FAST FORWARD THE FUTURE

Dave Swindells (photos) and Nancy Noise (interview) on Paul Oakenfold's seminal, PROTO-Acid House, london balearic club night

In 1988, deciding to recreate the Ibiza vibe in London for the first time was in itself a unique idea. To do so on a wet Thursday night in January a potential recipe for disaster. Paul had held some parties in late 1987 at Ziggy's, the first featuring Alfredo, but was keen to move. However, choosing the dark and somewhat dingy Soundshaft (the one behind Heaven) seemed simply to confirm this Ibizan dream’s early demise. 
However, Paul Oakenfold realised there was a core crew of youngsters who had worked and lived on the island in the previous two summers, who didn’t want to stop partying Ibiza-style.

Paul called the night The Future and made one of these kids its co resident alongside himself. Nancy Noise was a Walworth Road girl with a passion for music and an important part of that loved-up gang.

"Mostly it was all people that had been in ibiza for the summer, different groups that had been hanging out," she says, "I always thought we were like a little tribe. We had grown very close, and ecstasy made that connection stronger. There were people from all different places and parts of London; our l'il crew was from Walworth Road. There were the northern boys from Manchester and Sheffield, plus groups from Beckenham, Peckham, Bromley, Roundshaw, Dagenham, Hornchurch, some of our friends from Italy and Spain would be over during these times too. They were all such characters."

The music that was played initially was the eclectic Balearic and House sounds that Ibiza DJs such as Alfredo , Leo Mas and DJ Nelo had made into anthems that previous summer, with a few of Nancy’s and Paul’s faves from the  summer of '86.

“There wasn't a musical brief we knew what we wanted to do," says Nancy, "I had been there the summer before as well, in so had some different records that I had heard in Amnesia which weren't played in '87. They became massive tracks at The Future – like It's Immaterial's Driving Away from Home, Dizzi Heights' Would I find Love and Hong Kong Syndikat’s Too Much."

Time Out magazine photographer, and face about London’s hipper clubs David Swindells was there to document this new and highly addictive new scene in its absolute infancy.

It's well worth noting in Dave’s fantastic photos that the dress style is pure Ibiza and not yet what is considered 'Acid House uniform'.

Nancy sums up that magical moment in time when the scene was at its purest – "I remember when Paul called the night 'The Future' and saying to me that he had chosen it as he saw it as the future. At the time for me everything was just in the moment. I was having a good time dancing, taking ecstasy, being with friends… nothing else mattered. As the weeks rolled on it was becoming evident how much the whole thing was growing and growing… it was kind of crazy."