Summer Love Festival

80s Acid House Culture & it’s roots with current day Underground House & Techno Culture effortlessly creating a festival completely unique & like no other in the world; & this is why…

… Creative Directors Richard West AKA Mr.C & Steve Whyte AKA Chalk E White first met in the earliest days of the Summer of Love back in Spring 1988 at the Legendary RIP parties in Clink Street, London Bridge, in what is now the Clink Prison Museum. Steam was streaming out of the main door & cracked windows as the bass of a brand-new genre of music throbbed through the walls that were dripping with the sweat of hundreds of ravers, having their minds blown by this new form of electronic dance music that was sweeping the nation. Acid House Culture / Rave Culture was literally being born. A musical youth phenomenon that would dominate clubbing all over the world. It's Spring 1988, Steve Whyte who lived in Bermondsey was cutting through those dark derelict streets on his way home from clubbing. As he turned into Clink Street, he heard the throb of pounding bass & saw a bunch of heavies guarding the entrance to what looked like a den of debauchery. Steve’s curiosity was too much so he paid his £10 on the door & entered a happening that would change his life forever. Inside DJs Mr.C, Evil Eddie Richards, Kid Batchelor, Colin Faver (RIP) & Shock Sound System were playing upfront underground New York Garage & House, Chicago House & Acid & Detroit House & Techno Music. The packed warehouse was firing on both dancefloors. The crowd was a true urban mix of degenerates from all walks of life. Black, white & every shade of person in between coming from every walk of life, from lower working class up to stinking rich Toffs. Within these walls, colour, class structure & sexuality merged into a melting pot of people losing their minds while unbeknown to themselves creating a movement that would become the most powerful musical youth movement the planet has every experienced. Mr.C started his musical journey as a MC & rapper in 1982. In the early 80s London was hooked on black music, with Soul, Funk, Rare Groove, Disco & Hip Hop dominating London’s night clubs. Roots Reggae, Dancehall & Dub music were also huge across the capital. London was a very violent city, with gangs of football hooligans frequenting the nightclubs. London was a war zone. The UK was in the throes of a recession, ruled under the iron fist of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives & Neo Liberalism was showing its ugly head. At this time a combination of recession, oppression & with a new electronic music starting to come through, London was ripe for a new black music-based scene that would smash down barriers between races & class structures & literally stop club gang violence overnight. A combination of House & Techno music & a new designer drug called Ecstasy flipped the UK clubbing scene on its head. Mr.C was at the forefront of this & in Summer 1987 released his first deep house track with Evil Eddie Richards as Myster-E. In the right place at the right time C became one of those individuals instrumental in pushing this brand-new music & scene to a young, turned-on London. C went on to become one of the world’s top International DJs inspiring many to follow his lead & play cutting edge House & Techno. A DJ never compromising his sound, in late 1989 he joined The Shamen, later becoming front man, co-songwriter & co-producer with the band as they notched up a string of top 10 UK pop hits including cult anthem Move Any Mountain (Progen) & the number 1 smash hit Ebeneezer Goode, with the band winning the Ivor Novello for UK Songwriters of the Year 1992/93. But this was no ordinary pop band. All lyrics were about Shamanism, the Human psychedelic experience & Human evolution, The Shamen under Mr.C’s guidance made sure that every single release was supported by quality House, Acid, Techno & Electronic Dance Music’s most cutting-edge artists on the remixes. In 1995 Mr.C opened The End nightclub, which over a course of 13 years completely changed the blueprint of clubbing, not only in London & the UK but the World over. Since then, his Superfreq record label & brand has just celebrated 20 years of cutting-edge underground music releases & events globally. Back to 1988 & Chalk E White had also become a House Music DJ playing events all over the South of England. He started throwing hugely successful events in London & on the South coast including the legendary Sterns Reunion events, as well as The Acid House Experience & Return to Heaven events in London. Steve also founded the Acid House Experience community, which is the leading Acid House page & group on Facebook bar none. It is the history, deep knowledge & musical integrity of these 2 men that make Summer Love Festival the magical gathering that is has become. Summer Love Festival comprises of 5 stages. Stage 1 is Old School circa 1986-1993. Old School House & Techno events have become extremely popular over recent years. Sadly however, the musical emphasis at pretty much all these old school events have been the pop side of House. Big piano breakdowns galore & songs we’ve heard so many times we’d be happy to never hear ever again. There has always been a thing in our scene, even since it blew up in 1988 that 90% of ravers don’t go out to hear cutting edge & innovative dance music. They go out be in the crowds, get high on drugs, get shagged & want to hear their favourite huge classic dance tracks over & over again. Summer Love Festival is not for those people. Back in the 80s our crew at Click Street or Dungeons Lea Bridge Road in 1989 would never play the hits that we’d broken & helped to become huge, always opting for new, fresh upfront & underground, filthy house & techno music. It is emphasis on the more underground side of first wave House & Techno that Summer Love Festival focuses on for our main stage. It’s this same underground music attitude that formed our global dance music scene in the 80s, continued to break new ground in the 90s, went more electronic & minimal in the 00s & has brought us to where we are now. The House & Techno market globally is huge. While not cheesy for the most part, it has become extremely musically generic. Today, just like back in the 80s & 90s, we strive to keep our music fresh, upfront, underground, fun & sexy in every way. Generic is not for us as we fear normal. This is what makes SLF completely unique. Stage 1 is the Summer Love Stage (Old School 86-93): Mr.C ft David H / Graeme Park / Kid Batchelor / Linden C / Ron Acteson / Femi B / Chris Paul / E-Mix

Stage 2 is the Superfreq stage featuring modern Techno, Acid House, Minimal Techno & Deep Tech: Saytek Live / Eddie Richards / Murf / David Scuba / Miss C / Tred Benedict / Jake Beautyman / Broken Neon. Stage 3 is the Graffiti Kings Radio Stage & features all shades of upfront House music from Deep House to Tech House & everything in between: Robert Owens / Terry Farley / Jazzy M / Trevor Fung / Fabi Paras / Jonny Nelson / Si Moutarde / James Parkes / Danny Young. Stage 4 is the C76 Woodland stage featuring the very best in Roots Reggae, Dub & 70s & 80s Soul, Funk, Disco & edits: Ditchcoteque / Modir / Jasper the Vinyl Ju**ie / Ron Tom / Earl Gateshead / Wassie One / Donavan Kingjay / Ben Cutter. Stage 5 is the VIPer Lounge featuring all kinds of music from Hip Hop, Breaks, Electro, Funk, Disco & House: Normski / Chalk E White / Acell / Groover Washington / Paul Clark / Rob Parish / Jonny Manners / Darren Bell / Jon Edis. There is no festival in the world that spans 5 decades of the very best of underground Funk, Soul, Roots, Dub, Disco, House, Acid & Techno without compromise in the way Summer Love Festival does. It’s literally a dream come true for lovers of specialist dance music & its roots. A musically cheese free festival for people who demand absolute quality, not only with music but also with life in general. The festival site is set in woodlands, surrounded by trees, with a beautiful small lake completing the setting. A short 10-minute drive from Gatwick Airport, which has London trains around the clock, Summer Love Festival is extremely easy to access with lots of airport hotel options to choose from. The effort that we’re putting in to create the perfect festival setting is huge. Each stage will be kitted out with high end sound systems, great décor, multi-coloured lasers, intelligent lighting & visuals. We’ll be lighting up the surrounding woodlands & turning this fairytale setting into a magical wonderland. Being an underground event musically, our already established crowd, built up from over 35 years of Acid House culture are the very shining hearts that built our scene from the ground up, to the fresher faces that make London’s underground scene so vibrant today. Therefore, expect your welcome to be warm & friendly & the love to be free flowing as Summer Love Festival creates the perfect closing event of the summer festival season. Join us in making real magic happen on Saturday 17th September from 12pm – 11pm.