#18 Deeper Into Outer Space | Blasha & Allatt

Manchester’s storming techno duo Blasha & Allatt talk about their Meat Free party, DJing career and how they’ve transformed a boozer in the north-west into an epicentre of rave...

“When we’re travelling, we get people coming up to us and saying ‘ahhh I want to come to the pub where you do Meat Free’,” laughs Tasha Carter, the Blasha of Mancunian DJ duo, Blasha & Allatt.

“We’ll be in the middle of nowhere and there’ll be talking about the Derby Brewery Arms (DBA), this working man’s pub in Cheetham Hill,” she continues. “It had a reputation as an old school pub that wasn’t particularly open-minded until Mark [the current owner] took it over and transformed it into what it is now.”

Is there anything more satisfying than techno in the boozer? Incongruous locations are often where the best parties go down - from MS Stubnitz and Bang Face at Butlins to the recently unveiled Dragonfly at Glastonbury’s Arcadia, there’s something wonderful about electronic music dancing its way into unusual environments. 

Blasha and Steffi Allatt’s Meat Free party is promoted alongside Alice Woods (who was one of my ace guests when we did an ‘Out of Space’ launch in Manchester a few years ago) and has grown into a Mancunian institution, a night of eclectic techno that has nurtured a loyal community around it, not only in Manchester but across Europe too. We talk for an hour, often at tangents, about how they’ve built Meat Free up over ten years of parties, at venues including the White Hotel, The Yard and now the DBA while their own DJ sets have taken them to Berghain, Munich’s Blitz and beyond.

“We have to thank Meat Free for giving us the platform - so I guess we’re thanking ourselves,” laughs Steffi.

“It’s through the Meat Free community that we’ve been able to turn this into something we could do for a living.”

Early DJing

The pair met through a mutual buddy, then stayed friends online and started partying together once Steffi had made the move to Manchester. It was long lost nights at Sankeys and the odd Warehouse Project that led to them firming up their friendship. 

“After I moved to Manchester, we just ended up going B2B,” says Steffi. “We never had a chat about becoming a duo, it just kind of happened, which is how some of the best working relationships blossom.” 

Meat Free came together around the same time, with shared tastes driven by techno classics from the late nineties and early 2000s, labels including Downwards, Blueprint and artists like the Advent and Patrik Skoog.

“British producers were a big focus such as James Ruskin, Oliver Ho, Jamie Bissmire, Chris McCormack,” Steffi says. “The music that bonded us were these pillars of UK techno.” 

“We influenced each other too and introduced artists to each other,” continues Tasha. “When we first started out as Blasha & Allatt, we weren’t just playing techno, we were multi-genre, we’d play electro, house, breaks and weave in and out of different genres. Now we’re slightly more attached to techno but we’ll still bounce between these different styles, you never get a linear set with us.”

The world of techno that they operate in can be one full of unwritten rules about how to look and play, restrictions that get pushed and debated on social media threads and forums. These are binary concepts that the pair work against with their own selections and mixes. 

“Some love a ‘journey’ DJ but that concept is open to interpretation and we’ve always played a broad selection of styles,” Steffi explains. “When we play longer sets, more so in Berlin and Amsterdam, we get the chance to show that off - but there can be criticism too, we get some heat for not staying in our lane.”

“I think we’ve always preferred to channel an uplifting spirit to leave people happy rather than exercising demons.”

Meat Free’s inception

When they first started promoting in 2013, Manchester had different techno nights including Process, Adapt, and Zutekh among their number. It was the shared experiences on some of these dancefloors that led to the inspiration for Meat Free.

“We thought we could do it ourselves but in a more unserious way as Meat Free,” Steffi says. “One of our motives was trying to get people to smile on the dancefloor when they’re enjoying serious music. That’s at our core.” 

“The way we approach it as women is different to how men would do it too. As DJs, I think you can tell when you’re playing for a female-run party or a night when a woman is involved.” 

“It doesn’t happen that often either, the majority of people we play for are male,” says Tasha. “But when we started, there were plenty of nights in Manchester, it was a very supportive scene and it really grew. Then after Covid, a lot of these parties disappeared and never came back.” 

Manchester is a city with a long-standing reputation for certain sounds, bands and nightclubs. Although the shiny, towering metropolis is where their nights are run, Steffi says they take inspiration from the attitude of the dancers rather than the city itself. 

“It’s the down to earth mindset and community spirit that’s important to me. At our nights, everyone is happy and respectful, we’ve always portrayed this tongue in cheek, British vibe.” 

“We’re not afraid to have a laugh, we did a raffle during the DBA NYE party,” she continues. “We stopped the music, then called out the winners, then we started the techno again. It’s just a pisstake.” 

“That’s the spirit in which Meat Free was formed,” agrees Tasha. “There is a place for the more serious side of electronic music but we formed Meat Free off the back of wanting to have more fun.”

No hierarchies

Lineups for Meat Free have welcomed many of electronic’s greats to their party, from Steffi and Virginia (pictured above) to local hero Yant and more. While the musical programming is key, hierarchical nights are not what they’re looking to achieve. Instead, their parties are showcases for established and emerging acts as well as their own unique way of taking a dancefloor apart. 

“We can create these amazing line ups - for example, Steffi B2b with Regis at the DBA which was the first time they’ve ever done it,” says Steffi. “We don’t want anyone to be chin-stroking or in awe of the headliners. We do have guests but flip it by having plenty of emerging artists who we want to platform, both local and international.” 

“It’s also how we can grow as a party, there’s trust in who we’re booking,” adds Tasha. “Whoever comes to our nights knows they are going to get quality music regardless of whether they know the names on the bill or not.”

With Meat Free now over a decade old, the trio behind the night are always looking to inject excitement into what they’re doing. This was what led to their 24 hour party, an event that ran from the White Hotel to the DBA via Temporary Event Notices. 

“When we first started promoting, we’d be doing nights at Joshua Brooks and they would finish at 4am,” says Tasha. “We’ve gradually pushed it and made events longer and longer.”

“The appetite is really there,” Steffi explains. “These longer events are pretty intense to run so we only do them twice a year but we’ve been responsible for pushing opening times to offer a more European approach to clubbing in Manchester.”

That this takes place in what was once a very traditional old man’s pub in Manchester is part of what makes their nocturnal endeavours so exciting. 

“The DBA is now one of the venues to play in Manchester, it’s become very loved and we’re so happy that it’s doing well,” says Steffi. “Mainstream clubbing culture in the UK gets a lot of flack but this is a great example of what a brilliant club can be.”

International DJs

While their names were made in Manchester, it’s the travels of Blasha & Allatt that have cemented their reputation around the world as exceptional party starters.

As residents at Vault Sessions in Amsterdam, regulars at FOLD and Berghain, these away fixtures have given them the confidence to take their sets up another notch.

“To play these parties, they are all very vibey,” says Steffi. “Blitz’ Cruise party is unreal.”

“In Europe, there’s a different approach to partying, they use it in the same way as people use meditation or other forms of self-care.”

“People take it more seriously and you can sense that, they aren’t on their phones or chatting, they are headsy but still fun.”

The pair both feel that being able to take their DJ sets to such an array of different spaces has sharpened their skills behind the decks. With a busy summer of DJ dates ahead and more Meat Free plans incoming, the pair are visibly buzzing at their future plans. 

“We’re alway looking for something that excites us,” says Steffi. “Always hoping to push ourselves into new spaces - now we’ve started having people come from Europe to our parties, after ten years, it feels like we’re just getting started.” 

Visit thisismeatfree.com and instagram.com/blashaallatt for more.

For more on club and rave culture, you can order a copy of my book, ‘Out of Space: How UK Cities Shaped Rave Culture’ via the Velocity Press website now.