August saw the Fractured Foundation launch night in association with Horizons Music at Brixton Jamm. With a top quality line-up chock full of game-changing DJs and MCs, including Ulterior Motive, Fracture and Survival, a new brand of clubbing for the 'raver who knows' was born. Now that the dust has settled and we've all had time to fully shake off the hangovers, we will be looking in some detail at how they pulled off their successful first event and we'll be dissecting some of the last-minute and on-the-night tips and tricks used to pull in the punters.

In the previous instalment of the How To Promote... feature we gave a general overview of things to consider when attempting to run your own night, and some necessary last minute preparations you need to make, when trying to excite interest in those you may not yet have reached via your main marketing campaign. These included podcasts you could give away which feature music exclusively from the artists on your line-up, and sending out a 'street team' on the night of the event - even if it's just you and a couple of mates - to pick up any footfall that might be passing by in and around the venue.

 

In fact, both of these things proved fruitful for the FF crew. Podcasts are like adverts that people listen to because they want to! What better way to get your message across without being intrusive to your potential audience? By the time the event came round, even though they were at this stage confident they would do the numbers, the FF guys were not ones to rest on their laurels, and decided to send someone out with a big sign with an eye-grabbing message on it to lure yet more customers to their event.

 

As many people who go out for the night actually have no idea where they're going later, other than their first beer, targeting any bars and clubs in the local area at kick out time is usually always worthwhile. Just make sure you get the balance right as it's equally important to be at your venue welcoming people and making them feel wanted at your night.

 

Data Capture

'Data capture' (getting people's details) on the night of your party is a must too. This obviously makes things a hell of a lot easier if and when you come to doing another event. The fact you've already got people's email addresses is a massive head start on where you began just a few weeks before. Simply getting people to write down their contact details as they walk into the club is a great way of keeping them up to date with your future parties, competitions and other news.

 

However, it's worth pointing out that not everyone is going to want to give their email as they come in, so you may want to try and use an incentive like entry to a competition to get the data you need. If you have someone who can work their way down the queue with a clipboard to get email addresses, this can work well to help avoid a bottleneck, which will do little to improve the experience of your crowd coming through the door. The last issue we'll mention is handwriting – 20 pages of illegible scrawl from lively party folk eager to get in the club is not going to be usable, so a laptop may be a better option than pen and paper.

 

Record it!

Getting some sort of record of your event is an excellent way of enticing people to your future nights. You need to be able to show people what it was like to be there! The FF crew shot some HD video of their party and managed to put some of the highlights together of the event - here's a few of the best bits:

 

 

They also planned to record every set through the club's mixing desk, which obviously would be a really good thing to have to upload onto your website or SoundCloud page after the event. Having a high quality audio recording of all the sets is a fantastic way of capturing the energy and vibe of the night, although unfortunately at Fractured Foundation there was a 'slight hitch' with the hard disk recording which meant the sound didn't get recorded on the 10th August.

 

This is just goes to show that no matter how well you plan, there are still unforeseen problems that can arise. But trust me, the sound was still bangin' through the speakers, which is the main thing! There will always be the odd issue which is out of your control as a promoter, and certain things that can't be helped. To everyone that came down and was requesting sets from the night, the FF camp would truly like to apologise and confirm in the future we'll get you some prime audio, which will all be available for free from their SoundCloud site!

Which leads us nicely on to the very good news that the Fractured Foundation crew have been given another date to run another party on! Drum roll please and the date to keep your diary's clear for is....Saturday 6th October. Having a line up as big as their last is truly hard to top, but somehow, miraculously, they've managed to do just that! Two rooms full of more top-of-their-game DJs and MCs should ensure that they have another roadblock event, even bigger than the first!

 

This time they're teaming up with record label Flexout Audio and hosting some extremely special guests. Drum & bass legends Total Science are on headline duty, backed with favourites Need For Mirrors, Survival, Amoss, Mark System, Villem, Retraflex, and of course Fractured Foundation owners Intracut and Subtraction. In fact, the FF boys recently recorded a Total Science history lesson podcast to showcase their headliners' legendary status on the scene! It's well worth a listen, and you can download this 45 minute mix of pure Total Science worship spanning the 90s, naughties and this decade here:

 

 

Room Two has a slightly different vibe this time, although still bass heavy, with Dubstep, Future Garage and more DnB ensuring there's something to please everyone! Check out the latest flyer and video flyer below for more details.

 

 

Well, all that remains to be said is that it's going to be another event not to be missed on the 6th October. You can pick up your tickets from www.fracturedfoundation.com for just £8 (£5early birds have now sold out).

 

We'd also like to wish you the best of luck if you're thinking about starting your own night, and if so we hope that the articles in this series have been helpful.

 

Words: James Skinner and James Bowman

Related Links:

• Jerona Fruits Present Submarine
• Dub Police In Store Event
• Review: Culture Clash
• Review: Culture Clash
• Momentum Leeds Review

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