GTK returns for Vol. 3 at the peak of the Spooky Season, following a brief September hiatus to decompress from a manic yet marvellous summer. We’re now preparing for the winter months, scoping out the scene to expand your music library and motive roster for the darker nights approaching.
Read below to Get To Know:
Kindred Radio Station / Record Store
Kicking off with record and book shop slash radio station Kindred, this establishment began as an event series created by friends Jojo, Scarlet, Noah and Louis in 2018. Kindred has since built a strong reputation and community following for their weekly broadcasts live from Mount Pleasant (Clerkenwell), showcasing emerging and progressive underground talent through a range of live and electronic genres, sub-genres and tempos.
Kindred has contributed to the rise of artists that we’ve seen come up over recent years, including Nia Archives, Main Phase and Nancy June. Back in August, Flowdan, Sicaria & Peekaboo took on the booth with a surprise drop-in from the not-so-underground Skrillex to hype up their collaborative single Badders.
Intimate, local venues such as Grow Tottenham and The Glove That Fits – and the shop itself, of course – serve as regular spots for their events, but the Kindred sound has been known to bless the hallowed halls of community favourite FOLD. They’ve also established a festival presence with takeovers at The Cause Seaside Beano (2022) and Field Manouvers (2023).
Latest radio series ‘Kindred Guide To Labels’ is a new venture exploring some of their favourite record labels, inviting DJs, producers and other label-head guests to share insights and personal highlights of their productions. This feature demonstrates Kindred’s dedication to sourcing and presenting quality artists and music, providing a channel committed to sharing their knowledge with the community.
Club Cowgirl Party / Label
West London DJ and producer Scarlett O’Malley introduced Club Cowgirl in 2022, channelled through her residency with Rinse FM taking charge of the New Music Friday mornings. This genre-bending-and-blending series is still going strong and has featured collaborations with artists such as Helena Star, Liv East and Hemlin.
These multifarious mixes span a wide spectrum of rave music and beyond, through house movers and groovers, alongside soulful sounds and injections of grime and jungle – O’Malley’s eclectic range is evident in her works.
Club Cowgirl has recently blossomed into its very own record label, established in 2023 with its first EP release Scorpio Rodeo: a 2-track selection of 90s-infused house tracks, including ‘sexy roller’ Pink’s At The Door, which made its debut on BBC Introducing in June.
Beyond the radiowaves, Club Cowgirl has collected stamps from takeovers of UK festivals such as East London’s Divine Risen Festival and Queen’s Yard Summer Party, on top of festival Mothership Glastonbury where a stacked lineup featuring Dale Mussington and Cicely hosted the Meeting Place Bar.
The Club Cowgirl Chats series is a platform dedicated to discussing and creating opportunities for artists in the music industry from working-class backgrounds. This programme launched at London’s Museum of Youth Culture and featured on the lineup of We Out Here Festival’s Talks Tent.
Through panel talks centred around ‘What does it mean to be Working Class in the music and audio industries?’ and ‘Wxmen, Working Class and Music: Do you really see us?’, Club Cowgirl Chats creates space for conversation on imbalances in the social dynamic of the music scene.
Venue MOT Venue (obviously)
Unit 18 at Bermondsey’s Venue MOT crash-landed south of the Thames back in 2018, creating a hub for the electronic scene in an otherwise scarce landscape this side of the river (outside of Peckham and Brixton).
A natural embodiment of the gritty warehouse/squat rave vibe you would expect to find in the heart of an industrial estate, the remote location and modest, makeshift nature of the space are a huge element of MOT’s charm.
The rest can be spoken for in the creative programme curation produced in this little pocket of the city, dedicated to primarily platforming local artists and parties over big names, stepping away from the increasingly commercial structure of London nightlife.
Venue MOT also marks one more safe space on the clubbing map for marginalised communities, a demonstrative example being their support for queer-positive events with hosts such as Adonis and Big Dyke Energy.
This 350-cap bunker has witnessed a whole host of sounds thumping through its high-quality Martin Audio sound system (more commonly found in large-scale venues such as Ministry of Sound): techno, electro, bass, breaks, dubs, acid, trance … we could be here a while. Familiar names include OK Williams, Objekt and DJRUM.
A stone’s throw from one of the Broke Magazine HQ bases, Venue MOT is practically our local and we’re overdue another visit – you might well bump into us there in the near future!