James Priestley Interview: go bang is a chance to spread our wings

There’s something really inherently illict about partying on a Sunday. It may still be the weekend, but it lurches steadfastly towards school-night territory and the start of the week lingers ever nearer, meaning it’s a day only the most ardent hedonists and music aficionados indulge in.

Legendary London clubnight secretsundaze helped pioneer the embodiment of this spirit in Twenty First Century clubbing when they started back in 2002, delving deep into the underground recesses of house and techno. It ensured they brought the capital a party that eschewed the instantaneous feel of clubland’s sound of the time for a subtler approach, bringing a deeper focus that really made sense when the weekend would slowly grind to a halt as opposed to a day earlier when it hurtles forward.

They’ve since gone on to become a hugely respected record label and global clubbing brand without ever losing that underground zeal, with last year seeing them launch their secretsundaze x go bang mini festival concept. With that returning in 2013, we caught up with James Priestley, who co-founded the event alongside Giles Smith, to find out what the festival represents, the merits of Sunday clubbing elsewhere and his long held affinity with Italians.

Hi James; thanks for speaking to us. You’ve got the secretsundaze go bang event coming up. What can people expect from the show?

Hi, no worries, good to chat to you guys.

So the concept of secretsundaze x go bang is to really broaden the scope of what we have traditionally done with secretsundaze. First and foremost, secretsundaze has quite a defined sound and we home in on a certain type of artist. Go bang is a chance to spread our wings really, an opportunity to book artists that we're feeling and into that wouldn't necessarily work at a traditional secretsundaze date.

Video: Secretsundaze x Go Bang 2012

It’s also a chance to work with more live focused acts, such as our headliners this year, Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald's Borderland project. It’s great to work with true originators like this in this capacity. Similarly booking artists such as L.I.E.S. & Trilogy Tapes Ron Morrelli and Will Bankhead - both  are labels and figure heads we have a lot of admiration for but wouldn't work so well in the confines of a normal secretsundaze party. At the Coronet Theatre (where the night time leg is taking place) they have their own room all night to stretch their legs as wide as they'll go.

With four rooms of music and a separate day session, we view the event as a mini-festival really and it's been programmed from the heart as certainly something I would want to go and check myself. Even though the line-up is fairly broad, I feel it's quite cohesive too. So expect a great show with a wealth of excellent djs and artists performing at the top of their game.

How proud are you of the way secretsundaze has piloted a certain brand of Sunday clubbing in the capital, especially with the likes of Fuse carrying on that heritage?

Yes I guess there is no denying secretsundaze has led the way since we started in 2002 and there's now a load of other parties on a Sunday. I share more affinity with the likes of low key and half baked than fuse though for example. To be honest, I’m more proud of what we have achieved as an organisation rather than the fact that other people have 'been inspired' by what was clearly becoming a winning formula.

Also please bear in mind we were far from the first Sunday party in London and have to shout the likes of lazy dog at Notting hill arts club, Soul II Soul at the Africa centre, Metalheadz, Full circle as the torch bearers. In terms of being proud, if we're mentioned in the same breath as these parties then yes, I’d certainly be proud.

What other cities across the planet can compete with the same brand of end of weekend appreciation of electronic music?

Well the obvious one is Berlin - that doesn't really compete, it wins hands down. Saturdays blurring into Sundays and then into Mondays at panorama bar for example... plus the rest.

We tour secretsundaze and do many shows on a Sunday but often it's when they fall on bank holidays weekends. Other than Berlin, nowhere springs to mind to be honest.

At the tail end of last year you played at the Shoom 25th year anniversary. With dance music and club culture reaching a certain age now, how important is it you feel to be able to look back at the history of how it began in this country?

Super important. I didn't catch the first wave in the late 80s as I was too young so I caught it in the early 90s, but it's important to remember that then the whole thing was pretty revolutionary. Now dance and electronic music is embedded in popular culture - it wasn't always that way.

We now have decades of this culture behind us, to be inspired by, to learn from and to cherish. That said I feel you always have to have an eye on the future too as otherwise things get stagnant. For example, I feel the whole 90s house / garage throw back sound is really tired already. Two steps forward and only one step back I say… 

Where else can we expect to see you playing in the upcoming months?

The next couple of months I’m on the road quite a bit. You can catch me, in some sort of chronological order, in Barcelona, Ibiza, secretsundaze London, boiler room, Basel, Eastern Electrics festival, Miami, Washington dc, New York, Pantelleria italy, Ibiza, zoo festival, Berlin, unknown festival Croatia, Dubai, Oslo, Birmingham, Amsterdam, Bucharest…..

From a production point of view you’ve always collaborated, which we’ve read you stating is down to a combination of the joys of collaboration and you not being able to focus all your time on getting up to speed your own ability to harness these ideas. Are there any plans to change that in the future?

No, unfortunately not - unless I win the lottery, which I don't even play, then the thought of sitting in a studio all day is but a dream. That said, I’m still getting a lot of kicks out of what I do and I’m looking to get some studio time in from October onwards once this summer touring calms down a bit. 

And finally, dream situation time. You can go back to any period in clubland history, and play at any club. Who would you have playing alongside you and what tune would you drop that would define the evening?

If there was one moment in clubland history that I’d wished I could have checked, that would have been the 'cosmic' scene in northern Italy in the late 70s. Particularly baiai degli angelli. I wouldn't have stood a chance next to these guys but if I was there, I would have been playing alongside hero type figures like Daniele Baldelli and DJ Mozart.

In terms of what I would have played, wow... perhaps something like 'i zimbra' by talking heads although that came out in 79 the same year the club was shut down - reputedly to a serious amount of smack being consumed in the car park by people who couldn't get into the club. So time wise, I might have relied on David Byrne sorting me some sort of wetransfer link in order to let that roll in time, ha! God, how times have changed.

I’ve for a long time had an affinity with Italy, Italians and particularly this era for music and clubbing, which was really quite remarkable. And after a recent conversations with my mum I’ve now connected this to the fact that she and my dad holidayed in this part of Italy when she was expecting me back in '77, so I was there, back in the day…

The main ticket link for this event is for the daytime section of the festival - head here for further info on the night-time element.

Tickets are no longer available for this event