Transatlantic Drift: The Ebb & Flow of Dance Music

Our annual Club Culture themed event is once again back with a vengeance!

This year our discussion and debate is based around the current and hugely sucessful publication by our own Dr Disco (Dr Simon Morrison) and his co-author Katie Milestone.

Transatlantic Drift: The Ebb & Flow of Dance Music explores the emergence and evolution of nightclubs and electronic dance music from the 1950s onwards. It traces the rhythmic journey of dance music, following the pulse as it bounced between Europe, North America and the Caribbean. Music, dance styles and nightclub spaces are not created in isolation; they are shaped by collective influences and shared experiences. This book uncovers the interconnected story of dance music, taking in hotspots such as New York, Detroit, London, Manchester, Chicago, Düsseldorf and Ibiza. Transatlantic Drift offers an engaging exploration of how people have come together to share melodies and rhythms, forming a global conversation through electronic music.

Hosted by Prof. Martin James (once described by legendary DJ Annie Nightingale MBE as: “… one of the most conscientious, outspoken and honest writers working in music today — and he’s not afraid to cry!” we'll be treated to a talk across the decades and the dancefloors and who knows, we may also shed a tear of nostagia too?!

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Simon Morrison is a media professional and academic, with 25 years experience as writer, broadcaster and academic. From writing books and travel journalism to screenplays for the BBC; presenting TV and radio to researching his PhD and establishing the Music Journalism degree at Chester, Simon is passionate about creating engaging stories and content, and about passing on that experience and knowledge to the next generation. As a music journalist, he reported on music scenes everywhere from Beijing to Brazil; from Moscow to Marrakech for his column in DJ magazine, ‘Dispatches from the Wrong Side’. The best of these were published in the UK and USA by Headpress in 2010, in his collection 'Discombobulated: Dispatches from the Wrong Side'. He also lived in Ibiza, where he edited the magazine 'Ministry in Ibiza' for music/media company of Ministry of Sound. As a freelance Simon wrote for everyone from The Observer to Red and Marie Claire magazines. He turned a story he wrote for The Guardian into a screenplay, which was sold to the production company Baby Cow and then on to the BBC. In terms of media, he has presented TV for the likes of Rapture TV, hosted radio shows in Ibiza, produced and presented for Kiss Radio and appeared on the couch of BBC Breakfast and regularly for BBC 5 Live. Alongside this work, for many years he also ran a PR agency - Pad Communications - which he founded and operated from central Manchester. He has been involved with the music literary festival Louder Than Words for over a decade, at one time running the PR for the festival, and programming panels on subjects such as the club scene and music journalism. He has been able to involve students from the University of Chester in that festival, as both attendees, and even panellists, which has provided great experience for those students.

Dr Katie Milestone is a Sociologist of Media and Culture. She has research interests in youth subcultures, music, gender and popular culture and has published widely in this filed.

ABOUT THE HOST:

Martin is an author, journalist & musician.

At 14 he ran away to follow The Clash. Joe Strummer told him to ‘f**k off ‘ome.’

At 17 he used to go to The Blitz. Boy George called him a ‘country bumpkin’.

At 18 he travelled round South East Asia where he DJd at the first futurist/New Romantic night in Singapore. Nobody came.He returned to the U.K. and spent the 80s singing in bands and exploring the darkest recesses of the clubland.In the 90s he worked as a journalist for magazines throughout the world and published books on dance music culture.

He’s written biographies for The Prodigy, made award winning documentaries and organised a multi venue festival and industry conference for 10 years.He’s also emiratus professsor of creative and cultural industries. He’s also a musician who runs a record label specialising in 80s inspired synth and electropop.

And he’s still broke.