Andy C is back in XOYO and the next 12 Fridays at the Shoreditch venue are going to be a guaranteed roadblock. Friday January 4 saw the Ram Records founder and his MC in crime Tonn Piper kick the residency off with a mind-melting five-hour set, pick up where he left the venue after his first residency in 2017 as if they never went away. There’s a reason his first record was Sub Focus’s Special Place….
“It was very special,” grins Andy, who is the only to be invited back to XOYO for a second residency. “Going into it I was like ‘what’s this going to be like? Will it be same again?’ But instantly we were locked in. It was such a lovely vibe and the crowd are even closer this time. It was awesome.”
The club’s new layout was the only remarkable change. Now arranged with the booth closer to the dancefloor, the XOYO’s vibe can be likened to The End, a venue where Andy diligently chiselled his reputation for regular marathons and on point crowd control.
“It is like The End. It really is,” he agrees. “I loved it and it was exactly was I wanted. Everyone locked in, everyone knows the tunes. You’re so close to the crowd you can hear the reaction and feel the energy. I’m just loving it. And the great thing is that when the night finishes it’s like ‘right see you next week’. There’s a lot of people who’ve got tickets for every night and they’re like ‘see you next week mate’… We’ve even got a couple who live in The Maldives and are flying over every Friday. That’s just mind-blowing! And no matter how far people are travelling, we’re getting back to that community vibe again…”
Another community-focused aspect of Andy’s second XOYO season that’s not been revealed until now is how XOYO’s second room will be hosted by some of the country’s longest standing and influential drum & bass promoters such as Random Concept, Warning, Detonate, Supercharged, Weird Science and Metropolis.
“We’ve got crews from around the country. Promoters I’ve worked with for years!” explains Andy. “It’s a nod to the fact there are so many people putting serious shifts in for D&B. We’re painting the larger picture and bringing in all the crews. I want to get as many people down there as possible as a thank you from myself. Some of these guys have been booking me since I had long hair and was driving up and down the motorway in my Ford Escort back in the day. These people have been supporting the scene from early doors. It’s important to have them on board and celebrate what they do.”
Reflecting the broad full spectrum line-ups he’s curated for the next 11 weeks (the closing show will just be Andy all night long himself), collaborating with longstanding promoters is another way of Andy reaching out to the wider genre and bringing as many people on board as possible.
“That’s how it’s got to be,” he explains. “I want to bring as many people into this as possible and support as much of the music as possible. That’s the party vibe. Because that’s what it is, right? Just a party of mates and I happen to be the DJ in the corner of the room.”
Except the DJ in the corner of most house parties doesn’t pull off intros so dextrous and dastardly he’s ordered to rewind and come again… Or do seven track outros that comprise tunes from Konfict, The Prototypes, Culture Shock, Bungle and Bad Company. All of which, as Andy explains, is “mixed off the cuff and totally unplanned because it’s good to get lost in the moment…”
Yes, Andy C is well and truly back in XOYO and we’ll see you lost in the moment at some point there during the next 12 weeks. 200 tickets are available on the door each Friday, line-ups can be found here. Follow Andy C.
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