Club focus: Basing House, Shoreditch

We catch up with Promotions Manager Chris Bird to find out all about this relatively new addition to the East London club scene.

THE FACTS

What: Basing House
Where: 25 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, London, E2 8AA
Nights: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Some Sundays.
Music: Contemporary electronic music.
Door price/policy: Anywhere from free to £15. Most events have early bird tickets available from £5 and the vast majority go no higher than £10 on the door. Concessionary guestlist also available for nearly every party.
Drinks prices: Average London club prices

TEN MINUTES WITH PROMOTIONS MANAGERS CHRIS BIRD AND JASON COLBERT

Basing House is a relatively new addition to the East London club scene - What was your original vision for the venue and have you achieved this yet?
When we started out the goal was to create an intimate one roomed venue, with a stripped back aesthetic and to give as much focus to the music as possible. We wanted to give promoters a venue that offered a great platform for them to host their parties. There is still a lot we wish to do with Basing House, so it is by no means a finished project and there will still be additions in the coming months. We’d like to think the brand can be trusted to consistently provide interesting and unique events. In every walk of life it’s important to repeatedly set new goals and we do not see the venue as a complete product yet. Even if we are still here in 10 years, it will still be very much a work in progress.

Do you think there was a need for a smaller capacity club with a focus on underground nights?
Yeah, most definitely. We don’t believe there are many venues of our size that you could turn up, off the cuff and kind of know exactly what you’d be getting. This goes back to that trust thing and Basing House now being recognised for its slant towards underground music. We think the fact that we have now become home to a number of revered events, which were scattered around, kind of proves this. We are also very lucky to be situated in a city with such an open minded approach towards music and this of course makes it much more viable than in other areas. We offer a home to what is essentially a niche and the size of Basing House gives it a nice and intimate setting.

What is your music policy?
All the events at the venue are focused around contemporary electronic music. Be it house, disco or techno, it is always on the underground tip. We still get really excited when a promoter tells us the line up for a party and we feel extremely blessed to have had the calibre of artist that is again and again being brought through. The coming months are no exception either and there are more than a few exciting bookings on the cards. Quality control is always at the top of the agenda and we have an amazing team of promoters that we share the same musical ideals with. We feel honoured to be working alongside them.

Who has been a particular highlight and why?
There have been so many great nights now and we have witnessed some astounding DJ sets. It’s hard to pin down one particular highlight however, the Needwant night with Robert Owens and Nicholas was more than a little bit special. Robert Owens had this huge stage presence. When he plugged the mic in and you heard this unbelievably soulful voice, combined with such a charismatic persona, you just knew you were in the company of a legend. I’ve still got vinyl’s at my mums house of Robert’s, so to have him play at Basing House was a great feeling. He wasn’t just playing classics but, when he sang the first couple of lines of ‘I’ll Be Your Friend”, the club erupted.

You have many inviting elements to the venue such as a Funktion 1 soundsystem and roof terrace, but what do you think is the major USP that keeps the crowds coming back every weekend?
We think that providing consistently strong line-ups has not gone a miss. We feel the venue has the right environment but, without the music, it doesn’t really mean anything. We are music lovers so the most important aspect has to be staying true to this. A huge amount thanks have to be paid to the promoters we work with for expressing this on a weekly basis. The sum of almost anything can broken down into parts and it’s this attention to every detail that we feel holds us in good stead.

You have been likened to Ibizian institution DC10, do you think this comparison is correct and if so why do you think that is?
DC10 is one of the greatest venues to have ever opened its doors and has a great history. It’s of course very flattering to be mentioned in same vein but, to be compared with them though, is perhaps a bit far fetched. Maybe it’s to do with the red lit dark room and music policy however, DC10 is a legendary institution and we are some way off that just yet.

2011 was a great year for Basing House with a new refurbishment and a Best London Club Award, what do you think was a defining high for the venue?
There have been many, so it’s a tough question. Winning the award was of course an amazing feeling for all involved. When you are so deeply involved with something, it’s sometimes hard to give an honest appraisal on what you’re doing. To receive the award was obviously a sign that things are moving in the right direction. On the whole, we think selling out New Years Eve in advance, and it being such a great night, was one that rounded off the year perfectly. We had big ambitions when we started the venture and to end the year on that high was a moment that will always be cherished.

Similarly, did you encounter any disasters or obstacles that you have overcome?
We have been lucky to work with a very professional team over the last few months, so there have never been any massive hiccups. There was one night in the beginning where the whole of the power tripped though, as we had not considered the extra load that all the extra DJ equipment, sound and lighting etc brings with it. It’s safe to say that for a couple of minutes we were petrified, but to everyone’s relief, managed to get things back up and running again. A problem is only a problem if it is not fixed and the very next day we got another electrical line put in.

You’ve recently set up a YouTube channel and are regularly promoting podcasts from many of the nights you host, are you looking to be more of a holistic music outlet rather than just a venue?
As a musically focused venue, we see it as a necessity that we promote the music, artists and labels we love. We are genuine fans and hope this comes across in how we carry ourselves as a venue. We will soon be providing mixes, on a weekly scale, of live sets recorded from Basing House. We are going to try and record absolutely everyone; it is just down to getting the necessary clearance.

Finally, what does 2012 have in-store for the venue?
More of the same really. We will definitely be keeping up the consistency and where possible, try to go a step further. We think that the upcoming programme of events proves this. Like I mentioned earlier, there will be one or two little tweaks going on inside and these will come into affect very soon. We will also be having our first Birthday party in June and can’t wait to get cracking with that. The Thursdays will be going up a level in 2012 and we are itching to announce what is planned there. There is also something VERY exciting that we’d love to reveal, but would get in a lot of trouble, so you’ll have to keep checking back for when that drops. If we are still standing strong in 12 months time it would have been a good year.

UPCOMING EVENTS
27th January – Simmer W/ Chez Damier
28th January – Bread & Butter W/ Redshape
3rd February – Ketoloco W/ Sasse and Mario Basanov
4th February – Bad Apple W/ Seuil & Huxley
10th February – Make Me W/ Bill Patrick
11th February – W/ A Night With… Sebo K (8hr set)

Find out more about Basing House and see all upcomg events here

Words: Katie Grange