We could being by telling you how Larry Levan was once a protégé of our DJ Academy, how Danny Rampling and friends came to us for guidance on pharmaceuticals and holiday destinations back in 1988, or how a worldwide dance movement evolved on the back of our ceaseless attempts to push this culture across the globe. We could tell you this, but of course we’d be talking absolute broken biscuit. Instead, we intend to practice patience and humility in our bid to earn a place in the hearts and minds of a fastidious dance fraternity and a future generation of clubbers within a scene which continues to expand at a rate as rapid as that of Britain’s burgeoning binge culture. Experience tells us that places are rarely secured in dance music folklore overnight, so in acknowledging this, our decision to invest our best thinking in a brand which began as a grass roots level London based club night operating on a shoestring budget was an easy one.
Enter ‘House-Trained’. Founded in 2004, the small club night with a big personality unleashed its loveable mascot onto the London club scene with the accompanying strapline “no shit on the floor” suggesting a no-nonsense approach to its music policy and an unwavering commitment to those entrusted with the task of defining it. Moving between a number of the capital’s best kept secret underground spots, the night played host to some of house music’s most respected DJs, including hot electro property Mylo, Faith favourite Terry Farley, Fabric resident Bill Brewster, acid house stalwart Steve Proctor and Jaime Foiriito, son of Ibiza legend Alfredo to name but a few. “People we like rinsing the music they love” crowed the very first press release at the time, a simple slogan with an underlying blueprint for future parties as well as days gone by. We look forward to carrying this philosophy forward into 2008.
With so many labels on the scene now, pigeon-holing increasingly fragmented genres has fast become paramount to splitting the atom. Conflicting messages and an overcrowded market place has led to an inevitable overspill as UK nightlife reaches saturation point. In theory, only the strongest players should survive; a predicament that can only serve to benefit the punters who rightfully demand a certain amount of quality control from those responsible for shaping their weekend experience. Likewise, with the advent of the digital age effectively re-defining the modern day music industry model, there is like to be less and less room to accommodate mediocrity. In this dog eat dog world, only the hands of time will dictate whether our very own terrier can bark loudly enough to be heard about the noise to gain recognition amongst dance music’s elite. A tall order and a challenge we look forward to rising to.
www.house-trained.co.uk for more information