Three decades after Freshen-Up, where 35 years ago a little house night was founded at the Gretna. House music was new for the north east and there were only a couple of places people could experience high quality music.
Paul McDonald (52) of Newton Aycliffe went all out at the time, recruiting guest DJs from all over the UK to fill the 300 people venue weekly. Freshen-Up became a 90s Aycliffe institution and it wasn’t long before Sean Harker (49) came along for the ride, even when Paul moved overseas, some twenty years ago, the two DJs have been collecting music and collaborating ever since and boast an incredible music knowledge between them.
Fast forward to now, and fate has the pair back in their hometown, with a thirst to provide musical entertainment once more. On top of presenting a show on Aycliffe Radio every Saturday night, they are hosting their own ‘Steamed’ night at the Steam Machine monthly, featuring some amazing guests.
How does Steamed stand out in a DJ flooded market? Paul says: “We see House Nights becoming a bit mainstream. Anyone can mix two records of the same genre, especially with today’s tech. That made us want to stand out and be different, be bold and play tracks that we’d only shared between us. No House music this time . . . just great, great music, breaks, hip hop, jazz, disco, spoken word and anything that’ll make your ears prick up!”
The pair are really enthusiastic and can’t wait to welcome new faces as well as old friends. “It’s amazing to be playing records together again, less than a mile from where it all started. We have got some surprises that’ll be sure to keep things fresh” says Sean.
Upcoming dates include:
Friday 16th August with Neil Massey, Original Soul Boy
Friday 20th September with Simon Gibb, Club Havana
Friday 25th October with residents PaulyMac & Sean Harker
Entry to the Steam Machine is free and can be found at 26 Northfield Way, Newton Aycliffe DL5 6UF.