HousJunki (Review)

In the past few months of ‘4Q In The Dark’ our reviews have tended to favour the smaller club nights and relatively unknown venues, but when we heard that Manchester’s famous Club V was changing its image with a new line-up of pumping tech house nights we just had to go down and check it out.
As all of you veteran clubbers know Club V is well known for its classic funky house vibe with Saturday’s Venus being the venue’s showcase night. It has always been known as one of Manchester’s classiest joints with lots of fashionable people queuing up to boogie to some mainstream house music.

However, as a juxtaposition to the funky Saturday nights, the decision was to make Friday nights focus on a heavier and deeper version of the city’s favourite genre, a vibe that would accurately reflect the new style emanating from the underground scene… tech house.

HousJunki is one of the new style nights in attendance at the club, run by Richard Stevens with his girlfriend Natalie the night has an atmosphere rather unique to the city. The club still looks and feels like the classic funky house image of old, but combined with the heavier and harder music from their elite DJ’s the club takes on a new guise.

“We want to create the most friendly and fun loving environment for clubbers to come and appreciate some of the finest house in Manchester at the most electric underground & personal venue in town. We have vetted our residents and headliners thoroughly and are proud to guarantee a night to truly satisfy all in the know clubbers and newcomers alike.”

When visiting this night its clear to see that these residents have been picked very carefully to ensure the right atmosphere. Among the team are some of the best DJ’s in the city: Si Jones and Mike Morgan (aka Si’Ke DJ’s), Ben Pearce, Kristian Foy, & Bunto, and these guys seem to play their A-game at every opportunity. If they were holding back their best tracks then it certainly didn’t seem that way.

First on the decks were the two Si’Ke DJ’s who took no prisoners right from the start of the night. I walked in to the club as soon as the doors opened and was met by some seriously deep and punchy tech house by the two Sankeys regulars, the Funktion 1 sound system definitely being put to good use.

The duo then set the bar for the rest of the DJ’s playing probably the best tech house set I have ever heard, a mixture of shuffled rhythms, pounding beats, and deep bass lines. I was so impressed I actually went to the DJ booth to shake their hands. There was even a rumour going round that these guys have some of their own tracks ready to be released on Manchester Underground Music (MUM), a local record label whose reputation is soaring in the underground house scene.

The music was so good that I felt almost an anxiety for the next act; it was hard to fathom just how the next DJ would top these guys and their amazing set. On to the decks stepped up a Sankeys and Spektrum resident, Dillan Joseph. I watched there in amazement as Dillan not only matched the earlier set but raised the bar with even jumpier and funkier tech house, featuring bongos and seriously fat beats. The music was so good even the Si’Ke DJs headed over to the dance floor to boogie with the punters! After about 1am the vibe started to get deeper as the music gained soul and a heavier rhythm, we thought that this was how Dillan was planning to end his DJ set, until he cranked up the funk one more time dropping the fantastic track “It’s On Tonight” by Inland Knights, the atmosphere was absolutely electric.

It became apparent that I was witnessing some of the city’s greatest up and coming DJ talent, and now two of the best DJ sets I had heard for a very long time indeed. This was a night on the cutting edge of the Manchester dance scene.

“After spending many a year in the clubs of Ibiza & the UK our passion for the house scene and culture grew. The way the music evolves through time is what inspired us to create our own brand. Many nights get left behind in Manchester and become stale in terms of the evolution of house music and in seeing this we decided to create a night that stays on the pulse of Ibiza and the clubbing world. We love the true clubbing crowd who go out not to pose, not to pull, but to get their hands in the air & party & release themselves into the music.”

As the night reached into the small hours the third and final DJ Rebecca Vasmant prepared to take the reins, but known for her heavier style of techno rather than house no one was sure how her set would start. The rest of the DJ’s made their way to the dance floor to find out what would happen. Would she play a softer style of music? Would she play some progressive house and try to move slowly into her own style?… Hell No! As soon as she got her headphones on the techno was thrown onto the turntables, this girl doesn’t mess around!

I was now experiencing something very peculiar, here is was in Club V, listening to techno!… and for all of you have been to Club V in the past you will know that this is very different to what you usually expect from this venue. However despite my earlier doubts I have to say it works fantastically well.

“Club V has without doubt the best door policy and crowd management in Manchester and compliments perfectly what we are trying to achieve. All the staff are extremely welcoming and friendly and insist on a no nonsense crowd. This combined with the Club V house pedigree, Funktion 1 sound system and a venue to guarantee an electric atmosphere, gives HousJunki the x factor that other nights just don’t have.”

I have to say that personally this is probably one of the best club nights we have reviewed in this magazine so far, and definitely the most surprising. We really have found an absolute gem of a night here, in the one place we never thought to look before, and the best thing is that right now hardly anyone knows about it. It seems that only the people in the know have any idea that Club V has tech house nights, and when word gets out HousJunki is not only going to be huge but will probably be helping lead the way in the new style of Manchester dance music. Get down there quick and experience it before everyone finds out!

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