A second sunny day dawns over Peckham where the party has already begun. A horde of young people from all over London rush to the park. All is smooth and the lineup of the day more dance and housy. We come across the live sets of the creative institution and label Secretsundaze, also a duo of DJs Giles Smith and James Priestley; the boss of the German label Running Back, Gerd Janson; of the one who needs no introduction – Soichi Terada; of the artist uk dance Parris, who notably released the very beautiful Puro Rosaceaes and mixed in the traineeship covered, libertarian and unbridled. Let’s not forget Dan Shake – who will be performing September at the Contours festival in Trax; Bristol native, Shanti Celeste, DJ and producer of disco-inspired house and one of the greatest curators on earth, the inventor of acid-jazz and the man behind Worldwide FMGilles Peterson.
On this last day – a Saturday which, despite the announcement of rain, did not let her invite herself – the atmosphere is still one of lightness and camaraderie. We attend the numerous and superb sets of the German producer based in London, Palms Trax; DJ and producer Hidden Spheres – who hosts the “Fruit Merchant” show on NTS Radio; Session Victim or the acid jazz duo with a metallic groove – The Colors That Rise – whose latest project we give you Gray Doubt. We must here assure the iconic figure of Detroit, Marcellus Pittman, a shout out very special, which combined deep house, soul, jazz and minimal.
With a relaxed finesse, the GALA festival inspires its festival-goers with an insatiable and simple joie de vivre mixed with an undeniable sensuality. The atmosphere of warmth and benevolence is at its peak at every moment and the only thing that matters is to go and taste the sounds of each scene, because it is truly flawless. We leave there even more in love than the day before with the effervescent London scene and with the sole desire to go and dig even more the artists of this elegant lineup. We leave you with these words to reread our conversation with Giles, programmer of the festival and above all beautiful human.
Hey Giles. I would like to know more about Peckham and the musical history of South London, of which your superb festival – the GALA – is the embodiment. How do you conceive it?
South London has an extremely rich musical culture. So it’s really important for us to give a platform to its local artists. The festival is a celebration of the dance music. We program jazz, electronic music, R’nb. When we started, it was more international. Now it’s getting much more local.
What are the musical genres that are part of the culture of the city? Jazz and house music?
Yes house, jazz, more music rave like the scene bass music. On the first day of the festival, we had British legend Goldie, a bit of drum and bass, the dancing contemporary – which is also booming. We got Nia Archives from the culture jungleshe’s really taking off and it’s pretty exciting to give her the space for.
Do you consider the GALA as an underground festival?
I would say yes. It’s more about booking honest artists. We believe in them, we love them, we see them often and we know they’re going to play well, rather than trying to sell tickets or follow trends. It’s a combination of booking legendary artists and newcomers.