Red Bull Revolutions In Sound (The EDF London Eye) Q&A with…….. ‘Rage’

Features, Interviews

25.11.13

Promoters take note, always been searching for that unique spin to give your budding club night that unique twist, well Red Bull Revolutions in Sound took it to a whole new level by hiring the iconic ‘London Eye’ and hosting 30 simultaneous club nights, each with their own capsule. This event celebrated those innovators who have stepped out against the flow and forcible changed the course of electronic music and clubbing . Over the past few weeks we have been delving a little deeper into the philosophy, passions and motivations of clubbings game changers. So far we’ve had ‘London Warehouse Events‘ // ‘Jah Shaka Sound‘ // ‘Metalheadz‘ // ‘Cream‘ // ‘Sub Soul‘ // ‘Lost‘ //  ‘Corsica Studios‘ //  ‘FAC51 The Hacienda‘ //  ‘The Eagle‘ //  ‘BUGGEDOut!‘ // ‘Shoom‘ // ‘Fabric‘ // over for a quick cuppa, next up RAGE’s Trevor Fung talks infamous M25 Orbital Raves, Ibiza 1983, House & Hardcore…..

By 1990, acid house’s smiley-faced euphoria had faded and clubbers were looking for something harder, faster and darker. Enter Rage, Fabio and Grooverider’s weekly at Heaven in Charing Cross. The night started out in Heaven’s upstairs Star Bar, where Fabio and Groove would play a radical blend of US house, early Detroit classics, European rave and shadowy breakbeats. When the club’s original DJs couldn’t turn up to play one week, the pair took over the main room – and were swiftly offered a residency, playing for up to 2,000 ravers on a school night each week until 1994. Rage anthems like 4 Hero’s Mr Kirk’s Nightmare and Lennie De Ice’s We Are I.E. inspired a whole new generation of artists including Goldie, Storm and Kemistry, who used the club as a blueprint for their Metalheadz night.

BBB: What was it that inspired you to enter the unpredictable world of putting on parties, and why do you think ‘Rage’ became such an iconic clubbing brand?

When we first started Rage in 1988, it was of the back of working the Summer of 1987 in Ibiza and the Acid House scene had just exploded, the big M25 Orbital raves, I was DJing at Heaven for Spectrum with a 2K capacity on the Monday and the same on Thursday, with two totally different crowds. Rage became icons with the Dj’s we were attracting, like Derrick May, Frankie Bones, Lenny Dee, Frankie Knuckles, Westbam etc

BBB: Many nights fail as quickly as they start; what do you believe are the biggest challenges for a night to become and remain successful (changing trends, competitors, an ageing audience etc.)?

It is all about keeping the music fresh, we had me and Colin Favor in the main room playing House and Chicago Techno whilst Fabio & Grooverider were playing Jungle & Hardcore. We had an excellent crowd that loved the music.

BBB: If your party hadn’t been successful what do you think you would have done instead? Personally party organizing got me away from a career in insurance underwriting…

I would have definitely been making music and I am still doing it now…

BBB: Clubbing & electronic music in general is very much in transition, with MP3’s, streaming, the global credit crunch and EDM all impacting the way we consume music both in a live and personal context. Traditionally clubbing and club music was an underground movement, a liberating escape for many, however it is fast becoming an exploitable global commodity. What would you like to see change in club culture (if anything), and how would you like to see it evolve over the next few decades?

It always goes back to using Vinyl and CD’s or are you Traktor or Sereto, personally I know a lot of DJ’s who record and play their set before they perform and the mixes are done for you. Vinyl is making a big comeback, I would like to see more DJ’s using more records, more skill involved, having said that, I have seen some mind blowing performances  by Digital DJ’s.

BBB: If you could raise from the dead one piece of clubbing nostalgia, what would it be? For us it would be a late 80’s/early 90’s rave, as it was before our time

For me it has to be early Ibiza, around 1983 and 1984, the scene was magical

Words by Trevor Fung

Thanks for your time,

Jon E Cassell (Blah Blah Blah)

Fabio and Grooverider - Rage