Each week we get behind the decks with the very best resident DJs from across the Manchester club scene, chatting about the newest releases, the best clubs and the picks of the month.
Credit where credit is due, even with the monster booking power of some world famous clubs in Manchester, the smaller yet no less talented promoters of this city still manage to continue producing mouth watering bookings and off the scale parties. FRANK are proud producers of these parties in Manchester at their home Underdog, and have thrown everything they can into producing a night with a simple ethos. The best tunes, for the best crowds, with the best local residents in a underground basement just of Oxford Road. We had chance to get behind the decks and catch up with Sian Bennett, FRANK resident, Bootleg boss and all round top party thrower. She talks Chic, Sankeys and buying cheese pasties in Dutch clubs!
Name: Sian Bennett
Age: 21
Club Night: Bootleg
What do you love most about the clubbing scene in Manchester?
A lot of people are on the ball with up and coming labels and producers, and there’s a load of clubs to choose from which all offer a different vibe. People moan about the monopoly power of the Warehouse Project but I think there are plenty of good promoters who push to find underground acts who can still draw a good crowd.
What makes Manchester so important to the UK club scene?
It really is up there with one of the best places to go for a night out, massively cheaper than London and offers a plethora of nights with diverse line ups. You can’t ignore the powerhouses such as the Warehouse Project or (the return of) Sankeys and as much as people knock them, these are some massive brands to have emerged from Manchester to keep it at the forefront of dance music and we should be proud to have them here, building on the history from the likes of the Hacienda. Big names aside, Manchester is also a great platform for young DJs and producers to make themselves known.
What’s one of the best club nights you have ever been to in Manchester?
Chic at the Warehouse Project two years ago at the Store Street venue. I was really hungover on the day and was in two minds whether to even go, but managed to force my sober self out and danced non-stop from start to finish. It was quite the mixed crowd but everyone was just smiling from ear to ear. It was the first time I had realised just how many songs that Nile Rogers had written and produced, so there wasn’t a minutes rest in between renditions of Sister Sledge to Diana Ross. I caught Nile as he came off stage to tell him it was the best hour of my life and he messaged me on twitter the next day, which was pretty surreal. I caught them at Parklife a year later and again at The Warehouse Project this year but it has never emulated that night.
Favourite place to party in Manchester?
Joshua Brooks hosts all sorts of parties and the brickwork in the basement gives it a lovely aesthetic touch. I’d like to get to venues such as 2022NQ and Soup Kitchen more often as well... basically any dark basement!
Favourite Manchester bar for pre-club drinks?
Wahlbar do some brilliant/lethal cocktails, I don’t think I’ve ever walked out of there sober.
What's your favourite tune of all time to hear in a club?
This will change every day depending on what type of mood I’m in but the first tune that popped in to my head was Mr.G – Daily Prayer so I’ll go with that!
If you could throw a club night with any two DJs going back to back in your own living room for 20 of your mates, who would you choose?
I’ll be cheeky and throw a Pillowtalk live performance to warm up first then a b2b of Detroit Swindle and Homework. Living in Amsterdam for a year I had these guys on my doorstep and their contemporary take on a really classic house sound is just spot on.
Pick of the month?
Clubnight -NXNW. They throw some nice parties in the basement of Soup Kitchen and they’re not bound a certain genre of bookings. The guys who run it are great and everyone is up for a good time there!
Track -HNNY – Tears. I wake up with that vocal in my head ever since I heard it! I love everything this guy puts out, and every Local Talk release for that matter.
Finally, if you could choose one club in the world to go to for the rest of your life, which would it be?
Trouw Amsterdam, hands down! It used to be a newspaper-printing factory and so has a very unique, long and narrow layout with ink stains still on the walls. The sound system is incredible and all the walls and ceilings have acoustic sound panels from when the papers would be printed throughout the night in residential areas, so it still gives a warm sound despite being an industrial warehouse. They put a lot of effort in to their residents, as well as great international acts, and sadly it is closing in 2015 so I advise anyone to experience it soon! They also had some weird bakery shop downstairs where I’d always end up buying some Dutch form of a cheese pasty at midnight.
FRANK and Mute! presentsMark Fanciulli with support from Sian Bennett and the FRANK and Mute!residents this Friday at Underdog.
