The Faces behind FACE

As FACE approaches it's 3rd Birthday this October, Pulse caught up with Scott and Elliot - the faces behind FACE, as it were. They told us about the journey they've been on in promoting their parties, having had the likes Maya Jane Coles, Jamie Jones and Claude VonStroke play at their events, their influence on the Birmingham scene and FACE's plans for the future. FACE and Dolce Vita happens this Sunday at the Rainbow Pub, and they also have their approaching party with Kerri Chandler this September (tickets and info for all face events)

The events originally started with the infamous Circle who's idea was that originally? Scott: Our friend and talented graphic designer chap, Jonny, came up with a number branding idea's when we were first organising the club night before it had began. One of the idea's featured a big filled in circle over the top of a persons head and we thought hmmm a lot can be done with that. This was also at a time when facebook was definitely beginning to attract every fucker on the planet. So I had the idea of pasting a blue spot over a carefully selected photo of pretty much every single friend we had. Then on one particular day we uploaded them all and tagged the same names back in on they're now - defaced errrr face. It went down a storm, plus people were actually upset if they had got missed out. Man it was a long winded process to be fair but certainly worth it for the attention it brought. We seemed to be the first people that had done this on facebook too, which was nice!

You have been doing successful weekly shows now for three years - what do you do to try and keep it fresh and exciting? Elliot: We always try to keep our fingers on the pulse with regards to new talent.. We constantly receive mixes from people & we will try to listen to all of these when possible, we do get some great ones & its nice to see the passion from new upcoming DJ's who are really just eager to get their first gig. Also, were frequently looking out for potentially the next big thing. I do myself read quite a few music blogs, so if we’re really feeling certain styles & tracks from artists we will try to book them asap. Were big fans of getting as many people involved in the party as possible - whether it be other likeminded brands or just getting fresh face's to our event. S: Consistently maintaining the numbers at a weekly show is a difficult task and you can never expect the same people to come every week so we try to vary the line ups and the crowd as much as possible. We never become complacent and we're always looking to reinvent FACE as much and as often as possible. Its good to be flexible with music and what you can offer to various crowds for a good night out.

There must be some obvious highlights amongst them? E: For me personally there has been to many to mention. But particularly our 1st Birthday was pretty special with Jamie Jones, purely on the fact that we had made it to our first big milestone, which now is such a hard thing to do with a weekly clubnight.. Other highlights have been hosting parties this year at both Snowbombing in Austria with Heidi & Soul Clap & also our pool party Hideout Festival in Croatia with Subb-an, Adam Shelton and Simon Baker together with myself Scott and our other resident Bunny. Our last NYE party with Maceo Plex, Tanzmann & Dyed Soundorom was amazing with us witnessing our first "sit down" at FACE [laughs]. S: Having Claude Vonstroke for the first time at FACE was a particular highlight for me. I knew he’d be very well received and I’ve never seen the Courtyard so rammed with so many beaming heads. Our Halloween events are always mint too. Everybody gets well involved.

I'd say on a personal level you and Below have been a real instigators in bringing back the limelight for the house music scene in Birmingham, would that be a fair comment? E: Thanks, I’d say Below have always been at the forefront of bringing really cool credible underground music to Birmingham long before FACE started & are still putting on amazing events after 7years. We have a close relationship with Below as Lee Mcdonald is also one of the heads behind the party together with being our partner in FACE.We're always trying to introduce new artists / producers to the city and i think we've succeeded in having alot of Birmingham debuts throughout the three years FACE has been running. Maya Jane Coles being one that stands out in my mind. She's huge now.

Your upcoming shows are with the likes of Kerri Chandler and of course there’s your 3rd birthday in October. These are two huge events. What can we expect from those? Elliot: Well hopefully 2 more highlights to our FACE memories! Kerri Chandler I think wil be great for us especially after his set at Circo Loco in the Arena back in April. Alot of people have commented that he played one of the best sets that day, so I think people in Birmingham will be looking forward to hearing him again but in a more initimate courtyard. Of course our 3rd birthday will be very special. We've tried to get DJ's who we know will absolutely smash it. Our crowd are really important to us & we know Tanzmann, Squillace, Joy O & Scuba are really making waves at the moment so we’re hoping the party will stick in peoples minds long after its finished!

The 3rd birthday especially must be an amazing feet, what was your thoughts on programming the huge line up? S: I know how important it is to mix things up across the venues rooms with the right sounds complimenting eachother. I am really well acquainted with the more alternative side to FACE and I’ve been wanting to book both Scuba & Joy O for quite a while now. I’m a big fan of their music especially of late and so to have them play in The Garden arena next to The Warehouse with Tanzmann & Squillace rocking that room on the same night is purely marvellous. I honestly cant wait and the response we’ve had for the event has been amazing.

Who are you personally looking forward to seeing the most? E: I really want to get around to see all of them throughout the night for as long as possible. But after hearing Tanzmann and Squillace at Circo Loco in Ibiza numerous times & also when they have played for us before at FACE it has always gone nuts. So particularly looking forward to their back to back set.

 
The brand has also managed to tour Europe with shows at Snowbombing and Hideout, those must have been amazing events to be involved in? Elliot:They were next level and we had loads of fun. This year was our second year with Snowbombing & it was probably my favourite one. We had alot of people fly over from Birmingham to support us so it was great to see some our regulars there having it right off! Hideout has got to be my favourite summer festival without a doubt. I went there knowing very little about the place as I’d never been to Croatia before but the whole thing was amazing. Our pool party on the Friday daytime was mental, such a great vibe again with a nice group of people from Birmingham in full support.. The whole event was planned so well & they really looked after us, the place is actually quite cheap & all the venues out there are mint, together with an awesome crowd & the blazing hot sunshine made the perfect festival for me! Loco Dice playing a sunrise set to around 4000 people on the beach also was something else! Scott: Its all about Hideout baby! Next year push that button. Croatia is where it’s at for the next few years.

Just a quick mention on your trio - BBC - what was your idea on joining forces when DJ-ing?: Well it was kind of organic. Scott, Bunny & myself (Bleepz, Bunny, Croft) play together quite alot so it just seemed the right thing to do to join forces and make it "official". Its fun playing together and I think its more entertaining when there’s more than just one guy playing on his toddles. We’re just working on our first joint mix at the moment and we’ll also be getting in the studio together soon also.

Finally where would you like to see FACE in the next 3 years? E: In this currently climate we'd like to see us still here weekly! But we will still keep pushing boundaries & always trying to keep things fresh. We have talked in depth about taking FACE to Ibiza and also touring UK and beyond. So maybe that could be on the horizon for us. But of course we will always make sure its done right and never neglecting our humble home in Brum.. S: I want to do something in a forest. I like forests.

Follow Face on facebook.

Face will celebrate it's 3rd Birthday with Matthias Tanzmann & Davide Squillace at Rainbow Pub on the 13th of October.

Listen to Scuba on Pulse Radio.