INDIE DISCOS ARE GO!
Brothers Sean and Nic Ryan set up their club night Shxt Indie Disco after they’d both been made redundant from their jobs in 2016 and found themselves at a bit of a loose end.
Someone they knew had put on a night at the wonderful 24 Kitchen Street, so they approached them and asked if they could host their own event. Such is the good nature of the team there that they agreed, and Sh*t Indie Disco was born. The name of the night required no thought at all – “it was just the title on the Spotify playlist we had put together,” the brothers tell me.
Somehow the night was a big success and Kitchen Street were keen to have them back, particularly as the crowd got so thirsty that they almost drank the club dry.
Their early success at Kitchen Street led to them being offered Thursday nights at the much bigger space at the Arts Club. This sounded great but, as Sean and Nic tell me, not everything went to plan.
“We were up against a well-established student night next door at Heebies. They would have a massive queue down the street while we were offering free pizza to get people in. Everyone who came loved it, so we knew we were on to something, but that was hard to focus on when we were making £30 a night. Our dad even used to come and pick us up at the end of the night so we didn’t have to spend all our money on taxis.”
Despite these teething problems, the credibility of the night continued to grow and they were offered the chance to take over Thursday nights at Electrik in autumn 2019. Soon the nights were booming, with Sean and Nic playing their regular indie sets on one floor and pop DJs on another.
Of course nothing ever goes smoothly, and like most promoters they really suffered during the pandemic.
“We tried a few online quizzes, but it wasn’t until we did our first night back after the lockdowns that we knew we would be alright. For the first one there were still restrictions so you could only have a small number of people and they had to sit down. But people were coming up to us at the end of the night saying, ‘That was the best night ever.’”
“Once the restrictions were lifted it just went mad,” they tell me. “People just wanted to get out and have a good time, so it was great – big numbers and a brilliant atmosphere. The venue has a capacity of 2,500–3,000 and we were packing it out.”
Like every other club though, they have noticed changing habits recently, particularly from their student audience, with people definitely going out less. Despite this they have continued to thrive.
When you go to one of their nights you can see why it’s a formula that works so well. It’s just a simple, unpretentious night with friendly people having a good time. The music largely focuses on indie, old and new, with a bit of pop thrown in for good measure.
At the moment, along with their regular Thursdays at Electrik, they do Indie Saturdays at Heebies, which they say attracts a slightly different crowd. They also host special events, like the St Patrick’s Night special they are doing in partnership with Medication, and they even hosted a Harry Styles album launch event recently.
Such is their renown now that they are regulars at festivals such as the brilliant Kendal Calling, where the tent is rammed when they do their after-hours set. They have also played Leeds Festival and, closer to home, last year they played at the On The Waterfront gig headlined by The Wombats and are hoping to be back there again this year.
Sean and Nic are lovely lads and their enthusiasm and passion for indie music is why their nights have been such a success. I used to love the Liquidation nights at Le Bateau and it is brilliant that the city still has nights like Sh*t Indie Disco, Medication and Sonic Yootha as part of its rich and varied nighttime economy. The people behind these nights just know what the city is about and that there are still a lot of people out there who just want to party to the thrash of indie guitars.
By Kev Mcmanus
