Big Bad Gaz cooks up a storm at Godskitchen
Reported by Adam Symbiosis
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Submitted 21-05-08 21:18
There’s an interesting sparseness in the club as we sit there waiting so early and while they are still setting up, even the floor with banners and cable strewn across it seems empty and yet complements the exposed brickwork to one side of the main dancefloor. Waiting to conduct interviews can be an exercise in patience and contemplation, yet here I am again, this time in the cold confines of Air, Birmingham, waiting for the Godskitchen and Global Gathering promoter Gary Brooks.
We watch everybody busybody about preparing the club, some scaffolding here, a CDJ there. It’s as almost as if the club was only finished today and these are but the final preparations before the big opening. Only the moth eaten poster on the wall behind me whispering to me of Christmas parties past gives the game away.
The main room seems smaller than when I was here last. It takes a stroll around the club to realise they’ve added a roof across the main dancefloor and in that added a third room to the venue. As we wait further, longer, the room gets busier. A stage appears along with railings; lights come on, flash at us and go off again. A guy comes to inspect the old posters but leaves them where they are secure in the knowledge they are secured tightly to the wall.
An hour and forty minutes later Gary Brooks turns up, though we don’t know it just yet. “You looking for me?” is his opening line. A big guy, his imposing figure looks like it cuts no crap. Maybe somewhere warm to go to do the interview would be good but he’s gone again as quickly as he came, off to “do the door for a bit.” Mark Eteson, the GK resident, kicks things off on the main floor and people literally flood in, quickly joining the cloakroom queue. I think I’ll stick with my coat for the time being but in front of me, t-shirt, short skirts, it’s not just the good music that’s making these people dance. All except the assorted groups of beer boys anyway.
Another hour and a half or so and once we’ve listened to a bit of Jaytech, we go on the hunt for the elusive promoter. A little surprisingly he is still on the door, welcoming, helping, talking; it’s time for a sit down though and we start. It was a part time job doing the décor in the club that got him his first foot in the door along with a stint in Ibiza during the trance heyday of 2000. Worldwide tour management soon beckoned along with the running of Global Gathering. I ask him about that very thing, what it is like to do, “Everybody enjoys doing it,” he tells me, “From the people that promote on the streets and online right up to myself and my boss.” He thinks that a lot of people copy the ideas they have year in, year out, they do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery though.
But it’s been well documented there were also a lot of issues with last years party, mainly to do with the weather. No stages brought on by crew downing tools, VIP areas without the very important, nowhere to sit down in the extremely muddy conditions, I wondered what was being done about it this year, how have they garnered criticism from last year? “People talk to me direct and via the boards, the promotions teams are online too. I’m on the door every night at Godskitchen and people are quite blatant about what they say and want.” As if on cue someone pops their head around the door and says “Hi Gaz,” something that, as the interview goes on, we see happens quite regularly. But Big Gaz (as he is mostly known) looks serious when he says they want to do better this year, improving seating, improving the areas people have paid even more for, having three entrances instead of one to improve flow into the site. Each year they’ve tried to do it bigger and better and this year is no different. The key thing for Gaz, the thing he keeps repeating to me is listening, “If you don’t listen, how can you understand?” he asks.
We talk more about the festival and what else people might expect to see this year and it seems a tightrope of providing just enough to please the most amount of people, he looks as if he might need a crystal ball. More walkways in case it rains, improved catering and markets for those all important shopping and munchie trips, more toilets, improved lighting in the car parks and again more seating. You might think you can never have enough seating when there are 35,000 people milling about, especially if you know what it feels like to stand for two days! Getting one of the biggest festivals in the UK right is important as the rest of the world looks to us, just as it does to the Dutch scene. With travel so easy to come by these days it’s certainly not guaranteed we keep the title of cultural hub and the focus of the world and I bring up thoughts on the strong dance based markets now emerging across the world and Gaz speaks about the Ukraine, about Turkey, the US and Far East too. “Taipei is similar to the UK,” he tells me, “Except they throw their glow sticks at the DJ!”
I ask how he thinks the UK scene compares to the Dutch scene and am amazed when he says he’s never been with only an Ibizan experience in 2001 of Dance Valley to recount. Seeing a massive green dragon breathing fire blew him away
He agrees people were spoilt for choice here in the UK at one time, with too many “Superclubs” and an elitist attitude from some but says compared to the US bar culture he thinks we’re stating to get it right again. “Friends come over from the States and they’re blown away by the scene here and the people. There’s no fights here, people know the DJs, the music, their friends all go out together, it’s like a family thing backed up by the forums, a close knit community.” There seems to be a fashion at the moment for festivals however as in the days of the rise of the superclub. With each passing season more outdoor events emerge, indoor raves appear and the scene grows, who knows how many new ones will sprout this year but how do these new boutique festivals affect Global and Gary? He seems unfazed by the challenge to their title. “As long as they cater to a need it’s a good thing, look at Renaissance and what they are doing.” In fact if you haven’t already realised Global are now putting on Escape Into The Park in Wales.
It just goes to show, dance music, trance in particular isn’t dead, despite the noise from the rest of the dance media. It’s alive and kicking and evolving as we speak, “It can’t just be a one track pony,” he maintains as he points out the heaving floor downstairs going mad to Above & Beyond. All moved along by the internet, helping, in his opinion, to bring in the new generation of clubbers and DJs, moulding their thoughts and likes, making music accessible and the scene democratic, “Look at people’s iPod’s,” he enthuses, “You’ll find 30 different genres and it widens the scope of music that people listen to.” Which means they can and will bring Morillo one month, Lashes the next, Sander a third and Armin a fouth. “Diversity is key,” he reminds me.
So apart from another big festival this summer what else has Gary Brooks got on his to do list, what personal goals are there to achieve? Not surprisingly it’s keeping the main club busy and with, as he says, the 16th sell out in a row on the night we’re talking; that doesn’t sound like a hard task but he also harbours the thoughts any promoter can associate with of growing his newer brand Escape and of expanding the Global brand around the world. No doubt beginning at home with the improvements we began the conversation with. I ask him if he thinks having a good sense of humour is important in this industry and without hesitation and with a broad smile he says you’re better off changing your job if you haven’t.
I finish off the interview with a question I occasionally like to ask just to see what the response is, a story, an insight into the subject’s personality or sometimes something else. This time I’m told a story from back in his Ibiza days of one Gary and another Gary and the obvious need to distinguish the two. Not surprisingly our Gary got labelled as Big Bad Gaz and the name stuck. It became clear to me through our chat however, that maybe that needs updating. Big Cool Gaz? Big Listening Gaz? Big Mate Gaz? Maybe it’s better to stick with the original. Downstairs Second Sun limber up for a blistering performance, Big Gaz seems to be just getting started.
Adam Symbiosis 
Watch out for full details, more interviews and your chance to win tickets for this year's Global Gathering
Photos courtesy of the HarderFaster archive and Gary Brooks. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Godskitchen with Paul Oakenfold
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On:
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Saturday 24th May
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At:
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Air [map]
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From:
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10 - 6
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Cost:
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Adv tickets - £13.50 + BF. MOTD
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Website:
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www.godskitchen.com
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Ticket Info:
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Adv tickets - £13.50 + BF. MOTD
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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Godskitchen in May presents one of the most seminal and well known
names in electronic music.... The legendary PAUL OAKENFOLD who
needs no introduction.... How many producers can state that they have
remixed the likes of Madonna, The Rolling Stones, U2, Michael Jackson
and Radiohead?! Paul is a true A List DJ, one of the most established
figures in the scene who has has performed in hundreds of places
around the world including unique locations such as the Great Wall in
China, the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and Wembley Stadium... and
on May 24th he will be touching down at Air in Birmingham!
In the Nitrogen Room we welcome back Air favourites THE TROPHY
TWINS alongside the fine Godskitchen residents MICKY SLIM,
FUNKAGENDA, PAUL THOMAS
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Flyer:
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 - 
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Region:
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Midlands
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Music:
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Trance. Euro Trance. House. Deep House. Funky House. Prog House. Tribal House. US House. Vocal House. Electro House. Soulful House. Tech House. Funky Techno. Minimal Techno. Techno. Electro. Soul.
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DJ's:
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Main Room
Paul Oakenfold
NAT MONDAY
FUNKAGENDA
PAUL THOMAS
Nitrogen Room
The Trophy Twins
MICKY SLIM
NEIL NAVARRA
DUNCAN MURRAY
Lounge
J Roc
Tan Mushi Mushi
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Other Features By Adam Symbiosis:
Godskitchen Xmas Party: Reviewed
The Big Chill: Reviewed
Tiësto at Victoria Park: Reviewed
Lilly Allen: Reviewed
Digital Society May 2009: Reviewed
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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