Mulletover vs. secretsundaze
A Top Trumps battle for East End clubbing supremacy.
Around 5 or 6 years ago - before any modern raver-about-town had heard of Berlin, the East End, warehouses, day parties or sunglasses (Did you research this article at all? Ed) - two young, underground party collectives with a vision of how raving should be done were quietly planning their London take over. In the years since, through excellent cutting edge line-ups, inventive locations and word of mouth promotion, they are now leaders of the scene and have thousands of global fans. As more of London’s original super clubs and venues seem to be closing, these sorts of parties are essential to keeping the underground moving to the beat.
We’ve taken the two original east end underground party players and lined them up against each other in a sort of poor man's game of Top Trumps to try and answer the hard hitting question once and for all: Who is king of the East End scene?
In the red corner, Mulletover are represented by Rob Star. In the blue corner, secretsundaze are represented by James Priestley. Click on their names to read their full interviews.
Rave Credentials
Mulletover: Rob sneaked out of his parent's house under the pretence of all night fishing to attend his first rave and, ever the rave entrepreneur, before long was arranging coach trips to Cream and Tribal Gathering.
Endclub: 8/10.
Secretsundaze: James played piano, flute and sax until his mid-teens when he first started listening to electronic music. Going clubbing soon turned to DJing, and the old musical instruments were thrown out the window, figuratively speaking.
Endclub: 7/10. Would have been awarded 8 points had he actually thrown instruments out of the window.
Creative Venue Hunting Skills
Mulletover: Mulletover did a party in a derelict Kwik Fit with Rich NXT, Jamie Jones and the Trailer Trash boys. They lost the venue they were supposed to use, so approached some squatters who found an amazing location. “It was derelict (and full of rubbish), no electricity, two toilets, no lighting”, says Rob, “We had about 36 hours to turn the space around, somehow we did it and ended up with an amazing underground rave. Ivan Smagghe was playing to 1,000 people with just one strobe flashing as a light source!
Endclub: 9/10. An extra point awarded for it being a Kwik Fit garage, rather than any other garage, and also meeting a rave deadline while under pressure.
Secretsundaze: Started out at 93 Feet East, before moving to The Poet with its great outside courtyard, then The Light Bar, the arches under the old Shoreditch railway line, and are now at Ministry of Sound. Extra points for carrying a two metre disco ball to all the parties, even overseas!
Endclub: 9/10. Top marks for always choosing venues that perfectly encapsulate the secretsundaze vibe.
Globe Trotting Abilities
Mulletover: Mulletover claim the key to success overseas is good partnerships in the respective countries. They have racked up some impressive locations, including Ibiza, Croatia and the Lake of Stars festival in Malawi. That's in Africa fact fans!
Endclub: 8/10. Didn't you hear us? We said Africa!
Secretsundaze: James's favourite was the Blue Marlin in Ibiza; “We did two free parties there 3 years ago. Blue Marlin is a really nice beach club / restaurant / bar on Cala Jondal - these days it’s very established and high end - there are lots of rich people going there and it’s all sunbeds and champagne. Back then, however, it was a bit more organic – not many people had really done parties there. It’s beautifully styled with white sails and drapes, and a lovely garden terrace. It was the perfect venue for us – the kind of place we’d always dreamed of doing a party.” They've also held parties at Snowbombing in Austria, Barcelona's Sonar and Berlin club Panorama.
Endclub: 9/10. London, Berlin, Ibiza and Sonar? In terms of electronic music, is there anywhere else?
Party Hooks
Mulletover: Mulletover's dress code separates them from the rest. When they say dress up, they mean dress up. Dress codes include acid house, a tracksuit party, wigs and sunglasses. These guys mean fun, and they're not afraid to show it.
Endclub: 9/10. Any other party with these kind of dress codes would run the risk of looking foolish. However Mulletover are, like, so ironic, that they pull it off and everyone looks great, ya know?
Secretsundaze: So many superpowers, where to start? Perhaps the original East End underground party; always thrown parties with an outside space; music is spot on; DJs queue up to play; and the crowd - too hot to trot and very European. It's all party perfection...but wait, anyone remember the Jerk Chicken BBQ at secretsundaze earlier parties at 93 Feet East? Dancing outside in the sun to great house music on a Sunday afternoon while sipping on 93 Feet East's Wray & Nephew tropical punch, eating the best rice and peas this side of the Caribbean? Now that's a hook.
Endclub: 9/10. Bonus points awarded for making us drool at the memory of the BBQ.
Musical Powers
Mulletover: Their resident DJ Geddes dictates the musical direction of the night. The deep, minimal, melodic sound of Mulletover is represented by guests like Phonique, The Schneiders, Tayo, Damian Lazurus, Dixon and Sebo K. Resident DJ Geddes has started producing with DJs Audiofly under the monicker 'Rekleiner'. Future Mulletover releases? Watch this space says Rob...
Endclub: 8/10. Great music at the raves, with an additional point for Geddes' German sounding production name.
Secretsundaze: Residents James Priestley and Giles Smith. In the old days, an early signature tune James Priestley used to play was Annie's 'Greatest Hit', teasing the crowd with the instrumental before dropping the vocal to a cheering dancefloor. Secretsundaze were booking artists like Tiefschwarz and Ivan Smagghe while everyone else was still asking “Berlin, where's that? What is this minimal you speak of?” The boys have just released their second secretsundaze compilation CD, whilst also releasing their own productions, James with Dan Berkson and Giles as Two Armadillos.
Endclub: 8/10. All about the music, secretsundaze were almost awarded a bonus point for looking so dapper on the album artwork.
Final scores:
Mulletover: 42/50
secretsundaze: 42/50
A dead heat! There's just nothing to choose between these two. For the uninitiated, pop your Mulletover cherry at The End on Saturday 27th September, and get yourself a copy of secretsundaze vol. 2!
Published: 22/09/2008
