CityLife

Delphic infuse new life into city's indie-dance scene

CHAPEL MEETING: Delphic

WANT to know the rules for staging a secret rave? Simple - there are NO rules. All it takes is the right people, right music (and maybe the right intoxication).

Ask hotly-tipped Manchester electro-dance trio Delphic - the new kings of illicit rave.

"We've staged a few illegal raves," enthuses Richard Boardman, Delphic's multi-instrumentalist.

"We've got this huge power generator, so we can set up and perform wherever we please.

"We love the whole DIY concept - there's no point in playing to a few people in some sweaty toilet venue. We'd rather organise a rave and have hundreds of people dancing on their feet."

From their clandestine early raves to mind-bending headline slots at Chorlton's Blowout night, Delphic are doing a commendable job of getting this city on its feet.

Citing the influence of Factory Records, the Hacienda and acid house, Delphic are reinvigorating the spirit of late-eighties rave, and blasting it into the 21st century through a ferocious guitar-shaped sieve.

Delphic might be open about their retro Manchester influences, but they're also gloriously futurescopic in their music-making approach.

"Manchester has this amazing history of bands who could mix rock music and dance music," explains guitarist Matt Cocksedge.

"But that hasn't been done for absolutely ages. These days, Manchester just seems to get recognised for guitar bands like The Courteeners or The Ting Tings.

"We see it as our job to put dance music back on the map. It's not the sort of music you expect to hear in a normal gigging venue - we want to make music for massive warehouse parties."

There's a reason Delphic are keen on breaking the rules. Three years ago, Richard and Matt were in the much-tipped Manchester band Snowfight In The City Centre - a fairly middleweight indie band.

Naive

"We were quite naive really," shudders Richard. "We were making the sort of music we thought would get us signed - not the sort of music we actually enjoyed playing. We were writing tunes we thought would get us played on Radio 2."

Matt adds: "We knew we had to end that band and start over again. It was time to start playing music we enjoyed."

They recruited a new singer, James Cook, and started composing songs which shunned the three-minute pop template to embrace new frontiers of sonic adventurism. They started listening again to dance music - The Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack and New Order, bands who, as Richard says 'inspire you to take risks. The sort of music which soundtracks a massive night out'.

Most crucially, they dispensed with rubbish gigs in toilet venues and began their policy of clandestine illicit raves. For an unknown band, this could have been a risky move. But when you've the best beats in Manchester, there's a decent chance the right people will move their feet.

"Our first gig was in a dingy basement," recalls Matt. "There were only about 40 people there, and I was dead nervous about audience reactions. But at one point I looked up from my guitar and I saw literally everyone on their feet. It was the most amazing experience."

"That's the most important thing," adds Richard. "We're a proper dance band but we do it with guitars and drums. Bands like Klaxons say they make dance music but they're just an indie band who use a few keyboards and samples."

After only a few local gigs Delphic were quickly signed to Coalition Management, who take care of The Streets and Bloc Party.

Their debut single, the knawingly infectious Counterpoint, is out now through Belgian electronic label R&S.

Produced by Berlin-based Ewan Pearson, the trio will re-group with the deskman in the German capital later this year to start work on their debut LP.

For now though, their mission couldn't be simpler - to make the city unite on one dancefloor.

Matt concludes: "It's time Manchester had a change from all these scenester guitar bands. It's time to let go and dance."

Delphic play Blink, Affleck's Palace on Saturday, April 25 (£8) and then Club Academy with Little Boots on Wednesday, May 13. (£7.50) Call 0161 832 1111 to book.