As the winter season draws us in we catch up with The Diaz Brothers whose Ditchcoteque party has been a stalwart of London’s nu disco scene since the 2000s.
One of the Shoreditch clubbing pioneers with residencies at the “Last Days of Shoreditch” at the Red Gallery; Drunken Monkey and the King’s Head Members Club, The Diaz Brothers’ Juan Leal is behind the monthly Friday party “I Love You But I’ve Chosen Disco’ which returns Friday November 18th at the Horse & Groom in Shoreditch, naturally.
His mix of twisted disco, a big helping of vocal house and a pinch of electronic wonkiness is the perfect musical cocktail for your evening’s entertainment and here he waxes lyrical about the start of the Shoreditch scene and how disco continues to thrive in the capital.
London Nightlife History though A Disco Lens
I wasn’t really sure where to start as London is such a great city that allows you to become who you really are… and I’m The Diaz Brother’s Juan Leal, a music lover inspired by disco to play the widest musical styles I can whilst keeping everyone dancing and smiling. It’s a great job and my best takeaways from the parties are when people who’ve been on the dance floor all night tell me that they heard the music being played from the street and came and then stayed till the end at 4am leaving with huge grins. It’s really inspiring when you get an ovation at the end of a really uplifting party.
London’s Disco History
Obviously London has a great history on “Disco” from the obvious glam West End Disco Clubs like Sombrero, Global Village, Tramp, Annabel’s to the posh Knightsbridge spots such as Xenon and Kensington Roof Gardens but those were never for me lol :-)
Disco Roots
My “Disco” spots are rooted in the Underground Club scene from the dance floors of Ministry of Sound (1991 to 1994); Release the Pressure @ the Café the Paris to Fabric in Farringdon.
I was lucky because I had got myself a job at Release the Pressure setting up their nascent DJ agency that allowed me to get right into the full on “West End” House Music club scene. With its record shops and cool midweek hangouts like Rikki Tikks and DJs who became friends such as Kenny Carpenter from NYC, Jazzy M from London and of course golden child, Ricky Morrison of M&S Productions fame. It was where all the DJ’s would come and relax and frolic to the immaculate sounds of Breeze on a Wednesday..or was it Thursday…lols:-) Soho was also where the LGBTQ flag was proudly raised at the Freedom Bar that openly embraced its politics and began to permeate/liberate Soho. Yes Soho was still sleazy but it now had a touch of glam attached to its heart…AND then there was Ministry of Sound in Elephant & Castle. My brother’s friend Barry ran the Security team there and I chanced it one night and he was there on the door, recognised me and pulled me right to the front of the queue and the rest as they say is HISTORY.
I went religiously for nearly 4 years seeing everyone from C&C Music Factory, Tony Humphries, Kenny Carpenter, India, Todd Terry, DJ Harvey, Masters At Work, Kerri Chandler, Deep Dish and of course Resident DJ, Justin Berkman. This was the time when Ministry didn’t have a bar! It was open Friday and Saturday all the way…My lasting memories are not only meeting the mother of my daughter dancing on the bar but hearing the master Tony Humphries DJ-ing all night and dropping Romanthony “Fall From Grace” …lights down in that system..even now hearing this has the power to transport me right back to that night…
But alas every good thing has to come to end. The over commercialisation of Club House music had begun. Things moved East to the wild East when no Black cab would go there. The creatives & artists moved into the disused print warehouse of Old Street, where you could make as much noise as you wanted and the local constabulary left you alone as long as you didn’t take the piss.
Shoreditch & Hackney: The explosion of creativity that happened away from the constrictions of the West End
London’s top clubs had become more commercial and less about the music and the vibe and that led to the underground disco house scene shifting east to Shoreditch and Hackney with illegal Warehouse/Loft parties such as the seminal “Gary’s Place”, the ”T Bar” , one off “Mullet Over” and of course, the “Red Gallery”and so many others that I can’t remember…Old Street and Shoreditch’s bar, club and warehouse mix really is the blueprint of where and how modern clubbing evolved in London. This was the Wild Wild East..the Pied Piper was an ex-Glaswegian Dot.com investor with a stunning loft and a contact book second to none. Bored with the fact that you couldn’t get a decent cocktail in Shoreditch he decided to open up his own bar/speakeasy/Illegal den of Inequity in his own Loft, a place where super models rubbed shoulders with YBA’s, strippers, East End jack the lads as well as some Hassidic jews .My place in all this was to play Disco but since Gary (the owner) had no idea what Disco was I got away with playing House music too. Gary’s place was where the DJs who were working at the weekend would come and hang out before heading into the dimly-lit streets of Hackney. Disco was a “dirty word” back then because so many clubbers were caught up with that “minimal sound” which had to do as much with Ketamine as it did with the music. So Gary’s place was good cocktails, great people carefully “curated” by Gary himself and music.
Shoreditch then went 24/7 with all different kinds of bars, small “clubs” and huge warehouse parties. Perhaps Imo the one that changed London for the better and went onto conquer the world was Secret Sundaze with its huge Disco Ball. It’s “sound” became the soundtrack to Shoreditch and all of a sudden the sound had changed and it had become more funkier, a little bit darker & definitely sleaaaaazzzier…lol..And to me dancing outside on a Sunday afternoon as the sun went down in the back streets of Shoreditch to DJ Buck’s “Make it Hot” was that moment..
There was of course the places where the real Headz went…Mullet Over, Kublicle - tailor-made for those (including me) who went out Friday and came home Monday. Italian, Spanish, Eastern Europeans, South Africans etc…all proper House Headz looking for that new underground sound that inspired many of them to start their own labels & nights.
East London Queer Scene
I may be wrong …but hey Hanna Holland’s “Batty Bass” was where it was at…
Also whilst the underground Shoreditch scene was taking shape, there was the free for all “Dalston Superstore” flying the flag for Queerness, with its wild hosts and parties but which were completely inclusive and the first to be so open,
And that inclusiveness and open ness still predominates in East London’s Hackney Wick scene, which has been one of the creative hotbeds of the last two years or so. What makes events such as “Adonis” stand out is that they do not follow but lead the way in where the music/style goes. When disco was underground it was heaven for everyone and always remember there is no hate on the dance floor.
I believe Disco is so much more about a way of thinking and an attitude than a commercial entity. My own night “I Love You but I’ve Chosen Disco” is just that. You are free to play what you want, from Deep House to Nu Disco to Techno to House Music to real Disco and more. You can wear what you want and love who you want. We are not stuck in that 70’s Commercial Disco sound but are forward-looking and all those who come to dance and DJ have that in mind. Open minds free the body and that’s essentially what disco is all about, feeling and loving that dance floor escapism.
Disco Tips
Do have a disco nap that afternoon if you know it’s going to be a late one. Remember you will have to travel home at some point from the after party and always pack a pair of dark sunglasses :-) Drink lots of water and you can find yourself dancing for the whole night and into the morning. Make sure your fridge is stocked with lost of recovery food treats to restore all that fabulous energy you burnt up at the party and my favourite thing to do is make Ceviche and marinade it overnight to have with a chilled glass of white wine. Its always good to have lots of fruit and mineral water too.
I LOVE YOU BUT I’VE CHOSEN DISCO! returns with Gerrardo from Disco Disco/Pikes Ibiza fame and the Diaz Brothers’ Juan Leal on Friday November 18th at the Horse & Groom. Open 10pm till 4am there’s Free entry B4 10pm; £6 after and a Friends & Family List of £4.00 all night. Check Skiddle for special free tickets and 2 for 1 cocktail offers