Promised is one of the finest house nights in London, and this Saturday it is touching down at Hidden in Vauxhall for a massive 3-room party featuring the best of the scene's DJ talent. Find out more here with promoter Shuey Aurora.

Hi Shuey! Could you tell us a bit about your background in promoting and dance music please?

Hi! I have been a dedicated clubber for ages….loving the whole scene and culture. I remember long lost days gone by in the dark depths of Turnmills, loving trance music originally…..going to see names such as Tall Paul and Judge Jules. Then I was introduced to funky house by a friend of mine. The ethos was much more about having fun, letting yourself go and partying like crazy ….almost like a house party in a club and I was mesmerised!

Soon enough I though to myself I d love to be able to do that so I bought a pair of 4th hand belt driven decks and taught myself how to DJ as I didn’t really know any DJs at the time! After hours and hours of dedicated practise and perseverance on probably the world’s worst decks I managed to hold a mix in time for 10 seconds or so…..I was hooked! Mini-discs and CDs were churned out aplenty and by strong encouragement from my friends I sent off a CD to a few west end bars. Within 2 days I was called back to become resident there. Six months on and I started handing out CDs to clubs and got my first big gig at Turnmills for SmartiePartie. Within months after that I was playing at the Cross, Pacha and EGG.

When did you put on your first party and what was it like?

As time grew by I managed to get to know the regulars when DJing at other parties and made a good contact list of clubbers. I thought what better to do than set up my own party just for friends etc. We based it in a small bar called Woody’s in West London. I was very nervous and wanted everyone to be there to enjoy themselves as I knew musically the DJs we had playing would have smashed it. I was very nervous when no-one turned up for the first hour or so. I was having reservations as to name the night as it was a party rather than a clubnight. Soon enough though, friends and friends of friends came in the droves and the room was rammed. The buzz from seeing everyone enjoying themselves to my idea was something special. This turned out to be a bigger success than I ever thought and Promised was born!

You also DJ yourself – what styles do you play and who have been your big influences?

I play a range of different styles. The problem with house music is that there are so many different variations on the original 4/4 riff. Some have the idea that what is ‘cool’ yesterday is ‘dated’ today etc. In essence to me, its all ‘house’ music that I love playing. Ask me the same question about a year and a half ago and I would have said uplifting funky house like in the middle arch of the Cross with influences being Sir Norman Jay and Fat Tony.

Ask me today and the answer is that much more complex as I hear more music. I think the wave of dirty electronic music that is currently vogue with nights like NastyDirtySexMusic is amazing. Currently, the East German minimal electro and tech-house is something which I am really really loving, with quality house music from producers such as Steve Bug and Luciano. Deep down, music will only be as good as the producers who make the tunes and the producers will only be as good as the riffs and samples they have access to.

I have also just finished my debut production attempt with a friend of mine, Rob Mermand. It’s a dirty electro house tune with a VERY fat bassline and catchy riff and absolute monster of a breakdown and re-build. Initial play outs in clubs has been very positive and a number of labels have already expressed an interest in signing it. Expect it to be played out at Promised on Saturday

This Saturday sees Promised touching down at Hidden in Vauxhall. Why have you chosen this venue for your event?

I always go with what I feel inside is right. Hidden is one of London’s best venues with a superb soundsystem, beautiful décor and friendly owners. We feel that it complements the whole idea of Promised in this respect. Pacha was great and will always be dear to us but we feel that Hidden is a more underground venue, perfect for the electronic vibe that we are trying to push.

Tell us about some of the exciting DJs you’ve got playing…

On the electro side of things we have Chris Solby who is a Promised resident. We don’t have that many residents as we like to give everyone a chance to play and there is so much talent out there. With Chris, his truly inspiration sets at Promised have made him rock Pacha’s main room over the last 6 months. This, combined with his attitude to the scene has enabled him to remain resident. Apart from that we have Carl Johnstone, who’s recent mix CD had us jumpin’…..superb stuff and expect to hear more of this boy. Also Jnr-J who is superb too.

On the funkier side of things we have the Audiostylists, who have recently rocked Pacha for Glitterati and deliver a truly inspirational house set. Ben Gee who always delivers the goods, being resident for Pushca. Lava Lounge are also playing….their sound is so cool as it’s a combination of funky and electro house which works so well together. Rob Mermand from Lava Lounge is my partner in crime in my debut production, with his skills behind the decks being just as excellent as his studio skills.

The third room is hosted by our new friends Dirty Angels of Funk vs Hedfunk. They do a night in Shoreditch and if their other parties are anything to go by these guys will leave everyone begging for more as they unleash their trademark style onto the Hidden soundsystem.

I strongly believe that gone are the days of arrogant DJs who expect the world. Promised is about friendship and team ethos and positive attitude towards our nights amongst our DJs and staff. It is a pre-requisite for all DJs to be amazing behind the decks as they wouldn’t get booked otherwise.

It’s good to see you’ve got 3 different rooms of music – what different styles can we expect to hear?

We like to add diversity to Promised and aim to keep each room unique with its style and influence. We shall be having some of the best cutting edge house music around, with the Red room serving up minimal and dirty electronic house music. The middle room will be where the party is at and will cater for the funksters with quality uplifting funky house. Room 3 will provide jackin’ soulful beats.

What are the crowd at your events like?

We pride ourselves on some of the friendliest clubbers around. We are a great night with several of our clubbers going to other club nights such as Secretsundaze, NDSM, Space, Serious and Hed Kandi. We want to retain this and show people that the endless quotes we get of praise really do reflect what Promised is about.

Looks like you’ve got some cool extras at the event too…what are they and what was the thinking behind them?

Well, we like to give as much as we can to our regulars. Therefore we have the return of laughing gas man who proved to be very popular last year. Also the Massage Moi girls will be on hand to dish out what they do best. In the future we have some amazing ideas including a diary room up our sleeves….this will be the first in clubland this has ever been done and we are very excited. We are always interested in clubbers’ ideas as after all we are nothing without the clubbers!