Nightvision: A look ahead to Series 6

Nightvision began in 2014 – how did the idea for the club night come about?

Simon McGrath: "The idea came about due to various factors. At that point in 2014, the clubbing scene in Edinburgh didn’t seem to be anything near what it had been. Very few guests were getting booked in the city and it seemed to be slowly dying a death here. I always looked back to the turn of the millennium when there were acts playing lots of venues on the same night – there was a proper buzz for clubbing in Edinburgh at that time.

"Prior to Nightvision, Derek had been running Musika, dealing with the more house and techno type bookings, and I had been running Xplicit and managing the more bassy stuff, through to the likes of Annie Mac. Derek and I joined forces and put together a plan to try something a bit different, that hadn’t been done before, and launch a new project. This is how Nightvision came about, along with the idea to run it in series."

What makes the upcoming Series 6 unique? 

SM: "The main idea as with every series is to keep Nightvision evolving by trying to incorporate new venues and new shows in order to keep it fresh."  

Derek Martin: "We also have the Musika and Xplicit birthdays linked in as part of the series. A big one for Musika this year is our birthday, the grand old age of ten. We’ve lined up some of our favorite acts of the last ten years, including some fresh faces, running over two dates."

What is the underlying theme that links the artists you've pulled together for Series 6?

SM: "The ongoing ethos of the Nightvision brand is to cover all bases which we feel are important within electronic music and cater for these, meaning we have shows ranging from house, techno, and bass."

DM: "Our range is spread across the spectrum of electronic music, so you will have artists that are completely diverse musically all under the one banner of Nightvision, but playing under different themed events or sub-brands." 

How do the venues you've booked for the latest series fit with the Nightvision club nights?

DM: "We’ve worked with a wide array of Edinburgh venues since the launch of Nightvision, ranging from the 3,000-capacity Corn Exchange shows to more intimate one-room events at the likes of The Caves.

"Our regular, larger capacity events are where we combine all three rooms in the Liquid Room complex, giving us the scope to programme our bigger line-ups, a factor we felt was always missing from Edinburgh in comparison to other UK cities. This was a key part of the initial drive and reason for launching the brand. 

"Alongside the musical ethos of Nightvision, the plan was always to utilise as many of Edinburgh’s best-known venues, offering the fine people  of Edinburgh and beyond an array of different styled events – from solo act showcases to larger multi-room, multi-artist events. We’ve knocked up a fair few so far, with more to come in 2017."

What guests should we be most looking forward to seeing during Series 6?

DM: "We have lots of new acts on the series as well as the return of some previous acts that we feel are worthy of a return date. Some acts and brands that should cause some hype spring to mind: Drumcode, DJ EZ, Move D and Mike Skinner, to name a few…"

What have been some Nightvision highlights over the years?

SM: "The ones that stand out to me are Annie Mac Presents at the Corn Exchange, with Stormzy performing when he was popping off massively, Adam Beyer in the Warehouse at Liquid Room, and when Green Velvet and Alan Fitzpatrick played together for us.

DM: "Our recent event with Robert Hood and DJ Deep was sensational. Their sound worked perfectly in The Liquid Room Warehouse and the crowd were hungry for it. The atmosphere was brilliant. Groove Armada were equally as amazing on the Series 5 launch. It was something of a homecoming for them in Edinburgh, as they hadn’t played here for so long, and they have always had such a massive following and close connection to the city."

How do you think Edinburgh's clubbing scene is faring, generally speaking?

SM: "I definitely think the clubbing scene is in a greater position than it has been for some time, with various nights bringing a lot of great acts to the capital. There now seems to be guests on every weekend at various venues, which can only be a positive for the Edinburgh clubbing scene as a whole."

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Nightvision Series 6 Launch in association with Snowbombing (starring Mike Skinner, Preditah and Conducta), Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 21 Jan

For full Series 6 listings, head to thisisourvision.com