Universal Music’s Abbey Road Studios has announced the first ever rave in the legendary Studio One, in partnership with electronic pioneers Soulwax.
Entitled Abbey Road After Hours, the event with Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele will take place on Saturday, February 21 from 8pm until 1am, allowing 300 guests to be part of the experience.
Access to the London event will be available for free via a public ballot. Fans are invited to call the ‘Soulwax rave hotline’ on 07886 072699 to enter.
Studio One is where recorded music history began in 1931. It is where stereo was invented, where Shirley Bassey recorded Goldfinger and where The Beatles performed All You Need Is Love for the world’s first global satellite broadcast. It is also where the greatest film scores of the last 45 years have been recorded.
Soulwax, who are currently touring their seventh full-length album, All Systems Are Lying, were invited by Abbey Road to curate the evening, which will include DJ sets from their alter ego 2manydjs, alongside special guests to be announced soon.
Abbey Road After Hours will see the first major outing of the Deewee Soundsystem, speaker array based on the system at New York’s Paradise Garage, which the Dewaele brothers acquired for their popular club night.
I’ve talked about hosting a rave for years, so it’s a genuine thrill for Soulwax to accept the invitation to curate the first night
Mark Robertson
The night will include new Soulwax music, which will be recorded live in Abbey Road’s Studio Two the day before. Together with their full live band, Soulwax will use Studio Two as a creative lab, experimenting with the studio’s vintage gear, tech and spaces. They will then cut new music directly to vinyl, which will be played out in Studio One on the Saturday night.
In a statement, Soulwax’s David and Stephen Dewaele said: “It’s hard to say whether we have a perverse or healthy attraction to crazy ideas, that’s for other people to decide, really. So to be approached with a crazy idea is one thing, but to be approached with a crazy idea by the most iconic recording studio in music history is even more attractive. We embrace and accept this challenge and also sincerely hope this won’t be the last rave at Abbey Road.”
Mark Robertson, Abbey Road’s director of marketing & creative, said: “Abbey Road After Hours is part of our mission to devise unexpected moments and creative collisions in our house. I’ve talked about hosting a rave for years, so it’s a genuine thrill for Soulwax to accept the invitation to curate the first night – which will include new music that they’ll record here the day before. Studio One has been home to countless era-defining firsts – from Elgar to John Williams – and opening the room to bold new forms of creativity feels both true to our heritage and audacious.”
The night will be filmed for broadcast on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, so that fans across the globe can witness the Abbey Road event.
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