Extra Pleasure Rave Collective Profile from 93/94

Exclusive Interview with Extra Pleasure

Mention Manchester nowadays within the rave scene and people look at you as though it’s a taboo subject. Moss Side – Like the war torn streets of Beirut. Crack, guns, shootings, killings, stabbings, bullet proof vests. It’s forever on the TV and in the papers. What was once one of the country’s leading cities, in terms of holding the torch to lead the way forward in the early days for our scene, has now just fallen in to the ‘has been’ category. Manchester is not just full of bad bastards. The good people from the scene wanted to do something. Their own thing, to bring back the good vibe and good times which we all shared in those early days together. And like the Phoenix which arose from the ashes – Extra Pleasure was formed. I managed to catch up with Richard K, Paul and Martin of the Extra Pleasure Cru for an in-depth interview.

So, why and where did it all start?

“Extra Pleasure started because we had all been going out for three or four years and we were not getting what we wanted from the club scene. We basically thought we could do it a lot better ourselves, so about ten of us got together and put the first event on. It happened on 24th April 1993 and it’s progressed a lot since then. We had about 80 people at the first one, but we were all friends and everyone knew each other. It had an advantage being that size compared to what it is now. At the last event we pulled in almost 2,000 people and the place was rammed. Running an event of that size takes on something all of its own. You can’t control it, you just have to guide it. Our events are good and they work well. We aim to create the best experience you have ever had every time you went out”.

You have come a long way since your first event, so how do people get to find out about them?

“We started off by word of mouth and then set up a free mailing list. We took the names and addresses of people who were unhappy with the state of the club scene. We attracted people who wanted something different, who wanted to get it back to how it was. Friends told friends, word spread by word of mouth and now we have about 33 key individuals on the mailing list”.

So, who thought up the name?

“Well a friend of ours came out with it during an experience he had with mushrooms one night (what no eggs or bacon?). It was to do with colours. He was having quite a good experience with colours and he was quite content with a green colour. He was explaining that green was like an extra pleasure colour, a colour for extra pleasure. We liked the name and kept it and we now try to use the colour green a lot as well. It’s quite an approachable colour is green”. (Well try and get your fucking head round that one!).

What about the music, do you try and cater for everyone’s taste?

At our events you will hear a cross section really. We pull quite a varied crowd. That’s something which I don’t agree with now – it’s become segregated, which I feel is a bad thing. What we try and do is play across the board – a bit of house, progressive house, jungle, techno and hardcore. We cover all aspects and it works well. It keeps everyone happy.

Whilst we are on the subject of being happy, how do you think drugs are affecting the scene at the moment?

There’s a lot of younger people coming in to the scene now that weren’t in it say 18 months ago and the quality of chemicals is not what it used to be. (At this point everybody laughed and nodded approvingly). That’s one of the reasons for the change in the atmosphere. Things are definitely not like they used to be. Then again, you have to realise that if you want to keep doing this for 5 or 10 years, you can’t go on maybe at the pace that you started at, say necking the amount you did, and still remain sane and healthy. You have got to look after yourself.

Extra Pleasure have held a legal event, but due to lack of finances and too many restrictions, they decided to stay true to the underground. But with the Criminal Justice Bill coming into force later this year, surely they have no option but to go legal.

“When the bill comes in, and I have no doubt it will, in the eyes of the law we will be seen as criminals. The first persons or group to be arrested will be a real test case. They will either be stamped on very hard, or they probably wont be dealt with at all. Obviously it is going to criminalise a lot of people’s lifestyles and it will restrict a lot of freedom of movement. The only way is to find ways around the law or to transfer and go on the legal side. I mean, if you’re not causing trouble to anyone, why can’t you have a licensed event? Fair enough the licenses are given out, but they come with so many conditions and restrictions surrounding them. The point is that a lot of people are fed up with clubs and they are not going to want to go back again.

We did have a go at doing a license event, but again it comes down to money. It was an excellent night, brilliant, but financially it was a disaster. Over priced DJ’s are probably partly to blame for the stagnation of the club scene. By charging high prices, they then put pressure on the promoters to cover their overheads who in turn have to pass it on the customer. As a DJ could never justify charging such a high amount of money for what I do”.

Surely an organisation as well set up as Extra Pleasure wont just give up without a fight?

Depending on what happens with the Criminal Justice Bill, we will keep going as long as we can. What we are trying to do is either hold smaller parties or find some other way around it. By holding smaller parties, we will retain a more intimate atmosphere and it will also encourage other people to get off their backsides and do their own thing rather than going to bigger events, where the atmosphere doesn’t always seem to happen sometimes, for a variety of reasons.

Have you had many run-ins with the law at your events?

The last one was the worst. The area where the cave is, well their police force consists of about 2 police officers, a dog and a van. They were not prepared to deal with an event this size. They had been down to our events, checked us out and left us to it. They said they weren’t so bothered about coming up, but their main concern was that we near a main road. We are not out for confrontation. We try and create minimum disruption to the community. We aren’t out to fuck anyone off, we just go out to have a party.

But, what about the future of the underground scene as a whole, any ideas which direction you think it will go in?

It wouldn’t hurt for the scene to go further underground. Hopefully it will still be around in 10 or 20 years time and I would like to still be involved in some way. It’s down to all of us. Everyone’s got the power to do something about it, so it would be nice to see everyone get up and do it. If you want something doing, don’t wait for someone else to do it, get up and do it yourself. That’s the best thing. We weren’t happy with the club scene, so we got up and did it ourselves. We are all an influence in the dance scene.

And finally, any last words you would like to say Richard, before we bring the interview to an end?

I would like to get into a position whereby I could put something back into the scene. More than I have done now. Good parties for good people who can enjoy themselves in the right environment.

There are aspects of the scene that I am not happy with, obviously given the chance I would change. I would need to be in a better position than I am at the moment to do something about it. Hopefully I will be able to do that in the future. I am currently involved in a recording project, of a techno E.P. – keep your ears open! I have just played at Rezerection Event II – brilliant! I am also looking to DJ abroad and check out the scene in Ireland.