Robert Luis (Tru Thoughts/Unfold) - In Conversation, Ep. 9: Ed Gillett, 'Party Lines'

Robert Luis (Tru Thoughts records/Unfold radio) chats to Ed Gillett, a journalist and film-maker based in South London (who has written for The Guardian, Frieze, DJ Mag, The Quietus and Novara Media) who published his first book, 'Party Lines: Dance Music And The Making Of Modern Britain' this summer.
0.00 Intro.
1.10 How Ed started his music journey at Tru Thoughts
2.00 Ed’s background before the Party Lines book
4.00 The intention of the book. Contributing to broadening the history of UK Dance Music.
6.30 The importance of highlighting the history away from mainly White Male DJ’s and highlighting the protest and rebellion part of UK Dance
Culture.
8.20 Importance of exploring current topics such as Boiler Room, the effects of Covid and more.
9.20 Roots of UK Dance Music stretch back to Reggae & Dub Sound Systems, Afro-Caribbean communities from World War II & the 80’s had a big influence.
10.00 Influence warehouse parties like Shake & Fingerpop and Family Funktion had on subsequent Acid House movement.
12.50 The struggle between nomadic and settled communities in UK history and those connections with the Free Party / Rave, Stone Henge parties more recently.
16.00 The fake recording studio the police set up that entrapped young men in London, soon after the Conservative government pulled funding for community support places across the UK.
19.50 Dance music blamed for corrupting the youth.
23.20 The politics behind the Super Club era
27.00 Gentrification and the active use by extremely wealthy organisations to help this by blending underground and mainstream culture. Often without the underground culture knowing who is funding this system.
38.00 The shrinking of independent and small club venues. How a small venue helped contribute to the success of Tru Thoughts.
40.00 Independent entrepreneurs and the positive future of UK Dance Music
42.20 Discussing the classic Todd Edwards DJ footage and celebrating introvert DJ’s and being underground.
46.00 EZ’s classic Boiler Room footage and the influence that had years down the line.
48.15 Daytimers and the new generation of organisers. Bass Culture by Lloyd Bradley and other important books on the history of music culture.
54.40 Celebrating people who have small but influential contributions to music culture.
56.00 Importance of speaking up and supporting if you have a platform. Being influential is noit just big club organisations or big brands.
58.40 Mass protests and big illegal raves in the 1990’s and how protests / dance culture might be different now and in the near future.
1.03.00 Dance culture is political even if you may not acknowledge it or mean for it to be political.
1.05.30 Importance of allowing the testing of drugs at events if you truly want to save lives. The fact it is annoying UK politicians who no doubt (have) take(n) drugs are worried what right wing media would say if they pushed a testing policy rather than an unworkable criminal policy for recreational drug use. How stats show not everyone are taking illegal drugs at club events
1.15.30 Ed’s happy memory of hearing Bonobo DJ at the Tru Thoughts Brighton club night Phonic:Hoop in the 2000’s
1.17.00 Has there been any push back from anyone or any organisation on the Party Lines book?
1.23.00 The importance of knowing what goes on behind the scenes and the funding of UK Dance Culture.
Ed Gillett online:
/ ehgillett
ehgillett on threads / bluesky
Robert Luis online:
/ robertluis
/ robert.luis.5203
/ robertluis
/ robertluisdj
www.robertluis.com
Tru Thoughts Online:
/ truthoughts
/ tru_thoughts
/ tru-thoughts
/ tru_thoughts