30 years of Bugged Out! in rave flyers

When two magazine editors started a party inside a former cotton mill in Manchester in 1994, they could never have imagined it would still be going on some 30 years later – outliving both the publication and the nightclub it started in.

Having launched a dance music fanzine called Jockey Slut in 1993, Paul Benney and John Burgess wanted to shine a light on Manchester’s burgeoning techno scene. The corresponding club night (called Disco Pogo at the time, now the name of the print magazine they launched in 2021) was merely a way of promoting the magazine and platforming some of the artists they had been writing about such as Andrew Weatheralland Dave Clarke.

But these parties caught the attention of the newly opened Sankeys Soap nightclub in Ancoats, which subsequently asked the Jockey Slut co-founders to host a regular Friday night residency at the venue. The name Bugged Out! was taken from an interview in the magazine, in which an artist had used the term to describe their music, baptising what would eventually become one of the UK’s longest-running event series.

While Sankeys Soap shut its doors in 1998, and Jockey Slut sadly came to an end in 2004, Bugged Out! has endured as a pivotal electronic music event. Along with giving early opportunities to acts like Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers, it has hosted everyone from Kevin Saunderson to Bicep to Erol Alkan to HAAi, at locations including fabric, Glastonbury and Barcelona’s Razzmatazz, along with curating a tent at Field Day for the last 13 years.

Three decades worth of rave flyers help to trace this incredible legacy, providing a snapshot into the world of Bugged Out!, and the many names, locations, and parties that make up its history. Just as the event has always focussed on platforming spectacular music, so too has the artwork evolved with the times, reflecting the brand’s pioneering identity.

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Bugged Out! will be celebrating its 30th birthday with a colossal party at Drumsheds on Saturday, November 9, with a stellar line-up including The Chemical Brothers, Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), DJ Paulette, Heléna Star, Modeselektor, Octave One and more.

Ahead of this, we catch up with Burgess to reflect on some of Bugged Out’s most memorable moments over the years, and discuss the philosophy behind its iconic poster design.

Congratulations on 30 years, how do you think your approach has helped keep the party going for so long?

We’ve always wanted to be involved with the most exciting new acts and use the best clubs to house them in. Over 30 years we’ve held residencies at Sankeys, Cream in Liverpool, fabric, The End and XOYO in London, so being in good venues has helped sustain the night. And now we have shifted to doing huge epic events at Printworks and Drumsheds. We’ve also developed good relationships with a lot of our regular DJs - many of whom are playing our 30th birthday party in London.

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Looking back, what have been some of the most memorable or stand-out moments from the 30-year history of Bugged Out?

There have been many different eras of Bugged Out! The early years at Sankeys centred around Detroit techno and Chicago house, and we brought over Green Velvet and Derrick Carter for shows, which were incredible. The Chemical Brothers played live for us on their first proper tour in 1995 at the Haçienda – a place that informed our salad days.

In the late '90s, we held a monthly night in Liverpool at a 5000-capacity venue. Those were much more eclectic; Thomas Bangalter played live at one memorable party. We also held a closing night at The End in London in 2009 with Justice headlining at their peak, which had an insane atmosphere.

Our weekenders at Butlins in Bognor Regis between 2012 and 2016 are some of the best events we’ve ever thrown; there’s something special about being able to see huge acts like Four Tet in a place usually used for cabaret. This year we did a massive Bugged Out! on Brighton beach with Underworld closing with tracks like ‘Rez’ as the sun set. So the stand-out moments still happen to this day.

Aesthetically, how does the flyer design and artwork of Bugged Out! reflect the party’s identity, and has that evolved over the years?

In the '90s, we were very DIY and used to find images in magazines and use them as the focus, but we’d hide an acid house smiley somewhere within it. During the era of super clubs we were more utilitarian as the DJs were selling the shows then so they needed to be the focus of the flyers. During the electroclash period in the '00s, graphics had become punkier and we reflected this with the DJs scrawled across newspaper print, much more throwaway in look and with a flimsy feel but it made them stand out. The design has become much more stylish in recent times and it needs to be useful for different formats online. We don’t do print flyers anymore.

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Why have The Chemical Brothers, Modeselektor and Octave One been chosen to headline the 30 year anniversary party?

We’ve had a long standing relationship with The Chemical Brothers since 1994 when we first started the Disco Pogo parties – they played when they were called the Dust Brothers. They are really unique DJs, playing acid house and techno but with their own twist on it, bolstered by some of their own tracks of course. And they like to play long, three-hour sets.

Modeselektor have played some of our bigger shows in the past 10 years including our stage at Field Day and Printworks show in 2019. There's a lot of interest in Octave One for the party, they are one of the finest Detroit techno live acts in existence and we would see them often in the Liverpool and Manchester era so it’s great to have them back. I’m sure ‘Black Water’ will take the roof off room Y.

Looking forward, what does the future hold for Bugged Out?

We’re enjoying working with Drumsheds on these big shows. It’s a bit like doing an indoor festival and we’re no strangers to that with our tenure with Field Day and the weekender events. We’re working with them again on a show in Spring at the moment. There’ll also be further collaborations with Disco Pogo, so it does feel like things have gone full circle having a magazine as part of our process.

Tickets for 30 Years of Bugged Out! at Drumsheds are on sale now here

Meena Sears is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Instagram