Full Circle

Today is the day when a lot of the most important things in the last 3 or 4 years in my life come full circle, thus starting me on a whole new level of goals i’ve want to achieve.
It all started in my first year in uni, it was one of those nights that has become legendary – at least in my head.

I’d been out drinking straight from work with my manager and was feeling a bit worse for wear already when an old school friend I’d not seen for months called out of the blue. It was arranged that we’d meet up for a couple of drinks before they headed off to some club that i’d never heard of, to dance all night.

When they arrived we all got talking and I was quickly convinced into coming to this unknown club on the outskirts of the city, even though I had work at 7.30am in the morning – after a few drinks I have no will power!

Upon arriving I saw a queue around the corner to what just looked like a warehouse with bass rumblings emitting from it. I was interested to see what was going on but also wondering what I’d just got myself into. When we neared the front of the queue we were asked for our tickets and I explained I didn’t have one because I’d not planned to be here tonight. I was a bit gutted when I was told that the club was full and I wouldn’t be getting in there tonight but as far as I was concerned this wasn’t such a bad thing – I wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.
As I said my goodbyes to the girls, who had tickets, the girl working the door came over to me and explained that all my friends had tickets she’d let me in. A true stroke of luck like that is needed in a story like this, and there it was.

As I entered the dark mill building finding my way through the masses with only a strobe light and a bassline to guide me I became entranced with music, we found a spot to dance in the heaving club and I took a quick moment to see the devastation one man was supplying the dancefloor with, armed only with a bagful of vinyl records and two turntables. This little warehouse was going nuts and I’d never seen anything like it.
The sound, the lights, the people all coming together like was amazing, it was hot and sweaty in the club but there was a warmth in my heart, like this had been something I’d been looking for all my life and had now finally found.

What felt like minutes was actually hours and by the time I left – at 6am when the club closed, I was sweaty and tired but elated. I felt like I’d had a huge cathartic release which had built up over 19 years of not hearing music like that.

In short it was probably one of the best nights of my life and I have spent a hefty part of the last 3 or 4 years reliving that night in different guises and in different clubs, with different people and in different places. The only constants were my love of music and the excitement of hearing new music on a weekly basis played by the best DJs and producers in the world. That first night irreparably changed my life and there was no looking back from then on.

After doing a bit of research about the music when I got home from work in the evening (after no sleep!) I found I’d been watching, and listening to Ben Sims and Francois K, a true legend in techno and a privilege to have spent my first night in techno with him.

The club was Sankeys, and the night was Tribal Sessions. It is the place that inspired me to buy decks in the first place, it’s the clubnight I always wanted to play at and without it you probably wouldn’t even be reading this blog.

Tonight I, along with the rest of Robot Soap will be playing at Tribal Sessions for the first time. I’m as excited as I am nervous, and I’m sure the other lads feel the same.

If you can, join us for a dance and some good times.