“I have really fond memories of Substance in Edinburgh, which will celebrate its 12th birthday this year. It’s run with love by brothers and residents Adam and Gavin Richardson, with more recent input from Glaswegian Dom Meade, aka Modus (affiliate of Outer Zone in Glasgow). They’ve been powering on with solid bookings and cracking sets from residents since 2006. Substance for me was this big, important night that let me go out and see the kind of people who would later become my heroes. I’m really glad they’re still going with it, hopefully educating a whole new generation on the good stuff like they did for me.”
Check out the RA feature on EBM feat the man himself.
Incoming!!
News — 2018
IDA Substance Debut
Finnish born, Acid Flash head honcho IDA makes her Substance debut this Friday (08th June). This girl is going places. Gavin Richardson also locked in.
£5 in all night.
News — 2017
Substance 11th Birthday: Resident Advisor Preview
Resident Advisor previewed the 11th birthday celebrations.
Possibly the single most important, living electronic artist in our world — Gerald Donald aka Heinrich Mueller, founding father of Drexciya, Dopplereffekt, Der Zyklus and Elecktroids et al — makes his first ever Edinburgh appearance, with the essential Arpanet concept live show, fusing proto-internet vision and next level futurism. Truly unmissable.
The Substance crew also thought it only right to ask some past guests what their favourite track was. Picks from Ben UFO, Surgeon, Substance aka DJ Pete, DJ Stingray, Rolando, Tessela, Manuel Gonzales, Bleaching Agent, Velocity Funk, Gavin Richardson, Dominic and Adam — featuring Arpanet, Drexciya, Japanese Telecom, LAM, Dopplereffekt, Abstract Thought and Der Zyklus:
Guardian journalist Ian McQuaid spoke to Adam Richardson about techno in Scotland from ground zero to present. One of the best pieces of research you’ll find on the scene here.
The sad news that Apparat, aka German techno producer Sascha Ring, had broken his leg after coming off a motorbike almost put paid to the seventh birthday party. Fortunately the rescheduling of his live show as one third of Moderat until the following February didn’t stop his partners in crime Modeselektor keeping the date. As Substance co-promoter Adam Richardson put it: “a full Modeselektor live show isn’t to be sniffed at.”
The show marked the club’s first large-scale Picture House show, following an escalating residency history at Henry’s Cellar Bar, the GRV and the Bongo Club — a run that had already seen Speedy J, Lory D, Luke Vibert and Luke Slater play alongside resident Gavin Richardson.
Adam Richardson, promoter at Substance, on celebrating the club’s 50th event: “We were very mindful of organising a 50th Substance party which was both special and representative of the club over the past six years. As such, we’re bringing in three artists for a Berlin-Detroit-NYC-Edinburgh soundclash.”
A UK debut from The Destroyaz — a dual live show from NYC-born, Berlin-based Bill Youngman and Edinburgh’s Neil Landstrumm — was complemented by Detroit-raised Rolando, former member of Underground Resistance and author of techno classic “Knights of the Jaguar,” fresh off a residency at Berlin’s Berghain/Panorama Bar.
Blawan — “Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?” (Hinge Finger)
Lory D — “B-L-132 Acid” (Numbers)
Theo Parrish — “Black Mist (Extended Version)” (Running Back)
Innerspace Halflife — “Wind” (M>O>S Recordings)
Head High — “Rave (Dirt Mix)” (Power House)
News — Feb 2012
The Skinny Preview of Jeff Mills Party
Substance brought Jeff Mills back to Scotland for his first set here since the days of Pure — a full-circle moment for a night built on that same lineage. He played a three-hour set at the Bongo Club.
Jeff Mills, live at Substance, The Bongo Club, 25 Feb 2012
News — Nov 2011
The Skinny Article: Substance Comes of Age
Ahead of our fifth birthday, The Skinny spoke to our own Adam Richardson about our journey to date and the upcoming celebrations.
