NEWS

The mysterious countdown has finally run down. We now know what Andy C has been teasing us with for the last 10 days: a weekly residency at XOYO commencing Friday January 6, 2017.

This isn’t what we were expecting. To be honest we put all our money on a new Nightlife mix, but it’s actually better… This is the first time Andy C has gone back to basics on this level since his residency at foundation rave events Telepathy. For a man who headlines festivals and can fill the 10,000 capacity Alexandra Palace, this is a rare opportunity to go back to the very environment that switched him on in the first place.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been able to get down and dirty and go as intimate as this. Not even our 10 year residency at The End was as long as this,” explains Andy who’s also held down residencies at Fabric and Matter. “It’s a luxury for me. I can tell a story every night. I can go on different tangents every time – I can play stuff I haven’t played in a decade or two. Or stuff I’ve never got to play – old and new. It offers so many opportunities from a DJ perspective. And having that closeness and energy of the crowd right there within hand-shaking distance is an honour I haven’t had for a while.”

Placing himself in a position where he can draw much deeper or more diverse dubs than he can in major headline slots, Andy’s plan to build each night up around particular vibes, ideas and people within D&B.

“I can get the maddest tune, or my all-time favourite tunes, and build things around them,” says Andy. “I can get tunes that make sense or relate it to those tunes so I can build entire stories around them and really emphasise that moment. You can’t do that as easily at a festival level – you just don’t have time for that type of indulgence. We’ll also be having different nights with guests where the whole vibe and my set will be based on that sound or that feeling that individual guest invokes. We’ll be able to explore some very special eras.”

What’s perhaps most pertinent for Andy, however, is the era of community. Having that regular club night where connections, friendships and messy memories are made. At a time when London seems to suffering continuous kicks in the bassbins, his XOYO residency seems even more apt.

“That sense of community is one of my fondest memories of any residency I’ve had,” he recalls. “I’ve got good friends who started coming to the clubs I was playing at. We’ve got that connection and those memories and clubs like this give you that community – you’re all in it forever. Stuff like that is impossible to forget – you’re busy mixing but you know if you look up you’ll see one pocket of crew in their place at the back, one guy who’s always by the speakers, other guys who are by the bar. You start to know what they like and you play to them. You drawer a tune and think ‘right mate, this one’s for you! I know what you like!’”

Quintessential ‘going back to my roots’ business – this is a rare chance to catch Andy in the mode that secured his position in the D&B premiership in the first place. Between January 6 – March 31, XOYO is the only UK venue Andy C will be playing. Full line-ups will be revealed December 6.

For tickets and more details visit: http://andycwhatnext.co.uk/