CoOp a brief history.
The Co-Op club first opened it’s doors back in 2000, the brain child of artists and DJ’s IG Culture, Dego from 4Hero, Afronaught & Mark Force, Demus from 2 Banks Of 4 and Mr Phil Asher. "We needed a place to play the kind of music we’d all been producing, commonly known now as broken beat" remarks IG. "Dego had been working with Sahra through his Reinforced links and she hooked up the spot, "The Velvet Rooms" on London’s Charing Cross Road.
All four had been involved with a larger circle of DJ’s and producers including The Bugz crew on the Co-Operation albums and with Goya in the mix there was enough people around to make a nice dance happen each week. "At first it was only us" says Mike from Goya, "We’d bring friends and girlfriends in each week so the parties were intimate, but everyone was fully into the music so the energy could get intense". "It truly was inspiring" says Spencer from Goya, "On the Monday morning after the club I’d find IG in the studio, He’d been there all night making tracks for the next Co-Op session". So this became the norm for the first year, gradually building as more and more people got involved
As word spread, more people would pass by - Orin from Bugz explains "1Xtra’s Benji B was passing by the Velvet Rooms from early on, at the time he was producing the Worldwide radio shows for Gilles and he’d tell his people, longtime DJ Dez Parkes heard about it and he’d bring all kinds of people down, Roy Ayres got a lot of love one night, as did Don Blackman."
IG and Demus had cut their teeth playing on sound systems through the late 80’s so there was an unofficial "open mic" policy at the club and being surrounded by rappers and vocalists through everyone’s production work there were no shortage of talent cueing up for the mic. "From the start we had a real close connection with the dancefloor, by using the mic you open up the DJ booth to the whole room" explains IG "and people respond better, the vibe is always warmer than if it’s just a bunch of DJ’s playing records you gotta play TO a club, not just at a club."
Moving forward, Daz I kue from Bugz in the Attic organised a live session with Kaidi Tatham and the BB Boogie girls for the 1st Birthday Spesh and Mark de Clive Lowe also did a live session, suddenly the Co-Op was taking on a new direction.
"It was an amazing 2 years for Co-Op at the Velvet Rooms" says Sahra, but the Co-Op had to find a new home when London Transport repossessed the land that the club was built many offers from various venues dotted around London, The Co-Op club moved to its current home at Plastic People in Londons Shoreditch. With arguably one of the best sounds systems in the country the night developed into a heavyweight dub-plate frenzy where "Co-Op" club regulars are constantly bombarded with brand new material, fresh from the studio on CDR & acetate.
The "Co-Op" has also featured at the Big Chill Festival, Elektronikaldia Festival (San Sebastian, Spain), The London Jazz Festival and not forgetting the last 4 years at Europe’s largest outdoor event The Notting Hill Carnival, with some of West Londons finest, UpRock, Fun Bunch & the G.I. Roadshow. . .
"We were dead lucky with that one" explains Spencer "You don’t get new spots at the carnival, it’s all been sown up from time, so when the guys from The Good Intentions Roadshow passed by the Goya office and said they we’re looking to get involved we jumped at the chance. Right outside our office too!!"
In 2005 the Co-Op club extend their reach to include more live events under the Co-Op Live moniker putting on DKD live at Londons Cargo - Also presenting CoOp 5ive the 5th Birthday Party & Xmas party rolled into one with another never seen before live exclusive from Likwid Biskit
What started off as an outlet for emerging talent, is growing into a respected movement/scene with many cities in the UK and most countries around the world representing in one form or another. And the Co-Op club is a big part of this. If you’re in town and you’ve not been treat yourself - with the energy, the warmth and the forward thinking music I defy anyone not to come along, be inspired and have a good time
As we’ve been saying for a little while now If It Ain’t Broken, Fix It.!
