Posthuman - 'Keeping Acid Alive'
Posthuman is the blood related acid and electronic music duo responsible for running rambunctious raves in London since 1999. Delving into the murky underbelly of underground music from an early age, Josh Doherty and Rich Bevan have built a global acidic empire together, along with producing an array of twisted vinyl-only dingers.
Founders of the notorious 'I Love Acid' raves, the duo are back in London for a storming sweat fest in Basing House this Friday in Dalston, London. Acid fiends from all over can celebrate as one and dance to a heavenly blend of squelchy, bass heavy sounds until dawn, alongside headliners John Heckle and Mystic Bill.
MOTZ meets Josh, one half of Posthuman, ahead of the gig on Friday to talk acid, techno, raving 60 year olds, burning barns and inevitably, the 'fucking mental' crowds in Dublin…
As the head honchos of one London's longest running raves, what is the history behind 'I Love Acid' and how did it come about?
We actually started running parties in London in 1999/2000 in a bar in Islington, plus some afterparties in a Dalston warehouse (it was a very different place back then though!). They were called "Seed Showcases" and dedicated to new and underground electronic music. After that we did a bunch of events in an abandoned tube station in central London (between 2001 and 2004) and had some really cool artists play - Aphex Twin, Plaid, T Raumschmiere, Goldfrapp, Luke Vibert etc.
From those days I got to know Luke Vibert well, so in 2007 I suggested we do a one-off party based around his track "I Love Acid”. It was essentially just Luke DJing plus a bunch of mates playing all the weirder sides of acid, very Braindance kind of vibes. The party was a success, so I did another...then another. Next thing, it was a monthly, - hosting events abroad and at festivals. It's now been nearly 10 years, we're well past the 100 parties mark, I think 11 different cities and 5 different countries so far!
Although it started much more on the more experimental side of acid, bringing in Placid after the first couple of years as a resident DJ really widened the scope of the night - much more acid house, techno, and electro - both new and classic. Placid is essentially a walking acid house encyclopedia - strictly vinyl old skool DJ - and it's rumoured he has one of the most complete acid house vinyl collections in Europe, so working with him has been a fantastic education.
As cousins, who introduced you guys to rave and electronic music growing up?
My older brother played me some Orb when I was 13, I then saw them live at Glastonbury which completed my conversion to electronic music. I was listening to the likes of Orbital and FSOL, as well as my brother's rave tapes from parties like Ark & Kaos.
Richard is a year older than me and when he went to Uni in Newcastle in the early 90's, he worked in a record shop. He'd play me stuff like Dopplereffekt, Anthony Rother, Drexciya, Underground Resistance etc.
I sent a demo to Skam Records in the late 90's when I was living in Manchester - they offered me a gig and release, so Rich jumped on a train and we combined forces permanently. Shortly after I moved to London and we started a label and wrote the first Posthuman album.
When did you both realise your ability to work together and produce as a team?
Since we were about 14 years old, the two of us would be hanging out listening to tunes. I had a Fostex 4-track, a DX 21 synth and an R8 drum machine. We would hook them up with guitar pedals and just mess about creating oddball tracks. We've always kinda worked as a team - I think being family means we can argue like hell but not fall out…there's some shit I've said and done to Rich that a normal writing partner probably wouldn't have put up with!
Over the years, how have you dealt with any nightmares on the night such as an unresponsive crowd or technical faults?
Yeah, plenty of disasters! The good thing about bad parties is they make fun drunken anecdotes in time...but when they're actually happening it can be devastating.
A few corkers...
For one of our tube station parties, we'd had a guy putting up some posters for the party. Some of them went over a wall in Shoreditch that had a piece of work done by a (now famous) graffiti artist on it. There had been other posters there in the past so it didn't occur to him that it might be treading on toes. I got threatened about it when out flyering. On the actual night someone started throwing paint across the dancefloors and over some of the kit, setting all the fire alarms off. We had to close down the event, lost a lot of money and our whole crew spent the night scrubbing the floors and walls of paint.
We also did a gig once where the bass rattled off the plaster from the venue roof - it fell into our laptop and crashed it out, dead, in front of 700 odd people around 10 minutes into the show. That was that. We were on between Phile Hartnoll, Surgeon and Regis. A great set for us and we fucked it. Ha!
One time, we did a party in a farm in the Scottish countryside. A couple of neds who'd been refused entry set fire to a tractor and pushed it into the barn, burning the whole thing down - millions in damage, half a dozen fire engines, the whole works.
What do your family think of the route in music production you have both embarked on? Do they ever attend your gigs?
They're all very supportive and have all attended - I have photos of my 60-year old step mum with an Altern8 mask on, covered in glowsticks and dancing at the front of the crowd at an I Love Acid bash!
Both of my brothers have DJ'd and worked at some of our events and the rest of them come along as punters whenever they can. We're a big family (I'm the middle one of 7) and we're all partial to a bit of a party...
Hailing from East London, the underground scene has changed a lot in recent years. Where were your favourite raves spots that heavily influenced your sound from the early days to your current productions?
Wang at The Premises was the best night in London, by a long stretch. Hugely influential for us, not just musically but also for the attitude to clubland.
I also have a very soft spot in my heart for The Foundry - a venue that is sorely missed, loads of great nights there of lo-fi weirdo experimental electronic music. Nesh parties at Elektrowerkz, and then the follow up Arcola nights. And of course, the Wheels Instead Of Hooves bashes and boat parties also John Power's many-named events in places like Jacks Club. We'd also spend lots of time at The Spitz, Public Life, and Rhythm Factory - plus I used to head to Turnmills after work with my girlfriend at the time. Sadly, most of those venues are now gone...
How would you explain acid house to someone who is completely unaware of the genre?
Acid House was born out of the first wave of post-Soul electronic dance music, coming out of Chicago in the mid 80’s then expanded on by European producers. It was rebellious, challenging the mainstream - like punk - yet it was full of hope, energy and positivity - which was of course helped by the arrival of the drug Ecstasy to clubbers at around the same time.
The 'acid' refers to sound of the TB303, a synthesizer that was meant to be a replacement for bass guitarists but made a very unique twisted noise when used a certain way - the group Phuture are often credited for its invention, saying they called it 'acid' because it sounded like the components were corroding away. However
the media seized upon this name, attaching it to the LSD drug in their campaign against the music.
What can we expect this Friday in Basing House?
A very friendly, knowledgeable crowd. We have a really loyal following, that spans age groups - from kids turning up with passports to prove they are old enough to get in, right through to crew who were into Acid first time round in the late 80's. We go for a proper personal vibe, you'll always end up at the bar having a drink with someone new and making new friends.
As for the tunes - Placid warming up with a vinyl-only set of deep acid, techno and electro. John Heckle & Mystic Bill, the headliners, are both known for their love of raw, uncompromising underground house - both guys are real crate diggers and educators on the dancefloor. We'll then be playing from 3am-5am, a set of mainly modern, jacking acid and house - we try to always pick up and play out as much new stuff as possible, supporting the labels and artists keeping acid alive.
You have taken 'I Love Acid' all over the world including Antwerp, Dublin, Malta and Berlin. What has been the most memorable moment from touring?
Malta is always a special one - we've played there most summers for the last 6 or 7 years. It feels like what Ibiza probably was in 1988, really honest, small parties of proper acid house lovers (rather than the massive commercial big-venue stuff nowadays)
Dublin always goes off as well. The crowds there are fucking mental. Just a whole extra level of enthusiasm - I suspect much of it is down to their draconian licensing laws so they have to party twice as hard as they have half the hours!
But the best is definitely Moog club in Barcelona. It's simply the perfect venue. 200 capacity, great soundsystem, amazing little dancefloor with a caged booth overlooking it. The resident Gus Van Sound is one of the most unsung heroes of DJing for me, he's the best party-builder out there.
I've always enjoyed smaller, more intimate parties - I've just moved I Love Acid from Bloc (550 capacity) to Basing House (300) for that reason. You get a much better vibe from a little packed room than a big space.
Finally, what are your top three acid house/acid techno tracks of all time?
Hard question! Changes all the time but right now:
Armando - Pleasure Dome
Syntheme - Red
Paranoid London - Light Tunnel
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