CityLife

Where next for Micron?

Gareth Chubb and Ronny Gill

SO you’ve clocked up three successful years at your venue, gained plaudits from personal heroes including Justin Robertson, brought countless new names to play their Manchester debuts AND been nominated for DJ Magazine’s Best Small Club Award.

Things are, it is safe to say, going reasonably well. But where next for a club whose progress over the past few years has been more fruitful than an explosion at a Starburst factory? Do you consolidate, shore up any rough edges and keep the faithful happy with more of the same, or do you rip up the rule book and reboot?

It’s the dilemma currently faced by the crew behind much-revered techno, electro and house night Micron, who find themselves poised on the edge of world domination.

“We’ll probably do a bit of both,” says the club’s promoter Gareth Chubb, answering the question of whether Micron will use this year to renew or reboot.

“We want to carry on with the success we’ve already achieved but we also believe that 2010 will be our biggest year yet, by switching things up.

“We’ve got big plans for the summer and we are already planning a huge 4th birthday. We’re going to be more of a national brand this year.”

For Gareth and his Micron cohorts, who describe their club as ‘an underground night where you can guarantee quality, cutting edge music and more importantly a place to come and have lots of fun’, the nationwide spread starts with the establishing of an outpost just three miles south of their current base at Joshua Brooks.

Starting tomorrow night, the club will be occupying The Corner in Fallowfield every fourth Saturday for a session (dubbed Mini Micron) aimed at bringing something of the Micron magic to an out-of-town crowd.

The decision of whether or not to branch out to a second venue is a tricky one, faced by only the most successful of small clubs who may have designs on becoming more of a brand.

Fine reputation

Some choose to play it safe and stay put in their established venues, where the guaranteed patronage of regulars makes for an easy life. Others stay at home but increase frequency (leaving themselves open to the possibility of spreading themselves too thinly).

Only the brave few branch out and take their party to untested waters. Or, in the case of Micron, not entirely untested.

“We were approached by The Corner to do a regular night as the one we did there previously is still their most successful,” says Chubb.

Indeed, the intimate (read: a bit cramped) venue is perfect for Mini Micron, as anyone who squeezes along the gap ‘twixt bar and outer wall will find themselves on an up-close-and-personal dance floor seemingly built purposely for the club night’s musical stylings.

The Corner has built up a fine reputation as a club-friendly bar in the heart of Fallowfield, becoming the venue of choice for clubs looking to franchise: the last Murkage residency there was a smash hit and lasted long into the summer after its city centre counterpart had shut up shop for the holidays.

“The main event [Joshua Brooks, every second Friday] has always been about the residents and pushing big upcoming guests like 2000 and One, Ben Klock and Alex Celler before they get really big, along with occasional established names we really respect like Justin Robertson and Justin Drake,” says Chubb.

“The mini version is a chance for us to gain some exposure for more local DJs and producers, alongside residents.”

Not just that, but with its position being slap-bang in the middle of what must be the area with the highest population density of students this side of... well, anywhere, Mini Micron also represents an opportunity for the club and its DJs to revisit their roots.

“We started out as a student night over three years ago mainly because we were still students and ran on Thursdays.

“We still have a very large student following – I would say about 50 per cent – but this is a way for us to tap back into the student market, especially freshers who may not have heard of Micron before.”

Mini Micron - January 23, 210 - The Corner, Fallowfield. Free entry all night. The next full Micron is at Joshua Brooks on February 12, 2010.