Hyde Park Harriers has been my running club since 2017. I’d been a runner for a long time before then, but couldn’t have imagined doing it socially until I joined this nutty bunch (nor would I have ever voluntarily entered a cross-country race after the freezing cold horrors I endured in my school days). I'm so glad I eventually joined, because I found myself surrounded by so many fun, adventurous and kind people, and now count many of them among my closest friends.
At some point last year, someone on the social committee heard that I’d started DJing and asked if I’d be willing to play our Christmas party. I have no idea whether the request was based on my taste in music, or because they thought I’d have been a grumpy monster at being made to listen to a naff Christmas playlist all night (it's true). Maybe it’s a bit of both, but I didn’t need to think twice about saying yes.
Our club are pretty fond of local brewery North Brewing Co. They seem to like us quite a lot too, as we're responsible for route planning and leading their monthly runs from their taproom, Springwell works. It's a big space perfect for socialising, which is overlooked by some challenging but picturesque routes along the Meanwood valley trail and Sugarwell Hill. I'd highly recommend paying them a visit on a Sunday morning if you enjoy running and beer as much as I do.
Aside from running I've spent more than a few nights hanging out at North venues over the years, so getting to stand behind the decks at Springwell for the night was a huge boost so early in my DJing career.
Planning a set for a Christmas party might sound like a simple task. Me being me though (a complete overthinker), I wanted to curate a track list that set the mood for a fun social Christmas bash, but one that also reflected the craft beer-drinking, hipster feel to our surroundings. I settled on a mix of funk and soul, contemporary disco, instrumental house, and downtempo electronic tunes. Funnily enough, they don't tend to make Christmas songs fitting that brief... but nobody seemed to notice*.
*I'm not a complete scrooge by the way... but I like to think I did my time listening to Christmas singles as a teenager, working two years' worth of festive madness at HMV.
Mig (my turkey hat wearing partner in crime) and I took turns on the decks over an ultra-marathon six hour set, ending with an hour playing b2b - hands down my favourite part of the night.
Of course, it wasn't all about the music - we paused proceedings to make way for the lovely Anne's famous 'World Cup of Sweets', where the crowd voted for their favourite chocolate bar... and for the obligatory group photo which was perilous on the steps, but well worth it.
My favourite tracks from the night:
Dam Rite - Ben Jamin
Get Innocuous! - LCD Soundystem
Sugar is Sweeter (Armand Van Helden's Drum 'n' Bass Mix) - CJ Bolland
GMT (Wolfgang Tillmans / Marc Krether Remix) - Oliver Sim
All Night - Romare
Coma Cat - Tensnake
Holy Ghost - The Bar-Kays
Can You Feel It - Mr Fingers
Feel Good (feat. Khruangbin) - Maribou State
Like a Fool - Crazy P
What the partygoers had to say:
Toby, via Facebook:
"I've had the pleasure of seeing multiple Rave the Date sets - weddings, social events and celebrations of all kinds. Cara has absolutely smashed it every time with fantastic sets that are venue- and event-specific but also cleverly bespoke and original. Extremely highly recommended, whatever the occasion!"
Naomi, via Facebook:
"Cara did such a brill job with the music for our run club event recently - she created a great playlist and the whole party going for hours! Everyone enjoyed themselves & we'd definitely love to book her for another event. She was super professional, set up early, knew exactly when to handover the floor for us to do speeches, and got the tunes just right for the location & audience"
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