☆ Matthew Glamorre ☆
Matthew Glamorre genuinely believes that the secret of transformation is the will to survive, aesthetically-speaking at least. Appearance for him is a political statement. “I like to confront social conformity; challenge Joe Public by using the language of non-beauty, distortion and malfunction,” he explains.
“Being a freak to me means expressing the inner rage against society’s hypocrisy and mediocrity.” Strong words from someone who also admits that his inner rage has much mellowed over the years. “As you get older, you ease off and it ain’t 24/7 anymore. You begin to appreciate the ability to disguise in the daytime world,” he continues.
However, when night falls, out comes the freak and he’s bent on expressing a different reality. “I refuse to put up with what people call reality, the mainstream, the consumer’s dream,” he insists and you get the feeling that no one is going to argue with him.
Matthew has carved out an enviable niche for himself since his early low-key appearances in 1982 at Club For Heroes and later on at The Jungle, Taboo, The Mix @ The Scala and Anarchy. His motto has always been to look upon club promotion as an “installation art” occupation rather than a money-spinning business.
Finance being bottom of his list didn’t stop him coming up trumps when, in 1991, he finally launched his own club night. He named it Smashing and it soon proved to be a welcome antidote to the prevailing ecstasy and handbag scenes. On a good night, Brit pop’s shakers and groovers could let their hair down and have a laugh there, mingling with the gaggle of club kids and freaks in attendance.
In an otherwise seriously dull nightlife between 1997 and 2003, Glamorre managed to inflict a little excitement with his bizarre experiments. If the Mint Tea Rooms went some way to reopen – obliquely – the floodgates to the Burlesque set, in complete contrast, the Siren Suite pioneered a classical music scene of sorts. As for HARDERFASTERLOUDER (yes, all in one word and upper case), its sole purpose seemed to be bending its audience’s ear drums with earth-shattering industrial beats.
More importantly, the subsequent Kashpoint cornered the party monster scene and managed to beat all the competition. At its best, it proved to be London’s most outlandish and fun hotspot when it was held at Moonlighting. However, an ill-fated move in September 2007 to a weekly Friday spot in Regent Street’s Eve Club drove the first nail in the coffin. It then looked like the end of the road after a couple of parties took place back at the old haunt Moonlighting, followed in June 2009 by one at Cable Street’s Can Can.
Meanwhile, if Matthew’s interests had leant more towards music management/promotion, he still returned to Moonlighting for the after-party of Andrew Logan’s “The British Guide to Showing Off” première, which effectively put Kashpoint back on track in November 2011.
In complete contrast, Matthew ran C-R-U-X @ Soho’s Zero 1 Gallery between February and March 2013, which turned out to be an entertaining Saturday night series of live TV experimental performances – complete with immersive lighting and electronic soundwaves.
Glamorre made a return to clubland and surprised his punters again at Water Rats, for the EU Referendum night in June 2016, with another oddball project entitled Scism. A subsequent run of the multi media club night was held at Vogue Fabrics, but it shut its doors for the last time in February 2017, with the launch of the Dalston Bump single.
Matthew subsequently reformed his old band Minty, alongside Richard Torry, Nicola Bowery and Bishi and released music again in 2019, including the Useless Man single.

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