Keep Your Eye On The Ballers: Social Club Celebrates Its 2nd Birthday

Ballers' Social, the club offshoot of the LuckyMe collective, celebrates its second birthday this month.

Just as Luckyme’s star in the musical firmament has steadily shone brighter in recent times, so Ballers' has developed into one of Glasgow’s most forward-thinking nights in its two-year existence.

“Rustie and I started Ballers' so we could hear modern, contemporary hip-hop in a club environment: no one was really playing this stuff out” explains promoter, Joe Coghill. “Glasgow’s very much a house-and-techno city but we wanted to hear producers like Lil’ Boozie, Timbaland and Bangladesh…we just went ahead and did it and included all our friends”.

Aside from utilising the talents of Rustie, this has led to the involvement of LuckyMe artists such as Hudson Mohawke, Mike Slott and Jay Prada.

“We’ve used it in part as a showcase for the label”, Joe admits. “Hudson performed his first live gig at the night…although we’ve used it to promote ourselves its also worked as a great networking tool too”.

Despite initially centring on hip-hop, Ballers' has come to embrace various other styles.

“We couldn’t afford to put on Clipse or Justin Timberlake, so we booked newer producers we liked” says Joe. “The emphasis moved towards instrumental hip-hop artists, though now we’re really a multi-genre night. Basically, what ever I’m feeling musically impacts on my booking policy. I’m quite compulsive, I never really look at Myspace hits or when a producer’s got a record coming out, if I like someone I’ll just book them”.

This scattergun approach has led to appearances by international artists such as Joxaren, Hovatron, Dorian Concept and Dâm Funk, from Sweden, Montreal, Austria and L.A., respectively.

“A lot of the bookings come from people sending us their music. They get in touch to say they like what LuckyMe are doing and want to share what they’ve been working on. If I like what I hear, I’ll try to get them to play, regardless of where they're from”.

Aside from various guests, Ballers' can count on an impressive roster of residents, all linked to LuckyMe: aside from Rustie, Hudson and Jay, these include The Blessings, Dema, Tiago Andrade, Éclair FiFi and American Men.

“We all met in Glasgow; I got to know Dom (half of the Blessings) and Ross (Hudson) when I was rapping. Dom used to put on a hip-hop club at the old Stereo (now Bar 78) and we hung out together. We met Tiago through another producer we knew, Oddisee; the pair of them both attended The Red Bull Music Academy; Hudson did his first record with Oddisee. Rustie and I just met at parties”

“The Edinburgh contingent, American Men, Jay Prada all knew Dom because he’s based there”, Joe adds. “Dema used to run Freak Menoovers, if you’re into hip-hop in Glasgow it would’ve been hard not to bump into him”.

Though he describes Ballers as a multi-genre night, what does this actually mean in terms of its music policy and how does he feel it differs from other clubs in Glasgow?

“Well, it’s pretty broad but you’re definitely going to get hip-hop…we really like to push the ‘new’…we don’t really play tracks to build them up into LuckyMe ‘classics’ in the way a club like Optimo might. We definitely want to keep things moving”.

“We’ve got a really different way of thinking compared with other Glasgow nights,” he continues. “We’re not so ingrained into house and techno and the associations that go with these sounds…we might be similar to Numbers in some ways, though they're more of a techno club putting on hip-hop, while we’re a hip-hop club putting on techno.”

With monthly events at both Stereo and the more intimate Ivy, Joe’s able bring both club-orientated and more experimental artists to Glasgow.

“The Ivy’s used as a feeler-club: we take risk bookings with it…you can have a small crowd and put on really innovative stuff”.

Both venues host the upcoming birthday celebrations. Jamie Vex’d’s making his live debut at Stereo alongside the DJ skills of Hyperdub’s rightly-hyped Darkstar and LuckyMe's Rustie and The Blessings. Local acts Fox Gut Daata and Fulgeance will appear at The Ivy the following night.

“We’ve also got Dante’s Fried Chicken catering both events,” reveals Joe, excitedly. “Dante’s a celebrity chef from New York who makes quintessential soul-food on his internet-TV show. You’ll be able to book a table in the Ivy on the Saturday and eat some of the best food you’ll ever have!”

Throw in some exclusive art from Dom that’ll be on show for the first time and this birthday double-header is shaping up to be something a bit special. Get involved.