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ABOUT US


reform

(rɪˈfɔːm) - an improvement, or change for the better

 

​We entered the club scene as punters around '89 / '90 and spent a few years enjoying underground house music events along the south coast and in London, but as time went on we became increasingly frustrated at certain aspects of our once-favourite nights out that we didn't feel were living up to what they once were.

 

We decided to put on our own modest event for Emma's 21st birthday (1993) in a community hall in Clymping, and from that moment on, we were hooked. We liked the fact that we could sculpt the night exactly how we wanted in terms of the musical journey, the styles of music, the sound system and production values and loved how you could take the crowd on a journey. 

 

We  then started doing our own nights in Chichester, which at the time was seriously lacking in options for musical entertainment and pubs that were open beyond 11pm. We put on monthly parties at Chichester Football Club that went on til 12 or 1am and we learnt our trade. As time went on we outgrew the Football Club and began searching for unique and interesting venues to take Reform on tour, and be able to open later!

As well as holding our own parties in various local venues, we took our productions to Southampton, Brighton, and London and for two years, Reform headlined the Strongbow Tent at some of the countries biggest Festivals all over the country, and we also did a season with Lipton Ice Tea at festivals providing the sounds in their 'Recovery Shack'.  Another highlight was spending 2 years doing a monthly residency at The Telegraph in Brixton throughout 2001 to 2003. We were in the top 3 most successful nights at the venue - one of those top three was the Basement Jaxx's 'Rooty' parties - so not bad going then! Jaxx's Felix used to regularly drop in for a boogie at Reform's nights. 

 

By this time we had built up a team of amazing people who were excellent at their particular contribution and it felt like a family. Together we covered all aspects of putting on nights, everything was in-house - we relied on no-one but ourselves to deliver the highest quality product we could -  DJing, flyering, promotion, backdrops, lighting, lasers, sound systems, mailing lists etc.  And so began a journey that has so far lasted over 25 years.

From the 1000 capacity event we put on for the Millennium NYE to the ultra-underground Warehouse parties we put on in 2004, we were extremely prolific during that 5 year period and invested in a 40k soundsystem which was a one-of-a-kind system that was developed by a genius called 'Jon Orator' - now know as RC1 - we put on parties in clubs, boats, halls, pubs, restaurants, in churches, in tents, in warehouses, at festivals, in the woods, in organic underground caves (!) - some paying, some free. Then an opportunity came up to take on our local nightclub that had lain empty for 6 months.

 

And so the MUD CLUB was born in May 2005 . At the start, the club was open 7 days a week and our blueprint for the club was to represent all genres of dance music including house, UK Garage, Drum & Bass,  Hardcore, Trance, Indie, Rock, funk & soul, funky house and commercial dance and to showcase the best DJ names in the business - the list of DJs who played at Mud during its 5 years in business  read like a 'Who's Who' of the DJing world at the time - see our DJs Page for more info on who graced the decks at Mud Club.

During the week we aimed to provide a diverse range of entertainment:- salsa and comedy, ladies & lads nights, student nights, hen nights, live bands, under 18s, battle of the bands, even pole dancing lessons for fun & fitness! During the weekend it was a hotbed of dance music of all genres.

In 2010 we decided to withdraw - Emma was pregnant with her second child and running a nightclub wasn't really conducive to a settled family life, plus Harvey was suffering with Tinnitus from years of exposure to very loud music! so we went into temporary retirement from promoting nights.

Then a few years later, a friend asked Harvey to DJ at her 40th at a local venue, Woodies, and we were hooked again! We came out of retirement and started putting on small intimate parties at Woodies. The crowd had grown up a bit and musical tastes had shifted and  it was exciting to be able to take the crowd on new journeys with the music, so a new brand was born - FUNK YOU! Rather than the whole night being house music from start to finish, we started with funk, acid jazz and all sorts in-between - and worked things up to our signature bumpin' house music at the end of the night.  At the same time, the 3 large scale events took place for IBIZA ROX in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Then Covid forced another period of temporary retirement, but now we're back on firing form. In 2022 we put on a Circus themed extravaganza for Emma's 50th birthday and 2023 saw the launch of the next chapter - we've done events, we've done a nightclub, and now here comes a FESTIVAL! And so, VOODOO FEST was born!

Check out the other pages on the site for more details of past events, various flyers and of course, photos of our lovely partygoers over the years! 

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Timeline

Clymping Hall

Emma's 21st

1993

We put on our first ever party at a small hall in Clymping that was regularly being used at the time for parties. DJs included Harvey Bailey, Jamie Duffty, Aubrey, Warren and Jackmaster 'O' and Mr Foot.

Chichester Football Club

Regular monthly parties from

1995 - 1999

Regular monthly parties provided a place where  we could learn our trade. We made backdrops, experimented with lights and lasers and the crowd grew and grew.

Cafe Metro

Several parties in 1997

A fabulous space for a party, in a unique cavern-style venue and two superb owners who were great to work with.

George & Dragon

Regular parties in 1996 - 1998

Regular parties in a great venue with a superb up-for-it landlord. We need a few more of those right now!

Boat Parties

Regular parties in 1998 - 2001

We regularly took coach loads of partygoers to Southampton to board the party boats for a series of Boat Parties called 'Reform Rock the Boat'

London Boat Party - Battersea Barge

Boat Party on the thames  

2000

A lovely intimate party on a beautiful wooden barge on the Thames.

Millennium NYE

The Venue, Chi

 1999 - 2000

1000 capacity sold-out event in Chichester which went on until 6am with many people in fancy dress. There were 3 rooms of music and and a percussion section, decor, lasers & lightshow, balloon drop, confetti cannons and a live video link with Big Ben at midnight.

UK Festival Tour - The Strongbow Tent 

UK Festivals

2000 - 2001

Homelands, Essential Festival, Gatecrasher, God’s Kitchen Global Gathering, Mardi Gras, Mezz Ball, Ministry @ Knebworth, Leeds Carling, Guildford Live, GLA Respect@Finsbury Park and Bristol Ashton Court. 
Reform Djs regularly filled the tent to capacity & rocked it.

UK Festival Tour - Lipton Ice Tea

UK Festivals

2000

Reform provided the sound track for the Lipton Ice Tea tent at a series of summer festivals across the UK.

The Telegraph, Brixton Hill

Brixton, London

2001 - 2003

Our highly popular monthly nights at The Telegraph throughout 2001 to 2003 were in the top 3 most successful parties at the venue - one of those top three was the Basement Jaxx 'Rooty' parties - so not bad going then! Jaxx's Felix used to regularly drop in for a boogie at Reform's nights.

Jax - London Bridge, Friendly Society - Soho

Clubnights, London

2001 - 2002

Underground house parties in intimate London venues.

Studio Parties - London, Peg Parties - London

Private Parties, London

2001 - 2002

Underground house parties in music studios with Tom Gillieron, Asad Rivzi, Jane Fitz and Velocity Boy Leo Fowler.

Private Outdoor Parties @ Chichester location

Private Parties, Sussex

2001 - 2002

Unique parties in the most unique venue ever - a manmade construction on private land in Sussex!. The first took place in a marquee, then several in the manmade venue - and then the venue grew even bigger.

Private Party at Hunston Riding Stables

Private Party, Hunston

2002

A wedding party took over the indoor arena at the Riding Lodge. This was the first outing of our newly acquired 42k sound system. 

Rox Music & Arts Festival 2002  @ Fontwell Park

Dance tent at the festival

2002

Reform provided the dance tent and the mighty new Reform Soundsystem (all 42k of it!!) at this event. We ALWAYS like to party under the stars and this was no exception! Stunning light show, lasers and backdrops completed the scene. 12,000 people over 2 days came to party at Fontwell Racecourse.

Hanbury Ballroom, Brighton

Birthday Parties,

Brighton

2003

Reform put on a series of parties at The Hanbury Ballrooms in Brighton for various birthday celebrations.

3TO, Worthing

3TO Nightclub,

Worthing

2003

Reform put on a series of parties at The 3TO Nightclub in Worthing. The venue had 2 rooms, and the Wideboys & Luke Holden provided the sounds in room 2. The flyers were designed like a vintage wine label.

Concorde 2, Brighton

Spiritual Element

2003

Reform provided 2nd room entertainment for Spiritual Element at a series of parties at the Concorde 2 in Brighton.

Various Private Parties in the Woods

Woods Parties, Sussex

2001 - 2004

Multiple woods parties, deep in the forest near Graffham, Midhurst. Much fun was had until dawn, when partygoers watched the sun come up over a sea of beautiful purple heather <3

Warehouse Parties - Chichester

Private Warehouse Chichester

2004

4 private parties throughout 2004, celebrating birthdays, Halloween and New Years Eve, in a warehouse in Chichester. We installed all the sound system & lights, we decorated, and installed a luxury portable toilet block and provided a security team.

The Mud Club - Bognor Regis 

Our own nightclub!!

2005 - 2010

After 12 years 'on tour' an opportunity came up to take on the local underground music venue and we jumped at the chance. Over the 5 years we were there, the venue played host to a wide range of genres, and the DJ roster was like a 'Who's Who' of the DJing world.

Thames Boat Party - The Battersea Barge

Battersea Barge - The Thames

2015

15 years after the original, we travelled up to the smoke once again to throw a party in that same beautiful wooden barge on the Thames. Old habits die hard.

Return to The Football Club!!

Our original venue revisited

2015

it was a spiritual homecoming to what was our original Chichester venue. Although the old building had long since replaced by a shiny new one, it was crazy to return to our original venue where it all began. 

Reform & Funk You! @ Woodies, Chichester

Chichester venue

2013 - 2017

After a bit of a break, Reform were asked to DJ at a friend's 40th birthday which got us hooked all over again! A series of parties followed as Reform (underground bumpin' house music!) and then the Funk You! brand was born which incorporated Funk, Acid Jazz and more to the warm up slots, and finishes with some bumping house at the end of the night.

Reform Presents Ibiza Rox @ The Hardwicke, Bognor 

William Hardwicke

2015, 2016 & 2017

Reform had a long history of providing the dance music side of things for Rox, and for 3 years we took over The Hardwicke and themed it as a Beach party for Ibiza Rox - the outdoor space was dressed as a beach party and we partied under the sun on the terrace - and then the party moved inside when the sun went down. The parties were all one-in-one-out by about 9pm.

The Raverley, Waverley Bognor Regis

The Waverley

2022

We teamed up with the charity  'Last Night A DJ Saved My Life' to present the Raverley in summer 2022. We ran a daytime party on the sun terrace of the Waverley with the party moving inside for Old Skool classics until midnight.

Fabulous at 50 - Welcome to the Night Circus

Emma's 50th

Circus Themed Birthday Party

We created a circus themed extravaganza at a private residence in Chichester to celebrate Emma's 50th birthday. The costumes were incredible, the atmosphere was electric and the theme was brilliant. Definitely one to remember!

Voodoo Festival 2023

A new mini-festival in Sussex

Voodoo Festival was conceived in Oct 22 and plans were hatched, then in December, tragedy struck and we lost our right hand man, Martyn Skinner. We decided to continue with planning the festival and dedicate it to his memory as he would have been an integral part of the team as he always had been. It was a beautiful day celebrating the music he loved and was filled with his friends and family and a fitting tribute to our soul brother.

The Raverley, Waverley Bognor Regis

The Raverley 2023

After the success of the first Raverley we were involved with, and following on from the highly successful Voodoo Festiival, this one was to raise money for Angels of Anxiety (helping women with mental health struggles) and Cancerwise - a small local charity helping local families through Cancer. over £3000 was raised and it was a roaring success.

© 2024 Reform Sound System. Bognor Regis, Chichester, West Sussex.             

Head over to our You Tube or Facebook pages for more photos & videos.

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