Huntleys & Palmers turns four

Andrew Thomson is no doubt occupied enough with the fifth year of Huntleys & Palmers to be concerned about reflecting on the previous four. From the first booking made in 2007 the night has grown into an established name on the Glasgow clubbing scene and has provided a platform for some of the best talents from around the world as well as proving a base for DJs such as Auntie Flo to get exposure. Achieving this alone would be enough but without considering the relocation to London that has given H&P a foothold in arguably the two biggest clubbing cities in Britain or the first record by Auntie Flo being released on their label. I start by asking Andrew to look back on what has been an incredibly busy few years.

Huntleys & Palmers was born four years ago, does it all seem like a blur looking back?

It's beginning to feel like a bit of a blur now, yeah. There have been well over a hundred artists who've played but there's little time to reflect as such is the nature of promoting, you're always looking towards the next party or beyond.

As you will be aware the name is very similar to the tinned biscuit makers and sounds very respectable and yet I believe it actually refers to prostitutes and homosexuals. You'll have to explain? 

Good to see you've done your homework! I'd been toying with all manner of names before and I had been conscious of the H&P story and was attracted to both the egalitarian and sleazy connotations, it kinda fell into place. I didn't think beyond the first party and wouldn't have imagined I'd still be using it this far down the line.

Lots of people leave clubs with the idea that they would want to put on their own nights but very few actually take those important next steps. What was it that made you think ‘Right, let’s do this’?

The main impetus at the time was to provide something new in Glasgow musically and offer an alternative to the more established venues such as Sub Club, The Art School and The Arches. Now that Stereo and other venues have themselves became more established, I'd like to think that the original mindset continues musically at least.

There are some labels who are releasing solely on vinyl to protect themselves from filesharing but you have chosen to use digital. Why is that?

The main reason for doing both digi and vinyl is purely to cater for both kinds of DJ now. It's regrettable that vinyl is a dying art form but I don't think you can realistically expect to reach the same audience without digital. There's a great deal of consideration put into buying the vinyl as an artefact though and the artwork is almost as important as the music.

When The Skinny spoke to you in 2009 you said that the only problem with the Glasgow club scene is that there was too much happening at the same time to take it all in. Was your move to London not a perverse one then? 

I still stand by that statement! Glasgow still has heaps going on each weekend and it doesn't have anywhere near the same volume of people as London. Whilst competition is fierce in London there are enough people to go around for adventurous line ups that I'd never get away with in Glasgow. The flip of that is the London crowd can tend to rate their appearance ahead of having a good time. 

Can you explain your process for choosing which DJs to book? Is it as simple as ‘if you like what they do then you book them’?

Yeah, it's that simple really. That has been the only common thread with the guests. I tend to be attracted to artists with idiosyncrasies and distinctions and I've always been interested in music that bears a timeless quality, that keeps a distance from passing trends or fads. London has been quite challenging on this front as the rapid change of music is exciting although I'm not convinced much of it is going to stand the test of time. Perhaps that's the appeal in itself?

Where does the label fit in to the H&P environment? Is it an extension of your ethos for the club nights?

It's an extension of promoting in the respect of discovering new artists and presenting them to the greater public. The biggest appeal to starting the label was the satisfaction in owning something after all your hard work. Despite the months of advance planning, parties flash by within the blink of an eye leaving you with a poster and some hazy memories later. At least with a record it will hopefully be around and getting discovered in years to come.