“I’d flyer at gigs in Leeds,” recalls Richard Claxton, of his first attempts to promote his club night Golden Cabinet, “and the initial reaction was: ‘In Shipley? Are you joking?’ People’d look at the flyers and ask: ‘Is that [horror-tinged electronicist] Pye Corner Audio? How come he’s playing in Shipley? And where is Shipley?’”
Two years later, Golden Cabinet has not only put this small town in West Yorkshire on the map, but the monthly party – held in a 100-capacity community centre – has become something of a must-play event for several of the most prominent names in leftfield electronic music. Its last guest was new XL signing Powell, and its roll of honour includes the likes of Objekt, Andy Stott and avant-techno great Vatican Shadow.
This growing reputation has been achieved, Claxton laughs, by “breaking every rule”. Golden Cabinet came about after its founders, four friends who all live near Shipley, were encouraged to put on a night by the general manager of the town’s Kirkgate Centre. A venue more frequently used for taekwondo classes than raving, it’s a highly unusual setting for a club. Also unusual is Golden Cabinet’s insistence on booking punk and noise bands alongside techno acts. Oh, and so that people can get the last train back to Leeds, everything winds up at an unheard-of 10.30pm.
It sounds ludicrous, but there is something about its size, location and musical waywardness that gives Golden Cabinet a distinctive energy. Sixtysomething hippies and glammed-up local girls rub shoulders with electro wonks. All of whom really go for it. Not least Claxton, who prowls through the crowd yelling encouragement at his fellow dancers.
Rather than being a problem, it transpires that having a limited timeframe in which to lose your shit really concentrates minds. “It felt unique,” says techno don Perc, who played GC last November. “Suddenly, 9pm in Shipley became 7am in Berlin.”
Fellow electronic brutalist Kerridge, agrees: “There’s a DIY honesty to it all. The motives are clear and simple: an impulse to deliver good music in the right context.”
Primarily, Golden Cabinet is all about raising money for the Kirkgate community centre, and its bar does a brisk trade in local real ales and vegan cakes made by GC baker Anth Palmer. It is fitting, therefore, that the night attracts such a broad range of people. “We get sensible-looking couples in their 50s down, going crazy,” says Claxton. “I love that. We didn’t want it just full of cool kids.”
Is there a big after-party scene around the night? Claxton laughs: “Unfortunately, afterwards, we have to spend an hour – really drunk by this stage – putting the hall back together because there’s always a kids’ party or something the next day.” Ultimately, Perc has to make way for pass-the-parcel.
The next Golden Cabinet is on Sat 6 June. www.goldencabinet.co.uk
