The club was started in July 2000. We had done a few one off nights in Glasgow over the years but never got round to trying something on a regular basis. Co promoter Paul Molloy had just moved back to Glasgow from his exile in Leeds, we got our heads together with our good friend Davie Quinn (Quinny) and decided to try something on a monthly basis, so Friday Street was born. Original DJ line up was Mikey Collins, Paul Molloy, Davie Quinn, Kev Conn and Thomas Love.

2. Who are you DJs? Do you have guest DJs coming in too? If so, anyone we might know?

Resident DJs are Mikey Collins and Paul Molloy , we also have a guest every month. We've had numerous guest DJs over the years from clubs such as Pow Wow, Hideaway, NUTS, Melting Pot, Caley Soul, Eyes Wide Open, Divine, and all of the other Friday Street 'team' - Colin, Jennie, Quinny and Kevin. We also do live band nights maybe once or twice a year, bands who've played the club include The Five Aces, Big Boss Man, Figure 5 and The Privates Hammond Orchestra.

3. What kind of musical territory do you cover?

We advertise our music policy as '60s Club Soul, Rhythm and Blues, Psych, Beat and Boogaloo' trying to cover for as many peoples tastes as possible.

4. Give us an idea of a few tracks you might hear if you dropped in?

Playlists are changing all the time but some recent spins from the residents are:
Young Jessie - Teacher Gimme Back
Mike Pedicin - Burnt Toast and Black Coffee
Doni Burdick - Bari Track
Johnny Pate - You're Starting Too Fast
Azie Lawrence - Pempelem
Ram Jam Holder - My Friend Jones
The Mindbenders - The Morning After
PP Arnold - A Likely Piece Of Work
The Takers - If You Don't Come Back
John Smith - Just A Loser

5. What do you think you offer that other clubs might not?

I think our music policy of playing a wide selection of 'Mod' sounds helps us no end. We have a varied crowd every month, some prefer Soul / R'n'B / Ska but we also have younger crowd and a lot of them prefer more of the Pysch / Beat sounds that we play. If we had a night of playing only one style of music then I know we'd never have attracted as many regulars as we now have.

6. Your current venue - how long and have you been there and how does it work for the club?

Our current venue is Blackfriars in Glasgow's Merchant City. This is the venue where the club started in 2000 (venue was much smaller then) but for one reason or another we have had a few moves in our time. We returned to Blackfriars in January 2007, the venue had a complete overhaul, the dancefloor is now more than double the size it used to be, also a much better sound system is in place. Location wise the club is only 5mins walk from the main train stations and the Merchant City has always been one of the more 'cool' areas in Glasgow City Centre so we reckon we're in an ideal spot.

7. And how many people do you tend to attract for each night? Do you think anything might put people off coming along?

Every month we get anything between 150 - 200 people through the door, most are regulars. Regarding what might put people off coming I think that's a question for someone attending the club rather than a promoter.

8. What's your view on the current state of mod/soul nights?

I don't think I'm qualified to comment on clubs in other parts of the country as I don't do as much travelling as I used to, but speaking for Glasgow / Scotland then I have to say that the scene we have is in great shape.
There's something on every weekend, be that a club night or a live band. As well as Friday Street there's nights such as Melting Pot, Eyes Wide Open, Divine, Grow Your Own, Southern Fried to name but a few. All of these nights are well attended and Scotland's Mod Scene is thriving at the moment. Outwith the clubs there's now more Mods driving scooters than ever before, the arrival of two all Mod scooter clubs in Glasgow (Argyll Roadrunners and Glasgow East End), the Mod generation website and also the brilliant Double Breasted Fanzine.

9. What's the best and worst thing that's happened with the club?

I think the best thing that's happened is the fact we've kept it going for the length of time we have (10th anniversary in July), also the fact that the Mod scene in Scotland is in a much healthier state than it's been for many a year and without sounding big headed I think Friday Street has had a lot to do with that.

We are continually attracting more and more people into the scene, be that youngsters for the first time or some of the older crowd getting involved again. Probably the worst thing to happen was the problems we had with changing venues between 2004 - 2006, thankfully all now behind us.

10. Finally, we need the lowdown on the club - listing details, how often, how to get in touch, that kind of thing.

Friday Street runs on the last Friday of every month, Blackfriars Basement, 36 Bell St, Merchant City, Glasgow G1 1LG.

The club runs from 10pm till 3am, admission is £5 (£6 on live band nights). Our Myspace site is run by Jennie and Colin Baillie - www.myspace.com/fridaystreet. If you'd like to join the Friday Street mailing list to receive regular updates of what's happening on the Mod Scene in Central Scotland please send your details to mikey-collins@hotmail.co.uk

Last updated: 16th February 2010