Interview with the guys behnd KeToLoCo
“On occasions we used to get a knock at the house door on a Thursday or Friday night...and there'd be a group of students there asking "are you open tonight?" That used to have us in stitches!” Such stories are now commonplace for Chris Halliday and his KetoLoco colleagues. Theirs is one of the most unique, impressive and organic ascents to fame that any party in the UK has experienced in recent years. A cult promotion which started off with the most humble intentions, and has grown to become a nationwide – and indeed international – phenomenon, KetoLoco is not your usual kettle of…ket.
Chris, Danny Raper, Marcus Sumpner, Hedley Gisbourne, Eddy Osborne,Tom Fisha,Sean Cookson, George Abbott and a character known only as Chief met each other while at Leeds University bonding over a love of minimal techno and club-related debauchery. The group went to Ibiza in 2006 for the length of the summer, falling in love with the island and its unbeatable clubs – with the infamous Circo Loco daytime parties at DC10 particularly capturing their imagination. “The original idea arose when me, Chris and all our mates were sat outside Kanya” Chris hazily recalls. “The conversation went something along the lines of: "Wouldn’t it be amazing if you had a DC10 in Leeds? We'll fookin’ make one at our house - terrace and everything! What shall we call it? Errr well what’s the number of the house? 15? That's it sorted then..... we'll call it DC15!"
How did Ketoloco first start and how did you get involved with back to Basics?
Our first proper party in September was an unofficial basics after party, our friend Chief knew a few guys from MYHOUSE, and told them what was going on! Dave Beer, Ralph Lawson and a load of other basics DJ's and regulars turned up for the day and absolutely loved it! I passed on a few mix Cd's from the KeToLoCo residents to Dave Beer and asked him to make sure he had a listen as I knew he would be impressed! As our reputation grew and the party’s reputation grew, we began to get offers from all over the place. We were LITERALLY in a meeting with the Northern light and Warehouse promotions manager Alice Chan to sign contracts for a gig in January, when Chris Halliday got a phone call from Dave Beer. He had got Chris' number of the Mix CD that I gave him, and asked us if we wanted to meet up with him as he loved what the KeToLoCo boys were up to! The meeting went really well, and we were offered a chance to host the middle room of basics on a trial basis. It went amazingly well, the room was packed all night, and we once again held the after party @ DC:15 to round off a perfect night and secure a monthly residency with BacktoBasics! We have now been offered MYHOUSE once a month to have KeToLoCo take over the whole venue after the success of the Grand Opening on Friday as well as hosting the middle room on the First Saturday!
Who is part of the team?
Chris (Halliday) is top dog, and run’s things up north, and then there’s myself (Danny Raper) who deals with the London side of things and helps over in Ibiza; and the rest of the team include Fisha, Cookie, Marcus, Hedley, Eddy and Olly who all help contribute to our parties as organisers and resident dj’s
Do you have any residencies we can catch you up?
BacktoBasics, leeds (monthly) – 3rd Saturday of month
Lube, Newcastle (monthly) – 4th Friday of month
KeToLoCo @ Scala, London (monthly) – 2nd Saturday of month
What type of music do you tend to play?
Minimal techno through to dirty electro & techno. We have 5 resident dj’s who each offer something different right across the techno spectrum….. be warned though, Fisha has quite a tendancy to blow up soundsystems!
Who would be your ideal headliners to play for Ketoloco?
Marco Corola, Josh Wink and that man Luciano……. Watch this space! ;-)
What do you think of the Uk scene at the moment and where do you think Ketaloco fit in to this?
Far too commercial and far too many people bombard people with spam as way of promotion. Long live the underground nights that rely on word of mouth to make their nights succeed….. we base our night around the ethos of acid house and it’s great when you meet others with the same beliefs.
Will you guys be out in Ibiza this year and what will you be up to?
Yes, we’ve got various dates lined up, some at the Zoo Project, some at Eden and a few villa parties and secret parties. We generally use our Facebook and Myspace pages as way of keeping everyone up-to-date with what’s going on with our parties….. roll on the summer!
Finally what can we expect from you at Bastardz at Work @ 54 this Saturday?
5 best mates getting massively on it behind the decks. It’s gunna be another crazy ketoloco party as per!
HERE IS A MIX FROM THE KETOLOCO CREW
megaupload.com
LIVE @ KeToLoCo 1st B'Day @ BacktoBasics, Leeds - Chris Halliday & Danny Raper b2b
AND COME AND CHECK THEM OUT AT BASTARDZ AT WORK THIS WEEKEND @ 54 SATURDAY NIGHT
