Outside the Variety Bar, among a Dionysian mess of tribal tattoos and regurgitated chips, a rabble of punters are shouting, smoking, swaggering, and doing what people do on Sauchiehall Street on a Saturday night. Inside, facing the chaos and with just a pane of glass separating them from it, the Saltmarket Outhouse DJs are too lost in music to notice.
“We both struggle to talk or think about anything other than tunes, really,” the duo’s David Hamilton (also known as Miami Chocolate) tells me later. “We're just focused on finding the best tunes, regardless of genre.”
Forming a musical collective and DJing together was “kind of a natural thing” for Hamilton and his flatmate David Keane (Batton) when they moved in earlier this year. Keane’s recent return from Melbourne, where he DJed and ran a dance label called One4SevenOne, provided the two with an opportunity to team up and scratch a longstanding itch. “DJing is something I’d wanted to do for a long time but never really got round to it. So I’m kind of glad he got chucked out of Australia, to be honest,” he laughs.
A bi-weekly residency in the recently-reopened Variety Bar has been a perfect introduction to the scene and a welcome chance to stretch their musical muscles. “It always had a reputation for good tunes, so we were happy to be offered a regular slot. It has the right vibe and bevvy selection for us to set up camp in. It was also timed well, with their reopening and our launch, so it’s all working out nicely.”
The Outhouse boys aren’t the only local collective plying their trade in the bar. David Weaver is one of the organisers of Dark Mountain, a monthly Thursday nighter for those who prefer things a little heavier. “The Variety’s a great wee pub – I’ve always loved going in there for a pint,” he says. “Our first night was in July, and it was really fun. It just felt like a great place where you could try and play some black metal without being burned at the stake by angry drinkers looking for Calvin Harris.
“We try and play music you wouldn’t necessarily hear anywhere else: even other rock and metal pubs. We’re definitely more about the slow headbang rather than the foot on monitor air guitar.”
This eclectic approach shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, given the bar’s name, but it’s refreshing to see so many divergent DJs from different schools of music being given a home where they can develop. “We both have diverse taste,” says Hamilton, looking ahead to their next gig on Saturday. “Our tunes usually consist of reggae, dub, blues, soul, funk, disco, psych… f you've got an open mind about music and like to get MWI there's a good chance you'll find something to enjoy.”
Q: Who’s the most goth gig you’ve been to?
1 Aimee Fitzgerald, 21, Bishopbriggs
Favourite Club? Buff Club
Favourite Bar? Super Bario
Favourite DJ? Gary McF
Favourite Band? The Rebs
First Club? Sub Club
What You Drinking? White Wine
Describe Your Dancing? Friendly grinding
2 Jack Adams, 22, Bishopbriggs, “Fat White Family”
3 Stella Belle Hex, 28, Motherwell, “Skin Dread”
Rae Docherty, 28, Cessnock, “Devildriver”
4 Steph Mortimer, 29, East End, “S Club 7”
Joe McAree, 28, East End, “Slayer”
5 Andrew Graham, 24, Milngavie, “Plan B”
Sean Lacon, 25, Killearn, “Sum 41”
6 Greg Walkinshaw, 24, Maryhill, “Norma Jean”
Jaye Mercury Brown, 28, Kelvinside, “Prince”
7 David Weaver, 29, Maryhill, “Meshuggah”
Robin McLennan, 25, Govanhill, “Slayer”
Ruaridh Danaher, 29, Maryhill, “Baroness”
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