Exploring the Scottish Highlands' blossoming dance music scene

Ask any event promoter, and they’ll tell you that one of the best measures of success is still good old-fashioned word-of-mouth. Mark Mackenzie, a DJ, label owner and club promoter from Inverness and co-founder of the Loch Ness garden party festival, OutDores, was in London for a gig when he overheard his event being talked up by the staff at Phonica Records. It confirmed what he already knew: Scotland’s most northerly city is having an underground clubbing renaissance. 

“I was like, this is crazy, I’m in London in one of the best record shops in the UK, and they’re talking about my party,” says Mackenzie. “I think that was Bradley Zero’s influence, because he goes in there a lot. He played at OutDores and had a great time, so I think he had been spreading the word about it.”

For Mackenzie, it’s not about approval from peers. Rather, it’s a welcome acknowledgement of how a small community of dance music enthusiasts have built a scene that’s beginning to hold its own against other more established UK clubbing hotspots. “It’s nice to have something up here in Inverness that feels that it has the respect of people elsewhere. We’ve never really had that. We used to get patronised a lot by promoters down south. But now, I think we really have something to offer.”

Mackenzie is one of a number of DJs, producers, promoters and music lovers who have taken a DIY approach to creating spaces for electronic music in Inverness and the surrounding Highlands. He started OutDores festival with Ally Ridgers and Cisco Rodrigues back in 2015. Each year the trio (who now go by the collective DJ alias Dannsa) transform a small loch-side pub in Dores, nine miles southwest of Inverness, into a 500-capacity outdoor party.

“We were inspired by a trip to The Warehouse Project in Manchester,” explains Mackenzie. “We don’t have those kinds of spaces available here, but we took advantage of what we do have up here that’s unique — we have a loch.”

The stunning surroundings of the intimate gathering make for a truly one-of-a-kind festival experience. Loch Ness is most commonly known for its folkloric lake-dwelling monster, but now this famous area of Scotland is also attracting scores of ravers from across the country. Previous line-ups have featured the likes of Denis Sulta, Paul Woolford, Chaos In The CBD, I.JORDAN, Lone, Bradley Zero, Hammer, Big Miz, Sally C and Marquis Hawkes. Tickets for the last seven editions of Outdores have all completely sold out, including the most recent event, which hosted a line-up of 100% local talent.

With a population of around 60,000 and at a driving distance of 560 miles from London, Inverness’ small size and remote location make it a somewhat surprising party destination.  Loch Ness has proved to be an ideal festival location, but in Inverness itself, the lack of suitable venues for electronic music has been the biggest obstacle for underground nightlife. Currently, The Ironworks, a 1,200-capacity music venue that has been around since 2006, is set to be demolished to make way for another new hotel. “Inverness is a very popular tourist destination,” explains Mackenzie. “The council keeps building hotels, and the culture and the people who live here are getting pushed out.”

Mackenzie believes the DIY mindset at the heart of Inverness’ blossoming nightlife scene stems from the ongoing struggle to establish and maintain dedicated club venues. “For the best part of eight years, there was no venue dedicated to underground dance music in the city at all. So putting on a party was a ‘do it yourself’ job. You’d have to find a venue that would be willing to let you drag a sound system in, all your lights and equipment for a night, and then let all your mates in for a mad one.

“This DIY-style approach was arguably the best thing to happen to parties here,” Mackenzie continues. “There has been a far better atmosphere at parties because of their intimate nature. People had to be in the know about where it was, when it was, and who was running  it. So you’d feel part of something exclusive and exciting. You’d be lucky to get a decent one every month, so when it was on, there was a sense of gratitude about it too.”

The sentiment is echoed by Lewis Lowe, DJ and co-founder of Redstone Press, the label he and Ethan Harfield established after both growing up in North-East Scotland. “For transparency, I am not technically a Highlander — I grew up in Moray — but it’s the same part of the world,” he says. “Before I moved to Glasgow, I was a hound for online mixes and live streams from clubs, because that was all I had access to — and even that was a recent thing, less a constant when growing up. 

“Only when I started playing and attending free parties in the Highlands did I really get exposed to the culture, and the free party scene is a completely different culture to that of prescribed club experiences — but one that I think has helped me to keep a somewhat DIY, ‘fuck the system’ approach to what I do now.”

Lowe describes the community atmosphere on the Highlands underground music scene as one forged on loyalty, where clubbers return to the same promoters’ nights again and again. He also believes that the dearth of purpose-built nightclubs is a silver lining. “DIY nights in function rooms of pubs and other odd places is what had to happen,” he reasons. “And I think that those spaces outnumbering actual club events is unique, and makes for a brilliant vibe.”

Presently, the Highlands is home to a number of increasingly popular club nights, in particular a handful of parties run out of places like Inverness’ Upstairs at the Gellions Bar, and the Tooth & Claw. These two venues were both run-down function rooms, before playing host to irregular pop-up parties, and then being converted into permanent nightclub spaces.

In 2014, Mark Mackenzie was hosting secret location parties at the Tooth & Claw, prior to establishing OutDores festival. After these parties were shut down due to noise complaints, the venue applied for a PRS grant, which enabled them to convert the space into a permanent club with proper soundproofing, a sound system, lighting and staging.

DJ and promoter Johnny Wilson describes the Tooth & Claw as “very small and intimate, with just a 75-person capacity”. Wilson and his partner Andrea Mackintosh are behind the much-loved Hypnotic Groove club nights run out of the Tooth & Claw’s upstairs space. “It’s nice and dark, and the sound quality is pretty special too,” he continues. “It’s almost like a studio, sound-wise, but it’s also a nice little sweatbox. Everyone who has come to play here has been surprised by it — it’s not what you expect to walk into at the top of those stairs.”

Hypnotic Groove started out as a mix series, before the couple began putting on nights at the Tooth & Claw in 2015. As well as DJing themselves, they regularly champion a broad range of Scottish selectors, with recent guests including Huntleys + Palmers’ Andrew Thomson, Fear-E, Nightwave and Lewis Lowe. “There’s a definite underground feel to the nights, and the emphasis is as much on the people attending as it is on the guest DJs,” says Wilson. “We feel so lucky to have such a lively, up-for-it crowd who keep coming back again and again. Many of them have met each other and become good friends at these nights, and our events often feel like a reunion.

“Culturally, the Highlands is a haven for tourists seeking the quintessentially Scottish experience,” he adds, “so there’s a lot of money invested in traditional music events up here. It feels important to show that there’s more to offer in our city, and there’s a lot of passionate promoters here trying to do just that.”

Just around the corner from the Tooth & Claw, Upstairs at the Gellions Bar is another disused function room-turned- club venue. Here, the Household parties run by DJs and promoters Ross Mackay and Adam Fairbairn have gained a rapid cult following despite the collective only launching in February 2020. The duo also run a bi-weekly disco and Italo night, Midnight Majic, in the same space. “Household is about bringing like-minded people together to create spaces for everyone to feel accepted, and to push new and exciting music,” explains Mackay. 

“Household came about due to Adam and myself wanting to start a night in Inverness, to fill what was a bit of a void in the scene here at the time.” After putting on beer garden parties at local pub the Innes Bar, as well as all-day parties at the popular Inverness cocktail bar Revolution, Upstairs is now Household’s regular home. “Upstairs is a 100-capacity dance music venue, which is open every Friday and Saturday,” says Mackay. “The emphasis is the music, and of course the sound quality, which is incredible. You cannot experience a space like this anywhere else in Inverness. Upstairs strives to be an inclusive space, and we create policies and procedures so that the people who attend feel safe and comfortable.”

The caring, community-based atmosphere championed by nights like Household and Midnight Majic is underscored — once again — by the power of word-of-mouth. Back in November, Glasgow-based DJ duo Bonzai Bonner and Anna Gram, AKA Lezzer Quest, were guests at Midnight Majic’s Upstairs party. After the event, Lezzer Quest shared an Instagram post of a “lovely message” they had received from a clubber who had attended the night.

“I’m a queer person in Inverness,” the message read, “[and] last night at Upstairs was magical... not only was the music out of this world, but it’s so important to have queer DJs playing here, and have [pride] flags about the place, it’s not just rare, it literally never happens here! I got really emotional.”

When DJ Mag spoke to Bonzai Bonner (who also runs the LGBTQ+ party Shoot Your Shot) about their Inverness experience, they were eager to highlight the “immense work” Ross Mackay and Adam Fairbairn currently do for Inverness. “This year I have been part of their amazing Household beer garden party at the Innes Bar, which I’m already looking forward to being part of again. Plus there’s the curation and time both of them put into the Upstairs venue. It’s their own sound equipment that carries those weekends — Adam is a sound engineer full-time and has his own rental company.

“Anna and I would party with the crew again in a heartbeat,” they continue. “It’s important for us to engage with LGBTQIA+ people in our community in other towns and cities when we can, especially places where purpose-built club spaces for electronic music and queer clubbing are limited or non- existent. From the phenomenal turnout to the immense feedback during and after, it was time well-spent.” 

Glasgow-based DJ Frankie Elyse, who is the co-founder of Polka Dot Disco Club, had a similarly positive experience when she played at Upstairs for the first time in December. “Polka Dot Disco Club is an event series and collective that empowers women, trans and non-binary DJs,” she explains. “Midnight Majic invited us to play as guest DJs at Upstairs — the venue was very intimate, which was perfect for the vibe of the night. We spun all sorts of Italo, house and disco throughout our two-hour set and really felt like we connected with the crowd, who were absolutely up for anything. It really was a great way to be introduced to Inverness’ musical community. 

“Being a visitor to a place really allows you to appreciate the uniqueness of the music scene,” she continues. “Inverness really did not disappoint. It is a pretty eclectic place in terms of the music being played there. There also seems to be a strong sense of community within the Inverness music scene, and that’s something really beautiful.”

The eclecticism that Elyse describes also extends to the many producers from Inverness and across the Highlands, who are creating an exciting breadth of electronic music. Hammy Sgìth, a Highlander who is based in Glasgow, is a musician who fuses dance music and rap with traditional storytelling in Gàidhlig and English, while at the other end of the spectrum, producer Lomond Campbell “lives quietly by a loch in the Highlands making music and building music machines” at his stunning studio The Lengths near Fort William.

In Inverness, there are mainstay producers such as John Clark, AKA Debukas, who has been making music since the ’90s and also runs the label 2Sox, as well as up-and-coming talents like Arta Fact, whose high-energy tunes have received support from the likes of Mall Grab and Kettama.

Originally from the Isle Of Skye, Ros T is another young producer who is turning heads with his diverse sound palette, which ranges from disco to darker deep house, with his debut album set for release in early 2023 on Perfect Havoc. “The Highlands and islands are great for making lifetime mates who support what you are doing,” he says. “The same goes for me and my mates, we want what’s best for each other. I live in Glasgow now, but still keep in touch with everyone I grew up with; we are all heavy into our tunes.”

In December, Ros T played a night up at Upstairs run by promoters Counterterraism, which in his words was “an absolute cracker”.  “It was a great group of people organising the event and DJing,” he says. “I will 100% be back. All the DJs before me smashed it, and the dancefloor was loving it too, with disco madness, techno goodness, and Italo bangers!”

With the amount of DJs, producers, clubbers and industry insiders singing the praises of the underground scene in Inverness and the surrounding areas, it’s clear that the city should be high on the list of any electronic music lover who values community-driven scenes and DIY values. As Household’s Ross Mackay sums it up, “The future is bright, absolutely.”

“I think that what is unique about the dance scene in Inverness is that, because we have had these limitations, the people who are involved in our music scene hold a real passion to make sure that the scene survives and grows through thick and thin, and it has,” he says. “This includes the crowd that shape the Inverness music scene — because there has been a lack of electronic music events in the past, they really show up and support it when promoters put on events.

“I personally think that within a few years, Inverness will be firmly on the map for touring DJs as a solid place to go. The only thing stopping growth within the local scene is our own creativity.”