Meat Raffle has been putting on exciting live acts and banging out the hits upstairs at Shoreditch BarCatch for nearly 18 months now. So we thought it was quite time enough to get in touch with promoter and DJ 16oz Stewart, who used to run TVOD in Manchester, to get the lowdown.
When and why did you set Meat Raffle up?
February of 2006. To show off our exciting records and get a few people dancing along the way. We also thought the music we all like would work really well in the context of a club - diverse enough to attract a wide range of people, and similar enough for the night to 'flow'
How did you get the name?
Meat Raffle's are an integral part of pre-gentrified communities, and we wanted to celebrate them. We're surprised by how many people in London are unaware of their existance. It rolls off the tongue and has lots of interesting connotations. It also means that every time a provincial pub holds a meat raffle, we get a plug. It also means we can ask confused Swedish popstars to raffle a slab of meat at midnight.
Who are your djs? What do you do in the real world?
16oz Stewart - A journalist of sorts... currently writing tag-lines persuading people to buy porn and ringtones for a mobile phone company. Also writes a bit for Time Out, Dummy and Disorder.
Meaty Milan - In the real world, he does a non-particularly exciting media job in soho and spends all his money in the record shops nearby on his lunch break.
Baby Face Dave - Manages a Fleet Street wine bar, serving up riojas to barristers, high court judges and Boris Johnston all day
What type of music do you play, and why is it so special?
From ancient disco to new pop music via acid house, electro, bands and techno inbetween. It's special because there's something for everyone... someone once said that Meat Raffle's like three nights in one -in a good way, obviously.
What's are your crowd like?
From the nicest people who bring us homemade beetroot cake, to the filthy sort who have sex in our living room afterwards whilst we're passed out.
Have you had anyone famous on your dancefloor?
Simon Amstell, Klaxons, Miquita Oliver, Prince Harry. N.B. One of these isn't true.
What's your venue like?
Catch is great - intimate, nice space, wonderful enthusiastic crowd, a little stage for bands, and it's run by lovely, helpful people. No complaints, and the Ministry of Sound hasn't come calling just yet.
What other club nights do you like going to in London?
Modular, Trailer Trash, Computer Blue, Bugged Out, Club Motherfucker, to name a few. Plus all the underpromoted warehouse parties in the east.
What are your plans for the future?
More of the same... putting on genuinely interesting bands, keeping the dancefloor rocking, guesting at other clubs.
5 songs we might hear on Saturday...
the new Lindstrom, it's called Breakfast in Heaven;
the most recent Herve & Sinden record, the one that came out with the Beeper track, but not that one as it's been played out enough in the past 3 months;
Bertine Zetlitz's 'Fake Your Beauty'
Rihanna's 'Don't Stop the Music' and probably some Mama Cass at 2am.
Meat Raffle is held on the 4th Saturday of every month at Catch on Kingsland Road (right by the Old St junction). It's free in and runs from 9pm - 2am.
