Kaluki founder Lee Spence talks to Skiddle ahead of the Parklife Weekender

Saturday at Parklife Festival sees Sankeys' monthly party Kaluki host its own arena, with a jackin' line-up of Kaluki favourites and residents. 

Headlined by Kaluki regular Heidi, the day will see some of the finest names in house and techno come together under canvas for an all day showcase of Kaluki mayhem. 

We caught up with Kaluki founder and resident Lee Spence - aka Ellesse - to find out just what Kaluki have in store for Parklife partygoers. 

Describe the Kaluki ethos in a sentence - what is Kaluki? 

Kaluki is all about the freshest new sounds in the house and techno world, but more importantly, letting your hair down and having a good time with your friends!

How have the past 12 months been for you guys? 

Really good, probably our best year to date. Sold out shows and our record label has also started to pick up some nice chart positions. Hopefully more of the same over the next twelve months!

Do you feel that the Kaluki line-up at Parklife is a good reflection of what the brand is all about? 

Yes, we have Heidi headlining who has become one of our key residents over the past few years, we love her to pieces and she always delivers!  Also we have an Italian quartet in James Mile, Luca Bear, Romano Alfieri and Marco Effe. They have also played for us several times over the past few years and have been releasing amazing music on our label both digitally and on vinyl. Also our residents are all involved. We have a full house, and we can't wait!

Your regular home is at Sankeys. Are there any factors to take into account when you're curating for a festival rather than a club?

We are in one of the smaller tents, so what we are looking to do is bring a little of that sankeys/kaluki vibe to the festival. It should be cool, we've had lots of messages from people who want to come along and support us, and also we hopefully bring something a little different to the festival.

There are a few Kaluki regulars in the lineup - did you have a clear idea about who you wanted to play from the start? 

Yes the line-up we have is our first choice, and so we are really happy with the talent we have in our tent!

Were you presented with any particular challenges when curating this line-up?

No, it was easy peasy!

What else is in store for Kaluki this year? 

We have lots of events coming up. We have our first event in Leeds at The Warehouse on April 5th. Then there is our monthly gig at Sankeys, and a special collaboration in Ibiza with Krankbrother from London. In September we are hosting the main stage at The Zoo Project Festival… so there is plenty to keep us busy!

Outside of the Kaluki tent, what are you most looking forward to about Parklife this year? Will you get much chance to check out the rest of the festival?  

Yes we will be checking out the whole festival and maybe spending some time in the Crosstown tent to check out some of our mates who will be performing.

Thanks Lee, see you at Parklife!

Kaluki arena line up:

Heidi / Marco Effe & James Mile / Romano Alfieri & Luca Bear / Ellesse & Jozef K / Us & Them / Pete Zorba

Watch a trailer for Parklife: 

Tickets for Parklife Weekender are available now through Skiddle! 

More about Parklife Weekender

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Photo: Jozef K

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