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Unleash is bringing passion and pizzazz to the London party scene: Promoter Focus

Event celebrates its sixth year this Saturday with Cobblestone Jazz, Robag Wruhme and more...

Unleash is one of London's most beloved events for one simple reason — at it's core, it's a party for fans, by fans.  

First meeting by pure coincidence at a M_nus party at Brixton Academy back in 2009, founders Marco Mendes and Jake Kasumov shared an “enthusiastic yet unintelligible” chat, which led to a firm friendship and, eventually, a party that can now celebrate being one of the capital’s best (even picking up a nom for Best Event at last year’s Best Of British Awards).

And that’s not all there is to celebrate — November sees Unleash turn six, bringing a rock-solid line-up to Studio Spaces E1 on Saturday 4th November. “Musically, this will be one for the record books. Magda is one of our all time favourite artists, and, in fact, we met while listening to her DJ,” say the founders.

“Cobblestone Jazz [Mathew Jonson, Danuel Tate, Tyger Dhula] and Robag [Wruhme] are sure to please with some left-of-centre, alternative and melodic house and techno.”

Plus dOP will perform live, and Bas Ibellini joins the fray. “First and foremost we book artists whose music we like,” say Marco and Jake. “We like to support lesser known artists, and programme line-ups that we feel passionate about.”

Unleash hasn’t just earned its rep through line-ups either, with high-end production being a major part of the event’s appeal.

“We always like to invest in quality production and décor; no one night is ever the same as another,” we’re told. “A few months before each event we will do a site visit with our production team and discuss the production ethos for the night.

They continue: "The aesthetics actually have a lot to do with the type of music that will be played during that particular night — so if it’s techno, we tend to go for darker, moodier lighting, while if the music is more on the ‘softer’ side, the lighting and production will reflect that.”

All this has earned Marco and Jake a loyal fanbase who ensure every party goes off. “Unleashers from all walks of life attend our events, and this is what we think makes it special — a diverse, music-loving, relaxed and friendly crowd.”

And they’ll have plenty in the coming months with Apollonia, Mathew Jonson and another Rumors showcase all on the way; but for now, top of the agenda is singing happy birthday and getting the party started, so grab your ticket here.

Pics by Here & Now.

Ben Hindle is DJ Mag’s Clubs Editor and co-founder of DJ Mag Bunker. Follow him on Twitter here.