Hot Press caught up with Jonnie Foley of Bedlam who are set to celebrate 4 successful years at the centre of Dublin clubbing.

How did Bedlam come to exist?
I was djing quite a bit around Dublin with one of my mates around 2009/2010 and Brian found one of my mixes on Soundcloud and decided to book me and my mate for a gig. I then moved away on Erasmus and we kept in touch and we decided to start up Bedlam when I got back to Dublin.

What have been the highlights over the past 4 years?
Personal highlights for me would have to be booking Todd Terje on a wet Monday evening in November 2012 and selling it out. The atmosphere was completely crazy and that was a bit of a turning point for us as promoters. From then we sat up and took things a lot more seriously. Another would be launching our first festival ‘Boxed Off’ in Fairyhouse last year. It was a massive step up for us in terms of promotion, production and organisation but seeing the entire thing come together was extremely rewarding. We’re really looking forward to year 2 on October 1st.

What do you have planned for the 4th birthday party?
We have Paul Woolford and Jonas Rathsman booked in for a special double header show at District 8 on September 17th. We have hosted Jonas Rathsman I think 7 or 8 times over the past few years and he is one of our favourite acts. Paul Woolford also never disappoints! We have a special pre-party in the works for this show so keep an eye out for that on our Facebook page..

What do you believe is the key to sustainability as a promoter?
Hard work.

What advice do you have for aspiring promoters?
It’s a tough game to break into. Especially now as Dublin in particular, is extremely over saturated. My advice would be start from the ground up. Don’t jump ahead of yourself and think “let’s book the biggest International act we can!” Start in a small venue with really well chosen local DJs and build your night from there.

Published in Hot Press Magazine, July 2016