Blog Takeover: 10 Years Of *riffraff

A decade ago in the industrial centre of Middlesbrough, a one off party was held to celebrate the pressing of native producer Lee Pennington's maiden release, Hermits Curve. The party was so well received and the demand so high for a repeat performance that a follow up bash was thrown, then another, and another and another (you get the picture) all still focusing on the ethos of the original launch; serious electronic music, with the fun left in and pretention removed. Ten years later, that party is still going strong, pushing the musical envelope, and being the hub around which the now strong house and techno community of Teesside is centred. It's called *riffraff and this Saturday we're having our own celebration of the party's legacy in Room Three. We wanted to do something to tell the story of this party from the north on the blog to really document their first amazing 10 years, so, talking us through a few pivotal moments from the *riffraff timeline are resident and founder Lee Pennington, and behind the scenes man Graeme Stewart. 10 Years of *riffraff To pick just a few moments ten years is tough, particularly when you have so many good after hours stories that would make numerous artists and industry heads blush, but here are a few important bits from our story... 2003 So, 'Hermets Curve' where it all started... Lee's not actually to keen on this record any more ironically, but its release was the reason for the first event, so it seems only fair it gets the first doth of the cap. The following few years of the party were a matter of trial and error, moving from venue to venue and applying a punk philosophy and guerilla promotion to get the word out and bring in other underground promotions and labels from around the UK to host the night. 2006/2007 The Audiojack party was so important to us as it was a turning point in the way we operated. Up until then we were only booking artists that we had a real personal connection with... maybe one of our residents had released with their label, or were friends etc. All that changed when Dan and Lee ended up back at the infamous Ketoloco party in Leeds (the original house, before the move to Bainbridge road) with Richard and James [Audiojack]. It was December time, they were due to headline BackToBasics on NYE, and we immediately booked them for our February event. They were our first 'proper' booking, the party was amazing, and it set the standard that all future events would be held to as well as starting our long standing relationship with Leftroom. 2007-2010 - The coach trip years! Before rising oil prices put the cost of petrol in the same angrily expensive bracket as buying as house, we regularly organised buses to follow *riffraff on the road. Over a couple of years we had regular room takeovers at places like BackToBasics in Leeds, Sankeys in Manchester, and both Shindig and Jaunt in Newcastle. It wasn't unusual for just short of 100 smoggies (the term of endearment for us Middlesbrough folk) to follow us up and down the motorways, often in their own self organised fancy dress. 87 pirates queuing to get into Basics was definitely a strange sight! These were so important as it really reinforced the family and community aspect of the scene, and ultimately made the party better as more and more people knew each other. 2007-2008 Not much needs to be said about Peace Division. Clive and Justin had been heroes of the whole crew and it was like a dream for them to be playing for us. They are super cool guys and made us feel that as a small party you really could go after any artist. If the party was strong enough – they would want to come and play. 2008-2010: The Pacific After Parties Before the 24 hour licensing came into play and gave more clubs more scope to stay open later (ironically it's currently getting very tight again up north), we used to have to turn off the amps and shut the doors at 2:00am. Exploiting the 'private party' law, we started throwing kick ons at the only place brave/stupid enough to let us. To say the place was a dive would be a compliment, but the grotty darkness of it was kind of appropriate. Guests and residents queuing to play back to back (often covered in boot polish), we'll leave specific tales out of it, but I'm sure everyone reading can relate. No one on Teesside had done this before, and it caused a bit of controversy. Police often tried to shut it down to no avail, we had ran around the club earlier in the evening, distributing invites, and as such it was all above board as a private event. As with a lot of afters, there were just as many moments from these as from the parties themselves, and weird friendships formed in shadowy corners are still some of our tightest. Just as the away days did, these early morning escapades brought everyone together and formed a tight knight group that has been part of the foundation of what we do for years now. 2008 After one of aforementioned trips to Leeds institution Basics, we began talking with the owners of The Zoo Project in Ibiza, and after working on an event together a month or so later, were asked to go out to the island that summer to help curate one of the arenas. The opportunity was grabbed with both hands and the gang did splits between the weekly Ibiza event and monthly gatherings back home. Such an impression was made that come the end of the summer, Lee and Gow were asked to become residents the following year and Graeme the general manager of the party. This was a huge learning curve for everyone involved and really helped us open up to new sounds, meet some amazing people, and put *riffraff out there to a much wider audience. Many of the friends we are looking forward to seeing in room 3 on Saturday will be people we met during this time. October 2013: The Tenth Birthday We don't have the figures for just how many were at the tenth birthday, and to be honest thats probably a good thing. To say it was a milestone is putting it lightly. We were super proud to have kept people dancing for such a long period of time, particularly to such an underground beat in an industry which can often be fickle and demand bums on seats rather than the quality of the party. dOP treated a packed, low ceilinged basement to a live show like non Middlesbrough has ever seen. New kid on the block Pedestrian provided some upfront energetic beats, and old friends X-Press 2 and Rui Da Silva brought a streak of nostalgia to a party that will be remembered in TS1 for a long time to come. Our current residents Kristoffer, Milhouse, and Philip Stirzaker were on tip top form both musically and in helping Graeme babysit our French trio (which was as big a task as any that night). To many all this may not seem such an accomplishment, but ten years is a long time and Middlesbrough is a small town. It doesn't have the large numbers of people, venues, or understanding councils that most cities have. So a big thanks to every artist who came and played, every person who get their hands dirty and helped with poster runs, airport pickups, soundchecks, and a million and one other jobs, but most of all a huge heartfelt thanks to all of you that came and danced, made friends, and above all had a party. We couldn't be where we are without each and every one of them, we thank them for their support and contribution over the years. We'll see you in room 3 this Saturday for more of the same. The *riffraff crew.