Half Baked is one of the UK’s most revered underground parties and on Saturday, November 30th it celebrates turning 15 years old with an epic 22-hour party. The fun goes down at the brand’s own venue Number 90 in Hackney Wick, then at Starlane Pizza Bar, with firm favourites Sonja Moonear, Dyed Soundorom, Remi Mazet (Live), Giammarco Ossini, Bas Ibelini plus residents Robin Ordell, Greg Brockmann, Sam Bangura and Olita all providing the soundtrack.
Like all proper underground institutions, Half Baked has grown organically from humble and authentic roots. It started on a shoestring budget with the team always installing their own sound systems, building their own bespoke bars and devising their own production and lighting. All this was done from scratch in weird and wonderful unused spaces, often while trying to hold unsupportive councils and problematic neighbours at bay.
It all started one Sunday afternoon in November 2009 in a derelict car park off Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch as a birthday celebration for co-founder Bruno. 150 people turned up and an immediately close-knit family was formed with all focus on the music of residents Robin Ordell and Greg Brockmann. News soon spread amongst the capital’s most discerning heads that something fresh and exciting was happening and before long Half Baked was the number one destination for Sunday afternoon clubbing in the capital. Within a year, thousands of clubbers were showing up and the brand embarked on a sold-out tour with stops at D-Edge in Brazil, Miami Winter Music Conference via cult parties at Europe’s finest such as Off Sonar Barcelona, ADE Amsterdam, Concrete Paris and Bar 25 Berlin.
Central to Half Baked’s staunch DIY philosophy was finding new, quirky, unused venues for each party. Over the years they have hosted shows in open-air car parks, derelict warehouses, basements in Hoxton and even under the Shoreditch Overground lines. To find them, founders Bruno Cabral and Remi Landaz used to ride across East London on their bicycles, always on the lookout for an unlikely but irresistible new location. In honour of the role the bike has played in the history of Half Baked, a bicycle clad with lights is always erected above the dance floor as an iconic reminder of how the revolution started.
A defining moment in Half Baked history came in 2013. After a series of infamous parties above a print factory at 90 Wallis Road, a chance to rent the whole building came up and founders Bruno and Remi took the plunge. That venue is now the award-winning Number 90 which also incorporates a restaurant and upstairs studios that house local creatives who were happy to help transform the space from a squat into what it is today; building bars, decorating and producing art installations. In 2014, the community-powered venue was awarded the ‘Best Local Business’ at the Mayor of Hackney’s Business Awards and won a Time Out Love London Award. Number 90 has now been the London home of Half Baked for over a decade and is constantly evolving as adjacent warehouses have been acquired and transformed into venues 90 Live and 90 Hideout.
From local roots to international acclaim, Half Baked has now hosted more than 600 events around the world and is also a taste-making record label with a catalogue of more than 25 releases from mainstays like Mathew Johnson, Shonky, Margaret Dygas, Voigtmann and the late great Mike Huckaby.
All of this rich history, the friendships that have been formed and the love that has flowed will be celebrated in style with the biggest Half Baked ever on 30th November. The soundtrack will be a tasteful mix of house, techno, minimal and discerning deepness from some of the best in the game with long-time Half Baked family members including the minimal queen Sonja Moonear, deep digging Frenchman Dyed Soundorom, an immersive live show from Remi Mazet, plus Berlin-based Italian alchemist Giammarco Ossini and dreamy stripped-back sounds from Bas Ibelini.
Half Baked isn’t just a party; it’s an immersion in a new community. It’s somewhere you go with three friends and leave with 30 and there has been no better time to join the family than at this unmissable 15th birthday celebration. Tickets are available from £17 at RA.
HALF BAKED – 15 YEARS OF LOVE
Saturday 30th November | 22 Hours
Number 90 Live, Hackney Wick (22:00-06:00)
Starlane Pizza Bar, London (06:00-20:00 Sunday)
Tickets; https://ra.co/events/1991943