Liverpool DMS Interview

Image: Sante

If you’re a student hitting any city for the first time, it’s a daunting experience. We’ve tried making it less so with our series of Insider’s Guides (you can read some of them here) but one of the best thing Fresher’s can do is get involved with societies and clubs.

Now, having spent the last few weeks in Fresher’s Fairs across the nation we can confirm there are some weird and wonderful collectives you can become membership of (our editor was attacked by a jousting knight of the Liverpool University enactment society last week, much to our collective amusement), but also a fair few useful groups too. If you’re a fan of electronic music Liverpool has the perfect one, the Dance Music Society (DMS).

It’s essentially the first port of call for anyone with a love of the rave, and as well as being a great place to meet like-minded people it can aid your development if you want to take your involvement in the scene that little bit further than giving it large by the bassbins. In fact our editor (him again) started an earlier incarnation of the society way back in 2003 and has been working in dance music ever since, although considering his job description involves being accosted by Knights of the Realm you might want to rethink that.

The current society has a gloriously successful midweek party which has been the platform for their DJs to star getting noticed in the city, as well as getting plenty of people grooving to underground dance music on the regular. They celebrate turning two with Santé (pictured) and Gavin Herlihy (stream his mix at Circo Loco Detroit above) on Tuesday October 1^st, so ahead of that event we thought it would be the perfect chance for them to introduce themselves to you.

Firstly for those who don’t know, what is the Liverpool Dance music society?

The Liverpool music scene was in a really different position two years ago. Except the big nights there wasn't much in the name of dance music mid-week, so we started LDMS as an excuse to get together on a Tuesday and have some fun.

We ran monthly open deck nights, that we call "socials", in the legendary basement club, The Magnet. Each night we had up to 16 different DJs playing, many of which had never played anywhere outside of their bedrooms, yet after a couple of events we were pulling 300-400 people through the doors each night.

Towards the end of the year we started up a clubnight we branded "LDMS presents..." and ran these in tandem with the socials. A big moment for us was the night we had Darius Syrossian play in the Magnet; 400 heads down in the main room on a Tuesday, basically refusing to let him off the decks. 

But shortly after that, the Magnet closed and we were forced to up sticks. This seen us move to HAUS, a large converted warehouse in Liverpool's up-and-coming Baltic triangle. Using this space has allowed us to be more experimental when it comes to production and set up of the events. Also, there's a great team behind the place, it's owned by the lads who run Waxxx - not only are they nice guys but they've got a wealth of experience and knowledge of this industry they have brought a lot to the table.

Is it something exclusively for students?

Not at all, anyone can attend, unless you’re a bad lid.

What’s the best way to get involved with you?

Come to one of our socials! That is what they are for after all. For more info and the dates of these check out our Facebook page

 You’ve got a birthday event coming up, tell us about that.

Yeah, we’ve been getting very excited about this recently, we’re bringing two guests to town for this one. First is Santé, who’s been releasing some amazing work recently on labels such as VIVa Music and Cocoon, and also Gavin Herlihy, who we’ve had a lot of respect for as he is such a versatile DJ we’re confident he’s going to do us proud. As it’s our birthday we’ve got some crazy surprises in store for on the night, but will keep quiet about that for now!

What other events have you got lined up in the future?

Well, so far we’ve got an open decks night and a resident’s party planned for November. As for December, you will have to wait and see!

Tell us some more about the residents for you guys.

We stumbled across Butler & Murt about 18 months ago just from getting lost in soundcloud. Their sound was perfect for LDMS, and we got on the phone straight away. After playing for us once we asked them if they'd join as residents, and they thankfully accepted! We’re really grateful to have them as part of the team - Josh Butler and Jay Murt are incredible artists whether they are working as a duo or individually. 

Nick Assheton (stream his mix above), Joe Middleton and Geroge Bartlett have also done amazing jobs warming up for our headline acts - after being heard at LDMS they’ve all been asked to play other events in Liverpool which is a good indicator for us that they’re doing a good job. 

And finally, as students in the city you’re probably best placed to offer advice to new fresher’s advice about what to do in the city. What would you tell them?

Get involved in the city and get yourself lost. There’s a thriving underground music scene in the city that sometimes gets over shadowed by your typical student nights. If you’re into your music there’s certainly no shortage of events to cater to whatever your tastes are. 

Want to know more stuff about Liverpool? Check our Month Ahead article for clubbing picks in October here.

And our Insider's Guide here.

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