DJ and producer Erol Alkan has announced a new book and is preparing to headline a major London anniversary show, reflecting on the lasting influence of the 2000s electroclash scene. The book, titled Trash: A Club, A Sound, A Home, is an oral history of the influential clubnight he founded and ran from 1997 to 2007.
Alkan spent two years compiling the book, which draws on 70 hours of interviews with 39 figures who performed or DJed at Trash during its decade-long run. The club, first located in Soho before moving to the West End, became known for its connections to the garage-rock revival, electroclash and new rave scenes. Early performances at Trash included sets by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Peaches, Scissor Sisters, Bloc Party and Klaxons.
The announcement coincides with Alkan's appearance at Bugged Out's 2001&On… special day rave at London's Drumsheds this weekend. The line-up also features 2ManyDJs, The Avalanches, Kittin & The Hacker, Felix Da Housecat, Friendly Fires and New Young Pony Club. The event celebrates the turn of the century's game-changing and scene-setting moment in electronic and alternative music.
In an interview, Alkan explained how the period around 2000 shaped his approach. He said he was confused by what alternative culture had become in the run-up to the new millennium, which led him to invest heavily in dance music. He described living his life with alternative culture and dance music co-existing on his record shelves and in his Walkman, and credited nights like Bugged Out at Fabric with fuelling his imagination.
Alkan recalled that electroclash was brewing in the late 1990s and early 2000s but had no name and was not yet a scene. He described it as a collection of artists and labels working in the spirit of alternative culture. It was not until The Strokes and The White Stripes emerged, alongside his experiences at Trash, that the moment refocused.
He said music seemed lost post-Britpop, with the intention of indie gone and a sanitised concept of alternative culture in the hands of major labels. Trash, he said, changed everything. His aim was to bring together different things he liked and make them work so people could dance and escape to them. He wanted to be true to himself rather than copy favourite DJs from dance clubs, and to make people freak out to a Miss Kittin record one minute and a Manic Street Preachers B-side the next.
Describing the DNA of his setlists, Alkan said the character within each record was important and how they were put together was almost scientific. He would gently move from record to record to lead somewhere markedly different from four records earlier, without a brutal shift. Part of it was telling a story or finding connections across the musical alphabet with clarity.
He believed that if he could make people dance to alternative records the same way they danced to dance records, he could shift perceptions around indie culture and indie clubs towards how dance clubs were seen. That was the intention behind Trash.
On audiences, Alkan said they change regardless, and anyone expecting absolute loyalty in clubland is misguided. He compared it to trying to hold water in your hand, adding that you have to be prepared to lose people.
Alkan also said he still uses stacks of vintage copies of NME as a cheat code and index to find less obvious records from the era for his sets. The book and the Bugged Out show together mark a renewed focus on a period that continues to influence new generations, despite the challenges of the digital age.