This episode I was lucky enough to have a old good knees up with a friend I’ve got to know working in the video biz; Director of Photography / DJ / music producer / editor / creator extraordinaire Arlen Figgis!
Growing up in an incredibly creative household and leaving school at 16 to pursue DJing and rave culture during the birth of the drum and bass scene, it was clear Arlen was never going to have a boring life.
Since his early days DJing at Kool FM, he’s filmed years of Gumball 3000 with the likes of Dirty Sanchez and Tony Hawk, toured Europe making cult skate film Zootopia, and even built a stage that now tours UK music festivals like Latitude, Boomtown and Bestival, so it’s no surprise that Arlen had more than a few stories to share when I joined him in his incredible self-built studio at his house in North London.
If you want to check out Arlen’s work or get in touch with him, be sure to check out his instagram @arlenrok and website www.arlenfiggis.com which also has photos of his amazing studio that I fail to do justice in describing at the top of the episode.
Finally, make sure you check out www.shack.events/ to find out which UK festival Arlen’s awesome Shack will be rocking next.
Thanks as always for listening and I’ll catch you in the next episode!
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This episode I was lucky enough to have a old good knees up with a friend I’ve got to know working in the video biz; Director of Photography / DJ / music producer / editor / creator extraordinaire Arlen Figgis!
Growing up in an incredibly creative household and leaving school at 16 to pursue DJing and rave culture during the birth of the drum and bass scene, it was clear Arlen was never going to have a boring life.
Since his early days DJing at Kool FM, he’s filmed years of Gumball 3000 with the likes of Dirty Sanchez and Tony Hawk, toured Europe making cult skate film Zootopia, and even built a stage that now tours UK music festivals like Latitude, Boomtown and Bestival, so it’s no surprise that Arlen had more than a few stories to share when I joined him in his incredible self-built studio at his house in North London.
If you want to check out Arlen’s work or get in touch with him, be sure to check out his instagram @arlenrok and website www.arlenfiggis.com which also has photos of his amazing studio that I fail to do justice in describing at the top of the episode.
Finally, make sure you check out www.shack.events/ to find out which UK festival Arlen’s awesome Shack will be rocking next.
Thanks as always for listening and I’ll catch you in the next episode!
Ep2 - Chris Greenwood talks about unwitting entrepenurship, hanging out with the Beastie boys and what it takes to run nightclubs, bars and festivals
So How Did I Get Here? with Sam Lax
1 hour 14 minutes 15 seconds
8 years ago
Ep2 - Chris Greenwood talks about unwitting entrepenurship, hanging out with the Beastie boys and what it takes to run nightclubs, bars and festivals
Within the music industry, Chris Greenwood aka Madera Verde has done a bunch.
In our conversation at his house in South London Chris talks us through the journey his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for music has taken him on over the years; From humble teenage beginnings trying to sell soggy firewood with a mate in Barnes, to having a pretty sweet summer job in the States DJing in the Hamptons, to returning to London to run his own nightclubs, festivals and everything inbetween.
His stories are enough to make you drip with envy and wish you were there with him - like those times he hung out with the Beastie Boys in New York, or when Bjork used to sing at the Giles Peterson & James Lavelle jam sessions he helped facilitate and Wesley Snipes dropped by Bar Rumba for a boogy- you know, the usual days at the office!
We talk about his epic vinyl collection and where his collecting habit started - visiting vinyltheques in Brussels with his mum, and amongst many other things we cover the seemingly organic progression towards eventually running Shoreditch based nightclub Cargo for 10 years before being drafted in to co run The Big Chill festival for over 5 years too. You can now find him most days & nights at Louie Louie, a hybrid cafe/bar/restaurant he co owns in the Walworth Road, SE17.
It was a real pleasure to chat to Chris being a huge fan of his radio show and the music he champions (World music 2.0 if you were wondering!), so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and you take something away from the picture he paints of what it is like to be a part of the ever changing music industry.
Want To Hear More of Chris?
You can visit his new venue Louie Louie at 347 Walworth Road London SE17 2AL, listen to his monthly SOAS radio show here;(https://soasradio.org/music/podcasts/madera-verde-on-soas-radio), and his weekly radio show on MiSoul here: (http://mi-soul.com/madera-verde/). Chris' Mixcloud archive can also be listened to here: (https://www.mixcloud.com/bonanzamusic/) and I thoroughly recommend doing all of the above!
So How Did I Get Here? with Sam Lax
This episode I was lucky enough to have a old good knees up with a friend I’ve got to know working in the video biz; Director of Photography / DJ / music producer / editor / creator extraordinaire Arlen Figgis!
Growing up in an incredibly creative household and leaving school at 16 to pursue DJing and rave culture during the birth of the drum and bass scene, it was clear Arlen was never going to have a boring life.
Since his early days DJing at Kool FM, he’s filmed years of Gumball 3000 with the likes of Dirty Sanchez and Tony Hawk, toured Europe making cult skate film Zootopia, and even built a stage that now tours UK music festivals like Latitude, Boomtown and Bestival, so it’s no surprise that Arlen had more than a few stories to share when I joined him in his incredible self-built studio at his house in North London.
If you want to check out Arlen’s work or get in touch with him, be sure to check out his instagram @arlenrok and website www.arlenfiggis.com which also has photos of his amazing studio that I fail to do justice in describing at the top of the episode.
Finally, make sure you check out www.shack.events/ to find out which UK festival Arlen’s awesome Shack will be rocking next.
Thanks as always for listening and I’ll catch you in the next episode!
