Electrowerkz, also known as the Islington Metal Works, is a three-floor music venue in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In addition to mainstream club nights, it hosts the weekly goth night club Slimelight and other alternative events.

Layout

Electrowerkz has three floors. Much of the layout of the ground floor was shaped to accommodate

Carsten Höller Carsten Höller (born December 1961) is a German artist. He lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.Alice Rawsthorn (January 2012)"Cliff Hanger - The Ghanaian home of artists Carsten Höller and Marcel Odenbach goes above—and beyond" ''W Magazi ...

pop-up restaurant A pop-up restaurant is a temporary restaurant. These restaurants often operate from a private home, former factory, existing restaurants or similar space, and during festivals. Various other names have been used to describe the concept of settin ...

which used the venue in November 2008–July 2009. The club's dilapidated appearance has been praised for adding to the "gritty warehouse feel" and adding to the club's charm.

Slimelight

Slimelight, also known as "Slimes", is a dark scene night club which covers such genres as

goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

dark techno Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...

dark electro Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound wi ...

, and

darkwave Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...

, which has existed at The Electrowerkz since 1987. As well as DJs, Slimelight also regularly has live acts before the club or during it. Artists who have performed at Slimelight include

VNV Nation VNV Nation is an Irish alternative electronic project led by Ronan Harris in the roles of singer, songwriter, and producer. VNV Nation's sound combines lyrics with sounds that ranges from melodic industrial dance anthems, to haunting ballads ...

The Crüxshadows The Crüxshadows is an American dark wave and dark synthpop band currently based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. The band has an international following of fans and has toured North America, Europe, and Asia. History The band was o ...

Combichrist Combichrist is an American aggrotech / industrial metal band formed in 2003 by Norwegian vocalist Andy LaPlegua, who also founded the bands Icon of Coil, Panzer AG, Scandinavian Cock and Scandy. Combichrist was formed in Atlanta, Georgia and is ...

, Clan of Xymox and

Nitzer Ebb Nitzer Ebb () are a British EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Vaughan "Bon" Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums). History Initial releases (1983–1987) The g ...

. To comply with the law when Slimelight began in the 1980s, the club has a membership scheme that requires getting existing members to approve new members. Although this is no longer necessary, the membership scheme still exists and provides members with a cheaper entrance fee. Most of the ground floor exists in its current state due to a pop up restaurant from

which co-existed with the club for several months. Since the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

the club has moved online with multiple livestream DJ events on Twitch.

Other events

Under the name Islington Metal Works, Electrowerkz makes itself available as a venue for weddings, product launches and as a film location. Electrowerkz was a filming location for the '' Black Mirror'' episode ''

San Junipero "San Junipero" is the fourth episode in the third series of the British science fiction anthology television series ''Black Mirror''. Written by series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker and directed by Owen Harris, it premiered on Netflix o ...

''. Club reviewers have praised the venue for the variety of club nights it has, saying "Whether you're planning a rave night to the sickest dubstep or want a goth night out with hardcore beats to bang your head to, Electrowerkz has it."

Mayuan Mak

Mayuan Mak was the owner of Electrowerkz until his death in December 2020. He was also the co-founder of Slimelight. A tank was used as a hearse to drive his body to his funeral.

References

External links

* {{Goth subculture Nightclubs in London Goth venues Goth subculture Industrial music Electronic dance music venues Club nights