Seminal electronic music group Altern 8 have helped shape rave culture since the 90’s and arguably helped shape the collective view of dance music as a whole and as a brand.

Without Altern 8 and other pioneering acts of that generation, dance music could be completely astray from where it’s at now. While Altern 8 and their iconic tracks such as ‘Activ 8’, ‘E-Vapor 8’, Move My Body and more helped to shape dance music culture for the next 30 and more years, what helped shape Altern 8.

We took a look back at old rave story from group member Mark Archer, who told the story of Shelby’s car park and the music video for E Vapor 8.

“30 years ago to this day, we pulled up in Shelley’s car park in the afternoon in a friend’s lorry. Set up a sound system on the back with our live set up and then waited for Shelley’s to open. This had been planned between ourselves, the record company and Antony Johnson (who went on to manage Bizarre Inc). We had a video company from Congleton come down and take footage of inside Shelley’s while the night was in full swing (all for the video of Activ 8, which was to be our new single).

15 minutes before the end of the night we headed out to the car park and got ready on the lorry, then once everyone had come out of the club we pulled back the tarpaulin on the lorry and started playing. The whole car park gig was luckily (unbeknown to us) recorded by Dominic Green for a radio interview he wanted to offer to local radio. He interviewed the record label boss (Neil Rushton) as well as ourselves and Andy from Bizarre Inc.

We decided to press up the interview on a spoof label Stafford North, with Frequency on the other side as a ltd edition release.

A few months later, we got Dominic in the studio to re-record a few phrases he said on the spur of the moment that night (this is the sound of Altern 8 & they’re going mad) for the next single E Vapor 8 (he didn’t show up to the video recording so we used a boglin instead and he wasn’t happy)”

Anyway – 30 years ago…. What a night!

Getting some insight into one of the most influential and coveted dance music tracks of all time is always going really special, but I can only imagine how amazing it would have been to have been in the crowd that. Unbeknownst to the crowd of ravers that they were a part of music history.


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