My First Club: Slam

My First Club takes us back to the beginning, transporting DJs and producers back into the depths of their memory, asking them to take us on a trip to those pivotal first nights in clubland. Following entries from the likes of Michael Mayer,Herve,MK, Slimzee,and Hudson Mohawke_, _we caught up with Stuart McMillan, one half of legendary Scottish techno duo Slam, for a trip into the depths of the Sub Club.__

THUMP: Who were you with?
Stuart McMillan: Dave Clark our colleague and manager (not the DJ) Orde Meikle, and the rest of the Chimmies staff. Chimmies was the bar in which we all worked in the west end at the time.Thats kind of where the Slam thing started and we all met working there before we all got involved in running club nights and the label Soma.

Where was it?
It was in Lucifers on Jamaica Street in Glasgow. The night was called the Sub Club. And was run by a guy called Graeme Wilson. It's where the actual Sub Club is now. It was a dark dingy basement with a sticky carpet and one red light, which was the antithesis of every other disco/ nightclub at the time!

How did you get there?
When we finished work in the bar we ordered several taxis to take us there. It became a weekly excursion.

What were you wearing?
Who knows, it was a long time ago! Probably an M1 flying jacket and a silly hat of some kind!

Who was playing?
The afore mentioned Graeme Wilson, Nick Peacock, and maybe even Harri. It was in the 80s and primarily a soul club at the time. The reason I mentioned this club in particular is because it was where we heard Detroit techno for the first time. The music policy though was mainly funk and soul but one night they played "Nude Photo" by Derrick May and it sounded completely weird new and exiting. I remember rushing up the dj booth to ask what the record was, and pretty soon after that myself and Orde tried to search out as much music from Detroit, either on Transmat or similar labels from Chicago.

What was the crowd like?
It was a mix of misfits hairdressers soul boys, people in bands and shop workers. Anybody who wanted to escape from mecca disco hell!

What were the toilets like?
Rotten! They're better now. What did you do after?
We always used to go back to our flat in Athol Gardens for a party, which is the flat i shared with Dave Clark (not the DJ). Slam's new single "Make You Move" is out now on Soma. Slam are on Facebook // SoundCloud // Twitter