FHP3 - The Relaunch DJs & Set Times Announcement

Hopefully you are aware of the relaunch of Free House Project this Saturday 2nd February, and even better if you are planning on attending - we have DJs.

Firstly we welcome back KingPinn who played a sublime set back in September for Free House Project, a mixture of underground house, disco, soulful house and more.

Also for the first time (well except the keen-eyed amongst you would have noticed that he played a short set towards the end of the September night) we welcome Edd Rimmer who is known for playing house/deep house of the funkier variety.

And of course, your curator and creator extraordinaire, James Winfield.

Set times as follows:

8:30pm - 9pm - James Winfield
9pm - 10pm - Edd Rimmer
10pm - 11:30pm - KingPinn
11:30pm - 0:30am - James Winfield
0:30am - 1am - Who knows?!

As always, we promise the very best in house music.  And a lot of fun.

Free House Project Part 2 - Self-Review!

Last week I was asking myself, “why am I doing this?”.  Bearing in mind that I was organising a party to happen a week before I was moving house, so I was really questioning why I was organising and promoting a party too, concerned that nobody would turn up and that all my efforts (and those of others too whom I will thank later) would be in vain.

Well, those questions were well and truly answered by the smiles on people’s faces, the dancers, the randoms that so enthusiastically thanked me and most importantly the amazing friends that turned up and really enjoyed themselves.

Not to mention the fact that I had a brilliant time too.

I had been thinking since the first party in June as to which DJs to book.  There are a good amount of really good local DJs, all with slightly differing styles and with 8 hours to play with, I wanted a variety of house music that I would enjoy, and hence given my unbeatable taste should equally entertain my guests (well I like my taste in music anyway).  When myself and Samantha met to discuss a while back, there was no debate.

First up on Saturday at the leisurely hour of 4pm was the co-curator of Free House Project, Samantha Bond.  The first set is probably the most difficult in any night, but she has tons of experience and played a beautiful set of melodic house and deep house, good afternoon vibes to kick us off.

I do get asked why we start so early at 4pm given that most people don’t go out until the evening.  Firstly, if we started at 8pm then nobody would arrive until 10pm!  Secondly the bar is only open until midnight and 8 hours gives us more options with regards to music and DJs and allows for more of a “journey”.  And finally, nobody partied during the day in London years ago, so dearest darling disco dancers you just need to learn to change your habits ;-)

Next up was KingPinn, who truly excelled and exceeded my already high expectations.  A DJ with such a wealth of knowledge about house music playing a variety of styles from soulful to disco to more techy underground house.  I loved it as did everyone else who was there.

Then I played.  Well, erm, I spent about 2 hours beforehand trying to work out what to play as my first track and decided about 3 minutes before, I messed up many of my mixes at first and was a bit all over the place, but eventually I got into my groove.  I played mostly at 121bpm which is a speed I love at the moment, played lots of deep basslines, going a little dark and seedy at times, and I had a lot of compliments about my music, enough to surprise me.

Then came Sebastian Klone, who played some fantastic underground music, took over from me with more of a house sound than I was previously used to from him though I had a feeling this would be the case, he then played some more techy stuff and deeper stuff, another brilliant set.

Then I played a few more, and also thanks to Edd for spinning a few tunes in the last hour too (sorry I played Party Non Stop which you told me you were going to as I had cued it up…I didn’t know and someone had asked me for it so blame the young lady who asked me!).

Yes, I had two requests – one I played as above, and one that I hadn’t heard of but I was honoured to have received my first ever DJ request note, so thanks for that if you are reading, I was touched!  It's quite a nice track too though I don't know how I would fit it in to my DJ set...never say never though.

 I was absolutely delighted with all the DJs, even with myself in the end all things taken into account and hopefully you will be seeing them all back again for future parties.

Yes, there will be future parties without a doubt. Still subject to confirmation but there should be one more this year and maybe even monthly next year, once we are in the swing of things J

A big thanks most importantly to those who turned up, had a good time and the dancers – you made my night and I trust you all had a good time too.

Apologies for the lack of dance floor space, several people asked me about it - I did want to move the furniture but it isn’t my venue!  And yes I know it gets rather warm in there when it is sunny and warm outside, but trust me, it is warmer Djing or behind the bar.  All I can say is – wear less clothes.

Anyway, enough rambling, another huge thank you to those who came, those who DJ’d and those who loved it, and those who wished us well.

Please spread the word as the house music revolution of Reading has only just begun, but it needs you as much as us or the DJs.

Much love

James, FHP xxx

Don't forget to like us on Facebook to keep up to date with what is happening.
There are mixes from Samantha and a previous guest, Tim, on our Mixcloud page.
My mixes are on here, Samantha's are here, Sebastian Klone can be heard on Hoxton FM every Wednesday 8-10pm, and you can listen to some of his productions here, and finally Edd who played a few tracks in the last hour also appears as a guest DJ on Passion FM every other Thursday for Keshava Chandratheva's show.

We will be back.

Interview With KingPinn

With just 10 days to go, it is about time to introduce you (or for some of the more regular Reading party-goers, re-introduce you) to KingPinn, who is playing 530-730pm on Saturday 1st September.

So, what music are we likely to hear you play? 
Good House music spanning the genres, much depends on what the weather is doing, who is there etc. Feeling quite a bit of the deep house that's about at the mo, no doubt there will be some soulful beats, lots of disco influences and perhaps a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

Who are your favourite DJs at the moment?
Karizma, Spen (not Sven), Mr V, Grant Nelson, Joey Negro, Andy Ward and Dimitri from Paris all still hit the spot for me.

And your favourite producers?
Dennis Ferrer, Kerri Chandler What was the first track to get you into house music?  I am sure there were others but Jungle Brothers- I'll House You (1988) is a stand out track for me.

Do you have any embarrassing records in your collection?
Plenty :-) But lots more I cherish!

What has been your most calamitous DJing moment?
Oh there have been a few of those but probably the classic of being lost in mix in the headphones and then you realise the silence coming out the speakers....ooopsie!

And the highlight of your DJ career?
Midnight sets on NYE or the sunset set I played in Ibiza....proper goose bumps.

Can you cook? What is your signature dish in the kitchen?
lol nope definitely not.

Do you like partying?
Is that really a question :-)

What is the best ever party you have been to in your life?
Easy Southport Weekender.  An Absolute must do for anyone who knows and loves their house music!

Where were you born?
UK, but spent 5 years living close to Chicago in the early 90s.

Did you move to Chicago just because of house music?!
Nope I had a Tennis Scholarship to a University in Indianapolis  (when I say close it was 3 hours drive away but we still did it quite a few road trip weekends).

What was it like living there?
Indiana was quite conservative although had a great arts district with house and industrial music filtering down from Chicago.

Did it influence your music tastes whilst you lived there?
Certainly did in many ways, people in the local record shop used to give me stuff to preview and review, not always house but I remember vividly an 808 state cassette they gave me which I had on repeat for months in my car

Did you visit any clubs whilst you were out there?  If so, which was the best?
In Indianapolis there was somewhere to go almost everyday of the week but we also did road trips to Chicago quite regularly. The best place I went to there was a place called Shelter (I don't think  it was linked to the one in New York) but proper house music all night and absolutely packed. The queues were the worst thing, that wind coming off the great lakes is absolutely freezing in winter but was always worth the wait once inside.

Do you have a favourite hidden gem of Reading?
Sadly Reading has changed. Probably Milk, or Sahara for a nice cocktail.

 

Many thanks for Kevin for taking the time to respond to the interview.

 

There will be another interview with our other guest, Sebastian Klone, to come, and perhaps we might even have a new mix to warm your ears up before Saturday 1st September.

DJ Announcement For Free House Project 2

Free House Project are delighted to announce the two guest DJs for our next party on Saturday 1^st September 2012 (though if you are particularly observant you may have worked it out already).

Firstly playing the 530pm-730pm slot, is Kingpinn.  You may recognise him, or know him, from the TNT house parties from the mid-2000’s in Reading at such venues as the Warwick Arms, Fez Club or latterly, Mango (before it went shit).  Known for playing a mixture of good quality house – if you expect music along the lines of Dennis Ferrer, you shouldn’t go far wrong.  Other priorities in life such as his wonderful young family mean it is a rare treat to hear him out and about behind the decks, that and a lack of venues willing to play good house music.  We hope you approve.

The second guest, is Sebastian Klone, who has recently returned fresh from a spell in Canada, and unlike our previous guest DJ, he can regularly be found playing in and around Reading, and also some warm-up slots in London clubs, along with his weekly radio show on Hoxton FM.  Also well-known for being part of the excellent Lunar parties at Mango a few years back. A slightly more deep, progressive and perhaps at times tech-house kind of style is what he is more known for, and given a 2 hour slot between 9pm and 11pm, will be sure to bring the party to the next level.  He has promised to ditch the laptop and play CDs which is what we like to hear (and the only thing we ask, apart from excellent music).

And of course you still have the two residents, James Winfield and Samantha Bond, playing 4pm to 530pm, and 730pm to 9pm, respectively, and then a back-to-back for the last hour until midnight.

We hope you can join us and help establish Free House Project as a regular house music party, and feel free to add yourself to the list of attendees on Facebook.

Love, FHP x