Craig Richards makes statement on new era of Fabric residency

Craig Richards addressed his current Fabric residency in a new statement, in which he outlined his changing position at the famed London nightclub.

In a personal letter posted to the Fabric blog, Richards spoke about the future of his residency, which will see him performing less frequently to focus on other projects and endeavours. The news comes after announcing last year that he would be stepping down from his weekly Fabric London slot in 2018. 

“My decision to play less at the club revolves around my life outside of Fabric,” he wrote. “In order to make time to pursue some of my dreams I decided to play at the club less. My residency is strong and true like before but reduced in appearance in order that I can achieve in other areas beyond the brick walls of the wonderful cold storage unit that become a musical institution known as fabric.” 

“I’m [51] now and whilst young at heart after a long weekend my body aches. I’m dedicating more time to painting, running a big festival and playing regularly in a little London pub," he continued. "I feel no less enthusiastic than I did when I first moved to London in 1987. The heady combination of acid house in its infancy and art school continues to drive me forward. I still love foraging for records and am still intoxicated by the culture of nightlife.” 

He has also shed light on how the residency will continue in the future. “The real reason for breaking silence is to say a little something about the new night created at the club where I invite artists who I admire and respect to play alongside me for the whole night.” 

He later recounted the first two nights of the reimagined residency, which welcomed some of his personal musical favourites.

“The first instalment was with underground hero Mr Nicolas Lutz,” he wrote. “An outrageous talent and a great friend. We were joined by the mighty DMX Krew. For the second night I was joined by a man who needs no introduction Ricardo Villalobos. Regarding this rather special night I wanted to say thank you to everyone who followed us all the way for almost 10 hours as we played one record each. A very special night indeed. When the crowd is on your side, the sound is optimum and the mood in the air is one of appreciation for the music itself rather than the DJs this is a perfect storm. The night felt like a coherent and slightly disjointed story told well by two DJs with an almost parallel record collection.”

He concluded the letter with an optimistic look toward the new wave of his residency, which next hosts Fabric regular Margaret Dygas.

“This night alone was confirmation that my residency continues in evolution, but more importantly that Fabric is still the place of magic it always was."

Read Craig Richards’ full statement on the Fabric blog.

For more on Fabric, read our in-depth overview on what the club’s reopening means for the future of London nightlife and relive the 10 moments that defined Fabric.

John Ochoa is the editor-at-large of DJ Mag North America. You can find him living his best life on Twitter.