’t forgotten his formative nightlife years in his hometown.
“I remember the early days of college, going back probably seven or eight years. House music especially became prominent in Ireland then. It all started with house and it was interesting to hear people that wouldn’t normally be into that sort of music coming out. It was the popular genre and it was also interesting because promoters were the ones telling the public what was good, so that trust was there.”
However Mark thinks that dynamic has changed slightly. A more musically savvy audience has emerged, and it’s making promoters step up their game.
“Back then it was through the promoters that people would go and experience the music, and a lot of people’s first impressions would be Soundcloud a week before a show. Now I think it’s flipped, there are actually a lot of people who are really knowledgeable of sound and know the artist and expect and want the promoter to book good acts.
“The public now have a demand for the talent and therefore the promoters need to bring the best talent to the city and in the most unique way. You’re seeing more diverse shows now. People want to see something different they don’t just want to go a basic club show they want to see something innovative.”
Any Irish club-goer knows that opening hours are a major problem. The contentious issue is something that’s regularly debated sober and in the throes of a night out. However, according to Mark and Damian it’s nothing compared to the premature closure of clubs every night in LA.
“I went from falling out of a place at 4am after an incredible night and heading to a lock-in or an after party,” says Mark. “Whereas in LA come 1:50 am you’re watching the clock because people are shutting it down by 2 am. That’s it. Club’s over, and people are out on the streets. It’s a very different scene.”
Even Damian remembers the glory days of Manchester having similar problems.
“The same with The Hacienda back in the day,” he chimes in. “2 o’clock lights on, get the fuck out!”
Mark explains that it’s this curfew that has given the underground scene in LA room to thrive.
“The underground is blossoming now. On any given Saturday night you’ve got four events that could go till 6am at the earliest. We tried something very interesting recently. We brought Guy J, who’d be more commercial, to the warehouse scene and he played an extended three hour set. We sent out the location at 8pm that night. It feels very underground, it feels like you’re in the centre of the LA movement, because we just don’t compete with the clubs.
“There are a lot of warehouse spaces. LA isn’t like any other city, there’s no focal point, there’s no heartbeat. It’s all spread out, so you can go downtown to a warehouse, you can travel to the east side or the west and there are all these different spaces. So if you’re a serious operator with a loyal fanbase with a crew that trusts you and you promote it right and use the right precautions you can go till 8 am.”
Lil Louis
Damian admits, “What I like about it is if it’s in a really bad part of town anyone that makes the effort to go there to get down. They’re not there for bottle serve or confetti or anything like that, they’re there for the music. The vibe is really good and it just takes me back to what it’s really about.”
So it seems Mark and Damian are integrated in dance music culture, so it’s not surprise that they’re touching on the sound-system side of the scene. And according to them, they’ve found the holy grail of stacks.
“I’m from Manchester originally and I came over to America in 92,” explains Damian. “I’ve spent about 20 years promoting raves in the 90s, clubs, festivals, in southern America like Atlanta and then we moved to L.A.
“We have a weekly club in Atlanta and I was asked by this sound system company, they wanted to do a demo. I came down to the venue with John Digweed to do a soundcheck and the guys brought just four speakers, so I was just like are you fuckin’ serious? This is a big gig you can’t show up with four speakers and he just looked at me and said look if you don’t like it just put the house sound back on. So Digweed put on a track and we were both looking around the room for the rest of the speakers cause it was coming from all over. The guys were laughing! I thought wow, we can definitely do something with this.
“I’m not a technical person at all, I just know that at that point I’ve rented hundreds of sound systems and this is on another level. I was at Twilo in New York back in the 90s, I’ve sort of lived it all and there was nothing that comes close to this sound-system.”
That’s why the pair landed in Dublin last week. To coincide with the second birthday of the city’s Opium Rooms venue with the guys at Abstract, they wanted to demonstrate the Pure Groove System with two of dance music most respected figures.
“We’ve brought the founding father of house Lil Louis here and we’re also powering techno behemoth Dave Clarke. We’re hoping we can add them to our list of fans that already includes Sasha, John Digweed and Richie Hawtin.”
Click here for more on Pure Groove Soundsystem or Damian’s Expand Projects club night click here.
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