Planet Angel is a non-profit organisation that has been putting on some of the most innovative, out-of-the-ordinary, and downright fun parties the UK has ever seen for the last 9 years. Have you ever played with Lego while listening to world class trance DJs? Thought not! Well this kind of behaviour is par for the course at Planet Angel. Promoter Angel spoke to us to reveal more about this intruiging outfit...

Why was Planet Angel set up? What’s the idea behind it?

When Pete and I first came up with the concept we were out partying every weekend, we went to clubs, outdoor parties, free parties etc and we’d always feel something lacking in terms of how the people connected with each other… in some cases the vibe touched on aggressive so we talked about setting up a place where people could let their guards down, be themselves, feel comfortable and be creative while they partied… Somewhere the music wasn’t the only feature of the night, where there was a lot of attention paid to lights and décor and included interactive and creative things to bring out our playful sides. Stuff like the huge UV painting walls, UV Plasticene, masses of Lego and all the oversized games like Connect 4 and Jenga etc that you see at Planet Angel - these games weren’t seen at pubs and bars when we started out, we see them around a lot now! To round it up I guess the idea was to create somewhere friendly, safe and fun, somewhere that was about the people.

What parties and events had you been to before Planet Angel came into existence that really inspired you?

It’s an interesting question as we were primarily motivated by the lack of these extra elements at other events… we hadn’t yet found a place where we felt at home and so we set out to create it using the interactivity to add an extra dimension to the social side of things and bring people together.

Planet Angel is still a very underground party. How have you managed to keep it that way?

We have never publicly advertised The Party date and location, we’ve always promoted The Party by word of mouth… friends tell their friends etc… it’s taken us 6 years to get where we are today so it’s definitely a slow and occasionally painful way to grow a Party but the benefits are priceless… everyone has been invited by someone and has been told what we’re all about before they’ve come down. The great thing is that naturally no one invites anyone with attitude so you end up with a totally friendly and chilled atmosphere. People who come to Planet Angel rate the word of mouth policy very highly.

Do you ever fear that the event will become over-exposed?

Well we certainly don’t want it to be overexposed… The friendly atmosphere generated by the people who go to Planet Angel is something we’re very proud of and we need to balance the need to protect it whilst also trying to reach out to as many like-minded people as possible so that we can keep the organisation running and achieve our aim of a permanent space one day… We’re interested in slow steady growth so we’re quite cautious and take things slowly… for example this is the first time we’ve done an interview in 6 years!

What styles of music can we expect to hear at a Planet Angel Party? Who’s on the decks?

We reckon we’ve got one of the most diverse music policies around! There’s three rooms of music at The Party… in the Meltdown Room the styles include uplifting trance and progressive house with a touch of Psy for good measure! The Funky Lounge hosts breaks n beats - it’s funky, bouncy, eclectic and fun! The Chill Bar is for eclectic, laid back grooves, beats and melodies from around the globe... trip hop, Ibiza sunset 'Café del Mar' style… the kind of music that gets the head nodding and the foot-tapping.

Planet Angel is strongly linked to the current wave of rising talent, we work with ‘big name’ DJs and newer yet-to-be-discovered DJs, we feature live didgeridoo players, drumming troupes, live Drum and Bass bands, trip hop bands and even live solo trance violinists.

Because we positively welcome new talent, there are loads of DJs that play at our parties… some of the names you may know that play or have played alongside our Residents SlyOne, Dr Fluff and Nibbler are; Alan Banks, Custard (Boundless), Disco Patrick, U-4-IC, Duke of Hazard, Econu (Adam Truran), Jurrane (Boundless), Mike Koglin, Pablo (Knowhere) playing in July, Tequila Sunrise, Timeok, Tom Viceroy (Vaccine) and Wax Equestrian.

Aside from your own guys, which other DJs do you really rate? If you could have a dream line-up of bands and DJs living or dead, who would you pick?

Personally, band-wise I’d say Martha Tilson and the Bombay Dub Orchestra live in the Chill Bar! In the Meltdown Room Armin Van Buuren playing an 8 hour set and in the Funky Lounge… hmmmm, that’s a hard one… I’ve not heard anyone better than our own guys for this room! I know Pete would love to have the late John Peel play somewhere! I know he loves Roland Klinkenberg’s funky house stuff as well. It would be interesting to ask Rob our Music Coordinator that question, he’d come up with a killer line-up I know!

Is there anything that would ever make you want to give up putting on parties?

If I stopped enjoying it, or it became solely about money I would seriously consider where I was going with it... but I see myself being involved with parties of a nature for the rest of my life - friendly, fun social gatherings are good for the soul.

What have been some of the more bizarre ideas that have been suggested for additions to the party?

What a great question! We get a lot of communication from our Party People, we always love to hear what people think and we love to do bizarre things at The Party… The most bizarre suggestions were a Fluro go-kart track and a pit filled with Teddy Bears to sit in! Oh then there was giving out white boiler suits and coloured crayons to everyone to colour each other in!

And what about the downright most strange things that have happened at the Planet Angel events? Looks like there must be some stories to tell judging by the photos!

You’re right there’ve been many! The most recent bizarre happening was a group of party people who asked if they could do a Maypole dance in the Funky Lounge at 3am… I was a bit nervous but said yeah and they did us proud… they practiced, they built a maypole from drain pipe and concrete in a bucket sprayed silver & gold, they sourced the ribbons, they made headdresses and they did the most funky fantastic club-style Maypole dance I’ve ever seen… the ribbon weaving was spot on and the room went wild! We’ve got it on video somewhere we must put it on the web site.

What do you do with Planet Angel besides hosting club events?

We have many things on the go…

We also host an event called Planet Angel *Chilled* which is a fun and relaxed Sunday daytime gathering for like-minded friends where children are part of the mix… safe and friendly with a superb soundtrack starting mellow and flowing into more funky, bumpy grooves, food & drink, games, art, crafts, holistic workshops… Many a friendship made at The Party has formed a stronger bond at *Chilled*… it’s an all-day opportunity to chat, eat, play, drink… and be very, very sociable :0)

We also offer a Productions service for organisations who want to put on an extraordinary event. Doing our own event each month for 6 years has taught us a thing or two.

We’re also soon to release a compilation CD of original music composed by people in the network some of which are already Planet Angel classics…and we’re planning a new event Planet Angel Rocks sometime this year, which will host a load of fantastic live bands… watch the website for more on that and a few other ideas we’re putting the finishing touches to… We’re on a mission!

The next Planet Angel party is on July 14th, somewhere in London. If you'd like to be part of this unique event, please get in contact with Pete and Angel via www.planetangel.net