Although we can’t quite believe it Face is three already. Over the past years, the night has established itself as the finest in the north of England, bringing label showcases, city debuts and so much more to Birmingham. So, to celebrate in style, the birthday will play out with Matthias Tanzmann B2b Davide Squillace, Joy Orbison and Scuba this weekend at The Rainbow.  

Can you introduce your selves and tell us a little bit about yourself and your team of residents?

I’m Scott (Bleepz) & he’s Elliot (Croft) and together we have created FACE along with fellow promoter Lee Mcdonald from ‘Below’ fame. Myself & Elliot along with Bunny are also resident dj’s of FACE and we make up a dj outfit called BBC (Bunny, Bleepz & Croft). We started this collective  only this year as we really enjoyed playing together at Snowbombing b2b warming up for Soul Clap back in April. We haveslightly differing styles of what we play but it works extremely well and its loads of fun too. Playing b2b with friends is way more entertaining. We’re working on our first mix right now and we look forward to putting it out there as one of the main resident mixes for FACE 2012. Along with ourselves as residents we have Ernest, Neil Parkes, Serene, Paddy Lopaski & Smak Pony. All are doing well in their own right and certainly have some tasty productions on the go too. You can find out more about them on the FACE website – faceevent.co.uk 

Tell us about your first event?

It obviously wasn’t that memorable because I cant remember it? Perhaps it was quiet and I was sat in a corner crying into my pint. What I do know is that the best things start off small with your friends and grow naturally without false hope and promise. We have seen FACE grow wonderfully over the past 3 years and I wouldn’t prefer it any other way.

What made you want to run events let alone one every week for the last 3 years?

I guess I regard myself as a pretty organized guy and having played out at other promoters events for a couple of years I eventually began to realize I’d like to run the shows myself. Usually it’s a monthly show for most promoters but with FACE we dived straight into a weekly because our beloved Rainbow venue really needed something solid and consistent every week. People like that.

Did you think when you threw that first event you would still be at this far down the road?

After I wiped away the tears (maybe?) I saw a light at the end of the courtyard, it turns out it was just a flash lightthat Slobs had dropped when trying to find his hat in the darkness, but either way it gave me confidence that with the right promotional plan of action this club night could indeed grow patiently and brilliantly into whatever we wanted. We genuinely feel its still well and truly in its youth.

With you running weekly events for this long you must be doing some thing right. What is your secret to success?

The right attitude and always (ALWAYS) look after people, whether they be artists or more importantly your workers. Itstaken atleast 2 years to find the right people to work with and its still ahuge ongoing process. Love it though.

What has been your best and worst FACE event since you started?

I didn’t stop smiling the first time we had Barclay (Claude Vonstroke) play for us last year. This is because all of mybestest buddies were out plus I’d wanted to book him for a long time and I knew he’d enjoy it (knowing that one of his worst gigs ever had previously been in Birmingham) so it was nice to remove that bad taste from his mouth. Plus I’ve actually never seen The Rainbow Courtyard that busy ever before and haven’t done since, it was a gooden and the crowds constant reactions to tune drops was amazing! As for worst, errmm I’d said it was one of the July dates in 2011. I think everybody was on a holiday or at festivals and the artists were literally playing to no one. It was a real shame but what can you do. We’ve all been there.

Your recent line up of guests have been pretty impressive. What would you say is the main ethos of the brand?

To not pigeon hole ourselves as a brand. Myself, Lee & Elliot all have slightly different preferences on sound and we know that by being diverse we are not only providing a nice varied selection of big names and events but also we’re keeping loyal to what we like ourselves. I’m really pleased that we can do this and that we can agree on so many things. We feel we choose our artists carefully and we certainly like catching waves (excuse the rubbish expression). 

Why have you chosen to settle at The Rainbow?

It’s a boozer! Its not a club, it was never a club and it wasn’t made to be one. So it has so much character, yes its falling apart here and there but that’s all part of the charm although we do have lots of fantastic improvements & changes coming our way in the near future. It has 3 rooms of around 150-300 capacity each. I couldn’t think of a better place to put on a party. Seeing Kerri Chandler play to a small crowd back in September was truly amazing. 

Tell us a bit about your 3rd birthday bash line up and why you have chosen this array of artist to celebrate such a land mark?

Well we had already booked Tanzmann & Squillace separately in the past but of course seeing them play together over the summer of this year in various parts of the world has been really good and we wanted to make it happen for the first time here in Birmingham at The Rainbow Warehouse. Also I’ve been wanting to book both Joy O & Scuba for a long time and having them on the same night in The Rainbow Garden area is pretty much off the scale. We thought fuck it bab! lets splash out! its our b’day and we will cry. Plus the crowd deserves it! 

What do you have planned for FACE in the next year?

Besides some right blinders each week we have another real biggy on Saturday 29^th Dec. We were going to call it F**K NYE but then we realized The Rainbows got a NYE party on 2 days later and thought they might frown. Which they did, would you believe. Now we’re already looking at next years calendar. There’s something very interesting on the horizon but too soon to mention. Plus we’re looking to continue with our current festival relationships of course and hope to connect with some new ones too. Its all good and its all about being sound and getting involved with the things you love. 

Scott, Elliot & Lee.