Looking for one night where you can hear dream pop and German new wave in the space of a couple of hours? Head to Darklands.

After a wildly successful debut night, Gift Records are back with Darklands at The Alibi. DJ Rhys who describes the night as having a “black on black ethos”, we’re going goth. Playing rock ‘n’ roll, industrial, post punk, synth AND disco (phew) you’ll hear the likes of Wire, Cabaret Voltaire, Gang of Four, Soft Cell, Ultravox and Au Pairs all night long. Not forgetting the performance of the evening from Drift, the enigmatic newcomer’s debut show, expect groaning, droning synths set against eery vocals – music to drunkenly sway to in your own world.

We sat down with DJ Rhys to talk all things Darklands including how to dress for a post-punk industrial 80s disco. We’ll see you at The Alibi, one of our favourite east London venues on the 4th for some genre-mashup dance offs. No excuses, because best of all, it’s free!

This is your second night at The Alibi, any standout successes from the first time around you’re trying to recreate?

Having only one act then DJs afterwards worked really well. Also the feel of The Alibi naturally suits the dark, underground aesthetic that we’re after.

What made you decide to put on Drift’s debut show? What can we expect from her?

We thought her hazy vocals and minimal dark synth sounds would be perfect for our night and flow really well with the rest of the music played.

https://soundcloud.com/driftinsound/dreams-in-silkscreen

Can you tell us about each of your DJ’s sets? Do each of you prefer to play different kinds of genres?

We usually all play all different genres, this time around we’ve asked Tess Parks to play some rock ‘n’ roll, dream pop and noise. So I’ll leave that to her and play more industrial, new German wave and disco. And Roberto will be revolved around synth and post punk. There are usually always crossovers.

You’ve got an eclectic mix going on, what kind of crowd are you expecting?

We’d like a crowd who were there for the music really but understand that The Alibi usually tends to bring in all sorts of people. Since we are playing rock ‘n’ roll, post-punk guitar music as well as disco, synth and electronic music. We’d like to think of it as the ultimate balance of the best tracks from those genres.

What should we wear? Dressed to the nines? Full 80s makeover? Goth?

Whatever really, but the night definitely does have a dark, black on black ethos. Unpretentious, comfortable and genuine is the spirit.

Why are you setting up shop at The Alibi (one of our faves)?

The space it’s self is really great and the small DIY back room for acts is exactly what we were after, a smallish to medium sized venue to continue the high in.

You’re looking to turn this into a monthly night, how do you see it expanding?

We already have our eyes on another act perfect for the next night. We’ll continue to keep the core elements and keep adding new, interesting people to collaborate with.

Darklands is on 4th November at The Alibi, Dalston.