Funk My Life

The first ever FML at Ivory.

📍 Ivory, Harrogate
📅 Friday 29th July 2022

This one was absolutely unbelievable.

Our first ever FML event at Ivory went beyond anything we could have ever imagined.

We had to stop letting people into the venue because it had reached capacity. The bar had pretty much been drank dry. Our friends rallied around us, the dance floor was full and the whole night just had this mad feeling that something special was happening.

It was also the first time we met the legend that is Taff and he pretty much hasn’t left the FML dance floor since that night.

At the time, nobody was really doing House Music or Disco events in Harrogate and there hadn’t been much going on for some time.

So we brought it back with a bang.

And wow.

That night became a bit of a drug that we needed to take more regularly.

We’d already said that if the first one went well, we’d try and make it a monthly thing. And that night proved we might just have the makings of something. But we also knew we had to make sure it wasn’t just a one-off.

So, of course, before the night was even fully over, we let everyone know we’d be back the following month.

During the event, Patrick and James, the owners of Ivory, came over with a bottle of champagne for Mister Jones, Bri Buckle and MarmaJam, who was still Baz Newby at that point, because they were so pleased with how the night had gone.

And so were we.

Beyond our wildest dreams.

Four years later, on Friday the 31st of July, we celebrate our fourth birthday with the incredible Seamus Haji at this very place where it all began.

When three became the one.

The original FML idea started with Bri Buckle and Mister Jones, formerly known as DJ By Name.

Mister Jones was already friends with Barry Newby, who at the time DJ’d as Baz Newby and suggested getting him involved for the launch night to help boost numbers.

He was a good guy, a great DJ and very well connected in the Knaresborough underground House Music scene and beyond 🤣

At this point, MarmaJam was not born. He was still Barry Newby / Baz Newby.

Before the official launch, we did a little pre-launch radio show takeover on Mister Jones’ The Weekend Starts on a Tuesday radio show.

This picture was the first ever photo taken of the three of us together and also the first time Barry and Bri had actually met in person.

And somewhere along the way, Bri and Mister Jones decided between themselves that FML should not be a twosome.

Baz Newby was invited properly into the fold and became an official member before the official launch had even happened.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Each day this month, we’ll be sharing little stories from the FML journey as we count down to our 4th birthday party with Seamus Haji on Friday 31st July at Ivory in Harrogate.

Big love to everyone who’s been part of it so far ❤️