Zleep Talk

 
Art & Culture

Originally hailing from Nottingham, the people behind the Zleep parties have since moved further south to bless London with their discerning line ups and special vibe. They stopped by for a chat taking in dream bookings, Adriatic boat parties, Zleep anthems and impromtu karaoke…

What were the parties of your youth that proved formative in your desire to put on your own parties?

I guess we’ve fond memories of partying at the legendary Bomb, Futureproof at Blueprint, Wigflex at Stealth and Firefly at The Marcus Garvey – all of which are in Nottingham. And from that sprung the desire to create something that was distinctly lacking  from Nottinghams club scene, so we may have been looking more towards Leeds and Manchester for inspiration.

So, youve a couple of residents and one well-chosen guest per party, is that right?

Yep we’ve got three residents and for the upcoming London shows, which are more intimate, we decided that it really had to be focused on one main guest. This allows the spotlight to be given entirely to the talent weve invited down and does away with any rigidity in terms of set timing, which hopefully makes for a better party.

If you had to sum up the Zleep sound, what would it be?

In the last few years we’ve covered a pretty broad range of styles and sounds within house and techno. And weve been fortunate to have artists as varied as Martyn, Nina Kraviz, Andrew Weatherall and Lone. As far as a specific identity, all of us would probably disagree on one sound, as we all bring different things to the table, so I guess ultimately its not about any one sound and rather just putting on a really good party

For your forthcoming party at Dance Tunnel youve brought Delta Funktionen over, its a stellar booking – who have been some of your favourite guests from previous parties?

So many, but our party back in November was pretty wild. We had the BICEP guys playing with Space Dimension Controller in one room and Nina Kraviz in another. It turned out that the BICEP guys and Jack [SDC] knew each other really well having grown up in the same town or something. It all got pretty raucous – ending with a lot of beers and the odd record being thrown into the crowd alongside an impromptu karaoke set as well 

Dance Tunnels a great little venue, is this a permanent home?

It’ll be our permanent London base for now; it really couldnt be a better home for us. Perfect size, sound, location. It’s been gaining a great reputation since it opened and we’re really happy to be part of what the guys are doing there.

Youre also doing a boat party over at Dimensions, which I believe you also did last year. Whove you got lined up for that one and where do you rate Dimensions on the festival scale? 

Yeah we did a Dimensions Boat party last year with Objekt and Locked Groove that was pretty special, and this year weve got Martyn and Space Dimension Controller as our guests. Despite the dearth of Croatian festivals, Dimensions really stands out; the line-up, the crowd and the location is absolutely incredible. One of the stages is set in the moat that surrounds the abandoned fort with these huge 30ft walls of earth on either side and a huge stage at one end. We pretty much spent the entire weekend there last year.  

If Zleep was a cocktail what would be in it?

Probably a lot of gin and some tonic.

Please give us five Zleep anthems…

DJ Assassin – A Face In The Crowd (Intellidread mix)

Moodymann I Cant Kick This Feeling

Matthew Jonson Typerope

Long Arm – The Waterfall Inside Me (Robag’s Bad Bocklet Revolut – Robag Wruhme Remix)

Zigg Gonzaless – Music

If you could book anyone from the history of the universe to play a set at Zleep, whod it be?

Julius Caesar (Italo-disco set) 

For more information and tickets to Zleep’s nexty party this Friday 9th August at Dance Tunnel, click here.

Joe