Wrong Sounds
The basement of one of Glasgow's favourite watering holes continues to hold some of the most exciting new club nights in the city. Wrong Island host Teamy talks about his creation ahead of its second birthday
“I suppose we are carrying on the great DJ tradition of playing anything that fits the dancefloor, regardless of genre. That's definitely something that I think was lost for a while in lots of clubs, [it was] one genre all night, but you definitely see more of it again. All the guests we have had over, more or less, played a variety of stuff and all of my favourite DJs at the moment do it too. Optimo, Kode 9, Tim Sweeney, Andy Blake, Jackmaster, Ramadanman et al, they all have certain genres associated with them but their DJ sets are chock full of all sorts.”
Teamy, one half of the duo who host the monthly Wrong Island parties every month in the basement of Nice 'n' Sleazy, is charting the two year success of his creation.
"We had already done a party with Shit Robot down at the Sub Club in July. Marcus Lambkin's birthday is the day before mine, so we'd decided to do a wee party to celebrate. Larry and I both played at that, so I suppose that was the de facto beginning of Wrong Island. But the first official Wrong Island was back in September 2007: I played with my good friend Dirty Larry, who was one of the resident DJs at The Glasgow School of Art's Eskrima night many moons ago. He left to live in Dubai for a few years and when he got back we were offered the chance to do a slot in Sleazy's."
Wrong Island ultimately aims to throw a monthly party with an emphasis on enjoyment and excellent records, instead of pandering to the latest fad genre or big act in an effort to pull in larger numbers. It is a goal the night has succeeded in achieving, although they haven't done it alone.
"Over the past two years we've had James and Pat from LCD Soundsystem, Truffle Club, Andy Blake, The Niallist, George Issakidis, Xaver Naudascher, Prince Language, Ramadanman and Den Haan. The night George Issakidis played was a riot. It wasn't the busiest night we've ever had but everyone that was there was absolutely wasted and got really into it. It's one of the few guest nights we had the forethought to record and the mix is this great slo-mo, sleazy acid thing. But we've been lucky in that all the people we book turned out to be really great people with great record collections, a sure-fire way to a good party. Sleazy's is so much fun and works so well that I reckon we'll keep doing it for as long as we're welcome. If it ain't broke, don't fix it and other clichés.
"The first night we did Wrong Island in Sleazy's, we were a bit worried that an electronic night might not work, Sleazy's being the famous indie venue that it is and all that, but how wrong we were. Halfway through the night I noticed the crowd, part people we knew who'd come to dance, part people who'd just wandered in but everyone was getting right into it. After that, we've not looked back. It's the perfect little venue for a rave-up."
Wrong Island's second birthday takes place in Nice 'n' Sleazys on 12 Sept. Teamy and Dirty Larry's podcast for The Skinny will be online soon.