Like footballers, the shelf life for promoters is notoriously short. One bad decision or dud gig can shut down shop immediately. That being said, the lads at Big Dish Go have been plugging away for four years and have consistently thrown outstanding parties. Their list of past guests makes for impressive reading: Andrew Weatherall, Octave One, Surgeon, Luke Vibert, and Technasia to name a few. While International guests get numbers in the door, Big Dish Go have always recognised the importance of supporting local talent, and regularly enlist the services of Dublin’s up and comers. Fresh from announcing an Ivan Smagghe residency at The Underground, Robbie and Conor answered our questions about Smagghe, promoting, and their plans for the future.
Ivan Smagghe has already played for Big Dish Go twice and now he’s starting a quarterly residency. Why is he such a special act in your mind?
The residency was Ivan’s idea, he adores the club, crowd and atmosphere so much. He says he much prefers to play and hear great music in a tiny underground club then get bored with the obvious trends in a super club. That’s not to say we didn’t jump at the chance to get Ivan on board, it was a dream come true really. Smagghe is a hero and a prime example of the type of quality eclecticness we base our music policy on. Its very easy to be inspired by his skills behind the decks, mixing up house, techno, disco, rock and just about everything else.
Your music policy seems to be an open door. One week Technasia, the next Crazy P Sound System. What’s your selection process?
We both have very eclectic tastes when it comes to electronic music and music in general; our music policy is a reflection of that. When Big Dish Go began there were loads of club nights all driven by their own specialist genre/sound. Why not have a club night where the sound is constantly changing all the time? People love all genres of music but sometimes they don’t get a chance to realise it, they are never going to develop their tastes going to hear the same stuff all the time and no doubt they will end up a little bored. It took a while but there is now a regular crowd with a real enthusiasm in the Big Dish Go music policy, coming down knowing they are going to hear something fairly different to the last gig and trust that it will be still as good to dance to. We hope if somebody was to look back through our bookings over the space of a year that they would see little pieces across a wide spectrum of what is currently good in electronic music and also a few acts that created the spectrum in the first place. Also, what is going to make people dance and enjoy themselves? We try to never loose sight of that question, so it is always a big part of our selection process.
You guys brought Luke Vibert over for the DEAF festival last year, and in my opinion it was one of the gigs of the year. Can you single out one moment that best represented what you guys have been trying to do over the last 5 years?
Vibert at DEAF 2008 was certainly a favourite musically, he will hopefully be a regular guest for Big Dish Go for a long, another hero! The atmosphere for the Surgeon at DEAF 2009 was immense; the place was going wild that night. The 3rd birthday weekend, Marc Houle then Ivan Smagghe and Andrew Weatherall back to back in the space of two nights was something we were proud of and we put a lot of work into making it happen. Then again the Untold and Jazzsteppa live gig in January was for Dublin a truly unique show that represented us just as much as any of the other gigs we have mentioned there. It’s very hard to single out one.
You’ve thrown a few parties in the Button Factory, but Kennedy’s is definitely your headquarters. From a promoter’s standpoint how do these small and large gigs differ? Do you have a preference?
We have no preference, different gigs suit different venues. Some guests are not so easy to convince to play in the small venue. The bigger capacity allows us to budget for bigger line-ups, there our aim is to try and bring double or triple the line up for the same ticket price. Also its great fun for us programming double and triple headers, it allows us tinker with the flow of the night and allow people experience an act that they might not have come see if the act was playing on their own. Plus its nice to have a change of scenery now and then but The Underground @ Kennedys is definitely our home.
You both got into promotion through Djing, whose tunes are floating your boat at the minute?
Robbie – Hmm, there is always so much! Clark never leaves my record bag. Just about anything on Rob Booth’s “Electronic Explorations” podcasts. For something different I am digging Gilles Peterson’s “Worldwide” selections.
Conor – I am quite seasonal when it comes to my music listening, I really get stuck in into 1 or 2 sounds for a few months, then move on to something else. At the moment in my headphones I got a lot of new electronica and old soul & reggae. The latest albums by Fourtet and Lusine are amazing, as is Weatheralls. Really love Gil Scott Heron’s new one too. DJ’s / Producers that are doing it for me right now : Seth Troxler, Jamie Jones, Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts, Robag Wruhme, Chymera and Dinky.
Future Plans?
Keep the gigs/vibes flowing, quality not quantity. Vibert, Seth Troxler, Smagghe and friends. Watch out for Big Dish Go Djs at the festivals this summer. Try and take over the world!!
Words: Paddy O’Mahoney
