Houseparties – why is it that we invite strangers to our house to behave illegally, act bizarrely and outstay their welcome? Versus and its workforce have garnered a reputation for putting on severely good houseparties over the last couple of years in a venue that I expect a lot of you reading this will know about.


========================================================================================== ==========================================================================================


Our house has played host to glitch popper Max Tun- dra, noise troubadours Action Beat, prog fantastists Cleckhuddersfax and most recently Runners, a Neu! influenced outfit from Leeds. It is always our intention to offer something more to our guests than just an iPod on in the corner and a weak punch (one helping per per- son) and this desire has manifested itself in putting on bands in our living room supported by a large P.A and projecting Chat Roulette onto the walls of our kitchen. Undoubtedly we all have a fantastic, hedonistic


time surrounded by a lot of people that we do and also don’t know, but when it comes to 7a.m and grown men are moved to tears when confronted with the news that the music will be turned off, I think a small part of us wonders why we do it, especially when we find out that our shed has been smashed to the floor using our own logs and coke dealers have left tyre marks courtesy of their garish 4x4s all over our garden. We have broken up fights between people us-


ing wrenches as weapons and come across an entire toilet of ours covered in mindless graffiti (if any of the artistically ill equipped ‘69’ crew are reading - you guys are seemingly really shit at being clever and you’ve all got ‘69’ tattoos? Eurgh. Stay in Crosby). I have been re- lieved of £150 by some opportunistic twat. However we are already planning for the next one, mainly because if we don’t then no-one else will. Houseparties are the place where anything can


happen; you smoke where you like, you bring your own drinks and it doesn’t officially close. They are the best places to hang out because it appears to be an environ- ment without rules. One of our friends was missing for two days after a party. I’m not sure anyone (including himself) knows what happened. Playing a show in a houseparty is exciting be-


cause of the lack of a barrier between crowd and band; essentially the audience share the stage with you and there is a vested interest to have a good time, whereas


in a bar people are more inclined to analyse and criticise because they may have parted with wages to come in. I played one of the best gigs of my life in our own living room, so it made sense to catch up with another peren- nial party player, Yannis of Foals. Versus – You earned a reputation as a band that played houseparties. What was your first party and was it memorable in any way? Yannis – Our first party was in a basement in Oxford. There was a lot of people and very little space. Edwin had a severe illness so the atmosphere between us was slightly fraught. It went as well as it could have done considering.


Versus – Have the police ever tried to shut down a party you’ve been playing at? In that situation would you try and show an officer your sweet new riff in a bid to convince them to let the party con- tinue? Yannis – I think showing the police your new riff would be the braver option and I’m always interested in the braver option. The police have come to a party that we’ve been playing at but they just stuck their noses in and left. We’re pretty good live, maybe that’s something to do with it.


Versus – Would you play at Noel’s House Party? Yannis – Erm, no I wouldn’t. Well yes, maybe I would. If Blobby was there. He’s got a Number One. He’s been out there and done it you know? He’s credible. I’d avoid Noel Edmunds altogether.


Versus – What makes the perfect houseparty? Yannis – Lots of people, not enough space and an in- tense punch.


Versus – What goes in a Foals punch? Yannis - ….Drugs and Aqua Libra, a much underrated


The police have come to a party that we’ve been play- ing at but they just stuck their noses in and left. We’re pretty good live, maybe that’s something to do with it.


34 65 21 33 44


drink. My mother used to buy it for me as a special treat. It’s very effervescent and made from grapes. I had a brilliant whisky last night with genuine snake scales and a scorpion in it. It claimed that it rectified ‘weakening mantality’, whatever that is. Versus – I think I can guess what weakening man- tality is. However it seems to be working seeing as you’re set on picking the braver options. What was your most memorable houseparty? Yannis – We did a squat in London called Squallyoaks that had become a hub for weird activities. It was just carnage. There was one lightbulb in the basement that got broken in the first song. And then people who had been taking far too much ketamine began smashing the one supporting wall of the house with fire extinguish- ers.


Versus – I’m always surprised that people on ket- amine can manage to do those kinds of things. Yannis – You need to do just the right amount. Seriously, just the right amount is perfect.


Versus – Thanks Yannis, we’ll speak soon. Yannis – Let us play your house.


It should be noted that I’m not sure I’ve ever done ‘just the right amount’ of ketamine and I find it unlikely that I would be able to take part in any kind of mini scale riot under such an influence. So, if I’m talking about organising such a riot, or I’ve become particu- larly wide eyed and you consider me a danger then you know what to do. Our next houseparty is in a couple of months


and it’s going to be sick (people are still saying ‘sick’ right?). You probably know where it is and if you don’t, where’ve you been?


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28