On 21st October Guilt embark on a new chapter with our first party in Brighton, at the Volks Club. In advance of this we thought we’d give you a bit of a background to the promotion for anyone who hasn’t partied with us before, and also catch up with our first Brighton headliner, fast rising techno star Clodagh.


Guilt @ Orange Corner in Ibiza

So lets start at the very beginning – where did Guilt come from? Well, founder and promoter Stuart Ainslie (aka N-Slay) was a resident at a Hard Dance night in London called Squelcher, and after a few parties around late 2004/ early 2005 they started thinking about opening a second room to expand the choice of musical variety for the clubbers at their parties. Stu had already been thinking about starting something up on his own and naturally jumped at the opportunity – so Guilt was born!

Why the name Guilt? From the dictionary definition: Guilt as an emotion is the feeling we get when we believe we have committed an offence by breaking a rule or law. This may be a criminal law or just a social norm. The whole point of Guilt is to create an environment where we can let go and have fun, forgetting about the outside world for a few hours at least, without having to worry about anything. So really it’s maybe about how you feel the next day after our parties – how Guilty are you? ;-)

So anyway, the Squelcher vs Guilt (and latterly 'Red Planet') parties were great fun, and ran for over a year at a few different venues in London (SeOne, Hidden, The Factory), and we had various themes which were always fun and helped to create a less serious, fun atmosphere than you tend to get at some bigger events. These unfortunately had to come to an end recently due to financial reasons (isn’t it always down to money?), but never say never – Squelcher vs Guilt may well return in the future!


N-Slay, D4RK & Loki at Squelcher vs Guilt

We also had a very successful run of free parties at the infamous Southside Bar in London, the scene of much drunken debauchery (and more than a bit of morning-after guilt). These ended in early 2006 when the venue changed hands and all parties were stopped. The sad end of a great era.

We took the next big step in our short but illustrious history at the start of September 2006 with the first ‘Guilt in Ibiza’ week. We took a crew of around 20 over there and played at loads of venues throughout the week, including Café Savannah, Orange Corner, Plastik and Es Paradis. We also had an amazing villa party (which lasted approximately 28 hours!), and played on a rough and choppy but great fun Sunset Boat Party.


Sunset Boat Party, Ibiza

What about the music and DJs? Well Guilt’s music policy is ‘tough house, electro & techno’, which covers a fairly wide range of styles – and that is reflected in the range of guest DJs we’ve had so far: Tim Davison, Anil Chawla, Andy Price, Gavin Herlihy, Jordan X, Cheshire Catz, Anita, D4RK, Clodagh, Jon Rundell, Marcopilf, Marcus Rich. Current residents are N-Slay, Benji, Rob Masterton, Chris Rayner and Dan Warb.

So now to the future, and Guilt in Brighton! We are all really looking forward to bringing our sounds and party vibe to the South Coast and we’re confident that the lineup we have for the first party combines some of the best local talent with our own unique team of party animals to create a party to remember.

As an introduction for those of you who may not have come across her before, we’ve had a few words with headliner Clodagh, who will be serving up a dose of techno carnage to keep you rocking through til the early hours on the 21st.

Hi Clodagh, thanks for speaking to us – how has 2006 been for you so far?
HI Stuart! No problem, Huge thanks for inviting me to play @ Guilt again, Always a pleasure. So far 2006 has been really exciting. I’ve played in Poland, Tunisa, France, UK, Ibiza, Ireland, Bulgaria, Morocco, Completed a 3 week tour of Brazil & became the first ever female Dj to play in Algeria! I’ve also moved back to live in Ireland after 7.5 years of living in London, so I can concentrate on my music full time. I am building my studio & should start producing very soon which is really exciting!

Great! So can you tell us a bit about the ‘Joy of Decks’ and how that has helped you since then?
The “Joy of Decks” was a 6 part ITV Dj Competition/Documentary TV Programme that happened 3 years ago in 2003. I was lucky enough to be chosen out of 300 Djs & got to work with Sister Bliss from Faithless who was my Mentor. It was an amazing experience & I learned so much. I got lots of positive feedback from people who saw me on the show & it gave me the confidence to really make a go of my Djing. People still come up to me & say “are you Clodagh from the Joy of Decks?” Which is really sweet. The best thing to happen was that my hero Carl Cox spotted me on this TV programme & after a few emails & some demos he asked me to go on tour with him as his warm up Dj in France in 2005 last year!

Playing alongside Carl Cox must have been amazing! Do you still keep in touch with the big man?
Words can’t describe what a great guy Carl Cox is & he truly loves music & to Dj & he honestly cares & plays for the people who come to his gigs! He loves the scene & is always helping other music people, Dj’s, producers, labels etc. just like he helped me! Not only does he Dj, but he also produces, runs 2 record Labels, has 2 radio shows & promotes nights in Ibiza, and his “Carl Cox & Friends” parties at festivals & clubs all over the world! He’s a huge inspiration to me & I learned a lot from him & we had such a laugh on tour. He’s my hero & now he’s my friend. Carl is super busy as he’s always on tour but Yes we still keep in touch by email & texts & I go see him play whenever I can, like I did in Ibiza this year! & hopefully I will get to play with him again in the future! It’s funny anytime I introduce any of my friends to him, they all say the same thing…”Wow, he’s so nice & friendly” and yep it’s true!


Clodagh on tour with Carl Cox in France

So having played in such a vast variety of different venues, do you prefer to play in a massive arena or a rammed small sweaty club?
Playing in huge arenas to 4,000 people like I did on tour with Carl in Paris was totally amazing!!! Having 4,000 people scream & shout at you really is an experience. Also the big INVADER parties in Bulgaria are also fantastic with 2,500 people! I have so much fun there! Then I’ve had a really great time playing in rammed smaller clubs in Algeria & Poland, and even to 15 people in a small club in London! I honestly really don’t have a preference as long at there is good sound & good party people… If the people are dancing & having fun… then I’m happy! :-)

You do quite a bit of traveling abroad through DJing – do you enjoy this or does it get to be a bit of a drag eventually?
I love playing abroad, but yes the traveling can be a bit of a pain, especially with delays, bad weather, stupid airline people etc. plus it can be extremely draining & trying to play your best when you have travelled 19hours non stop, it can be really tough going. But then seeing a new country & meeting new people who all love music & dancing, really does make up for all the traveling. I feel really privileged to be invited to play abroad & am really greatful to the promoters for booking me. Plus you usually get looked after really well which is always nice. I have seen countries that I probably would never have visited eg. Algeria, it’s actually really hard to get a visa for this country, they don’t let many tourists in! plus Tunisia, Morocco, Brazil, Bulgaria & Poland! So overall Djing abroad is great!

Any travel nightmare stories?
HEHEHE… oh god, how much time do you have? I am a total Jinx when it comes to traveling… There’s the 19hour journey to Tunisia, played for 3 hours & then traveled 12 hours back home again. Then there’s the cancelled flight to Poland due to snow, I really didn’t want to miss my gigs, so I jumped on a plane to Berlin & the promoter couldn’t pick me up as his car was snowed in so I hitched a lift in a van, in a blizzard to Poland… never again! Then there was being stranded for 24hours in Paris on my way to Brazil… I could go on and on! Hehehe!

And what’s your favourite place you’ve traveled to in the world to play at?
One of my favourite country to play in is Bulgaria because of the people! I can’t even describe the energy these people dance with at the parties… UNBELIEVABLE! I’m playing there again on 3rd & 4th November… and I can’t wait!! I also love Poland, France and Oran in Algeria! Really cool people that dance like crazy!!! It’s so much fun as I get so much back from the crowd I feel a huge connection with them & just really go for it! It’s awesome! :-)

You hooked up with the Guilt crew in Ibiza and joined us for a couple of parties over there. How do you think the Ibiza scene has changed over the past few years and how do you see it going in the future?
Yes Stuart, Thanks so much, I really enjoyed playing for ye in Ibiza aswell as at your London gigs. Overall this year Ibiza was disappointing music wise for me. I was bored “minimally” at most of the parties, especially Cocoon… I had to leave, as I was sooo bored! Which was a huge disappointment as it was one of my favourite parties of last year, but of course there was a different line up! This year Carl Cox’s party was by far the most fun & the best music, I danced for 8 hours non stop! Such a great vibe! It’s a shame that Ibiza is soo expensive especially the drinks in the clubs, it’s a total rip off, but over all I love Ibiza, the island is sooo pretty, the weather is great & it has a magical vibe. Everyone is on holiday, everyone is there to relax & to party. I really hope Ibiza keeps going but gets less pricey. Not everyone can afford to go to Ibiza & party, which is a shame.


Clodagh at the Guilt Villa Party in Ibiza

Tell us about your music style for anyone who hasn’t heard you before.
My sets are always full of high energy pumping electronic dance music, whether it be house, techno, electro, funky, tough, melodic… if it’s good, I’ll play it! There is so much good music out there it’s a shame to just stick with one style, plus it makes it more exciting. I play the music I Love so I’m always smiling & dancing & always get the dancefloor rocking!

Any productions we should be looking out for from you?
Not just productions but I also hope to have a LIVE set soon. I am currently learning Ableton Live & it’s a really wicked programme so watch this space!

And apart from Guilt, where else can we see you playing in the near future?
You can find out all my gigs on my website www.djclodagh.com. Lots of London gigs coming up, along with 2 gigs in Bulgaria, 2 in Czech Republic & Ireland.

Well thanks for talking to us today and we look forward to seeing you in Brighton on the 21st for some Guilty carnage!
Yeah! I can’t wait, so everyone get yer asses down to the Volks Club in Brighton on 21st October to party with the infamous Guilt party animals! Thanks Stuart & see ye on the dancefloor! Luv Clodagh xx

Hope it goes well for ya mate... Guilt rocks!

Nicely done guys. Never been to Brighton so Guilt will be an extra incentive to finally make it down... All the best. Clodagh is a top choice!

beautfiul reading mr nslay good luck matey and to you too clodagh..thanks for the times in ibiza ... will neva 4get the orange corner..and the rest lol cya soon. hello to the rest of the crazy ang, hope u all well $-)

hope it goes well mate... as Anil says.. Guilt Rocks!!

:-)

M8 !!!!!!!!!!

I knew Clodah was doing well but I had NO idea how well and like BIG she is !!!

How cool is this Guilt in Brighton gonna be ???!?!?!??!!! !!! ??!?! ?!!? ? ? ?!?!?

BRING IT ON, ME AND LOADS OTHERS CAN"T F'in WAIT !

Dan

Yes she is a superstar, and we are honoured to have her coming down to help us rock Brighton next Saturday!

Bring it on Brighton!

Top article that! :)

crackin dj Clodagh is :)

Clodagh played an awsome set at the Villa party, I was lovvin it!
Can't wait to see her at the first Brighton Guilt.