Getting the Party Started With Krankbrother

Brothers Danny and Kieran Clancy have built a reputation for themselves as some of London’s most unique party starters. Their Krankbrother events have grown from an annual fancy dress party for just their friends to one of the most recognized and well respected parties in the capital.

This Friday, February 9th, the guys will team up with London record store Phonica for the next installment. A killer lineup that welcomes electronic luminary Four Tet alongside Daphni otherwise known as Caribou, Appleblim and Paul Woolford is set to take on an as yet unnamed East London warehouse space. A distinct live feel to their programme has made this arguably one of the most eagerly awaited Krankbrother events to date. With their forays in Europe and beyond over the last year or so, the Krankbrother reach is always expanding but remains as loyal as ever. DT caught up with the boys late last week to chat cheese, on the year just gone and indeed the one ahead.

What gives you the most pleasure when putting on Krankbrother parties?

Seeing that the attendees have had a great time, and when a DJ lives up to the hype and delivers an amazing set. 

What’s the biggest problem that you continually face with putting on your parties in London over the last year?

There are less and less warehouse venues to suit the capacities we need, so venue hunting has become harder and harder. 

Do you feel that the brand has become more international over the last year?

Yes definitely – we did 3 shows in Ibiza last summer as well as showcases and DJ sets in places like Croatia, Dominican Republic, Germany, Brazil and many more. It’s been a lot of fun. 

Was putting on the events in Ibiza, for example, far more complicated as it’s not your home city?

Definitely. Ibiza is a really difficult market – things are much more weighed in favor of venues and DJ’s rather than promoters. It can be really difficult to even break even on a show over there. But we were really pleased with our series of yacht parties. They were something different that no one else is particularly doing in the same way, and we had really amazing feedback after them. 

What do you particularly like about London in terms of putting on parties?

I think the best thing about putting on events in London is the amount of people that are interested in the scene here. There is a huge appetite for dance music in this city; it feels like the global centre for electronic music right now, so it’s really exciting to be involved. 

The party next week has more of a live feel than your usual DJ focused events. Was that something that you consciously wanted to branch out into more?

We do usually try and book a combination of live and DJ acts throughout the year, but with our Feb 9th show we wanted to slightly change direction with our booking policy and try and showcase some artists that maybe some of our followers hadn’t seen before. The more confident we are in selling out our events, the more we are able to book artists that we really respect for their musicality, rather than being too focused on which artists sell the most tickets. 

Do you feel as though this is one of your strongest lineups ever?

Definitely. We worked closely with Phonica to program the event together, and we’re delighted with how it turned out. 

You have a very loyal crowd, but do you think this line-up could yield a slightly different audience too?

It probably will bring a slightly different audience, yes. We didn’t consciously try and book artists that would bring in a new crowd – we have a fantastic cross section of people that attend our events and we’re really happy with the crowd we pull. But it’s always nice to open up the event to more and more new faces, and people with difference music tastes. 

What happened to the Krankbrother agency?

My brother and I are opening a restaurant & cocktail bar called Beagle, in 3 railway arches next to Hoxton Station in late March. Between Krankbrother and Beagle, there simply weren’t enough hours in the day to run an agency as well, but it was a fun experience while it lasted. 

Have you got any plans to start producing tracks of your own?

We’re always talking about it – but we’re so busy on other things right now. Eventually we definitely will, but we need things to settle down with the new bar and restaurant before we think about putting all those studio hours in. 

What big events are you lining up for 2013? Will you be hosting more stages at festivals this year?

We’ve got some really exciting stuff coming up – our show next weekend with Phonica, a show on Feb 16th with Steve Bug & Audiofly, an incredible line up for April 27th, a summer opening party in late May, and some really exciting outdoor events in London over the summer. We’ll also be at some great festivals in the UK and abroad over the summer, and we’re doing a little Brazil tour in May too. 

And what about Ibiza in the summer?

Of course! We’re lining up 3 of our special yacht parties with some great DJs. 

For more information on Krankbrother events check out their website at http://www.krankbrother.com