Habit turns 5 on March 17th. One of our residents, Tom Belte has very kindly taken a retrospective look at Habit, how he met us & what makes the party continue 5 years on.
5 years ago seems like a long time when I think hard about it, I can remember 2008 well and moments in that year only feel like yesterday, others feel a good while back. Those memories are more vintage and have a hazed feel through nights out and moments spent with friends in Birmingham dancing in spaces, some were makeshift and others were more choreographed.
If we look at time and its effect on people we can begin to see how we have changed, perhaps as a historian will testify, the past can also tell us where we are heading. I am not certain if that notion can always be attributed to everything in life, things should remain in “before” – we reflect on the past where it can be just as heart-warming and as moving as the present. Dwelling on what time can do to individuals is philosophical as much as it normality for a lot of people I know, club goers are full of memories, when it comes to dancing in clubs with your friends listening and dancing to music. Memories are held and kept so they can be reviewed with reminiscence again and again.
I can remember the first time I met Mat Jones, Andy Price, Steve Thornton and James Roberts.
I met a young Mat Jones at a Boxing Day rave up at Cream in Liverpool which has gone down in glorious clubbing history in my social group, notoriously the all-nighter followed on to an all-dayer. Those that were there will know and its best left at that.
Andy Price I met at a Bank Holiday in the Rainbow Courtyard for a Below event (the roof was off then) and he had much longer hair, In club land you meet a lot of people and learn their characteristics, with Andy’s its always been a smile and a proper man hug – nothing more and nothing less, but he does have shorter hair now.
I can remember coming out of Godskitchen at a criminally emptyish Bedrock night (curse you Birmingham) and seeing Steve Thornton hammering out flyers for his after-party at The Bash Bar not far from Victoria Square, I sort of knew the party and his name so I introduced myself to him. I was absolutely pulverized, Steve thought it was hilarious at the time, we swapped contacts (probably said “hook me up on MySpace”) and I helped play some sets for his parties afterwards, it was like that at the time in Birmingham.
James I met like Steve flyering, this time outside of The Custard Factory for Godskitchen. I was doing the same for a night I was running with friends and we talked about the future bookings of the Nitrogen Room. I used to love that room and James had similar tastes at the time, that meeting started an association of courtly nods in Birmingham when going out, right through to DJing with him at Habit. It’s uncanny writing this how things sometimes develop and work out.
After the 1st party at Habit I had some interest in heading down to see what had started, The Bulls Head back then for me was at it’s best in its early years.. particularly the layout of the upstairs room. Birmingham was desperate for new spaces at the time and Habit had latched on to The Bulls Head and smartly familiarised the venue to the club scene in Birmingham.
Shortly afterwards Mat Jones sent me a private message on MySpace asking if I was up for spinning some records at Habit. I had at the time started building quite an assorted record collection, full of my much loved house music at the time but also smatterings of hip hop, funk, broken beat and disco music.
I ended up playing the 2nd party, it was a boiling hot summers night and things went well. I think I played between 10:00 and 12:00 before Mat and Andy did, at the time I had been playing 1 hour sets for most promoters and wanted I to play a lot longer. Mat and Andy offered that option, so it was a nice lesson for me as well as a pleasure to be part of a new promising night. I got to drop records from artists such as Chic, Tiga, Zed Bias and a lot of the contemporary stripped back house/broken beat at the time. Tracks like Dennis Ferrer – Son of Raw and the odd Dirty Bird Records groover were also played.
From then on I was booked frequently, I started expanding my record collection in to something which I realised other people may or may not enjoy. I still dropped the odd blunder at Habit. The DJ equipment at The Bulls Head was up to a good standard and also had a respectable monitoring set up; there were no excuses in other words!
Over time I got to share the decks with some best friends, new friends and guests from in and around Birmingham, there were also a core group of regulars –you all know who you are. I would DJ back to back with Matt and Andy which became a highlight as much as huge chuckle to have. I can remember drinking copious amounts of Guinness and stumbling home a lot, one night I found myself being sick out of a taxi door in Kings Heath after a pre Christmas party where Andy, Mat, James and I played all night long. The taxi driver was insistent in talking to me for the whole journey about DJing and how his friend was a Bangra DJ, the usual how much do I get paid, have I got my own set up questions were thrown at me whilst I was trying to stay composed until I got back home. I made it, just about, and spewed up the drive then collapsed on the settee as soon as I got in.
Habit by then had hosted a lot of parties, monthlies at The Bulls Head and lots of other parties at other venues. They were a kind of an on tour party with the residents, it worked well as Habit reached out to other partiers who perhaps had not been to the nights at The Bulls Head.
The best DJ set I ever played in my small DJing career and inclusively one of the best Habit’s for me coincided jointly when Habit was asked to host The Kitchen at one of the early Electricity Nights in Birmingham at The Custard Factory. I DJ’d with Jon Gilday, we had a good 2 hours, Andy and Mat had smashed it before hand, Jon and I bought it down with a few records, this was I can assure you unintentional and I can remember the alarmed look on both mine and Jon’s faces realising we had somewhat emptied the room.
I then played Sasha – Who Killed Sparky, I was that concerned about the mix I had failed to look up. When I did, the room was full again – We played the best set of our DJ careers, the sort of DJ set when playing records to people becomes effortless, natural and unbelievably satisfying. There are photos lurking on the internet of both Jon and I standing on the deck tables united with about 200 other people going bonkers. A proper Judge Jules moment on reflection but awesome all the same.
One of the greatest parts of being a Habit resident was getting to close a night; I am a keen supporter of end of the type of end of night sets which close with all manner of new and old music positioned together. I would purposely make sure when I finished the night with a weird little rule, the last 3 records would follow in a certain order, the first being a massive acid track, the 2nd being a classic for me personally and then the 1 more with the lights on ranging from heady house classics such as Promised Land, Thrill Me, Your Love, House Nation and Can You Feel It. Proper vibes.
With Habit being the open minded night it was I also got to play all my favourite disco/slower records, some were old and some were new before the housier building block of a Habit night would start. Tracks which I had no other place to play would be welcomed with smiles from the other DJ’s and crowd. It became an obligatory part of my set where Steve would pop over and shout “tune” down my ear and Mat, James and Andy would be asking “what’s this?”, which in essence like every record spinner knows is great praise when you are worrying about if people are going to like that odd Balearic slow chugger you packed to play out.
Steve Lawler also got to come to the Hare and Hounds with Habit hosting the party, it was suitably rammed all night long and had an incredible vibe, Lawler played hours of rolling techno and house music. I had spent the day driving around the UK to pick a work van up, I was shattered when I arrived at The Hare and Hounds. But I stayed and danced all night as the party was so fantastic. I can remember Andy saying as the party ended and me asking what he was doing afterwards, he replied with a smart and to the point “well I wont be f*cking sleeping !” which was naturally said it all.
As I type, flashes of memories keep coming through, the wait on the Friday night after work until I got to The Bulls Head and the obligatory hangover on the Saturday at work, or the Saturday day’s preparing my records at home before the big one on the evening. I would always arrive to see all of the Habit folks setting up the party, hanging camouflage, making sure the lights worked well and the party was set up to go off. And it did, countless times.
It’s the attention to detail and the ethos of Habit which has left the Habit team here with 5 years under their belt, not just happy with playing music, but also making the night experience as important as anything. Habit showed and highlighted to other nights, promoters and DJ’s, a crowd who would hang about and dance, make friends and then stay friends afterwards.
At its most ordinary Habit is a party from Birmingham, at its best Habit is a party unified in shining people, immense music, great environments and utter contented feelings for those involved.
We all have design classics in life which come in many forms in club land, the likes of All Night Petrol Stations, Rizla Packets, Urei Mixers and Technics 1200’s. Habit ethos is a classically designed night of supreme times, good kick drums and excellent people.
5 years of love and hard work show their fruition when you meet the people behind any project that works. For nights and archetypes like Habit who have placed a stake in what works well, especially in the indisputable world of Birmingham clubbing that for me is somewhat deserving of a massive high five, a “good on ya” and a big well done.
Long may they continue.
