The City Arts & Music Project

The CAMP (or City and Arts Music Project, to give it its full name) opened last year on the edge of Shoreditch with an ambitious programme containing exhibitions, art classes and music as well as a café by day. The person behind the venue is James Priestley, DJ and one half of promoters/label Secretsundaze, who have been hosting highly successful clubnights over the last decade.

With credentials like these it was no wonder a later licence was to be secured for the basement, which launched from 7th to 10th of April. A varied line up of DJ’s performed throughout the week, which ended with a Sud Electronic party featuring renowned Panorama Bar resident Prosumer and Chicago deep house purveyor Tevo Howard.

Entry to the basement is via a side door separate to the main entrance, and whilst standing in the queue one notices that the club is in fact located in the basement of a block of offices. Letterboxes bearing corporate names fill the walls and typical fluorescent lighting hangs overhead.

Once downstairs things are starkly different. The basement is dark with the exception of the cloakroom and bar area; the floor feels bumpy and the walls haven’t been painted. It’s rough round the edges and deeply inviting - a place to get down and dirty, not primp and preen.

Standing near the concrete walls makes the sound leave a little to be desired as it reflects off the harsh surfaces, however moving to the middle of the dancefloor makes the echo disappear. In one corner of the room there is a glass panel on the ceiling which gives away the shadows of people walking on the pavement above, unaware of what is going on beneath them.

Situated on City Road, The CAMP is still close enough to the action to be a Shoreditch club, yet far away from the hotspots to be an attraction in its own right. Its intimate setting and laidback atmosphere is reminiscent of Plastic People - could the CAMP become its natural successor if those threatening closure of the much-loved venue win?

The launch of the basement forms part of ‘phase two’ of the venue’s two-year plan, for it is only to be a temporary space. The next few months will see some big names performing: the next Innervisions party with Dixon and Ame (which formerly took place at Plastic People) and a DFA night with The Juan Maclean. It’s going to be an interesting summer here.

The City Arts & Music Project

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