They Just Want to Party. Do You Know What I Mean? Hacienda, House Music, Ecstasy, and the Future of Rave with Graeme Park

Originally from Scotland but brought up in the East Midlands in the early 80s, Graeme Park found himself being asked to cover Mike Pickering at the Hacienda and that’s how he ended up staying there, and eventually became one of the most notorious and influential DJ's on the 90s Acid House scene.

“The rave scene ultimately kind of democratised everything for everyone, and nobody cared who you were or what your background was.”

Our current generation has club nights open until four, five, 6am, but in the late eighties and the early nineties, there was no such thing. Graeme goes on to tell me that this generation is used to having bars playing music until midnight or 2am and some clubs not closing until the early morning, but back then - pubs didn’t have DJs, pubs closed at eleven, and clubs opened at ten and closed at two. But people still wanted to party once the clubs had closed and kicked them out - and that is where rave comes in…

“The Hacienda 1988 was the first time I had ever been a club where there was loads of different types of people, you’ve got a barrister dancing next to bricklayers, dancing next to a hairdresser, dancing next to teachers and dancing next to football hooligans, it was a real mix of people because as everyone subsequently found out - everyone was taking this little magic pill…”

The Hacienda was a famous nightclub and live music venue centered on Whitworth Street, Manchester in the 80s and 90s - it ran for fifteen years, opening in 1982 and closing in 1997. The Hacienda was a legendary venue and eventually became the centre for rave music in Manchester. it was one of the most famous music venues at the time, and when Mike Pickering and Graeme Park began to hold their ‘Nude’ club nights on a Friday night the Hacienda was reaching its prime - selling out 2000 capacity every Friday night.

“The thing about the Hacienda, people would show up thinking you had to be dressed smart and be told no you’re too smart, you don’t have to dress up to get in here. And I think house music and the rave scene ultimately kind of democratised everything for everyone, and nobody cared who you were or what your background was, and because dance music and house music has always borrowed from other stuff it just had such a massive appeal. With house music you’ve got so many different genres and so many different styles, and people just loved it.”

The Hacienda attracted people from all walks of life to unify, and ecstasy helped that to happen. “It (rave) was all about everyone getting on with everyone else, MDMA just made everyone just love each other and music was all about peace, love, and harmony. Just listen to the lyrics to things like 'Promised Land' and 'Someday' by CeCe Rogers.”

So if the Hacienda was on the rise, why did it shut down? There were various contributing factors, but the main one being finances. Graeme says, “ The Hacienda closed in 1997 because they ran out of money, they didn’t pay anyone which is bizarre when you think how 2000 people were in there every week. But it was really badly run that’s why, and then it was knocked down in 2002.”

However regardless of the fact the Hacienda no longer stands as a building, it is still living in music, through the Hacienda Classical albums and the Hacienda club nights, “Even though the bricks and water are gone, the Hacienda still exists as a club band, we’re currently getting ready for our fourth year of Hacienda Classical where we perform with an orchestra, which is amazing.”

The Hacienda club nights are also hosted, but often get mistaken by the older crowd who think it will be a re-make of the old Hacienda days, Graeme imitates a Mancunian accent saying “What’s all this music ? You didn’t used to play that at the Hacienda?” he continues to say “Well, where have you been for the past thirty years? They just get all misty eye and go ‘Oh Hacienda night’ but it’s not, that’s why we made Hacienda Classical because as a DJ you’ve got to move forward and play new stuff or else it’s boring.”

He expands further, “The idea of Hacienda Classical is to keep people who used to got to the Hacienda that don’t necessarily go clubbing anymore, let them hear the tunes they wanna hear with a twist, with an orchestra; and when it comes to club nights, people that haven’t been to the Hacienda - they just want to party. They don’t care if a tune is brand new or old, they just want to party. Do you know what I mean?”

The tabloid press created a sense of moral panic when the rave scene began, they pictured it to be this rebellious anti-establishment drug-lord fueled scene, when that was far from from the truth. Graeme goes on to state, “It was a euphoric scene that was more akin to the late sixties hippy movement than it was to the subversive punk rock movement the government was so worried about, or the establishment was so worried about.”

However the Government wasn’t so concerned with the drug culture side of things, they were more concerned with the fact they weren’t profiting off these huge parties that were making money. “The reason they ultimately got shut down is because, if people are making money that the government aren’t making any of, then of course they’re getting shut down. Like illegal raves don’t pay tax on anything, they don’t pay a duty.” He goes on to expand, “Plus the fact, clubs and drugs have always gone hand in hand, and if you have illegal parties then obviously there’s going to be lots of people taking drugs there.”

The Entertainments (Increased Penalties) Act 1990, otherwise known as The Acid House Bill was an act that got implemented to attempt prevent illegal raves by heightening punishments for those organising parties without licences. Then later on in 1994, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act was implemented in an effort to stop rave, it clarifies that events featuring music that's “characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats” gives the police the power to shut it down. They could also detain anyone they believed to be en route to an illegal rave, they were also given the right to stop vehicles travelling in a convoy of more than four cars and could even confiscate sound systems as well.

“But how do you stop thousands of people, all you know, happy, smiling people, how do you stop them all converging on a field in the middle of nowhere? You just can’t.”

Rave still hasn’t stopped, “If you fast forward to the 21st century, there are lots of legal warehouse parties that really do evoke the spirit of the late 80s/ early 90s, like the Warehouse Project in Manchester. That is... they’re brilliant. And you feel, although they’re paying their taxes and they’re paying their alcohol duty and everything, when you’ve actually been to the Warehouse party or you’re at the Warehouse party in Manchester, it does actually feel like it did in the 80s - it feels a bit naughty and it feels as though it might be illegal, even though it’s not.”

Thirty-five years later and Graeme Park finds himself still DJing, pursuing his passion and the Hacienda lives on.

The Hacienda Classical tour dates are below:

Saturday 08 June 2019 - Open Air Theatre, Scarborough, UK

Thursday 13 June 2019 – Sunday 16 June 2019 -  Isle of Wight Festival 2019 / Seaclose Park, Newport (Isle of Wight), UK

Saturday 15 June 2019 / Bedgebury National Pinetum & Forest, Goudhurst, UK

Sunday 16 June 2019 / Westonbirt Arboretum, Tetbury, UK

Saturday 06 July 2019 / Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

Saturday 13 July 2019 - Sounds of the City - Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, UK

Easy Life @ The Joiners Southampton 23/03/19

After being recently signed with Universal Island Records and releasing their new EP Spaceships Mixtape via Universal, this is Easy Life's first ever gig in Southampton after being signed to a major label. The gig felt so surreal being held at The Joiners, an intimate 200 capacity venue in Southampton, which of course Easy Life sold out. From start to finish, the energy level of every performer that entered the stage is off the scales. Support act, Che Lingo and Jacky P get the crowd feeling a sense of euphoria, and they carry their performance with a high energy level, a sense of joy and so much passion - creating a great atmosphere and buzz for headline act, Easy Life to begin their set.

Walking through the back of the crowd to make their long awaited entrance on to the stage, lead singer Murray greets Southampton as he walks through the crowd and he then falls into singing 'Frank', their second single release, acapella, before being accompanied by the instrumental.

Having released Spaceships Mixtape on March 18th, just five days before the gig, it was expected that a few new tunes would be played. Easy life receive a great reception on all of the new tracks they play, but 'Sunday', 'Afters' and 'Wet Weekend' are the standouts. 'Sunday' is the first track where the saxophone is being played, so wonderfully, and it sounds amazing.

An assembly of gifted musicians is what builds up Easy Life, with their talented front-man showcasing his multi-instrumentalist skills playing the keyboard and saxophone throughout the performances as well as performing vocals (obviously not singing and playing the sax at the same time), and the bassist Sam also plays the saxophone, joining Murray on the sax when playing '0520'.

'Slow Motion' itself is rather melancholy and slow track, however they remixed the track with 'Nightmares' after Murray sings "try and get a little bit... high" the track spirals into '0520' and explodes into a jazz wonderland, the two saxophones creating a sensational sequence of rhythm and groove.

Exclusive to Southampton was a track Easy Life have never played before, and they went on to play a track called 'Housebound' the exclusivity resonates with everyone in the room, so when Easy Life play popular track, 'Pockets' - the crowd goes untamed - likewise with 'Nightmares', and it radiates a unique sense of unity within the crowd. Leaving a lasting impression on Southampton, the crowd are left chanting for more and Murray gets flattered and states how this is the first time it has ever happened to them, and they had no more songs left to play. Therefore he left it to the audience to decide on a song to repeat for the encore, and the decider was 'Pockets'. Easy Life cease the night on a high - high energy, high performance, a high reception and a high impression.

Four Years and 100 Reviews Later

March 18th sets the date I first started sharing my thoughts and opinions on live and recorded music to a worldwide database. 2019 means its been four years since I had first written a review, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday deluxe album, being that first review. Reflecting back on it, it isn't written the best, but I was 16 with mediocre writing skills and a die-hard passion for any sound-wave with a groove - music, and that is all I had to work with.

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines, or dates by which bills must be paid." - Frank Zappa

Having been a music lover from a young age, I've always loved every aspect of music; the controversy, the media, the togetherness, unity, singing and of course the way it makes you feel. A lot of people quote that they owe their life to music, and those who share that deep connection with music, will understand that. Music has the ability to make you feel any and every type of emotion; sad, happy, angry, misunderstood, and even sexual. Yep, you read that right. Music is so powerful and so are words, being able to endlessly ramble on about an album or a gig you've been to and for people to WANT to read that, is the dream right?

"Now is not the time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is." - Ernest Hemingway

Where am I now?

I sort of flopped college to be honest, I tried really hard to succeed in academic subjects (business studies and economics) but music had always been my underlying passion - the thought of doing a job in one of those professions for the remainder of my life makes me want to scratch my eyeballs out with forks. I enjoy singing, but not performing - so I couldn't be a performer, meaning I would have to get one of the 'invisible' jobs in the music industry. I think music journalism is an 'invisible job' because people never forget the content of what is written, however you can be whoever you want to be! Who remembers names anyway?

When I started to write reviews it would take me days, because I would listen to the album on loop until I knew it like the back of my hand, whilst relentlessly writing notes on any lyrics/ sounds that I thought were interesting in one way or another. As the years have developed, so have my writing and planning skills (hopefully), so I set up my own blog and began to upload a review (religiously) every Sunday.

Then I moved to Southampton to create more precision in my expertise, and be taught the other aspects of journalism I wouldn't otherwise know unless I had done trial and error and figured it out for myself. Studying music journalism at a degree level has motivated me beyond belief, because I haven't failed, I have remained resilient throughout. Three years of deadlines, not one was missed. All whilst balancing a part-time job and committing to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, passion drives you in crazy directions and forces you to accomplish your goals, no matter what hurdles you may hit along the way.

In my final year at university, I am feeling the pressure. Multitudes of deadlines all over the place, whilst balancing my individual work and dissertation with my group project Talk Tonight Events isn't light work, but I am confident I will get through it. After all, I have gotten this far.

The whole point of this blog post is to revert back to how this all started for me, through blogging. My blog is essentially what got me in to university and has introduced me to so many musicians and artists as well as journalists, promoters, managers and other industry personnel. Not to forget the other amazing opportunities that have stemmed off the back of my blog. The points is, you can do whatever you want to do, and create your own opportunities - you just have to use what's available.

"Do a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life again."

Below is a picture of me after I hosted my first gig with Talk Tonight and it was a success! Here's to the future, to music, and to the future of music.