Having first begun in 1999 as an ‘avant-garde’ performance night at Manchester’s Star and Garter, …
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Club Brenda may be super-hip, but they’re also super attuned to the sounds of the Manc DIY underground. We’re not just talking bands and musicians, but a whole network of artists, photographers, film-makers, designers, poets and general boho creative types. Staging many of their events at the uber-hip Islington Mill venue in Salford, Club Brenda are the night who put the ‘arty’ into the party – their nights offering a glittering culture clash of great music, stellar DJs and cutting edge art and design.
Having first started in 1999 – as an avant garde performance night at Star and Garter – Club Brenda is fast approaching a decade of fantastic partying and subversive art thrills.
SORRY, THIS IS ALL GETTING A BIT TOO ‘CULTURE SHOW’ FOR ME. JUST HOW DOES A ‘CULTURE CLASH’ CLUB NIGHT WORK THEN?
“I see it more as scrapbook of live bands, performance art and general debauchery,” says Jayne Compton, the creative brains behind Club Brenda. “Anything goes at Club Brenda. We’ve done pop, post hard-core bands, indie-rock, and even lo-fi folk. Club Brenda is basically for anyone who’s looking for something different and wants a good party.”
In short, Club Brenda aren’t afraid to take a few risks and take a punt on cutting-edge, off-beam and esoteric talent, in a city where clubbing culture sadly seems all too keen to pander to students and the identikit indie market.
ISN’T THERE A TING TINGS CONNECTION HERE SOMEWHERE?
Indeed there is. Club Brenda have hosted many early Ting Tings shows in the past, and Jayne also runs the independent record label Switchflicker, who released a vinyl single of the band’s hit ‘That’s Not My Name’ long before they became globe-trekking superstars.
THEY’RE SOMETHING OF A MINI CLUB EMPIRE THEN?
They certainly are. Club Brenda are just one strand of a mini Manc DIY empire – Switchflicker are regarded as one of the hippest alternative labels in the city, having released an acclaimed 2006 compilation and a recent single by Manc music hot property Magic Arm.
CLUBBING WITH AN ARTY TWIST – HMM, I’M WARMING TO THE IDEA!
And so you should. Besides being a fantastic clubnight with all the usual thrills and spills, Club Brenda are one of the few Manc promoters who open a gateway into this city’s DIY underground, showcasing the kind of one-off, creative and idiosyncratic talent that Manchester is famous for nurturing.
David Sue
City Life, Manchester Evening News, Nov 08
Club Brenda - Getting together the people that make world go around