Music

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.
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‘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.’