Seven Year Stitch

Fabric

features

seven year stitch

features, october 2006, COMMENTS

With its seventh birthday looming and lesser clubs unravelling all around, NIGHT joined Fabric MD Cameron Leslie to find out how it’s still got the London club scene all stitched up

It’s difficult to think of another underground nightclub as influential as Fabric, Keith Reilly’s former meat market in Farringdon that launched in October 1999. Seven years down the line the club has become a by-word for quality; constantly referenced by other operators as a benchmark for their efforts. Elsewhere in this issue, Sankeys owner David Vincent tells NIGHT of his ambition to position his relaunched club, itself something of an institution, as “the most forward thinking club north of Fabric”. This attitude is far from uncommon.

Walking round Fabric’s subterranean, labyrinthine complex of brick archways on its launch weekend, it was impossible not to be impressed by the dynamic of the space, the technical arsenal deployed within it, the slick professionalism of the staff and, most of all, by the awesome, progressive music being played by the club’s heavyweight line-up of world class underground electronic music DJs.

It was obvious from the start that Fabric would have a huge impact on the capital, if not on the country. But in the fickle, fashion-driven club industry, what no one could predict was how long the club could maintain such incredibly high standards. After all, even the best venues can go off the boil over time.

As the years have passed, however, Fabric has continued to deliver. A check on its birthday party weekend plans is proof, if it were needed, that the commitment to quality established at the club’s inception is still very much in place today. On Friday 20 October the Stanton Warriors, the Plumps, Adam Freeland, Minuit and Ali B will all play Fabric Live - and that’s just in room one. Holding court in room two will be Foreign Beggars, the Scratch Perverts, DJ Dexter and Bondo Do Role; with Switch, Low B and Joe Ransom playing the intimate room three. On the mammoth Saturday night session, original residents Terry Francis and Craig Richards head up the bill. Andrew Weatherall, Ricardo Villalobos, Lindstrom, Rob Mello, Claude Von Stroke, Troy Pierce, Swayzak and Matthew Dear providing able support. This level of talent is typical of a venue that’s redefined the British clubbing experience - as 7,500 people each weekend will testify.

Asked how Fabric has maintained its consistency over the years, the club’s MD Cameron Leslie (pictured) cites its continuing commitment to the values that motivated them in the beginning. “People come to the club for the music and the like-minded community that good music generates,” he tells NIGHT. “Everyone who comes to Fabric is treated with respect from the moment they walk in the door to safely being ushered into a taxi home. We have never suffered trends and are confident in all the decisions we make. And on reflection, as a team, we all love what we do and put the same energy into every part of the business, from the creative to the day-to-day.”

The music, people and passion that drive Fabric keep clubbers coming back, as well as making industry peers complimentary about the operation underneath Smithfield Market every weekend. What’s impressive too is the club’s capacity to evolve and maintain its place at the cutting edge of music and technology. This state of perpetual evolution means never having to react: embracing change is at the heart of Fabric, an integral part of its DNA and a major reason for its success.

Whilst Fabric’s flagship nights - Fabric Live (leftfield breaks, drum ‘n’ bass and hip-hop) and Fabric (electro, minimal and tech-house) have remained in situ since day one, the music they represent has shifted over the years as genres have progressed and developed. Between the two nights (which sit alongside the externally promoted Sunday night gay session DTPM) the musical direction is broad enough to deliver a diverse offer, giving the crowds plenty of reason to dance on the trademark Bodysonic vibrating dancefloor for up to 14 hours straight at the weekend.

“The line-ups are what bring people here,” says Cameron. “We are not a champagne and stiletto venue - our clubbers are first and foremost music fans.”

Those clubbers are not just local or even national, but international - thanks to Fabric’s CD series that has allowed the club to share residents’ and guests’ music with an audience worldwide. “We’re in the business of music, whether that’s on a physical platform like the club or in a physical format like the CDs, or in a digital format,” says Cameron. “All we’re trying to do is showcase the quality electronic music that we love.”

That desire will make use of podcasting technology from October, with a Fabric podcast broadcast during the birthday celebrations: the first of a series from Fabric’s musical director and Saturday resident Craig Richards called The Nothing Special. Scheduled for random Thursday streams, the show will encompass the same loose musical structure and progressive line-up of guest artists as enjoyed at the club.

Characterising everything Fabric does is a sense of confidence that comes from the team’s closeness to the club’s audience. “We are those people!” says Cameron. As things progress they make continual, minor adjustments, busying themselves with the challenge of trying to better the club on every level: musically, technologically, technically and creatively.

“Innovation is very important in what we do, both musically and technically,” says Cameron. “We’re looking to innovate everyday, but we never overlook the past to leap into the future just for the sake of it.”

Ultimately Fabric succeeds because at its heart, this most cutting edge of venues is committed to old fashioned standards of operation: know your customer, treat them well, give them what they want (sometimes before they knew they wanted it) and watch them come back.

Words: Alex Eyre

From: October 2006 Issue

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