Clubs

Sister Bliss
Faithless
'Getting asked to DJ there was even more exciting than having a Number One record'.

Ed Simons
The Chemical Brothers
'They're predicting apocalyptic set-times and a three-in-the-afternoon finish!'

Norman Cook
aka Fatboy Slim
'That club means a lot to Zoë and me. We did a lot of copping off there'.

Win a pair of tickets to one of the three sold-out closing parties.


Sister Bliss
Faithless
‘I remember going to [gay after-hours party] Trade for the first time in its early days, around 1991, and it blew my mind. I’d been clubbing since 1987 and I’d started DJing too but I’d never heard music put together in that way. And I’d never seen such an absolutely mental crowd; it was very dark and intense, really steroidy and gay in there, and the music and atmosphere were just insane.

‘People who now pretty much rule the record industry were all on that dancefloor, soaking up the vibes; getting asked to DJ there was even more exciting than having a Number One record. I remember just bouncing off the walls when Laurence [Malice, who ran Trade] asked me to cover for Smokin’ Jo. I shook so much my head nearly fell off.

‘I propped up the bar so long they thought I was a resident, and I’ve been a regular ever since. I’m incredibly grateful because I feel that musically I grew up in that club, as did Danny [Newman, current boss] and his brother [DJ Tall] Paul: their father ran the venue. The fact that it was a family affair made a big difference.

‘Turnmills attracts the best crowd in London. There have been so many mad nights there. A couple of years ago on Valentine’s Day I had friends to dinner and we got absolutely hammered and staggered off to Turnmills to see Deep Dish play. I lost a few hours; they were having a Trade Gold party and I woke up surrounded by these mad old trannies that I’d been clubbing with a decade before. It was like, “Hello girl, haven’t seen you for years.” And I was thinking: How did this happen? I had to be ushered to a taxi and taken home… I’m sure everyone’s who’s been there has had big blank periods; that’s what Turnmills is associated with. Its nicknames are Turmoils, Terminals or Gurnmills – all of them well deserved!

‘We floor-tested all our biggest Faithless tunes there, from “Insomnia” to “God Is A DJ” to “We Come 1”. And if it wasn’t going down right in Turnmills we’d get back into the studio and keep working on it.

‘Turnmills stayed ahead of the pack because it was musically inventive and there was always a spread of music, partly because they kept creating new dancefloors. It’s a labyrinthine venue and I still get lost – although not quite as lost as I might have done in the ’90s.’


Ed Simons
The Chemical Brothers
‘When I first moved back to London from Manchester in 1993 I went there a few times on a Friday and I wouldn’t have known who was playing but it felt uniquely London, with very different people all over the club: everyone seemed to be up for something, people would wander in at two in the morning because it hardly ever closed. But we really got to know the place when the Heavenly Social opened there in 1996.

‘That was probably the most intense year of our lives. We were making our second album, “Dig Your Own Hole”, we were going out to America to play live shows and then every Saturday we were DJing at the Heavenly Social. That was where we first played tracks like “Block Rockin’ Beats” and “Setting Sun”. It was the first time we’d had a proper club residency, so it was a challenge to keep the whole dancefloor in the groove. At the time the DJ booth was soundproofed and felt quite detached from the dancefloor; it felt almost like playing a computer game.

‘After the Heavenly Social finished we played about eight New Year’s Eves in a row. One time we played “Out Of Control”, a record we did with [New Order’s] Bernard Sumner, as the last record. It’s got a tough kick-drum that seemed to go through the whole club and cause instant hysteria. Well, it was the final record before someone else came on anyway; there was never a final record at Turnmills.

‘Danny [Newman, current boss] is one of the best people to be involved in a club. He’s so enthusiastic: there was nothing better than when he popped out of nowhere to start doing the lights when we were playing and the lasers would all go full on and the crowd would be reaching for the beams…

‘For years we’d tip up there even when we weren’t DJing: I know you’re meant to be ashamed of that these days but I used to really enjoy a bit of trance. Paul Van Dyk used to play there on a Friday and I would go.

‘Turnmills has been great; I’m sad it’s over but I’m really glad that they’ve asked us to do this last night. We’re hoping to play some of the records from when we played in ’96. There’s an amazing acid record called “The Jazz” by The Micronauts that we used to play every week – that’ll definitely get a spin. They’re predicting apocalyptic set-times and a 3pm finish but I’ll be long gone by 3am. Well, we’ll see.’


Norman Cook
aka Fatboy Slim
‘Danny [Newman, current boss] rang me and said, “You know we’re closing down, will you do the last night?” and I’m like, “Hell, yeah!” We were gonna go away for Easter but that club means a lot to Zoë and me. We did a lot of our copping off in Turnmills. I remember being in the booth with Tom and Ed [The Chemical Brothers] and going, “That Zoë Ball’s here again. What’s she doing here?”

‘I would always start DJing with a really “stupid” record, just to get everyone’s attention, and that always worked. Once I started with “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan not knowing that Zoë had been making me a mix tape – a sure sign that you fancy someone – which started with “Sunshine Superman”. It quite freaked her out; she thought someone had told me.

‘Probably my most memorable night was the night after Woody was born. I’d been booked to play and then when we got the date for Zoë’s C-section I said I’d cancel it, and Zoë went, “No, no, no! It’s traditional that you go and wet the baby’s head; what better place to do it?” But it had been in all the papers that I’d had a baby so everybody turned up with cigars: [techno legend] Dave Clarke gave me the biggest cigar I’ve ever seen in my life. And everyone in the crowd was congratulating me and throwing cigars at me.

‘Chesh, who was the accountant and general fixer there, ended up my best friend: he’s godfather to my son. It might have looked seedy and sweaty but we were a gang, me and Jon Carter and Richard Fearless played every weekend together; suddenly it felt like our gang was ruling London. It was daft already and then we all started having hits and it got really daft!

‘I think Turnmills is a one-off; the people who run it could never be replaced. They’ve put on so many groundbreaking nights. Fabric has kind of taken the ball and run with it, but it’s not run with the same kind of joie de vivre and family spirit that Turnmills was.’

Sister Bliss, Tall Paul and Judge Jules play at The Gallery on March 21; The Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim play at The Heavenly Get Together on March 22; Frankie Knuckles, Danny Rampling and CJ Mackintosh headline at The Last Dance on Sunday 23. All are sold out but Time Out has five pairs of tickets for each night to give away, enter our competition now.