A couple of Sundays ago we celebrated the (temporary) farewell of a great friend and great guy, Gareth Solan, who was set to leave the following day back to his native city of Dublin. Gareth shot us an email about three months ago, and in it he introduced himself (studying in Boston, working in NYC for the summer, loves dance music) and asked if he could get involved in the production of the parties. Judging from the tone and honesty of his message, we thought he’d be a swell guy to work with.
Gareth proved to be a massive contribution to the team. Amongst many other things, Gareth has helped us stamp and pack records, sell merchandise, and load up the U-Haul truck with our sound system. But more importantly, there’s a certain special level of people that one can meet and work with within this world of parties and music, and Gareth is one of them. To be acquainted with Gareth is to be treated like an equal and a friend.
Early in the afternoon before things got busy, we sat down at a picnic table to try and conduct a serious interview.
MSN: You’re from Dublin, right?
Gareth: Yeah. [laughs] How’d you know that? Someone tell you? You heard?
MSN: Oh well, through the grapevine…yeah, I know how Eamon sneaks you guys in. The Underground Irish Railroad.
Gareth: Yep, there’s a whole band of us! Comes in straight from the city.
MSN: Ah, that’s great. So what brought you to the States, Gareth?
Gareth: Well, I’m studying Marketing at Northeastern University in Boston. I was lucky enough to get an internship here for six months. The internship is actually totally unrelated to my major. More like technology. So, I’m in NYC, and I came to these parties because I heard it was a good party, and I wasn’t wrong! It’s been a new experience for me in every aspect, really – new field, new city, new people.
MSN: First time here?
Gareth: Well, no, I’ve been here a few times before, but living here, yes.
MSN: How old are you?
Gareth: 22.
MSN: What other parties have you been to over here that you really like?
Gareth: I went to some of the parties that Verboten ran. BLKMarket was also good for techno. House music parties, I don’t think anything can hold a candle to what these Justin and Eamon do.
MSN: How’s the scene different here than in Dublin?
Gareth: Here’s there’s way more house. A lot more house. Also more outdoor parties, because of the weather here and all.
MSN: Less house, more…?
Gareth: Techno’s probably bigger, and there’s an extension of the UK scene that is kinda big too. The parties tend to be not that dissimilar in size, but there are less of them. There are a couple of spots – the Twisted Pepper and The Bernard Shaw – where the scene kind of revolves around. They’ve done so much work for the scene there at home. They’ve really brought it on and are doing it right, and they’ve inspired a lot of people to do that as well. It’s good.
MSN: What are the names of some of these parties?
Gareth: Well, one of them is called Pogo, every Saturday night at the Twisted Pepper. Another is Mud, which is like a UK dubstep party – originally started as a dubstep/jungle night. They have a huge following and book some great acts. There’s also Twelve, which happens at the Bernard Shaw, and it’s an all day party. It’s kind of similar to here, but we don’t have the weather to do it outdoors, so they just do it inside, but sometimes it goes outdoors too. There’s a lot of other promoters doing other things, but not as well as those guys. They definitely fuel the fire at home.
MSN: What was one of your best experiences here in NY?
Gareth: Man, too many. Too many to remember, too many to even do that question justice. You know dude, I can’t even put it down to one thing, but every day when I go to the grocery store, I have to walk up two blocks from my house, but the block in between, Clinton Avenue, there’s a view from the city. And it’s the most beautiful view of the city. As they say the best thing about Manhattan is the view from Brooklyn. The exact address is Park and Clinton. You gotta make the trip down, it’s spectacular. The city’s in the background, and in the foreground it’s all the cranes from the Navy Yard. Any time of day is amazing, but particularly at nighttime, right around midnight. So seeing that is kinda like a special moment each time. I don’t think I could get sick of that view. It’s pretty special.
Well, Gareth, a view of Manhattan is pretty nice, but what about a collective bear-hug from 50+ partygoers? At the end of the night, Justin got on the mic, pointed out Mister Solan on the dancefloor, announced that it was his final night in NYC and instructed everyone to gather around and embrace him farewell. And everyone happily obliged. Now THAT was something special – a instantaneous dancefloor scrum of love.
See you in September, brother!
This is the second release on the label, an EP by Archie Pelago, a Brooklyn-based band that’s played both the Mister Saturday Night and Mister Sunday parties. They’re a trio of players whose lighthearted name belies the seriousness of their music. Consisting of a classically trained cellist, a classically trained saxophone player and a live programmer/DJ, they make songs that work as well on dancefloors as they do in headphones. This EP lays out their strengths perfectly: Brown Oxford swings; Alice simmers; and Frederyck Swerl pulls on the heartstrings. Handstamped by the band and the Mister guys and pressed to 150-gram vinyl with love in Brooklyn.