Legendary Techno club, The Orbit at Afterdark, Morley, Leeds, UK 1994
Legendary Techno club, The Orbit at Afterdark, Morley, Leeds, UK 1994
Clubbing In a Pre-Digital Age with James Lange
Interview by Esta Maffrett | 13.08.24
James Lange recently hosted a solo exhibition at South London's Copeland Skate Park in Peckham. Analogue Days 94 - 04: Clubbing in a pre-digital age took the audience back to the sweaty dancefloors of a simpler time before phones and even digital cameras. Dancers appear lost in hazy intoxication as they throw shapes to squelchy new sounds taking over a generation.
The original series of photos, taken in 1994, focuses on Leeds club Orbit. An underground club hosting future techno legends, ravers unaware but tuned in, It's an example of how the most underground clubs can leave the longest legacies.
How did you get into photography?
I was always into art at school and became interested in photography around 14 when my father and I started taking night classes together. He’d bought a decent camera so I just used to use that.
At 16 I left school to study photography at art college in Harrogate as I knew that’s what I wanted to do as a career.
How important was The Orbit to the club scene in Leeds?
Compared to other famous clubs in the Leeds area (such as Back To Basics) it was probably a bit more underground, as it didn’t get as much press in the dance music magazines but it was no less important. It started out as a Rave club and I remember seeing a photo or two in Mixmag, but then it shifted its music policy to Techno and Trance and then just exclusively Techno.
It attracted all the best Techno DJs from around the world at the time. I first saw Aphex Twin, Sven Vath, Richie Hawtin and Jeff Mills there. Plus many more.
Did you see many differences in the clubbing landscape from the North to the South?
I went college in Maidstone in 1995 and we used to go to clubs in London including Club UK and The End.
The atmosphere of the clubs was different, people in the North seemed more friendly and be more euthusiastic for the music. They just like to go for it! Same in Scotland.
Did you have a favourite club?
The Orbit will always be my favourite club, the atmosphere there was incredible, I’ve never experienced anything like it since. It used to start at 8pm and people were straight on the dance floor.
It used to finish at 2am in such a climax, people were screaming for “One more Tune!”
Images of clubbing are familiar to us now but a lot rarer when you were photographing, what were you searching out to document in these spaces?
There were still plenty of images in the dance music mags but there were obviously less people taking photos because professional cameras were expensive and everything was shot on film so there was the expense of that too. I was just into the music so much that I wanted to document that culture as we were living it most weekends.
I didn’t know it at the time but because The Orbit didn’t allow photographers there are very few images that exist of that club. I think I had taken my camera once, but then I rang the promoter and showed him the photos and he allowed me to come back and take more. I used to go to the club regularly but only took my camera 2 or 3 times.
Were there any mood shifts or changes your saw in the scene during your time shooting from 94-04?
Obviously the music and fashions changed and evolved. I think the biggest changes started to come when digital cameras started to appear, I started shooting some digital in 2003 as clients were requesting it and people’s attitude towards you as a photographer changed as they posed more and wanted to see the photos immediately.
Then they’d say “Oh I don’t like that one, delete it!”
If you could put one object into the Museum of Youth Culture that represents your youth what would it be?
I think it would have to be two things that represent my youth:
1. Boombox / tape player. I was massively into music so making complications and recording and then sharing tracks with friends was a big thing. First hearing DJ sets through bootleg mix tapes recorded at raves. That got me into wanting to DJ.
2. My Skateboard. That was a massive part of my youth from about 15 to 23. I then stopped for twenty years and got back into it again in my forties! We never really grow up.