Ep #4 Jerk It

Next up to the plate is a trio of South Manchester’s finest selectors. Jerk It threw their first party 6 months ago and have went from strength to strength since then. They put together this mix for All My Friends and it’s a melting pot spanning everything from Balearic groovers to acid Jazz.

Jerk It started spinning records down in Withington and after two great parties have moved their sound into the city centre. They also host a monthly show on MCR live radio.

AMF caught up with the Trio to chat about Manchester, Music & Homemade Gin.

Jerk It is a fairly new night, how did you guys get together and why did you want to start putting on events?

Well basically, we found that we was always going out and not quite getting what we wanted from events. Not to be slagging of any one else though, like Manchester is a vibrant city with so many good nights going on.

Boys like Ordinary Friends, Legwork and Ossia are killing it. We wanted to get involved and give our own twist. We have always loved what a well planned event can do, and we have so many ideas to put our footprint down on the scene.

Jerk It plans to be an entire platform, however – not just a night. We want to get rid of the dickhead DJ ego, where its a closed community, which I think we have all experienced at one point.

We’re just trying to create a space for local upcoming artists to get together and play music they love. We are super excited about our month MCR Live Radio show, as its a great opportunity for us to spread that ideology.

The mix you’ve put together is very eclectic, is there any stand out tracks in it you feel really optimise the Jerk It ethos?

Yeah a bottle of homemade gin will do that to a mix. Especially to Cal [Laughter]. Shit, we started to just throw random wax down and have fun.

Theres a lot of good tracks we connect with at the moment though I guess, That Herr Krank tune was a biggie in that mix. But I suppose it all gets strung together just about.

Thats what we love about Jerk It, though so far. We all have different musical backgrounds and all bring something slightly different to the table. Our mixes always seem to shift around, but I suppose thats where the fun is.

We think some DJ’s/Mixes are taken really seriously, which we always look to avoid. Being technically proficient is important but it can be get in the way of mixing when too much stress is on being ‘perfect’. Saying that, maybe leave the gin out next time.

What are Jerk It’s Plans for the future? Where do you see it going in 18 months?

We have a good few things in the pipeline. But for now, the plan is to keep playing around Manchester and bringing in bare local people.

We want to build a good community, or fanbase of whatever. Then look to start expanding and booking some names. We want to keep pursuing our radio too.

We are super happy that we are MCR Live Residents now, so we want to use that 2 hours a month as a space to play music we couldn’t always play at nights.

Theres so much local talent that needs to be shared, and we have an opportunity to spread it. But long term, we always had an end goal.

We want to eventually turn in to a label. I guess we are in a good spot for it. With us meeting so many people in town, having a radio show and trying to be a platform for artists. But, baby steps I guess. See what happens mate.