Music is making a triumphant return to Carlisle Racecourse this summer, with a blistering FAITHLESS DJ SET transporting the Cumbrian course to the heyday of electronic music on Saturday 8th July.
We caught up with Sister Bliss ahead of her upcoming DJ set this summer!
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We're finally at the point where it feels like summer is on the way, are you looking forward to your season of DJ shows ahead?
Yeah, I'm massively looking forward to it. It's always such a pleasure and a privilege to be out there. You know, playing music in wonderful surroundings, and feeling that sense of connection and communion. That's what music is for.
Have you found that since the pandemic, everyone's been so much more up for gigs and that the energy is really there?
Yeah, last summer there were loads of gigs that I had postponed that finally came to fruition and the energy was palpable. People were so grateful and happy to be back doing what they love from the crew and the staff to the DJs, and then the crowds. There was so much love out there. What can I say I had a wonderful summer of festivals last year, although it was pretty hectic as I say so many gigs were cancelled and postponed and moved again and again. With each kind of lockdown end point being moved, the goalposts kept getting moved each time, and then suddenly loads of gigs were on one weekend where I would just usually have two, there were like five! I just thought oh my God, I'm not in my 20s anymore. But it was fantastic. Needing quite a lot of energy. This summer is a little bit more chilled to be fair! It's really wonderful to know that there is some great events happening over the summer, and not least of all The Jockey Club Live in Carlisle. I've never played there before so it's particularly exciting for me and I really hope that the famous Cumbrian weather reverts to something more unexpected like sunshine.
The beautiful thing about Carlisle and The Jockey Club Live shows in general, is that they just attract such a mix of audience. Have you found that in the last couple of years the crowd for your Faithless DJ sets has been younger, where people are getting to know your music, whether it's through Insomnia, or even the work that you've done with David Guetta for example?
It's quite an incredible mix. It pretty much always has been for Faithless we get from toddlers to Granny's such a wide audience it's impossible say to say who is a Faithless audience. There's lots of people who weren't even born when our first tunes came out. I think the streaming model has changed things for a lot of people that will come across our work on various playlists. In the old days, it's people's older brothers and sisters who would play them tapes. Some people say, oh my God, it was my mom who took me to my first Faithless gig. It's amazing that the kind of generation who were raving with us through the 90s and beyond, now have their own families and they bring their record collections with them. So a lot of people sort of experienced our music by osmosis in their own families. And because we didn't just play over eighteens events, there's been this exposure to a much younger audience as well which is just the most amazing thing because we really did make our music in the beginning for the clubs, and you don't get toddlers in clubs. It's strictly over eighteens, you know, back in the ravey days. So it's always been a really quite amazing thing to see the next generation embrace Faithless as much as the true original whistle posse out there. I'm so grateful for it.
I also think that must be a little bit to do with how beautiful Maxis lyrics are, how timeless some of our music is and that it still sounds fresh today. That there was a real alchemy with us where you could be totally transported by the euphoria of the riffs, the beats, the energy, the adrenaline and the big moments. But when you take something away and listen to it over and over again hopefully the wisdom, beauty and the messaging that backs his lyrics also stays with people.
Since he passed in 2022 the outpouring of love and gratitude and how Faithless soundtracked some of the most intimate moments in people's lives, it has really, really blown me away. It is really so touching and moving and as an artist it's all you can ask for that your music actually meant something to people, it’s quite an extraordinary thing. And to have this sort of longevity I guess, to be around still after 30 years at the coalface and still feel that there's some relevance to what you're doing.
I am absolutely so grateful for it, for him, for our relationship, for our amazing musical alchemy, and for all the four corners of the earth that we travelled to with the band as well as DJing on my own. What an amazing life I've had and it's so beautiful to be able to share that with people. So when I’m playing a Faithless DJ set, I'm trying to bring all of that experience and gratitude into the music I’m playing for people to make it a night to remember. It’s important I’m very big on that, to play really good shows and be consistent in that is very important.
Faithless DJ set is like a celebration of like your career, and electronic music in general. Are there any tracks or moments in the set that you really look forward to playing or happening?
I have to say pretty much all the way through! Don’t want give it all away to keep some mystery about it, but there will be moments that will be beautifully celebrated in every single way and hopefully will melt away all the difficulties in life. That’s what good music does. It transports us from the mundane and the strife and of course, this year has been very difficult for a lot of people. People I know, my friends, my family all sorts of people have had the most incredible struggles this year and to be able to have an event that brings people together and transports us just for a moments away from those everyday concerns that I think really grind people down.
It's a very real thing and the fact that people have even bought tickets or saved up their hard-earned cash to buy tickets, I'm incredibly grateful for as well. We need to thrive but some people aren't even surviving. Just the basics in life, a roof over your head and enough money for the electric metre and so forth. It's obscene to me in this wealthy country that many, many, many people are not thriving and cannot move forward in their lives. And that, to me, is profoundly wrong. And that's also something that Faithless stands for as well. There is a political edge with our music and I hope that sort of galvanises people to treat each other better and also demand more from leadership.
I think that's one of the beautiful things about music and Faithless, it's a level of escapism that you can get when you go to those gigs. Whether you're there with a group of friends or your family, you can just lose yourself for that evening and enjoy it.
You’ve released a few new tracks like Life Is A Melody, will you be interspersing those within the set as well?
I certainly will. I think it's really important for me still, dance music, its music of the future. Electronic music has such a kind of rich catalogue and there will always be beautiful classics in there. I always want those common or similar moments, and there are opportunities to also introduce new music that you didn't even know you wanted to hear and that is a massive buzz as well. So, yes, absolutely I'll be weaving in new and old.
Do you reckon you'll get there a little bit earlier to place a bet and watch some of the racing?
Oh, absolutely! I actually did do a show at Goodwood and they named a maiden filly after me. So I’m hoping that maybe a horse might get named after me here, or something, even a hedge. I have to say I'm terrible at betting. We used to do sweepstakes, sometimes in the studio, and I'd always pick nonrunners. I'm not particularly lucky. I'm a grafter rather than lucky. I don't tend to sort of win things you know, I feel like I'm winning at life in many aspects, but I'm in terms tombola’s and raffles. Never with numbers they are not my thing. Art and music yeah, numbers no! I will likely take a little flutter on the horse that actually is just interested in a lump of hay, and not interested in going anywhere, for anyone!
I will be there earlier in the day and looking forward to the vibe of the whole event. I’m really excited. Like I say, I haven't played in Carlisle before, so it'll be a really lovely, new experience.
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Join us for our Great Community Raceday followed by an epic Faithless DJ Set live after evening racing.
This fixture is the OEE Great Community Raceday brought to you by OEE Container Technology Ltd. Last year we raised over £3,000 for 6 different Cumbrian charities. £1 from every advanced ticket sold will be donated to the selected charities as part of our Great Community Raceday.
Tickets are on sale now. Hopsitality packages available.
