Inside Abbey Road’s first rave hosted by Soulwax

Iconic, nestled in a quiet corner of North London Abbey Road Studios — A pillar of history where recorded music began in 1931, the beatles It has found its artistic home and the world’s most famous artists still come here to create new hits. Tourists flock to the intersection just outside where the Beatles shot their 1969 “Abbey Road” cover, but the studio itself is closed to the public and shrouded in secrecy. But on Saturday night, in the basement where Studio One is located, Abbey Road held its first-ever rave for 300 lucky guests.

For music fans, walking inside the studio’s famous wooden double doors is like stepping into the Vatican. Even the reception is dotted with music history, including decades-old equipment, autographed posters from the James Bond films that recorded the iconic opening song, and black-and-white photos of all the legends that have graced the historic hall, from the Beatles to Oasis to Frank Ocean. Just exploring the building was exciting enough, but on Saturday night Studio One, Abbey Road’s largest space, usually used to record film soundtracks, was transformed into a dance hall.

The people behind this work were Belgian brothers David Dewaele and Stephen Dewaele, better known as electronic pioneers. soul wax — They were shocked when Mark Robertson, Abbey Road’s marketing and creative director, came to them with the idea. “We were surprised that they knew who we were.” David said with a smile. manifold From Abbey Road two days before the event via Zoom.

“Rarely do you get the opportunity to stand in one of the most iconic studios in the world and get a sort of carte blanche to do whatever you want and then have it culminate in the first rave. We hope it won’t be the last,” adds Stephen.

Officially titled Abbey Road After Hours, the Dewaele brothers headlined the event with their DJ monikers 2ManyDJs, while friends Erol Alkan and Laima Leyton warmed up the crowd. Although many attendees were from the industry, free tickets were drawn two weeks in advance through a hotline that fans could call. “About 8,000 people tried it,” says Stephen. “Damn, really?!” “David.” You answer.

“It was weird because all these names are being added and they’re artists you know and you’re like, ‘We can’t put them on the list!’” Stephen continues. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be at raves, right? Otherwise you’ll see Paul McCartney come in and say, ‘Oh no…'”

The rave started out well, with only a few groups dancing in the lead, but it quickly got sweaty when 2ManyDJ took to the decks. After performing dance favorites including Marie Davidson’s “Work It” remix and Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record),” Blur’s “Girls & Boys” and Rapture’s “House of Jealous Lovers,” Dewaeles presented a new Soulwax track recorded the day before at Abbey Road’s Studio Two and printed on vinyl on an in-house machine.

Soulwax had a “complete geekfest” recording the track, Stephen said. They used the same grand piano and rare stereo microphones on which the Beatles and Pink Floyd recorded, as well as their own electronic equipment. The most important part of their setup that night was the Deewee sound system. The system consists of four massive speaker stacks in each corner of Studio One for all-encompassing, soul-stirring sound.

“Most modern clubs have basically maximized the volume and the amount of output you can get from small speakers, so you have what is commonly referred to as an array sound. There are a lot of things hanging at various points here and there, and there are subs, and that’s how the sound is split,” explains David. “Whereas what we’re using is a very old-fashioned approach, which is huge speaker towers. The scale is enormous.”

It will be broadcast on YouTube on March 5th, not unlike the popular ‘Boiler Room’ series that was filmed and aired that night. However, Stephen said he would focus more on the historical aspects of the event and less on the people behind the DJ booth.

“For many people, this is the crossroads of the Beatles,” says Stephen, “but there’s so much more to it, and I think a lot of people forget that this is the first place the music was recorded.” “Dave and I have been in two studios around the world, but there’s something special about this studio because so much of the musical DNA we’ve been inspired by comes from this building.”

So will there be more raves inside Abbey Road? Although Soulwax’s night did not go off without a hitch (noise complaints forced the event to end 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, and one attendee was ejected for rowdy behavior), the Dewaele brothers are hopeful.

“Mark (Robertson, Abbey Road’s creative and marketing director) said he wanted us to come in and come up with strange ideas every now and then,” says Stephen. “And I thought, ‘Well, we could definitely do that, but I don’t know if you’d like it!’”

David added with a smile: “To their credit, they really want us to push the envelope, which is really cool.”