#16 | Deeper Into Outer Space | Genesis Collective
“Raving should feel anti-establishment, underground and naughty - the second it loses that feeling, it loses touch with its roots…”
“Think. Feel. Underground” is the tag line for the Genesis Collective, a Birmingham clubbing brand specialising in UK bass and set up by Founder James Stammers.
James was among one of the many interviewees for the second edition of my book, ‘Out of Space: How UK Cities Shaped Rave Culture’, which has just come out via Velocity Press and features a new chapter on the nocturnal rumblings of the second city.
James initially began throwing illicit parties during the lockdowns of 2020 but fast forward four years, and his brand Genesis are now residents at Birmingham’s wicked Lab11 warehouse space. Their party guests have included DJs such as Skeptic and Sophia Violet from Girls Don’t Sync.
Get to know Genesis and James’ take on Brum club life below.
To celebrate the new book edition, we’re also hosting a launch bash for ‘Out of Space’ in Belfast at the very great Sound Advice in May.
You can grab free tickets for the event here.
How did your party start?
Genesis started in lockdown. Little did we know this was arguably the worst moment in history to start a rave brand.
The idea came from a book I’d read about the roots and history of the free party movement and acid house in the nineties. I had been attending raves since I was 16, but aged 19, the book inspired me to start my own illegal raves. Given the restrictions associated with lockdown it felt like the right moment to be the person to give people a space to dance, and to be exposed to underground music that they may not have heard before.
The initial parties were in basements and kitchens, and technically were illegal due to the lockdown regulations, but I quickly realised that illegal raves were not the way forward, with social media making it virtually impossible to pull one off without extreme risks and loss.
“We threw our first club night in Tunnel Club with around 200 people on the day that lockdown ended - the buzz from pulling off a rave of that scale and energy after 18 months of restrictions was something I'll never forget, nor replicate, and it felt like we had genuinely given people a night and space they would never forget.”
We then became involved in the growing UK garage and breaks movement that we are now seeing make a huge mark on some of the biggest clubs in the UK and Europe, which led us to being residents at Lab11 and taking our sound and concept to a wider audience in the Midlands.
Which spaces have you hosted nights at in Brum? And what have been your stand out events?
We've hosted parties in most of the key venues in the city, and each have their own quirks and benefits.
The first rave was very special, there was that real feeling of release and escapism that I had read about and idolised in the books and documentaries I had watched about the acid house movement, and to provide and capture that emotion and energy was something I'll never forget, and I doubt it will be topped.
All of our early raves at Tunnel Club had a great vibe, the space is really underground and it did feel like another world, the club goes back to the nineties, so I always felt like the energy from the decades of its existence was stored in the walls of that place.
Since then, we've used the Hare & Hounds, The Mill, XOYO, Zumhof, Sector 57 and more recently, LAB11. Stand out events would be Interplanetary Criminal in 2022, just before he blew up to become the household name he is now, hosting Hamdi's recent UK tour at the Hare & Hounds, and our first event with Bakey two years ago - it was complete chaos in the best way possible.
In terms of challenges in Birmingham, have there been any difficulties you've had to overcome in making your events a success? We're all skinter than we've been in the past and I know some promoters struggle in terms of advance tickets - is this something you've had to deal with?
Every promoter is squeezed at the moment. Costs are higher than ever, with DJ fees, club hire and marketing costs all inflated due to the financial pressures that have resulted from the lockdown, and the lack of investment and care for the industry from the government and councils across the UK - but especially in Birmingham.
The UK has lost over 30% of its nightclubs since Covid, and the decision makers here are the ones who are to blame. On the other hand, ravers have less money than ever, meaning people are buying closer to the events, or not buying at all.
The result is promoters are squeezed at both ends, with higher costs, and consumers unable to absorb higher prices - meaning margins are slimmer than ever.
“In my experience, people need shared experiences with music and friends more than ever when times are hard. It is just a case of making it worth their while, and finding ways to innovate and adapt to changing behaviours - just like the promoters did back in the nineties.”
Is Birmingham’s nightlife in good health at the moment?
It depends what you are after. There are enough big, mainstream house and drum & bass events to keep you entertained twice a weekend - however, the appetite for, and accessibility to, underground music and newcomers in the scene is a problem.
There is little to no support for venues, and this is felt by the smaller, independent spaces, who are the ones that are closing down at such a high rate - this means less accessibility for new promoters to host events, and new musicians to experiment and showcase their sound - before growing into the bigger venues.
The result is a less organic scene, where grassroots talent and venues find it harder to grow, and might look elsewhere or unfortunately give up due to a lack of opportunity.
In my book, I've talked about the future of nightlife - the prevailing news/narratives are about the demise of clubbing - how do you feel about this? Are you optimistic about the future of clubs/clubbing?
I think the demand will always be there, but how the demand is met has to constantly change. There is a trend of superclubs at the moment, with Drumsheds, for example, hosting 15,000 people a night. The scale of this is crazy, and it is hard to look at a venue like this and say that nightlife as a concept is in decline.
However, I think this is a wider conversation about what a rave actually is. Drum & bass and house tunes consistently hit the UK charts, get billions of streams a month and the DJs are household names. This would've been unthinkable 20-30 years ago, so begs the question whether it can be called raving, and what is clubbing (i.e. listening to popular music while on a night out). I think these are pop artists, and a lot of these superclubs are hosting club nights, not raves.
Raving, in my opinion, is a concept where like-minded people come together in a shared space to enjoy a shared passion for music, while also experiencing new music and ideas.
This could be in a dingy club in Digbeth, a field in Wales or someone's kitchen with a portable speaker at 6am. Raving won't die, it will take different forms, as it always has done. It is hard to predict the future of nightlife, but I don't doubt it will reinvent itself and its identity - as it always has done.
Big up to James for the interview and everyone else featured in the Birmingham book chapter.
Connect with Genesis Collective | The next Genesis event will take place on 7th June at LAB11. Get tickets now.
James’ comments alongside those of other Birmingham-affiliated DJs, promoters and artists can be found in the new edition of my book, ‘Out of Space: How UK Cities Shaped Rave Culture’.
You can order a copy of my book via the Velocity Press website now.
I lile the comment about raving never dying but taking different forms. But those forms may be drastically different in the future as spaces are transformed by VR/AI .. taking on more digitised forms that we might expect