Imagine this … You up sticks and move to New Cross and it’s – shock horror – more upmarket then whence you came. Where would you have to come from to warrant that? A tyre fire in a scrap yard? The planet AIDS? No. Try east Lancashire. Try Burnley. You’re there.
We are currently in conversation someone who made this move, someone who, despite growing up in Burnley, possesses an accent not impeded by inaudible post-cotton mill, pseudo-luddite-inflected duh or indeed a vocabulary with the sophistication of a bottle fight. The man is Jon Marquis, AKA DJ Jon Du Nord, and we think he’s a bit cool.
Shirking his northern roots, Jon has managed to plant himself firmly into South-East soil taking in such comparative glamour spots as Catford and Deptford along the way. Living in London for “between eight or nine years” Jon still wears his northern accent, and claret and blue football scarf with pride. We ask him about the differences between Burnley and London, hoping to God that there are some: “I went from paying £30 a week rent to paying £85” explains Jon candidly between drags of his roll-up cigarette, “Burnley is a pretty shit place to live.” At less than £5 a day rent, I think the property market would concur.
Arriving to study at Goldsmiths, it didn’t take Jon long to become encapsulated by the live music scene, although Jon admits that living in this neck of the woods doesn’t guarantee an entirely palatable sonic experience. In fact, such was the musical poverty Marquis began to fantasise about starting a club night, and it wasn’t long before his sordid fantasy of up-and-coming bands bashing out barely coherent sets, became a soaking-wet bedsheet reeking of reality.
The clubnight, devised on a drunken evening out in the Glasshouse Stores on Brewers Lane, was christened ‘Uberstompf’ - “We wanted a Germanic sounding name”, admits Marquis. The venue, The Tatty Bogle Club, hidden behind Carnaby Street, was chosen on a number of stringent criteria: “It was a non-exclusive members club”, “it could hold about 150 people”, and most importantly “you could get two bottles of Estonian Beer for £3.” The club ran for just under a year boasting such alumni as Blood Red Shoes, Monday Club Factory Floor, Wolfie and the now sadly defunct Doublejo(n)ngrey.
After the club imploded, due to problems with the venue: “It’s now a mobile phone shop” – Jon failed to rid himself of the intoxicating buzz of DJing, and was occasionally to be found behind the decks at Soho mainstay White Heat, and more recently Noise! Noise! Noise! at Catch in Shoreditch. Marquis is still an advocate of DIY culture, and holds hope that the credit crunch will shock some venues into rekindling their initial flirtation with clubnights. Like any decent indie mentor, he’s keen to pass on advice and encouragement to anyone looking to bypass the “scene” and create their own thrills: “It’s pretty fucking simple,” he concedes, “First you need to find a venue. Don’t worry about it being the coolest place in the world; it’s your job to create the kudos, just focus on location. You could have the best-looking venue and the best bands in the world, but if it’s in the middle of fucking Crystal Palace no-one’s going to turn up are they? … Finally, harvest Myspace and get bands fresh out of the box, before they ‘make it’. That way they’re cheap and they’re not too shit yet.”
On the subject of bands, and with 2009 still in its infancy, it would be rude not to ask for some hipster tips to ‘wow-pow-now’ our friends with. After an initial look of disdain, Marquis submits and reels off a few names to keep us happy: “Telepathe, Pre-Gyratory System, The Soft Pack, The Fall, HEALTH … and of course Sonic Youth.” Phew. It is about time those young upstarts in Sonic Youth got a look-in ain’t it? Anyway … Moving away from his tastes, and onto the tastes of his clientele, we ask if there are any staples in his DJ set that are guaranteed to generate a bit of movement on the dancefloor? “Loads!” enthuses Marquis, before giving a list of songs that have probably never troubled a radio station, nor perhaps a generic indie-disco near you (ever): “Sonic Youth – ‘Ca Plaine pour moi’, Elastica – ‘Stutter’, Clinic –‘Walking With Thee’, Gang Gang Dance – ‘1st Communion’ and Telepathe – ‘Chrome's On It’.”
Well … if that sounds like your proverbial cup of tea, you can join Jon and his friend Rajinder at Noise! Noise! Noise! which takes place at Catch in Shoreditch each and every month. If you’re a lazy, agoraphobic slob, with no decent shoes, you can get involved at www.myspace.com/noisex3. Ciao.
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