Original article published on the now dead website www.oldskoolreview.co.uk which I discovered via Rendezvous Projects. It can still be found in it’s original format on Wayback Machine. Published dates taken from a post on the rolldabeats forum. All images & cover scans are my own.

Note, issues 18 & 26 were never released hence the existence of 19A and 27A.

Article First Published – September 2009

Many of you will remember Ravescene Magazine. It was in a folded A4 format, on white paper with a mix of black and purple/mauve/red print. It was packed full of all the latest goings on in London Town, and featured interviews and reviews of all kinds. I used to get my copy in the post as I lived in Grimsby at the time. It was what kept me in touch with what was at that time the hub of the scene. Trying to get hold of early copies these days is a hard task indeed.

We caught up with Gwen Howells, the lady behind Ravescene Magazine and Double Dipped, the night she used to host alongside the magazine…………

How would you describe yourself as a youth before you discovered the rave scene?

“Before raving I was fairly typical suburban teenager, but when I left home at 18 and went to college we were all into the indie scene, and many of my friends were in bands. I used to go to loads of gigs seeing such bands as Siouxie and the Banshees, the Fire  Engines, the Cure etc. I was never into chart music, and even through my 20’s when I worked as a very respectable estate agent, married and had 2 children I still couldn’t get into the mainstream”

How did you get into raving /clubbing and when would this have been?

“Raving reared it’s head when my then brother-in-law got some tickets for one of the early Raindances. It just clicked with me – the music, the people, everything. From then on it escalated pretty quickly, and the first 2 clubs we went to regularly were Orange at the Camden Palace on Friday’s, and the Astoria on a Saturday, and it was around then that the Astoria got the first 6am licence – even their flyers were cut-out 6am shape. I loved Camden, ‘Strings of Life’ was the tune that everyone seemed to wait for, and then the dancefloor just filled, and the night began”

Can you tell us a bit about the first raves/events you attended?

“I lived in Chingford at the time, so the West End wasn’t too far away. Raindance was in Jenkins Lane, Stratford, or East Ham I think, even closer to home.

I have to admit, that even in the very first days, the cost of it all was a factor in starting Ravescene. It wasn’t cheap, raving in those days, what with paying £25 for a ticket, then another £50 – 75 for other essentials. Some people financed it by selling E’s, but that wasn’t for me.

At first, I got into places for free by dancing! I was friends with some great people like Mike and Funki B of Elevation,  (Lea Bridge Road) and through them I got into dancing on the stage at loads of parties. Quite a few of them even paid me!  Good memories of Reincarnation at Herne Bay, and a massive rave near London, huge, huge party but I can’t remember the name of it. And of course, we were VIP’d with at least a plus 2. All through ’91 there were loads of parties, in lots of places.”

What gave you the initial impetus to start Ravescene? Was it purely your idea, or was it a group project?

“By ’92 the day job had become less and less enjoyable, with the weekends becoming longer, and with the recession biting deep it made sense to find an alternative source of income. And so Ravescene was born. It started as just an A4 sheet, printed both sides, and folded to A5. We sold a couple of ads (I think Elevation were our first ever advertisers) and we flew it for free, outside various clubs and raves. We wanted to write a magazine that had all the facts and gossip that we all spent hours talking about when we were chilling out at home after a long night raving. And raving was a community – everyone knew everyone”

Can you tell us a little bit about the first issue? What was it like trying to organize advertising, features, event coverage etc?

“All the promoters loved it, although occasionally our policy of ‘tell it like it is’ got us in trouble. I remember mentioning that a waltzer car had fallen off at a Raindance (true, I was next to it when it happened) and Ray tried to get us to print a retraction, saying it never happened! Because I wouldn’t he refused to put me on his guest list for quite a while afterwards, and only relented when we started printing readers letters slagging off Raindance.”

How did you promote the first issue? And where and when did you sell it?

“From the very first issue it was a hit. We printed around 40,000 copies every fortnight and from the beginning we were totally independent. We wrote reviews of clubs and vinyl, and we attracted some really good contributers. Kris the aritist was amazing. He was only 15 when he started drawing for us, and he beats Pez hands down. He designed the double dipped logos – the purple ohm and the techno raver.  Claire Henderson wrote the articles on drugs, and they were properly researched and factual. Not made up crap and hearsay. We listed all the forthcoming events and all the gossip from the scene.

Ravescene was never sold, it was always free. We gave it away like a flyer, but you could subscribe and we’d send every issue in the post. We also took bundles around all the record shops, posting to the shops that were too far away to visit personally.”

Talk us through issue 2. At what point did you decide that it might be a project worth continuing with?

“Producing it became a full time job. We had a lot of help. Adrian Catwell was our right hand man, indispensable. Kristopher was a good friend, Garage DJ and reviewer. The Warlock reviewed all the techno and hardcore, plus being a very talented DJ. Then there was Claire I’ve already mentioned, and Natalie, Sean, Katie and Emma, all stalwart flyers, not forgetting The Criminal and Dean the Raving Plumber. We couldn’t pay anyone, but they all got into parties for free, and we had a good time”

What were the highlights of the first year in print? Did you continue running it from the same place, and how did you manage the typeset/printing process?

“I designed the magazine and did the layout on an Apple Mac, using Quark Express. The disk was given to our printer who usually turned the job around in a couple of days. Then we collected it, dished it out to the flying team, sent out the subscribers copies, and delivered and posted to all the record shops. We started to fly for other promoters as well, and we even put together packages of Ravescene and flyers, in a plastic covering which we put on car windscreens.

Doing the magazine got us introduced to many people. In particular, we had a lot of support from Joe & Phil at Labryinth. I guess we first went to Labryinth the same way everyone else did – someone told us about it, we took a chance, checked it out and had the best night ever! I loved that club, and the music. ‘Promised Land’ by Joe Smooth was a Labryinth anthem, and you rarely heard any Drum and Bass crap. In my view it was Drum and Bass and Jungle that killed rave. I’m not saying I was a cheesy quaver, but I always preferred the house side of things. The uplifting Balearic beats were more my thing.”

How long did it run for, and what was the plan? Was it just a run it until you get fed up kind of project?

“Eventually, the magazine grew into Double Dipped, as we decided to promote our own events. The first one was at Christmas at Labryinth, and we went on to run nights at Turnmills, Enfield Palladium, various sports centre locations, and of course, Bagleys. We ended up running a regular Friday night at Bagleys, with our biggest one-off being the Spirit of Raindance party (that was the one that had the swimming pool and funfair outside). For quite a while we worked with Joe promoting Labryinth, before going our separate ways. We even published the Ravescene Yearbook.

It all ended when another promoter had a party on a Bank Holiday Sunday at Bagleys, and one of the door men was stabbed. Although it didn’t happen on our night the venue was hexed, and our numbers dropped from 1500 to around 500. We made a mistake, we stayed at Bagleys, instead we should have found another venue straight away, as our name was good and we could have filled any other club. This happened in May, and I’d given birth to my daughter Tara in the February (her birth was announced in Time Out by David Swindells!) and so my priorities had changed and maybe I just didn’t have the energy to get back into the thick of things. But to be honest, the vibe had gone by then, it wasn’t the same anymore. Too much Charlie, too much Drum and Bass, and too much interference  from outside influences. I left London in the November of that year.”

There must have been a few heavy moments…………discuss……..

“On the whole, looking back, I have good memories. I just registered on Facebook, and so many people have been in touch.”

Worst moments?

There was a horrible weekender at some Butlins camp up north, Carl Cox was the only set worth listening to and they closed the pool so we couldn’t use it to chill in.

Pete Tong trying to mix.

Having to have 24 hr bodyguard for a while when another firm was trying to take over our door.

Best moments?

Really cheesy, but ‘what’s your name, where do you come from, what’ve you done’ springs to mind. It reminds me of all those fantastic nights when you just chatted to anyone and everyone.

The boat party was one of the best, and I’m sure that everyone who was on it remembers it.

One night at a club when a punter was being gropingly horrible to some girls so the doorman stripped him naked and sent him on his way……..

Here are my top 10’s (in no particular order)

DJ’s

Billy Bunter
Adrian Age
Colin Dale
Carl Cox
Slipmatt
Loftgroover
The Criminal

Venues & Top Nights

Rage (Heaven on a Thursdsay)
Orange at Camden (not the Rocket, hated that)
Labryinth
That boat party we did after the Enfield Palladium one morning
The early Raindances
Brighton Zap with Colin Dale
Reincarnation

Top PA’s

N-JOI
Prodigy for Labryinth at Bagleys
Tony di Bart (Double Dipped at Bagleys the week he was No 1)
Rozalla

Can you explain what you did afterwards, and what your thoughts were on the music and the way it changed over the years?

“After I left London I went back to Uni and finished my degree. I got married again and ended up as an estate agent again (this is what I was doing before Ravescene). Now, apart from having an estate agency, we also farm rare breed pigs. I live in the country with ponies, llamas, donkeys and chickens. An idyllic life, really.

I kinda miss the life, and I do go out still, but I really don’t like the drinking vibe at all. I just don’t get the attitude of going out to get wasted.

As far as the music goes, to my mind in the last 15 years there’s been no innovation at all, which is why all the old classics still work so well. If you go 15 years back before raving i.e 1973 the music was totally different. Now, it’s just all a variation on a theme. I couldn’t have gone clubbing with my Mum and Dad, and listened to their music, but my son can go out with me!”

And a big shout out to……..

All the pirate radio DJ’s  who entertained us at home during the week.

All the people that helped us fly, especially in the winter when it was cold and raining.

Kris the Artist, Natalie, Emma & Chrissie, Sean & Katie, Adrian, Chris, Scott from Slimetime, Paul, Dean the Raving Plumber, Terry Turbo, Mike and Funki B, Joe, Ginge, Dawn, Daniel ‘Billy’ Bunter,

And loads and loads of others…………

Sweet, Mate!

Ravescene Magazeen – Safe as house!