DJ Dave Haslam made his reputation DJ-ing over 450 times at the legendary Hacienda club; being invited to open for a host of bands, including the Stone Roses and New Order; and writing for a variety of magazines including the ‘NME’, and ‘The Face’ and publishing three books.
He made his debut at the Hacienda on May 1st 1986. Playing an eclectic mix his Thursday ‘Temperance’ night became the focus for Madchester’s indie dance fraternity. Ian Brown, Tim Burgess and the Chemical Brothers all later credited the night as an inspiration. In 1989 it was described as “the best club night in Britain” by the ‘NME’.
He DJ-ed at the Hacienda, mostly Thursdays and Saturdays throughout the ‘Madchester’ years in the late 1980s, and returned to play at the club in 1996; he was on the wheels of steel on the last night of the
club on June 28th 1997.
In 1990 he toured America with Mike Pickering, Graeme Park, and Paul Oakenfold (his gigs in Detroit and Chicago remain among his favourite ever gigs).
Through the 1990s he played at the Boardwalk in Manchester, at ‘Freedom’ on Saturdays, and ‘Yellow’ which dominated Friday nights in Manchester for seven years – 1992-1999 – creating a magical mix of regulars getting off on classic New York disco, soul-stirring house, rare groove, and deep funk.
During the early 1990s he travelled to Ibiza, Switzerland and France playing Italian piano anthems and bleepy Warp remixes. In Berlin in 1993, he played alongside Paul van Dyk at the famous E-Werk club.
Haslam was nominated one of the top 100 DJ’s in the world by ‘DJ’ magazine in 1993, and won ‘City Life’ DJ of the Year in 1994. He has DJ-ed three times at ‘Creamfields’.
He has also cooked cauliflower cheese for Morrissey; confused a TV presenter live on Icelandic TV in a conversation about Moby; and written three books (‘Manchester England’, ‘Adventures on the Wheels
of Steel; the Rise of the Superstar DJs’ and ‘Not Abba; the Real Story of the 1970s’).
He currently hosts ‘Sweet Sensation’ nights – fabulous, but infrequent guest-list only parties at various venues in Manchester. He describes his DJing philosophy as “playing the best records ever made one after the other”.
His recent gigs have included the after-party for the Manchester film premiere of ‘Control’, a new wave night at Nouveau Casino in Paris (highlight; Haslam playing ‘French Disko’ by Stereolab and then pirouetting in the dancefloor), and a Gorillaz aftershow party (highlight; Damon Albarn standing on a chair singing along to ‘White Man in Hammersmith Palais’).
In May 2008 he played two nights at ‘Aura’ in Lima (Peru), and has since played in Paris, Berlin, and Geneva.
