We first heard of Uptight earlier this week when the great Retro To Go blog mentioned it. Checking it out, the music policy sounded great, and the clubnight is celebrating it's 7th birthday this weekend so if there's ever a time to try it out, this Saturday would be it! We took 5 with DJ and promoter Wayne Gooderham.
When and why did you set Uptight up?
Uptight was born in the summer of 2000, out of a love of music we were unable to hear at any other clubs at the time. There was also a fair bit of frustration at other clubs circa 2000 involved as well - just the general air of irony, pretension and cliquey-ness that we felt prevailed at a few "alternative" clubs which shall remain nameless. We wanted to set up a clique-free haven where anyone could come along and jump and down stupidly to Bruce Springsteen and dance to a New Order song that wasn't Blue Monday or True Faith without worrying about cool. Am sure most clubs are born in the same way, though: that classic mix of naive arrogance, enthusiasm & frustration.
Have mellowed since in attitude to other clubs, mind (just don't go to em and takes all sorts dunnit) - though the music policy & principles remain intact!
Who are your djs? What do you do in the real world?
Myself, aka Wayne Gooderham - struggling musician/writer, contractor. Marc Gooderham - Struggling musician/artist, office servicer. Gary Rose - Struggling t-shirt designer, writer/sub-editor.
What type of music do you play, and why is it so special?
Our only remit is to play music we genuinely love and find sexy & exciting & FUN - no room for irony or so-called "guilty pleasures" at Uptight! - and that we haven't heard played to death in other clubs already. This can be anything from The Beatles & Bo Diddley to LCD Soundsystem, My Bloody Valentine or Kraftwerk. Basically anything we want to as long as it's played with genuine non-ironic enthusiasm and you can dance to it.
Have you had anyone famous on your dancefloor?
We had That Bloody Christina Ricci & That Bloody Reese Witherspoon in 'ere once. I said, Christina! Reese! We've 'ad our laughs…etc. Oh, & less excitedly: Stuart Murdoch and one of the blokes from Teachers. But all our "punters" are valued equally of course…(and we did really have Christina Ricci & Reese Witherspoon in the club by the way).
Uptight celebrates it's 7th birthday this weekend. Are you impressed to have made it so far?
Am impressed to make it to the end of the night nowadays. But yeah, considering the lack of press we've received, am pretty proud that we're still "packin' em in" (as we say). Highlight wise, NYE 2005 was a great laugh. There's a few personal highlights too, like the time the whole dancefloor went absolutely nuts to Silver Machine and White Light / White Heat (was almost frightening). And everyone singing along to Like A Rolling Stone is always a beautiful sight of course...
What's your venue like?
Uptight is downstairs at The Albany - an intimate basement bar. Perfect. If we had to move, St Moritz on Wardour St would be fantastic for Uptight (we likes our nooks n crannies y'see). Anything bigger and we'd lose that personal touch. Is good to be able to see the whites of their eyes.
What other club nights do you like going to in London?
Bugged Out's good for blowing away the ol' cobwebs every now and again. And Gaz's Rockin' Blues is great fun
5 songs we might hear on Saturday...
Maps - So High, So Low
Bo Diddley - Pills
The Fall - Blindness
Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares For Me
New Order - Love Vigilantes
And finally, what's your London secret...
Well, Uptight's fairly secret I spose - and there's a band called Kelman who are pretty good too. Shameless self-promotion aside, RoTa at the Notting Hill Arts Club is a brilliant way to while away a Saturday afternoon/evening. Free entry, good bands (usually!), cheap booze and an absolutely lovely, lovely venue. Also, randomly: The Pride Of Spitalfields for late-boozing, Hair By Fairies for good reasonably-priced haircuts and there's a great second-hand book stall in Spitlafields Market (just next to the food stalls on your way in).
Uptight is a monthly club held on the last Saturday of the Month downstairs at The Albany pub on Great Portland Street. Entry is free before 9 or £4 after with the flyer (the photo in this piece!)
Do you have a clubnight you love and think we should know about? Leave us a comment and we'll check it out
