Features
The underrated art of the pub DJ
Pubs and small venues host quality DJs every weekend, but that's something that isn't celebrated often enough
Today, venues have to offer more to entice punters inside. In the relatively newly formed ‘high fidelity’ nightspots such as Spiritland, Behind This Wall, The Lion & Lamb and Brilliant Corners, listening to your favourite selections on eye wateringly-expensive soundsystems is no longer reserved for just Brian Eno. Further afield, record store and city centre local Outlaws Yacht Club caters to Yorkshire’s more discerning ale drinkers. Having welcomed the likes of Irvine Welsh, Awesome Tapes From Africa and Greg Wilson for live Q&A’s their weekend rosters have seen Andrew Weatherall, Nightmares On Wax, Ruf Dug and Jan Schulte all take control of the OYC system. "We're providing a hub for like-minded souls to meet, form collaborations and create," says OYC owner Joe Gill. “Everybody is welcome. Acid house mums and dads, market workers, and blue rinses on their way to the bingo. You don't have to be music obsessives like us to appreciate it.”
In Sheffield Bungalows & Bears has long been a staple for students and music fans alike, where amid Chesterfield sofas and framed portraits hanging on the wall Zomby, Midland, Maribou State and XXXY have all played to packed-out crowds. “Venues have the world to offer nowadays so purely event-based venues are very difficult to make financially safe, especially in Sheffield where there just isn’t the crowd to fill the place every night,” says Jeremy Arblaster, events manager at Bungalows & Bears. Offering diverse bookings in a relatively small city hasn’t been easy – “I was hit by a taxi trying to get working needles for Krystal Klear once,” says Arblaster, remembering one particularly difficult night – but thanks to trusting bosses Arblaster can see these risks pay off. “When we do club nights the crowd is always amazing, but that’s more a testament to Sheffield than what we put on.”
“I guess what it illuminates is that most smallish venues can't survive by just being a club anymore so many of the places I play are multifaceted,” adds ELLES. “Now, you have to be creative about the way you run a venue in order to survive, and if you want to DJ you have to be equally as creative about the spaces available for doing this.”
