Dance Music Archive Turns One with Big Leeds Celebration
The Dance Music Archive, a rich online portal documenting 35 years of UK dance and club culture, has announced the first birthday of Dance Music Archive daytime warehouse parties on Saturday 5th April at Leeds’s independent concept space, Project House. Like its hugely popular radio show on Kisstory hosted by legendary broadcaster, Andi Durrant, DJs at the event are tasked with soundtracking a set from a designated era. This time it’s 1990-2005, with each DJ choosing a specific period of years, rewinding time to spin forgotten tracks, classic anthems, lesser-known remixes and bootlegs of their chosen era. Running from 5-11pm, there’s space to chill outside, sampling the delights of independent food traders, and dance from day to night in the warehouse to an authentic secret lineup, alongside a welcoming and diverse crowd. Dance Music Archive promises a carefully curated and cultural coming-together of musical minds. Tickets are now on sale from £25+bf from Dance Music Archive.
Dance Music Archive (DMA) was born during the pandemic when radio DJ and producer, Andi Durrant, began to put some order on the vast reserve of recordings and memorabilia he had stored in his attic. This materialised as Dancemusicarchive.com – a living, breathing chronicle of dance music’s evolution from the 1980s through to the 2010s, painstakingly ordered into a year-by-year account of DJ mixes, live sets, flyers, festival broadcasts, exclusive lost tapes, artwork, magazines and forgotten film and TV recordings.
Bringing important context to each decade by digging beyond the hype and the headlines, DMA has spawned a discerning following, those who appreciate the artistry behind the beats and want to journey deeper to discover forgotten moments and hear the lesser-known sounds that defined several key musical generations.
DMA has quickly become an influential radio show airing every Sunday at 7pm on Kisstory and every Saturday at 5pm on Kiss Dance. Each show digs deep into the scene’s DNA where Andi Durrant unearths the wonderful and sometimes forgotten tracks from the world of dance music, telling vital stories along the way.
A mainstay of the UK scene for over 25 years, Andi Durrant is a perfectly placed advocate. With former tastemaking shows on Galaxy and Capital FM, DJ sets all over the world and more than 130 releases, it’s no surprise Durrant has steered the DMA radio show into award-winning territories, scooping Best Entertainment Music Programme at the international New York Festival Awards.
Guests at the Dance Music Archive birthday bash are in for a treat. This isn’t a nostalgia trip, it’s a celebration of the scene and club culture and authentic in every way. Each set will unfold in chronological order to a community from all generations – some who were there the first time around, and plenty who are curious to get a well-informed taste of the halcyon days.
The focus at DMA is on the music, which is why the lineups are kept under wraps. Previous key players to have headlined DMA could be an indication of what’s to come, including Buckley, Alistair Whitehead, Slipmatt, Steve Mac, and Tony Walker.
Serving up top-notch scran on the day are Leeds favourite independents, Twisted Kitchen, serving all things Caribbean and mouth-watering patties from The Otley Burger Company.
Project House is a perfect space for this event: it is stripped back and raw with exposed steel girders, a timber ceiling which helps the powerful sound system feel warm and full of detail, while just the right amount of production adds a sensory edge.
Clubbers can make a night of it and stay at the landmark location of The Queens Hotel Leeds, situated right in the heart of the city centre, and use the discount code “DANCE” to get 30% off all rooms.
Musical storytelling is always right at the centre of what Dance Music Archive does. Previous events have seen fully engaged crowds with hardly a mobile phone in sight, and the unmissable first birthday event is set to raise the bar once again.
