"The best things start off small": interview with Birmingham club night FACE

The eclectic night has, over the last three years established itself as a consistently good party - attracting a loyal crowd and a fine array of high profile guests.

This Saturday FACE turns three, and to celebrate they've invited Matthias Tanzmann and Davide Squillace along for a special b2b set. Joy Orbison and Scuba complete the awesome birthday line-up.

Organiser Scott Bleepz tells us more...

Can you introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about yourself and your team of residents?
I’m Scott (Bleepz) and he’s Elliot (Croft), and together we have created FACE along with fellow promoter Lee Mcdonald from ‘Below’ fame. Myself and Elliot along with Bunny are also resident DJs of FACE and we make up a DJ outfit called BBC (Bunny, Bleepz & Croft). We started this collective  only this year as we really enjoyed playing together at Snowbombing, warming up for Soul Clap back in April. We have slightly differing styles of what we play, but it works extremely well and it's loads of fun too. Playing b2b with friends is way more entertaining. We’re working on our first mix right now and we look forward to putting it out there as one of the main resident mixes for FACE 2012. Along with ourselves as residents we have Ernest, Neil Parkes, Serene, Paddy Lopaski & Smak Pony. All are doing well in their own right and certainly have some tasty productions on the go too.  

Tell us about your first event?
It obviously wasn’t that memorable, because I cant remember it?! Perhaps it was quiet and I was sat in a corner crying into my pint. What I do know is that the best things start off small with your friends and grow naturally without false hope and promise. We have seen FACE grow wonderfully over the past three years, and I wouldn’t prefer it any other way.

What made you want to run events - let alone one every week for the last three years?
I guess I regard myself as a pretty organised guy, and having played out at other promoters' events for a couple of years I eventually began to realise I’d like to run the shows myself. Usually it’s a monthly show for most promoters, but with FACE we dived straight into a weekly because our beloved Rainbow venue really needed something solid and consistent every week. People like that.

Did you think, when you threw that first event, that you would still be at it this far down the road?
After I wiped away the tears (maybe?) I saw a light at the end of the courtyard. It turns out it was just a flash light that Slobs had dropped when trying to find his hat in the darkness, but either way it gave me confidence that with the right promotional plan of action this club night could indeed grow patiently and brilliantly into whatever we wanted. We genuinely feel it's still well and truly in its youth.

With you running weekly events for this long you must be doing something right. What is your secret to success?
The right attitude and always (ALWAYS) looking after people - whether they be artists or more importantly your workers. It's taken at least two years to find the right people to work with, and it's still a huge, ongoing process. Love it though.

What has been your best - and worst - FACE event since you started?
I didn’t stop smiling the first time we had Barclay (Claude Von stroke) play for us last year. This is because all of my bestest buddies were out, plus I’d wanted to book him for a long time and I knew he’d enjoy it. I knew that one of his worst gigs ever had previously been in Birmingham, so it was nice to remove that bad taste from his mouth. Plus I’ve actually never seen The Rainbow Courtyard that busy before, and haven’t done since. It was a good'un, and the crowd's constant reactions to tune drops was amazing! As for worst, errmm I’d said it was one of the July dates in 2011. I think everybody was on a holiday or at festivals and the artists were literally playing to no one. It was a real shame but what can you do. We’ve all been there.

Your recent guests have been pretty impressive. What would you say is the main ethos of the brand?
To not pigeonhole ourselves as a brand. Myself, Lee and Elliot all have slightly different preferences on sound, and we know that by being diverse we are not only providing a nice varied selection of big names and events but also we’re keeping loyal to what we like ourselves. I’m really pleased that we can do this and that we can agree on so many things. We feel we choose our artists carefully and we certainly like catching waves (excuse the rubbish expression).

Why have you chosen to settle at The Rainbow?
It’s a boozer! Its not a club, it was never a club and it wasn’t made to be one. So it has so much character. Yes, it's falling apart here and there, but that’s all part of the charm - although we do have lots of fantastic improvements and changes coming our way in the near future. It has three rooms of around 150-300 capacity each. I couldn’t think of a better place to put on a party. Seeing Kerri Chandler play to a small crowd back in September was truly amazing.

Tell us a bit about your 3rd birthday bash line-up, and why you have chosen this array of artist to celebrate the landmark?
Well we had already booked Tanzmann and Squillace separately in the past, but of course seeing them play together over the summer of this year in various parts of the world has been really good, and we wanted to make it happen for the first time here in Birmingham at The Rainbow Warehouse. Also I’ve been wanting to book both Joy O and Scuba for a long time, and having them on the same night in The Rainbow Garden area is pretty much off the scale. We thought fuck it, let's splash out! Its our birthday and we will cry. Plus the crowd deserves it!

What do you have planned for FACE in the next year?
Besides some right blinders each week, we have another real biggy on Saturday 29th Dec. We were going to call it F**K NYE but then we realised The Rainbow's got a NYE party on two days later and thought they might frown. Which they did, would you believe. Now we’re already looking at next year's calendar. There’s something very interesting on the horizon but too soon to mention. Plus we’re looking to continue with our current festival relationships of course, and hope to connect with some new ones too. It's all good and it's all about being sound and getting involved with the things you love.
 

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