With a sense of real optimism that the competition crushing & clubbing monopolisation that has dominated the capitals clubbing circuit in the last handful of years, we are thrilled to bring you access to the first part of an exclusive interview with the man behind this exciting “A New Beginning” movement, a D.J. tuned club promoter and a man extolling enthusiasm for an inclusive London scene.
It will come as no surprise from our recent reports, “Finding Our Favour Faltering” & “Winds Of Clubbing Change” that, after having witnessed probably THE most damaging period to plague the capitals clubbing circuit, when competition crushing & monopolisation drove many of the edge of eventing and some out of business, we decided the time was right to speak out against the protagonists of this destructive & damaging tactics. So with our disgust for the The Orange group cat out of the bag and with an exciting new movement to sweep aside their bullying & domination, rather to restore the circuit to the diverse yet inclusive scene it always used to be, this movement coming from within Vauxhall itself, we have naturally decided to centre ourselves within this marvellous movement, the first of two special features this exclusive interview with the club & the man behind it all.
So, with the gloves off, without the political corrective ties of certain magazines and with an interviewee keen to set the recent destructive record straight, here is the first part of our no holds barred Disco Matters special feature interview with Covert’s co-owner & promoter Alan Adams, aka D.J. Alan K.
So, we know you well as a prominent D.J. on the capitals clubbing scene, but what got you into the club owing & promoting business?
I’ve always been one of the owners of Covert along with my friend & D.J. Paulo Moreno, as well as my cousins Raymond & David. As a collective, we bought the old Factory club and paid for all the renovation work to turn it into Covert. Both Paulo & I also do property development, which meant we could use our teams of builders and others to do the whole renovation in 10 weeks. As for being promoters, we are not, so have, as part of the clubbing change we are passionate about, have teamed up with some figure heads of the scene to create amazing parties where everybody is welcome.
You had quite strong ties with The Orange Group through the number of D.J. residencies you held with clubs such as A:M., Later, Gravity and, most notably Beyond, so was this significant in you going into business with them?
Well yes to be honest, personally I didn’t want to go into the clubbing business as everyone knows I announced my retirement a long while ago to focus on our property business but the clubbing and D.J.’ing was something Paulo had a lot of passion for he is in love with music, so he decided that he wanted to give the clubbing game a go so I went along with it to manage the build and finances.
Tell us about the working relationship you had with the group and particularly Craig Elder and how did deteriorate to the stage that you decided to stop D.J.’ing for them?
Craig was my friend of many years and I stood by him through thick and thin, as he did for me. I feel I achieved great things as a D.J. for him, I was a major Beyond resident at the height of the clubs success, every week packing out the main floor as well as representing the brand internationally. Plus, I also played at his other parties such as A.M., Gravity and numerous others he has promoted over the years. However, I decided to finish playing for the Orange Group because of personal issues.
We understand that the original business arrangement with Covert was that you & your businesses partners who provided the investment for the development of the venue, would allow Orange Nation to run the show& manage the club. In hindsight was this wise and what, in your opinion, went sour with this arrangement?
Yes the original agreement was we would pay for it and build it then hand it to the Orange Group to run. In return they would get 40% of the shares once the initial loan amount was paid off, In answer to what went sour it’s not something I’m comfortable talking about sorry the bottom line is we got back what belongs to us.
So we are right in saying that you have now taken Covert back under your control and Orange Nation are no longer involved, so what is the current set up and who are the key players within your team?
Yes we have taken Covert back under our control and the Orange Group are no longer involved. We are working with the likes of Alex Erfan, Wayne Shires, Tony English, Steven Sharp & Steven Geller in the events side of things, but the business as a whole is run by myself, Paulo, Tom Fuller and my cousins Raymond and David, with who we continue to also carry out property development & investment.
We have obviously been privy to some of the aims & achievements that you & your associates have for restoring the diversity yet inclusivity of the London gay scene, but can you expand a little on this for us?
Yes we want to bring as many club promoters together as we can and create a unity on the scene where everybody is free to work and not worry about constant fighting amongst each other. We feel this is long overdue and will benefit the scene massively, bringing back brands like SuperMartXe, Lovechild & Bear Necessity, while also trying to re-introduce international clubs to London, such as La Demence and Rapido. We are also going to be working closely with Wayne Shires this year for Summer Rites and hopefully by next year, grow bigger and bigger as an organisation but with togetherness. There is enough out there for everybody, but trying to dominate, as we have seen recently, you just make the scene smaller. If everyone works together, London will be a very special scene, so this is our overriding aim.
So it is clear that Alan, along with the whole Covert team really want t ring the clubbing changes for the good of the capital’s circuit & wider scene, tomorrow night’s event “A New Beginning” the start of much more exciting things to come from these championing clubbing changer overt collectives, while we will be bringing you the second part of this in-depth & revealing interview with Alan in the next few days. (DISCO MATT)
