One of VFD's most iconic nights, Dirtbox, recently made its comeback, bringing with it lots of familiar faces and popper-scented memories of debauched days... We caught up with Dirtbox crew, Jos, Alex and Michael, for a Q&A.
Q: Dirtbox is the stuff on legends in VFD’s history. Can you recount where the inspiration, and the name, for the night came from?
A: When we first started talking about doing a night we very much wanted it to be a no-frills night with good music. We very much were inspired by gay discos from the 1970s and 1980s in terms of music with very sexy undertones but not overtly sexual (although a lot of things happened...). When it came to picking a name we were looking for something that we felt would be the embodiment of that sentiment and so settled on Dirtbox.
Q: Describe the sound of Dirtbox? A: It's evolved a lot since we started which was really eclectic from hiphouse to newbeat, but it's now really about modern deep house vibe interspersed with old rave classics
Q: What makes Dirtbox unique in terms of a clubbing experience? A: Dirtbox had a reputation as a no-holds-barred, anything-goes kind of night.
Q: What’s the most outrageous story from the original days of Dirtbox? A: Urm, probably that time that circle jerk happened on the dancefloor. It was just in time for Christmas. (That's the only thing I can remember anyway, too much poppers...).
Q: What made you decide to rebirth the night after its 2 year hiatus? A: When we started there wasn't much going on in Dalston, even Superstore hadn't opened. There was just fashion parties in Shoreditch but then it exploded over the years; there was so many parties it was time to take a break but everyone kept asking and asking us to do one again so we thought, why not?
Q: Do you think the clubbing landscape in Dalston has changed since the original nights? If so, what’s different / what do you miss? A: It's definitely changed a lot. When we first started back in 2009 there were only a handful of bars and not much else. It was also a lot less busy on weekend nights with mostly people from East London or those in the know coming to parties as it was a bit more of an effort to get there before the overground opened at Dalston Junction.
Q: In 5 words, tell us why we should come to the next instalment on Saturday 13th August? A: Poppers, sweat, men, sexy times and more poppers.
DIRTBOX is back: Sat 13 Aug from 10pm.