Access All Areas: Nightlife in the UK

This article originally appeared in Frontline Issue 001: The Breakthrough Issue, released August 2023.

Frontline’s Ira Alecia Gardner explores London’s nightlife and the innovators creating spaces for expression.

From house parties and hall parties to block parties and functions in local parks, Black Brits have always had to take more innovative routes to create space when wider society has tried to limit them. Heavier scrutiny and restrictions like Form 696 (scrapped in 2017) made it difficult for Black promoters and event organisers to host, and racist door policies made it difficult for Black party-goers to enter. RECESS, Dankie Sounds, Queer Bruk and DLT are just a few of the parties that have become embedded in the Black British nightlife experience today, and SlowJamsWithA is another to add to the list.

Each set East London DJ AAA plays is a ‘story’. He is the writer, the decks are the narrator, and the dance floor is both his audience and inspiration. From hosting his show SlowJamsWithA on No Signal radio and creating a party under the same moniker, to DJing across the world, AAA has created a name for himself in the world of music and nightlife. Reading the room and aligning to the energy, experimentation is AAA’s ethos, and it both attracts and leads the crowd that follows.

Evolving out of boredom, DJing began as a ‘hobby’ for AAA, but over the past five years it has elevated to a career. Known to create new soundscapes by blending sonics from a wide spectrum, AAA’s love for music knows no bounds.

‘I think it’s exploring and making sure there’s no barriers between things,’ AAA says as he describes how his way of listening to music feeds his craft. ‘As I’m listening to a lot of reggae and highlife and I’m hearing it on a slower tempo, my imagination goes wild because I’m like this acapella will sound good here, or imagine if Gucci was on a Solange track’.

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The pandemic was a turning point for many creatives, birthing a new set of ideas and giving the time to bring them to life. For many music lovers and Black Brits, the highlights of lockdown cannot be mentioned without mentioning No Signal Radio. Created by Jojo and David Sonubi, No Signal provided a space to hear music from across the Black diaspora, from the big hits to the sounds that made up our childhood. SlowJamsWithA found its original home on No Signal Radio and while a party was not always a priority, AAA was prepared to set himself apart, showcasing the music he loved.

‘When I created SlowJamsWithA on No Signal Radio I said “I’m not going to play slow jams. I’m not going to play 90s/00s slow jams.” I said “How do I make it different?”’.

Putting a twist on what the term slow jams is expected to be, AAA created a blend of the past and present, shifting away from the only focus being on nostalgia and dedicating a night to the lovers of all ‘slow’ music. ‘So you could hear Donnell Jones but you could hear Future, Honest’ he says.

Intent on keeping the ‘intimate’ vibes that are reflected in the music played, AAA kept the numbers within the bracket of 300-500 people. As for the party-goers, they enjoyed the first year for free.

‘I didn’t make money for the whole year, so it was a loss and it was like, “we need to get this right and until I get this right, that’s when I can charge and we can do this”. That was a good experiment and then now the parties this year have all been “pow pow pow pow”’.

For AAA, the first year of SlowJamsWithA was a process of trial and error – observing the crowd and how their energy shifted throughout the night allowed him to filter out what didn’t work and keep what did. From set times to what music should be played and who should be behind the decks, each aspect of the function was dissected and analysed. It generated a night where the 80s, 90s and early 00s R&B was still present, but so were dance edits, slow Afrobeats, and songs from Solange’s T.O.N.Y album, and they found the DJs to match. Recently he hosted his first SlowJamsWithA in Toronto – receiving 500 RSVPs in a week – and another at The Jazz Café in London, with R&B singer Destin Conrad as a guest performer.

‘We had to look for alternative DJs that are really into this music, that play edits, and to bring their own style in there. And then once they started bringing their own style, Keyrah, JJess and AyChibs, those three right now are like the residents of it, because their sound is what fits it. They’ve literally created the sound for SlowJamsWithA as a party.’

While the first year was a financial loss, the delayed gratification paid off and sold-out nights have become the norm for AAA, and the same can be said for RECESS and DLT. The weekend AAA held his sold-out SlowJamsWithA night at The Jazz Cafe, RECESS hosted RECESSLAND, with 7000 people travelling to Margate to enjoy a day of music and food, and a few days later DLT Malta returned.

Having seen the work of the RECESS team and recently attending DLT Malta, DJ, presenter and avid party-goer Bisola has seen the benefits of having a strong team and line-up first hand. ‘People were coming out because you can trust RECESS,’ she explains. ‘And I think what is most exciting for me is that we’ve got these names and brands that we can trust. I don’t need a superstar DJ at RECESS, I just need the team that they have already because they’re some of the best DJs in the country’.

Finding DJs who know how to flow with and mould the atmosphere has become a key component to a successful night, something Bisola has learned through hosting her eponymous event. Launched earlier this year, Bisola’s is a night for ‘the girls that like to shake their bum and the mandem with more than four caps’ (if you know, you know). With a few successful nights under her belt and more on the way, curating the line-up is more than just selecting the right DJs with the right sound. For Bisola, hosting her own event has not only created a place for like-minded party-goers, but a platform for the people who make the night happen. ‘I’m only ever really going to employ women. The girls are so good at DJing, why would I not book them? The girls are hard!’.

Aware that the lack of women on a line-up is not always intentional but sometimes a product of a male-dominated ‘ask who you know’ industry, Bisola hopes that more spaces will give women a chance to work their way up the same way as their male counterparts, recognising their talent for what it is.

‘Book more women. Allow women to be bad at first. I think no one ever gives us grace to be shit DJs from the jump. Put us earlier in the bill… you’ve taken a risk with everyone else because not everyone was sick at first. Take a risk with her, she’ll get better’.

As for the future of nightlife for Black Brits the sentiments held by various individuals are similar: venue ownership and spaces to enjoy all kinds of music. ‘The future for Black nightlife can create more spaces for different sounds that will be sick to see. So, more dance parties, more house raves, because we’ve got a few but more on the RECESS, DLT level.’ notes AAA.

With a changing landscape and more events adopting a ‘for us by us’ approach, Black Brits are finding new spaces to express themselves freely, work together and strengthen a community.

‘I think we’re currently in a really healthy space and it makes me so happy. Everyone really works together, and I think that’s what will make the scene the best it will ever be,’ adds Bisola. ‘When you’re really holding hands and you can boost each other up it’s so perfect, because we create these amazing scenes where everyone can meet’.

Words by Ira Alecia Gardner

This article originally appeared in Frontline Issue 001: The Breakthrough Issue, released August 2023.