is the mysterious new clubnight that’s all about bath robes, chest hair and most importantly, sweats. After their surprise launch night with Fort Romeau in Freshers Week, the boys are back this Halloween weekend with at the Harley. We caught up with Freddie Norwood their resident DJ and founder to find out more.
Hey Freddie! G’day mate! Before we get started on your new club night, let’s quickly explain to those who don’t know (myself included) the full story on how you left behind the sunny paradise of Adelaide, Australia for rainy Yorkshire.
G’day Cobber! Firstly, Adelaide is indeed a sunny paradise and bit of a hidden gem, most people who travel to Australia or indeed come from Australia limit themselves to the east coast. But for the best weather, the best beer, the best wine, and some of the best electronic music, Adelaide is where it’s at! I have always been attracted to the UK music scene and I came over to Sheffield on University exchange a few years ago and fell in love, so I thought it would be a fun challenge to come and live over here for a while and immerse myself in the Sheffield scene.
So the Untzz label was you? AND Big Doint records? I’ve only just realised I have two of your records, one of which is Mic Mills’ ‘Wonderland’ no less, which I’ve been obsessed with ever since I saw Ben UFO drop it at Glasto’ b2b with Midland and Joy Orbison.
Untzz was a collective of four of my best friends and I, who all used to DJ together at the same club in Adelaide. We started renting a studio together and were making a lot of music and decided we needed to make our own label to release it all. Big Doint came not too long after Untzz started, as an outlet for fruity sample-house and disco stuff. I’ll be sure to tell Mic that ‘Wonderland’ continues to be mentioned as he hates that tune now. I think it’s fantastic though.
And you did a Boiler Room?!
Yeah Boiler Room came to Adelaide to do an Untzz label showcase, it was maybe the most fun night of my life so far! All 5 of us Untzz guys played after each other to a crowd of a few hundred of our closest friends, you can see so much love in all of the videos.
So…Sweats. Your social media describes the event as “bath robes / glitter / bubble machines / incense / disco balls / totem poles / sex / silliness / bodies / balloons / confetti / chest hair / closed eyes / open minds / freedom / love / sweat” WTF? Please explain.
Dance music is fun, dance music is inclusive, dance music isn’t supposed to be made by cool kids, played by cool kids, for cool kids to come and stroke their chins to and tell their mates when they know the title of every tune. SWEATS is a party for anybody and everybody to come, forget the stress of their monotonous working life and DANCE. Think hedonism, think happiness, think love, think “do what you want always”. If you think you don’t like house music, if you think you don’t like disco, if you think you don’t like The Harley, if you think you are too old to go out anymore, if you think you can’t dance, if you think you are too cool to throw on some jewels and silk and have a boogie, I urge you to think again and come to SWEATS. I promise you will have fun!
It’s certainly an original concept. You launched your launch party with Fort Romeau with just 5 days to go before the event. I have to admire the fearlessness! What’s the aim with all this mysteriousness and confusion?
To be honest I don’t think it is necessarily an original concept! I think clubbing is and always was supposed to be about freedom, inclusivity, dancing, passion and fun. I think somewhere along the way it became a bit “cool” and exclusive, but there must be parties all over the world that are just as free and fun as ours, just perhaps without the bathrobes.
The launch party with Fort Romeau was fantastic, we had some complications which forced us to announce later than we would have liked, but I don’t think people really want to get 25 Facebook notifications about every event a month in advance anyway. We told people about the concept and the word spread and all of the amazing people who came along had a great time and will no doubt bring more of their friends along this time!
Who are the Sweats crew? What’s the link with Pretty Pretty Good?
The SWEATS crew are Pierre Pressure, Ricky Business, Pappi Del Pancake, Billy Wizard, Brock Le Casbah, Jimmy Kitchen and The Glitter Birds™. The Pretty Pretty Good guys are a couple of pretty pretty good friends of mine from when I was last here a few years ago, who are now doing some really cool things in Sheffield, and who I knew could help me out with getting a new party off the ground, for which I owe them a lot of thanks and love!
We’re super excited for your ‘Halloween Spesh’ with Glenn Astro. Is there something that will tie all the Sweats parties and headliners together?
The DJs who we invite to play at Sweats will be fun-loving and won’t mind blurring the boundaries between house, disco, funk, techno and whatever other dance music they feel like playing. The music is the most important part of the night, and so we will be thinking very carefully about booking artists who understand the vibe we are trying to create, but really it doesn’t matter the name of the person playing the music. If you trust that we will book the right DJs, and we trust that they will understand the vibe of the party, then it will be sick, trust.
Cheers Freddie! See you on Saturday
Cheers Leo, see you on the dancefloor ~ robe donned, sweat dripping, smiling wide.
return to the Harley this Saturday 28th of October for a Halloween Spesh with Glenn Astro. Tickets are available from £5
