Today my guest is writer, broadcaster and DJ Dave Haslam. Author of a number of influential books, Dave was a DJ at Manchester’s Haçienda nightclub, and in 1999 he published a book about the Manchester music scene and, subsequently, books about superstar DJs called Adventures on the Wheels of Steel and Life After Dark; A History of British Nightclubs & Music Venues. His autobiography called Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor: Music, Manchester & More was published in 2018. In 2019 he published the first of a series of limited edition small format books – the series is dubbed Art Decades. The subjects of the books include vinyl record collecting, Courtney Love living in Liverpool in 1982, and the poet Sylvia Plath. It was a pleasure to chat with one of my music heroes, so I hope you are sitting comfortably and happy to stay with us.
This episode was recorded a few months ago, so we started off by chatting about how people react to heatwaves and if it affects their creativity (00:30), if Dave’s writing process differs from his DJ process (02:26), and how the concept of sharing music you love is so important (05:35). We then discussed Dave’s set as a DJ and how he selects the music (12:30), how he discovers new music (16:36), and if he likes it when people to send him music (18:30). Towards the second half of our conversation I asked Dave about living in the city of Manchester (21:45), his experiences with Irish acts (26:30), and the story behind his book Life After Dark; A History of British Nightclubs & Music Venues (33:25). We finished up with Dave talking about his series of small format books (43:28), and what he is reading and listing to at the moment (48:12).
Production note: there is slight clipping in the latter part of this episode so apologies for the sound quality.
Show Notes
- Dave’s website
- Dave Haslam on X
- Dave at the Guardian Newspaper
- The Haçienda nightclub
- For more, hear my conversations with Gerry Leonard, Nick Duerden and Midge Ure
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