Meet Bristol’s new promoter and media platform ‘Raw Addictions’

Raw Addictions is a brand new platform here in Bristol which is striving towards collaboration. Founded by Bristol based DJ Nathan Reece; the core focus is putting on great shows in the city, but beyond that they’ve got a website which aims to share some of the most exciting emerging talent in Bristol.

We caught up with Nathan in the run-up to their first big event this weekend:

How did the Raw Addictions come to be? 

It started out as a radio show on 10 Twenty Radio which is an independent online station in Stokes Croft. I’d been involved in it for quite a while through a load of other event brands. I launched that because I’ve been involved in a lot of other people’s projects and I wanted to do something myself really. I wanted to develop the show to something with more cohesion and that led to us throwing our first official event on October 20. Then we’re trying to develop a content website to back it up and support other stuff.

Tell us about the whole content platform backing up the event side of things?

I would like to look at the events as one avenue to Raw Addictions but the website is going to be a place that will support other people’s nights that are doing interesting things in the city. It’s not just going to be dance music, I’m interested in covering all sorts of genre’s across the board. We’re hoping to become a platform for new artists and labels that are coming out of Bristol who are hoping to expand their networks. We’ll be providing features, album reviews and collaborations with different designers and writers. I’m all for meeting new people.

It feels like there’s no borders in terms of genre or style but is it rooted in any specific sound?

I come from a club background as opposed to maybe a live sound. That will probably be quite obvious but at the same time it is going to be very broad and diverse. I want to work with people who are doing interesting things. So if you’re a singer that’s doing experimental pop, that’s going to be as equally as relevant to some of the darker techno sounds we’re going to be pushing. It’s certainly going to be broad.

How would you sum it up and pull it all together?

Well I have an interest in branding more generally and how they talk to their audience. A tagline I’m beginning to use is ‘connecting people to music through brands, events and ideas’. I think that’s probably a sentence that would some it up quite well.

Tell us a bit more about your launch party at Corner 77?

We did a very casual low-key party at Southside bar and kitchen in the summer but this one is going to be our official launch though. I’ll warm up the night myself as Jurango with some laid-back stuff. We’ve got Heath playing who’s based in Somerset and is a good friend of mine. Linge is going to be playing some funk and soul as well. Then it’s going to be headlined by a singer called Qendresa; she’s got a regular show on NTS and I’ve been a really frequent listener of it. She’s massively talented, her EP is a mixture of R&B and soul which glues so well.

Grab a ticket for the night via: www.headfirst.co.uk