As Ruffneck once said: “Everybody wants to Be Somebody” and with this in mind Promoters Corner catches up with Ian Rudgeley ahead of Be Somebody’s sixth birthday at London’s Pacha on Saturday 13th February.
Hi Ian, lets start with the basics mate how old are you?
Do I have to answer that … I’m 26.
OK, so what’s your smash hits age?
21
So when did you start promoting?
When I was 20 at Pacific Edge Romford. I had no knowledge of the clubbing industry but just needed to make some cash quick as I was a poor university student.
For our first party we did no flyers, no promotion. We literally text everyone on our phone and dropped it into every single conversation when we was out and about. On the day of the party the manager Brad Milo was going to cancel the event because we had no flyers. So we rang one of our student friends who was doing a design course. He knocked us up six single sided flyers on the cheapest card you could buy and we slid six flyers under the clubs door at 5pm that evening. The party went ahead we smashed it and Be Somebody was born from there.
I’ve now promoted at all the top clubs in Essex, including Opium Lounge, Warehouse, RS Lounge and Storm at which we are still residents. Now is the time to bring our brand to a bigger stage in London.
You’ve got your sixth birthday coming up at Pacha on Saturday 13 February who’s headlining?
Kurd Maverick
How’s it looking?
Good mate advance tickets are flying. Really excited about this party.
What’s the music policy at Be Somebody?
When we started it was on a commercial, classic tip but now its a more uplifting vocal house sound.
What’s your favourite track at the moment?
Well I can’t look any further than the Warehouse residents Hugh Gunnel and Paul Gardner (Soul Avengerz). “Come Get My Lovin’” is currently Number One on the Beatport chart. Warehouse is going to have a big year with the like of Be Somebody, Deluded and Kinky Malinki hosting parties there.
So you have been in the game for five years now, what has made your nights stand out from the crowd?
Musically we have worked with some wicked DJs like Abigail Bailey, Seamus Haji, Howard Donald, Gordon Edge, Soul Avengerz, Kid Massive, to name a few. But really it all boils down to the people. They create the atmosphere. They make the party. They have got us where we are today.
How do you see the London club scene at the moment?
Very competitive. There are more promoters now than ever. Everyone seems to be selling tickets or doing a guest list for something or other. Even some of my mates have started up their own nights recently but its not as easy as it looks.
Clubs seem to concentrate on their PR and on getting people into the club but the production values seem to be forgotten. We like to get people through the door and then make sure they have the best night of their life.
Do you worry about the competition?
Sometimes. There will always be something else on so you’ve just got to get on with it. We’ve always concentrated on what we’re doing and focus on our promotion which has always served us well. The older and wiser you get the harder this attitude is to adopt.
I suppose you need a good team with the amount of competition and the amount of successful nights you have been putting on.
We have always tried to build a good team from the beginning. Originally there were two other partners in the business. Dave Hiles and I built the business as I said earlier without having any idea what we were doing to where we are now.
It’s been a long journey and we have had loads of fun along the way. Most can’t be repeated in public. Mark James was the other partner is still one of my resident DJs. I also now have Clair Trebes formerly with Tillate running our tour nights at venues like Storm in Southend and young and very talented DJ Adam Asenjo leading the way with his upfront sound. If the end of 2009 was anything to go by we are formulating an excellent little team.
Where do you see the scene going?
Musically tech house was massive last year and nights like Fuse have taken off. Personally I’d like to see a bit of glamour and style comes back into the house scene this year.
How do you market your events?
We’ve built up a massive data base over the years. We’ve begged, borrowed and even stolen names so we now have a massive data base that we can email and text. We use social networking sites and for bigger events we’ll employ a PR agency to focus on the lifestyle magazines.
If you could book any DJ in the world who would you book?
Good question. I’ve not had that kind of budget so not given it any thought but I’ve always been a big fan of Eric Morillo. I’d also like to book a DJ from left field that no one would expect to see, I’d also like a few twists turns and surprises in that set.
What plans do you have for Be Somebody?
Pacha is about as famous as a club can be, so we’re hoping our first party there on February 13 is the start of something great. I’m hoping to start up our Ibiza road trip we started a few years back. It proved really popular with our crowd, we hosted rooms for We Love Sundays at Space and the terrace for Defected at Pacha.
2010 is a big year for us, we just want to keep throwing great parties at the best venues.
Be Somebody January 2010
As Ruffneck once said: “Everybody wants to Be Somebody” and with this in mind Promoters Corner catches up with Ian Rudgeley ahead of Be Somebody’s sixth birthday at London’s Pacha on Saturday 13th February.
Hi Ian, lets start with the basics mate how old are you?
Do I have to answer that … I’m 26.
OK, so what’s your smash hits age?
21
So when did you start promoting?
When I was 20 at Pacific Edge Romford. I had no knowledge of the clubbing industry but just needed to make some cash quick as I was a poor university student.
For our first party we did no flyers, no promotion. We literally text everyone on our phone and dropped it into every single conversation when we was out and about. On the day of the party the manager Brad Milo was going to cancel the event because we had no flyers. So we rang one of our student friends who was doing a design course. He knocked us up six single sided flyers on the cheapest card you could buy and we slid six flyers under the clubs door at 5pm that evening. The party went ahead we smashed it and Be Somebody was born from there.
I’ve now promoted at all the top clubs in Essex, including Opium Lounge, Warehouse, RS Lounge and Storm at which we are still residents. Now is the time to bring our brand to a bigger stage in London.
You’ve got your sixth birthday coming up at Pacha on Saturday 13 February who’s headlining?
Kurd Maverick
How’s it looking?
Good mate advance tickets are flying. Really excited about this party.
What’s the music policy at Be Somebody?
When we started it was on a commercial, classic tip but now its a more uplifting vocal house sound.
What’s your favourite track at the moment?
Well I can’t look any further than the Warehouse residents Hugh Gunnel and Paul Gardner (Soul Avengerz). “Come Get My Lovin’” is currently Number One on the Beatport chart. Warehouse is going to have a big year with the like of Be Somebody, Deluded and Kinky Malinki hosting parties there.
So you have been in the game for five years now, what has made your nights stand out from the crowd?
Musically we have worked with some wicked DJs like Abigail Bailey, Seamus Haji, Howard Donald, Gordon Edge, Soul Avengerz, Kid Massive, to name a few. But really it all boils down to the people. They create the atmosphere. They make the party. They have got us where we are today.
How do you see the London club scene at the moment?
Very competitive. There are more promoters now than ever. Everyone seems to be selling tickets or doing a guest list for something or other. Even some of my mates have started up their own nights recently but its not as easy as it looks.
Clubs seem to concentrate on their PR and on getting people into the club but the production values seem to be forgotten. We like to get people through the door and then make sure they have the best night of their life.
Do you worry about the competition?
Sometimes. There will always be something else on so you’ve just got to get on with it. We’ve always concentrated on what we’re doing and focus on our promotion which has always served us well. The older and wiser you get the harder this attitude is to adopt.
I suppose you need a good team with the amount of competition and the amount of successful nights you have been putting on.
We have always tried to build a good team from the beginning. Originally there were two other partners in the business. Dave Hiles and I built the business as I said earlier without having any idea what we were doing to where we are now.
It’s been a long journey and we have had loads of fun along the way. Most can’t be repeated in public. Mark James was the other partner is still one of my resident DJs. I also now have Clair Trebes formerly with Tillate running our tour nights at venues like Storm in Southend and young and very talented DJ Adam Asenjo leading the way with his upfront sound. If the end of 2009 was anything to go by we are formulating an excellent little team.
Where do you see the scene going?
Musically tech house was massive last year and nights like Fuse have taken off. Personally I’d like to see a bit of glamour and style comes back into the house scene this year.
How do you market your events?
We’ve built up a massive data base over the years. We’ve begged, borrowed and even stolen names so we now have a massive data base that we can email and text. We use social networking sites and for bigger events we’ll employ a PR agency to focus on the lifestyle magazines.
If you could book any DJ in the world who would you book?
Good question. I’ve not had that kind of budget so not given it any thought but I’ve always been a big fan of Eric Morillo. I’d also like to book a DJ from left field that no one would expect to see, I’d also like a few twists turns and surprises in that set.
What plans do you have for Be Somebody?
Pacha is about as famous as a club can be, so we’re hoping our first party there on February 13 is the start of something great. I’m hoping to start up our Ibiza road trip we started a few years back. It proved really popular with our crowd, we hosted rooms for We Love Sundays at Space and the terrace for Defected at Pacha.
2010 is a big year for us, we just want to keep throwing great parties at the best venues.