Catching Up With Lasermagnetic (+Lasermagnetic X fabric Promo Mix)

Disco is an underground tone that has held its place firm across the globe; and in London, Lasermagnetic are a core of promoters and DJ’s at the centre of this phenomenon. They’re getting ready to come back and takeover Room Three this Saturday and when this crew of likeminded party selectors say takeover they mean takeover, often with eccentric decor, out there getups and extended running times. Following on from their Halloween mix from last year they’re back with a summer selection of vintage disco rarities, full of the soulful magic funk that they’re so good at channeling. DOWNLOAD: Lasermagnetic X fabric Promo Mix Last October we spoke to you in depth about all things Lasermagnetic, running up to a your October takeover here, how was the party? Both: It was up there with the best of our parties at fabric we had the Stallions guesting (Lee Douglas & Andrew Lovefingers). The night was really special and being Halloween all types of capers taking place, we remember the booth being suitably decorated, random and primitive, dancing and howling. Musically speaking we embraced the LM spirit of bringing the party to Room 3 ensuring that drama disco and good times were had by all! The last hour all four DJs were playing back to back and fabric let us play for an extra hour. It was good to see so many familiar faces and we partied on in Room 1, which was hosting the Perlon showcase. The music was brilliant. Deep and melodic - everyone was locked in and grooving away! The whole venue had something special in the air (one of our favourite nights ever), everyone was so up for a good party. What’ve you been up to since then, anything new to report? Neil Thornton: We both have been active with loads of good parties. Johnny has been pushing the disco and I have been working on my Discovery project which has been great fun at the Horse & Groom in Shoreditch where we have had some great guests including Tornado Wallace, Robert James, James Fox, Disco Deviance and it's really been fun working with up and coming crews like Death on the Balcony and Hang the DJ. We have a very special show coming up on the 9th of Septemeber which is going to surprise a lot of people. Johnny Hiller: We had the Rahaan Edits CD launch party which went really well, also had Bobby Viteritti come and play all the way from NYC, he’s been DJing since 1973 Moxie Edits, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Nick The Record, Ray Mang, Jonny Rock and Zernell from L.A. all came down and got involved too. I’ve also curated a pop-up Cinema project, dedicated to premiering music documentaries in the UK which felt really refreshing and invigorating, with artists joining us from as far as Jamaica, Chicago, NYC, Prague and beyond. We put film, video artists, DJ's, fine artists and different crowds together within a film festival and warehouse space context and let everyone 'do their thing'. It's good to try step outside your comfort zone and to push things into a different direction from time to time. You'll come out of it feeling inspired, get to meet great people it’s soul food to keep you going... Any new record finds you’re particularly proud of? Neil:Malibu- Born to Dance - French electronic disco from 1980 Hamlet Minassian - Armenian Pop Music - Eastern Disco at its very best Shelia Chandra - The Struggle- from Enfield, it was all over places in 1985 but sounds like a long lost Baldelli classic Johnny:Found an unopened Bob Chance LP - It's Broken - primitive & tropical sounding electronics from 1980 for $5, cheap and cheerful, haha I’ve also been enjoying the pre-disco sounds from 73-75 and 'sleaze/morning music' lately...these are not rare records, just timeless feel good songs... The Fantastic Johnny C - Waitin' for the Rain Eddie Drennon – Would You Dance To My Music Bob-A -Rella - Stop There’s been a few mentions of some extravagant costume wearing at Lasermagnetic do’s, what’s your key fancy dress look for the coming summer season? Neil: Ha Ha I was waiting for that little chestnut! There has been a few I can recall, from the African Prince, Apres Ski, Hot Tub Glamour and certain performances while playing at a birthday afters in a Shoreditch pub which I think a certain fabric programmer might recall... well it's high summer so I think a little French Riveria high gloss attire might work well. Johnny: I'm looking forward to it Neil! A birdy tells us you’re behind the Paradise Garage Tour coming this July and to our disco on the 30th. How did that come about? Johnny: Well I've been keeping in touch with the 1st Generation DJs in the US they’ve always got great history, knowledge, hilarious stories to share and so on. So through those connections I was introduced to Lenny Fontana, who is currently working on a Paradise Garage documentary with Eddie Gordon (UK radio personality, brains behind The Essential Mix & former West End Records Manager) for BBC Radio 1 & 6. So we have a reel to reel tape recording from the 2nd anniversary at the Garage from 79 - that's 32 years ago, with Larry mixing it up and live performances by Loleatta Holloway, Dan Hartman & Sylvester described as Radio Gold Dust by BBC Executives. It all started from there and over the last 6months or so the chaps have interviewed everyone from Yoko Ono, DJ Harvey, John Morales, Tom Moulton, Frankie Knuckles, Victor Rosado, Justin Berkmann, Peech Boys etc. In total this has been cut down to 5hrs, which will be broadcast between the 18th-23rd July. The UK and Europe has never really had the opportunity to host a proper Paradise Garage related event since Larry Levan passed away in 92, so on the back of the radio broadcast we have created a little EU tour that will see original PG DJ Victor Rosado and close friend of Larry's perform at fabric on the 30th together with Lenny Fontana. You can expect a real PG play list, from Disco classics, private edits to early 80s house all mixed up in good fashion! What do you have planned for the tour? We have dates in Berlin, Dublin & Oslo confirmed. Later in autumn there will be gigs in Portugal, France and so on, so far feedback has been really good. I reckon defiantly another legendary night at Fabric in the making, add to that Villalobos in Room 1 and the On and On thing at the end of July...DJ Alex from the Voices Collective here in London will be on the warm-up duties and we'll have proper Bozak mixers, EQ's and crossovers installed, plus some Keith Haring-esque artwork to go with it...The idea is to recreate the spirit of the Garage for one night in the respective locations, it will be nice for the younger generations to sample a piece of music history, but having said so a lot of this music still sounds fresh and many producers seem to be embracing the sounds disco & house again..One thing is for sure: You can't take away the programming skills and little tricks these guys have gained working at night clubs over several decades. You’ve put together a new promo mix for us can you tell us about the inspiration behind the mix? Both: Sure! Well you asked us to do a summery mix, so we have kept the tempo around 107-115 BPM to start off with. The mix starts with some Krautrock, via some edits, then moves into housier territory, via Berlin, Norway and Detroit. The middle part get's a bit 'druggier' and we end up with some old school house & disco heat. The inspiration really is Fabric Room 3 where we mix it all up, we start on the more slow motion tip then get into party mode and the last bit is always turns into bit of a 'freestyle' session with our guest and once our favorite drink Patron Coffee Liquor starts working. We have Rahaan joining us from Chicago (it's his first time at fabric) this coming Saturday, he's a real dope DJ and the last 2 tracks of the mix feature 2 of his unreleased edits. And he can drink you under the table! We've also got a bit of a bonus for you in this interview with our headliner Rahaan which you can listen to here.