World Dance - Interview - 1996

Over the past 7 years World Dance has grown into one of the UK's premier party organisations.  Today they regularly hold parties for over 10,000 people and are widely regarded as pioneers of the drum & bass scene.  The two leading lights behind the team are Chris Leonard and Jay.  Both old school ravers themselves, they know exactly what a party needs to go off with a bang....!

What inspired you to start World Dance?
Well we both went out raving during 89' and just love the atmosphere and excitement of it all.  During the 80's bigger and the better was the general ethos and we decided that we wanted to put on the biggest and best rave.  We wanted the best DJs, best bands, best production, everything.  In short, the top event.

When, where and how big was the first party?
19th August 1989 East Grinstead. Junction 6 M25, then down a few B roads and into a fuckin great field.  We had between 8 & 9000 people there.

Who was DJing and have you stuck with any of them since?
We didn't even put the DJ's on the first flyer so we can't be sure on all of them, but we can remember KLF, Mickey Finn, Paul Anderson, Fabio, Carl Cox, Evil Eddie Richards were all definitely there.  We've stuck with Mickey Finn ever since, he's played every event.

Where did you go from there?
Jay: I took a break for a couple of years and concentrated on a couple of other projects within the industry.  Learnt a bit more, lost a lot more money, then I met Chis through my artwork guy, Pez.  Pez also did stuff for Chris, who'd been busy organising the first warehouse parties in Australia.  we'd learnt the ropes, knew a few tricks of the trade and decided that is was time to start applying for licenses.

When did you turn legal and why?
In 1992 we found the Lydd Airport venue and this was the first time we applied for a license.  However, the first World Dance we do not consider to be illegal, it was simply unlicensed.  But it didn't need to be as everyone attending was a member.  How did you get to be a member?   Fill in your name and address on the back of the ticket.

How do you get on with the police and local authorities?
We've always maintained a good working relationship with the police and local authorities.  When we first start planning an event we (the emergency services, the local council and us) all sit round a table and discuss things openly.  We kick any problems around until we get them solved and then get on and produce the show.

How many parties have you put on?
There's been 19 major World Dance events.

Which one was your personal favourite and why?
London Arena 1995 New Years Eve.  Now that the company is a level where major venues accept us a s good business it's nice to be taken in at London Arena and then sell it out.  There were no tickets available on the night, anyone who wanted to come had made the effort to go out and get a ticket and they tend to be the best customers-the people who like to make a day of it.  But the year before when we did our first Wembley event was good too.  After the event the head of licensing down there told me that his department never thought that the event would get off the ground as it hadn't been advertised in any of the usual ways events at Wembley were advertised.  He said that anyone who can't sing and dance but can still get 10,000 people to Wembley, my department has to take it's hat off to.  That was a nice touch coming from probably the most experienced licensing team in the UK, if not in Europe.

What was your biggest ever event?
Capacity wise London Arena 1995 New Years Eve again. It was licensed for 11,500 people and it sold out. There was a problem with the tickets getting printed and we sold 11,500 tickets in 3 weeks, which is not bad by most peoples standards.

When did you start using the Lydd Airport venue?
We first used Lydd in August 92.

What other venues have you used?
Sanctuary Music Arena, Milton Keynes (but that's a bit small now as it's only 3000 capacity).  London Arena, Wembley Arena,  Royal Victoria Docks.

What are the prominent factors in deciding whether a venue is suitable or not?
Primarily it must be safe from the licensing point of view e.g. good road access, plenty of parking, no neighbours, minimal disturbance on the local community.  From our point of view it's just gotta have good character and seem like the kind of place that we can imagine a good party going off in.

How would you say World Dance events have changed over the years?
We've grown and hot bigger and better.  Our production had improved and we offer an altogether safe environment for people to party in.  We put more money per ticket into the production budget than any of our competitors and I think that is what makes our events special and still feel underground.  We believe that this comes from an in depth knowledge gained by having gone to these things since the early days.  We may no be out there as much as we once were but we still remember what we enjoyed and what it's like going to your first event.  You walk into a hall and there's 5 or 10,000 people there and it's like fuck me!  No club will ever, ever be able to replicate that when it's only got a capacity of 1000 people.

Your music policy had obviously changed over the years.  Now you always have at least two arenas and various styles of music.  Why is this?
We've tried to now introduce more and more arenas to cover the ever increasing fragmentation of dance music.  We now try and cater for the multitudes of taste within the scene, be it drum n' bass, house, trance, trip hop, whatever.  World Dance is not really about a music policy, it's about an atmosphere policy.

How long does it take to plan each event?
Anything between 3-6 months depending on the scale of the event and whether we've used the venue before.  If it's a new site there's the initial site suitability studies, all the site visits, negotiations about price n' all that.

How many of you are involved in a typical production?
There are 6 full time office staff, with the number of seasonal staff increasing all the time up to the day of the event until it gets up to, including security, about 250 on gig day.

What are your plans for the future, got anything special lined up?
We've got a couple of things up our sleeve for next summer.  Our customers have come to expect a few surprises from us and we will be looking to push the barriers a bit further next year.  So keep your eyes and ears open an, as they say, watch this space.