1. So first up, tell us a little bit about the venue. What makes it stand out from the crowd? What kind of music can people expect to hear, what kind of events do you put on, you know the kind of thing…
This year more than ever HiFi is a really mixed bag. We’re best known for our funk and soul but we’ve just taken on some new Drum and Bass and reggae nights. Silver Hips is one of our favourite indie nights, they have face painting, cakes and goodie bags for the first 50 people to arrive. The majority of the week though is taken up by Funk, Northern Soul, Motown, Boogaloo and Jamaican Ska. The music policy can be quite hard to describe, its generally really fun music that you know more of than you realise – as I left a few weeks ago they were playing The Bear Necessities from the Jungle Book!
The Comedy Sessions every Saturday is always really popular since people like Alan Carr, Russell Kane and Reginald D Hunter have played.
Sunday is one of my favourite days – we have an event called Sunday Joint where we have 3 live bands through the day along with a Sunday Roast dinner. We’ve just got a new chef and the food is amazing! Bands who’ve played the Sunday Joint include Mayor Hawthorne, 6IX Toys, Corrine Bailey Rae, Gentlemans Dub Club and Haggis Horns to name but a few. You can’t beat it since it’s always completely free.
2. How do you go about programming the events at the club? What is the process for deciding who or what to book?
Sean, the manager of the club has always looked after the booking of all the live acts on a Sunday, but we all work together for programming in the club nights. We ask people to send in proposals, look at what else similar is going on and see if it’s something we think will work. We’re looking for some new promoters to fill in some gaps at the moment, so if anyone thinks they can be a club promoter they should contact us through the HiFi website.
3. We bet it can get pretty crazy on the day of an event or gig? What exactly goes into ensuring a totally pleasurable experience for all your lovely audiences?
We’ve been doing it for long enough that it all feel like second nature now. we don’t really have any major problem really. Also, a lot of the people we work with we’ve worked with before, Toby who books the Saturday comedy often has the comedians popping around for dinner, bands who play gigs usually stay for a drink and dance after their set so their fans get to meet them too.
The summer is always a bit quieter meaning that I have time to go out and do festivals – that’s where the real crazyness happens pre gigs!
4. Do you get to meet all our heroes then? Have you ever got to meet any of your own?
Again, working at festivals is where I really get excited about meeting people. While I was still a student I had to look after Carl Barat (who I loved) – I didn’t really understand how people usually treat celebrities so when he was asking for things like whisky and cigarettes (very rock and roll) I just asked why he didn’t have his own since he had more money than any of us. Even by the end of the night I hadn’t get them for him, he said I was the only person he’d met who didn’t pay attention to his rock star demands, which was refreshing for him. That’s sort of how I learnt to treat most of the people I work with now, they just can’t have everything they want or they end up being like children! The only people I’ve met who don’t like it have been The Doves (at Lovebox Festival) who had a sulk in their tour bus, and the Prodigy (at Global Gathering) who demanded 208 towels and an oxygen tank side of stage. I resisted the towels for hours, but they had a very angry tour manager so we had to make a special trip to Matalan for them.
5. Care to share any backstage shenanigans or diva behaviour with us?
We had no idea what the Prodigy were going to do with their 208 towels until they finished and got off stage, stripped completely naked and washed themselves in Veuve Clicquot. Most performers are surprisingly well behaved – Moby gave me lots of chocolate which was lovely, Carl Cox only needed 5 towels, but they had to be black, and he had to have his own, private, lobster BBQ in his dressing room.
The worst behaviour I’ve ever had was the first time I had to look after anyone – Bez from Happy Mondays while I was a student again, he was unbelievably drunk and had been brought in at the last minute to fill in for Block Party when one of them had broken his arm. He just went on stage, swore a lot, insulted the audience and cleared my area in about an hour, meaning we had to close early. I’ve never forgiven him!
6. Finally, its about time for bit of shameless plugging! What have you got coming up at the club for the rest of this year that our readers should not be missing out on?
We’re Helping Urban Outfitters with their Christmas event on November 26th 6pm – 10pm. It’s going to be a great chance to start getting presents for difficult teens and students! There will be a lucky dip, festive food and drink, and 20% off everything so it should be loads of fun. [If you fancy winning a super special Urban Outfitters goody bag – read more here!]
We also have a gig from Marva Whitney on the 19th which should be amazing, and Reginald D Hunter is doing some dates in early December. We also have an AMAZING but secret performance on the lunchtime of the 20th December as part of our Sunday Joint Christmas. The 20th also has Pama International performing, which is a band made of up members from Madness and The Specials.
Sounds good to us and what’s more Sophie was even kind enough to offer two pair of tickets for Marva Whitney to our readers. So head down to the comments and let us know why you deserve them!
Please be sure to read our terms and conditions which you are deemed to have accepted by entering! Winners will be picked by random so why not give it a go! Closing date: 18th November 2009
Funkadelic
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