“We wanted to dance to the kind of music we hear in the city…” In his first despatch from West Lothian, guest blogger Davie Kelly describes the journey of discovery that led to the Hometown Social Club and a special party at the Kross Bar on 20th September.  Over to Davie…

In many ways West Lothian is “A real under the radar gem,” to quote the travel writer Robin McKelvie,  “a genuinely forgotten part of Scotland that offers so much without the crowds.” [Robin McKelvie – The Scottish Travel Writer Blog].

It has the huge advantage of being adjacent to the Capital, Edinburgh, and only a short drive along the M8 from Scotland’s cultural capital, Glasgow, giving it easy access to all the trappings of city life. Geography, however, can also be hindrance as it magnetically draws the creatives to the thriving musical & cultural scenes of Scotland’s two largest cities. Leaving a vacuum of chain pubs and worn out or tacky discoteques.

Hometown Social Club logo

We kinda like it that way though. It allows us to fly under the radar and forge our own path away from the glare of the city lights. The idea behind Hometown Social Club was quite simple really. We wanted to dance to the kind of music we hear in the city on our own doorsteps. The cost of living has risen dramatically over the last few years and a night out in the city followed by a taxi ride home was becoming prohibitively expensive. So we decided to bring the party to us instead.  We knew there must be a few other people in the area who enjoyed dancing to the same sounds as we did, it’s a very densely populated part of the country, right on the commuter belt so the law of averages suggested that we weren’t alone. And besides, we’d encountered a few West Lothian locals on various nights out in Edinburgh and Glasgow. So we reached out to some people. We got together and started our own wee party in the function suite of a local bar.

He can sometimes look a little perturbed when the techno comes on and the dry ice starts billowing out the air conditioning ducts on the roof and across street.

We’ve been very lucky so far as we’ve managed to quickly build a strong collective of like minded DJ & Artists who all bring their own unique and individual style to the party. Hometown Social Club is undoubtedly greater than the sum of it’s parts. We’re also fortunate to work with a really supportive & understanding local bar owner, Billy Patterson, at The Kross Bar in Armadale (it’s only right that we give the place a wee plug) who loves what we do. He’s a bit of a self confessed house head and loves the fact that we’re bringing something unique and interesting to the place. He can sometimes look a little perturbed when the techno comes on and the dry ice starts billowing out the air conditioning ducts on the roof and across street. But he lets us come back and for that we’ll be eternally grateful.

Should also give a shout out to Shuggie @ Roadrunner Discotheques. He’s the local mobile disco king, he helps out with sound systems and strobe lights and whatever else we need. He been very patient with us from the start and is always on hand with advice and encouragement. It’s these kind of relationships that make it possible. But enjoyable too. Creates a real community spirit and a nice vibe.

We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved so far. It’s been a real journey of discovery. We had hoped that by starting Hometown Social Club we might meet some interesting people and perhaps inspire others in the area to get creative themselves. Without blowing our own trumpet we’d like to think we’ve achieved that already. We’ve definitely made some new lifelong friends and The Bidler Room is testament to the fact we’ve inspired some people to do exciting and interesting things so even if we stopped tomorrow it’s influence would continue to be felt in West Lothian.

We’ve no intention of stopping though. We’re only just getting started. We’ve just launched a Podcast Series on Radio Magnetic and we plan to develop our blog further so that we can spread the good vibes far and wide. We’re really excited about what the future holds. There are some really talented people involved with Hometown Social Club and we aim to provide a platform that can help them develop their craft and hone their skills and gain them the exposure they deserve.

He was selling records on the landing between the toilets and the bar. A light bulb went on… 

Our next party on 20th September is a bit of a milesstone for me personally. Paul1939 is one of my oldest friends and outwith my family probably the one person on earth I’ve known the longest. He has had a huge influence on me musically and was the first person to introduce me to proper (Detroit) Techno. Up until then I’d assumed Ultrasonic & TTF were making techno music. Part of that introduction was a trip to The Barra’s for seminal Edinburgh Club night Pure’s debut in Glasgow. Dribbler was one of the residents DJ’s at Pure around that time and he rapidly became one of our favourite DJ’s and good friend too. We also met Wilba that night too, who is the founding partner of Rub-A-Dub Records in Glasgow. He was selling records on the landing between the toilets and the bar. A light bulb went on and we realised we could now actually buy the records we were hearing in the clubs. All of a sudden we were DJ’s. And that was the start of a journey that would eventually lead to the creation of Hometown Social Club. Without these three gentlemen it’s safe to say Hometown Social Club wouldn’t exist so it’s going to be a really special party.