The guys behind the Hydra events

Some people might ask: “Why Junkyard, mate?”

The answer is in the Motor City, Detroit. No need to say how much this project is influenced by this weirdly beautiful city. In the past summer (August 2019), thanks to the promoters behind The Hydra and Printworks in London I had the chance to see Juan Atkins, Jeff Mills and many other great artists performing.

I have been following the bookings at Hydra events for a long time and they are definitely bringing my favourite artists to London. The line-ups are just getting better and better, it’s unbelievable!

I decided to do some research on the promoters behind it and two names came up to the surface: Dolan Bergin and Ajay Jayaram.

Currently living right next to Worthing in England, surprisingly I also have found that Dolan Bergin grown up here and experienced the legendary club called Sterns. Probably the most unlikely place to have such an institution, Worthing during those years brought crowds of passionate ravers to hear legends like Carl Cox playing. Many times, I mentioned that the scene in Worthing is now dead however the “town’s children” from those years are still alive and making history nowadays. Dolan Bergin is definitely one of those children.

He has always been connected to the music industry and apart from the record label and events company Electric Minds, he studied Business at the University of Greenwich. After finishing university, he worked for a record label on royalties and licensing but always putting on parties on the side. Everything became more and more a profession when he started working with Ostgut Ton, Innervisions and Lovebox.

He alongside Ajay introduced the concept of record label parties in London and that opened many doors as well as more contacts. After booking and working with renowned artists successfully, they started thinking about the Hydra events project.

Before Printworks, they worked with venues like Cable, Studio Spaces and Mangos which was shut down due to the close residents. Being also a DJ, Dolan Bergin knows the importance of sound quality at Hydra events and uses a company called Sound Services which work directly with Funktion-One. In terms of security they work with Sabre who supply fabric and LWE. Find Dolan Bergin’s mix for Resident Advisor below:

Ajay Jayaram always wanted to pursue a career in music even though he has studied French and Management at university. Straight after uni he spent a year working as a recruitment consultant but during this time he realised that he needed to get a job in the music industry. After a long search, he managed to find a job at the legendary London club, The End where he worked for ten years programming nights. Since the club closed he has been working as an independent promoter for events including The Hydra and Clock Strikes 13.

They are two great examples of perseverance, probably I would not have the opportunity to experience such events if they would have quit on the first few challenges. In order to be what they are now, they had to be involved and leave a lot behind. I guess we should have to give them credits for it on the dancefloor.

References:

Barnes, M. (2014). Promoter Interview: Dolan Bergin (The Hydra). [online] Deep House Amsterdam. Available at: http://www.deephouseamsterdam.com/london/promoter-interview-dolan-bergin-hydra/ [Accessed 04 Feb. 2020]

Bergin, D. (2020). About. [online] LinkedIn. Available at: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dolan-bergin-55783a3a [Accessed 04 Feb. 2020]

Jayaram, A. (2015). Promoter – Ajay Jayaram. [online] Attack Magazine. Available at: https://www.attackmagazine.com/features/job-envy/promoter-ajay-jayaram/ [Accessed 05 Feb. 2020]

The Hydra. (2020). The Hydra. [online] Resident Advisor. Available at: https://www.residentadvisor.net/promoter.aspx?id=27058 [Accessed 28 Jan. 2020]