Relic is a new event which arrives at Wire for the first time next Wednesday.
Jane Fitz has been booked for the occasion, with over 20 years experience behind the decks and known for an eclectic and expansive record collection including everything from acid and airy house to psychedelic dystopian techno. Support will come from local Leeds-based selectors Alex T and Tom Drew.
We spoke to Charlie Dodd, one half of the pair behind the event, to learn more about Relic.
What’s the ethos of Relic and how will it be different from the other nights in Leeds at the moment? What do you strive for musically?
We plan to continuously evolve, pushing boundaries with artists, aesthetics, and locations. Our creative outlets remain unconfined to exclusive genres – we feel the most inspiring and entertaining arrangements are born out of eclectic sets and a diverse experimentation in style.
You say you want to provide a ‘party for the people’. Can you expand on what you mean by that?
We aim to create a close-knit community that will foster the production of new ideas and outcomes for the event, as well as the record label that will proceed it. We don’t want to just bring in big acts, we want to provide a showcase for local talent and experiment with diverse selections.
Is Wire going to be the event’s permanent home, or do you have your eye on any other venues? How important is the space used when putting on a night like this?
Wire is a fantastic venue and ideal for our launch but at the moment we don’t have a permanent home. We can’t release much details yet but we have plans to use other clubs and use some interesting alternative spaces. The space is key for any night, as it makes for: atmosphere, the sound and artists you book. The music of the night can easily be ruined by a poor space.
Jane Fitz is a big name for an event’s debut. What’s your experience of curating events before this?
Elliott has had experience in running his own event Rhythm Control, which focused on pushing local talent that didn’t get enough exposure. Then I have worked with Alter which has been pushing Techno in Leeds for two years, with a range of names from; Mathew Jonson, Answer Code Request, Function and Marcel Fengler to name a few.
What can we expect from the record label you mention will proceed the event?
It’s all under wraps at the minute as we want to ensure everything is right before we launch anything. We thought of the idea so we can push all the local producers that don’t get enough exposure in the community. We also thought it would be a good idea to add a physical entity to the night so some of the music that gets played people could take back home with them.
Why is Leeds so great for promoters putting on brand new nights?
Leeds is a big city with a lot of potential, there are loads of nights and venues to choose from. With Leeds predominantly being students there is a huge market for electronic music. More importantly there isn’t as much of a monopoly on nightlife in Leeds like there is in Manchester, so there is lots of small interesting nights trying out new concepts and bringing something different to the table.
Julia Connor