2manydjs: ‘There are a lot of shitty clubs’

The Radio Soulwax duo speak out against 'demigod' DJs and sound restrictions in clubs

2manydjs have commented on the demise of UK clubs, explaining that sound restrictions, “cutting corners” and the rise of “demigod” DJs are partly to blame.

One half of the 2manydjs and Soulwax duo, David Dewaele was responding to the recent report that almost half of the UK’s nightclubs have shut down in the past 10 years.

“There are a lot of shitty clubs,” he wrote in a guest blog post for NME. “Clubs are closing down worldwide, and part of it is because of the restrictions being placed on them. In Switzerland the volume limit in clubs is 99dB, which, if you were to turn the music down and just have people talking, that’s already maybe 96dB, 97dB. There’s some insane sound levels going on in Europe. Obviously the best ones will find a way around it, but the sound police are gradually taking fun away from kids.”

NMEDan Dennison/NME
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“I have noticed one thing in the past 15 years that we’ve been coming to the UK, which is that in the beginning the sound was super important,” he continued.

“It feels like that’s something that’s been gradually lost in the UK. A lot of clubs would open and, to me, it would be less about the experience of hearing music. It felt like they were cutting corners. A lot of small clubs are really cool, but it’s not necessarily about being drenched in music.”

“That whole demigod DJ thing has gone absolutely nuts, too, but I don’t see it dying any time in the next year or so. People are loving it, they can’t get enough of it and it’s just weird. It’s really odd.”

The 2manydjs brothers David and Steph Dewaele recently announced that they would be reigniting their Despacio collaboration
with LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy later this year, for two nights at Camden Roundhouse on September 10 and 11.

Launched in 2013, Despacio features an 11-foot custom-built disco soundsystem with the trio exclusively playing vinyl.

“Despacio is not about the DJ, it’s about the party,” Dewaele added. “There’s just the three of us playing from the very beginning ’til the very end, which is usually between seven and eight hours.”

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“There’s seven stacks with the amps built into them – it’s quite beautiful – and they’re ‘in the round’, so people are engulfed by it. We’re hidden, so it’s not like people are looking at us. The whole thing is just this Stonehenge of audio.”

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