Optimo (Espacio) will be taking full control of Room 1 playing all night long for a mammoth 6 hour set at the Tide club, Brighton.
Optimo (Espacio) are the duo JD Twitch and JG Wilkes. They each have over 30 years DJ-ing experience and have become both renowned and highly respected for their memorable and ecstatic deejay sets. Twitch and Wilkes exhibit a unique disregard for genres and musical restrictions in their craft, creating a nightclub experience that strikes out into territories far beyond the accepted boundaries of club music.
The duo were responsible for the Glasgow nightclub Optimo (Espacio) which ran from November 1997 until April 2010. Optimo sat at the very epicentre of the Scottish Clubbing consciousness in its weekly residency in the Sub Club and is widely regarded as one of the most important and ground-breaking clubs of the past two decades (at one point earning them the prestigious title of Mixmag “Club of the Year”).
Their mixes and DJ sets underline Optimo’s reputation as taste-makers, achieved through their shared passion for clubbing and their encyclopedic knowledge of music. However it also illustrates their skill in assembling sounds from the past and present to create an experience that is definitively futuristic in spirit.
The final essential ingredient to the Optimo success is of course the people. Each Optimo set is different, teased out of the dynamics of a singular group of people – whether it be a tiny basement sweat-box, the main room of a super club, the main stage of a festival or a thousand people in a field – and everything they do springs from the spirit of the crowd and the rhythm of the moment. It is the unique enthusiasm of each crowd, where ever they go, that gives them inspiration – and feeds the joy in what they do. As Twitch and Wilkes say themselves, “We Love Your Ears!”
And if that wasn’t enough Black Octopus have assembled a crack squad of local musical avengers ready to blow your mind in the rave cave that is Room 2.
Making his Black Octopus debut is the legendary DJ, producer & promoter polymath that is Pete Bones. Having landed in Brighton 2 years ago, Pete runs the very successful & BO approved party Fear & Loathing along side its sister Warm Your Cockles. A recent triumphant closing set at We Are Love festival cemented his position as the DJ’s DJ. Pete’s labels Red Ant & Ugly Bug get regular support from the likes of Sean Johnson & Justin Robertson and is productions under various guises notably as The Shaker have featured as Essential new on Pete Tongs Radio 1 show on numerous occasions.
Next up are Under The Counter!
Steve Mac, formerly one half of house act the Rhythm Masters, and Carl Loben — erstwhile DJ Mag editor — have been friends for a number of years now. They first played back-to-back at a friend’s wedding (wearing wigs), and started the Jack Said What record label with pal Irvine Welsh in 2022. Since starting JSW they’ve again played b2b a number of times, so have decided to formalise this partnership as Under The Counter. ‘Surreptitious, and usually irregular or illicit’ is the dictionary definition of ‘Under The Counter’, and it seemed to suit the amalgamation of their styles in various nefarious ways.
Returning to the Black Octopus stable for a 4th time will be one our favourites Little Gem. Her previous sets at Water Bear & Tide have always kicked things off in the best way possible showcasing her eclectic mix of the different flavours of house! Check out her Funkadelic Sessions on Mixcloud for further proof of her unique talent!
Finally and providing they are still vertical at this point will be BO residents Nick & Andy who will be holding it down with their characteristic mix of house & techno.
