A sneak peak at Deviation’s new photo book
Dean Blunt, Virgil Abloh and Moodymann have all graced the stage at the respected London clubnight.
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An 18th birthday warrants a proper celebration, especially if you’re a UK clubnight that’s still going strong. Deviation, founded by Benji B and Judah Afriyie in 2007, is celebrating 18 years in the game with a photobook, an exhibition and a party. After all these years, Deviation remains one of the most respected nights among the heads, so you can’t blame them for making a big fuss.
Deviation was spawned from a now-mythologised London nightlife scene which included Shoreditch’s Plastic People club (where Benji and Judah met), dubstep nights FWD and DMZ, and adventurously-minded dance music labels Night Slugs, Hyperdub and Hessle Audio. Skream DJed at the first Deviation clubnight. Flying Lotus performed the second, and Moodymann played the third. They were clearly onto something.
There are over 300 photographs in Deviation – These Are The Levels, with some of the earlier images documenting a time before smartphones were omnipresent on the dancefloor, and when the most common incentive to go out was to dance rather than accumulate clout. After first hosting the parties in intimate venues, the cat got out the bag and queues started to get a bit nuts, so Deviation moved down the road to bigger club XOYO, where the likes of Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky and DJ EZ graced the stage. These days, Deviation is a portable party which brings its thoughtful music policy worldwide. And every year, without fail, Deviation teams up with Killerwatt sound system to cause unbelievable scenes at Notting Hill Carnival.
Take a sneak peak at the book with a selection of pics below, which have been captioned by Benji and Judah. If you’re curious about the exhibition and the party in London this weekend, details can be found here.
“If you see a pic of D Double what are the first words that spring to mind?… exactly lol”
“Witnessing the making of a true artist, Kelela is special.”
“Same as it ever was”
“Not a phone in sight”
“A momentous year, just look at those tees.”
“The home team.”
“Yasiin & A$AP casually passing through. The energy in that room was electric.”
“The Universal connector, that’s why we will always speak his name, Virgil.”
