A cut above...Louche with Ray Okpara & Nekes @ Mint Club.

It is a rare occasion, rare enough to become truly memorable, when everything just comes together. In what can seem like an increasingly commercially driven, 'text sending cube' scene it's refreshing to attend a night where a passion for music and a focus upon crowd satisfaction gleams through from the smoke clouded booth.

When the team here at Warehouse Music descended upon the Mint Club we were naive as to what the boys at Louche (Brinsley Kazak and Josh Tweek) had in store. What was to follow was a master class in air-tight mixing, with a track selection centered around jazzy and soulful 4/4 that had feet reporting to the dance floor and smiles glued onto faces until the early hours. Drinks were cheap, mixing was flawless, punters were happy. Nekes' performance was top draw and Ray Okpara was on blistering form, with a set packed with expertly timed 8 bar breaks that went careering into drops littered with african-rhythm, both showcasing some of the best that contemporary house has to offer.

Just as it is rare to attend a night that comes together so seamlessly, it is rare to have one that finishes to the sounds of Prince. Following Ray Okpara Louche resident Josh Tweek stepped up to end proceedings, with a set that encapsulated the atmosphere of this night. We caught up with Josh to learn more....

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Hi Josh, thanks for taking the time out to talk to us. How and where are you now?

I'm good, at home, sitting in my studio/office

The actual word Louche seems a good place to start things off; it is suggestive of the night having a decadent appeal. With this in mind could you describe to us the philosophy behind Louche? Is the title a fitting reflection of the underpinning idea that is behind the night?

Well yes and no really. Louche means shady, or of moral disrepute, so obviously there are connotations to the night, what with the underground music and everything that goes with it. We never set out to make a 'shady' night though, really our main policy is to book djs the city has never seen before, and kind of catch 'up and comers' at the right time. We were the first to book Seth Troxler in the UK two years ago, and look at him now.

Louche is now in its third year. Could you tell us about where it is at the moment as a night, physically and conceptually?

We're flying at the minute, but are doing nothing different to when we started. Myself and Brinsley just work really hard, and have done for the last 2 years. Louche has just snowballed as time has gone by really.

From what we experienced Louche seems to draw a great crowd. Do you now have a dedicated following?

Absolutely, our crowd is young, fresh and they love the music. The Leeds student population is massive, and we manage to tap into the students that want something a bit different to a standard student night. These lot, combined with Leeds locals make for a great crowd. So many girls too, which is nice!

Could you describe your vision of where Louche is headed in the future and fill us in on any up and coming developments?

Plans are afoot to expand to London next year, which is huge. We're moving to Saturday nights at Mint from January too, which i think is testament to how far we've come in 2 years. To be a saturday night in the best club in town, and maybe even the north, is massive for us.

What's the strangest thing you've ever seen at a Louche night?

Brinsley's Dad.

Could you tell us about your own productions and where they are headed?

I've got quite a few releases set to drop within the next few months. One on Magicbag Music, a new Newcastle based label, which is looking really really promising so far. Another on Akbal music, which is Mexican would you believe. 2020 vision are starting a sub label, and a few of mine will be on that at some point. I'm still writing like crazy, and think I'm still improving, so things are going great.

Your music seems to have gone from being more minimal to a deeper, housier sound. Has louche influenced this transition in your productions?

Yes it definitely has. When you meet the guys that we book, and get to know them, and hear their sets its really inspiring. I'd like to stress that I'm not bandwagon jumping though. At college where i learnt my trade all the other guys there were writing breaks, drum and bass and genres that sound more electronic. It was useful at the time to learn off them, and i translated what i was taught into minimal because the sounds are quite similar. Once i mastered this i started expressing myself a bit through house music, which is what i always played back in the day.

Are your productions in tune with the philosophy of louche in the same way that your sets are?

Well yeah kind of. When writing a song i try and think, where could this fit into a set, and work from there. How would the crowd like this? Wouldn't it be good to have a tune that slowed the dance floor down a bit, etc etc.
                                                                                BELOW, JOSH TWEEK
If you could keep one famous person as pet who would it be and why?

Cheryl Cole. She's amazing, and it would piss off Ashley.

Boobs or ass?

Tricky... ass probably.

Night in with the misses or night out with the lads?

My misses won't read this, so night out with the lads!

Do you have a Top 5 Louche anthems?

I usually try and play new stuff at Louche, but two regular Louche bombs are Gualia by Johnny D, Erotic City by Prince
               

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It seems that both Josh Tweek and the rest of the Louche team are set for stardom. No doubt in years to come i'll be found stumbling round smoking areas rambling on to fresh faced young clubbers that "when i was a lad the louche boys were cracking it up in leeds not filling out DC10 and Berghain...and a vodka red bull cost less than the entry fee (just)."

Secretly though a little part of me reserves a wish that Louche remains just as it is now, at least for a little while.

In the same way that there exists a nostalgia about 'how the scene used to be' there is an abhorrent fear that mounting success may bring with it a detachment from the original concept, the inset profit grabbing commercialism. Realistically though, this fear is unjustified. Although part of this night's appeal is it's unique personal atmosphere, it's success is multi tiered. The artist selection is spot on, it has a dedicated team of residents and the night as it currently stands couldn't be a better launch pad to greater success, giving Louche more freedom to develop and evolve.

Truth be told, the root of my worries about Louche's expansion is my barefaced selfishness. Like many music fans I like the thought of having a few stubby little fingers and toes in something a bit different, something innovative, something special. After all, that's what Louche is...Here's to hoping that's how it remains.

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