Cellardoor 10th Anniversary Live Mix

October 17, 2015

It was 10 years ago this month (14 Oct 2005 to be exact) when Cellardoor threw its first monthly party. It was a Friday night at Horror Cafe in Newtown and I think we finished up with about 80 people. Cellardoor was started by Martin Thomas and I with some inspiration from the film Donnie Darko. We played 70s-00s indie, alternative and electro (with oddities) and had a wooden rabbit mascot named Frank.

Check out the 100 track Cellardoor Deezer playlist HERE

The 1st Cellardoor flyer

The artwork was cunningly designed (mainly by hand) by my wife, Fiona O’Connor. Each flyer was a maze-like continuation of the last with hidden messages and rabbitised album sleeves. The early flyers were all printed out and lovingly stickered by hand.

8th flyer with rabbit sleeves everywhere

It was a great time for music. We competed with much more established and amazing parties at the time like the Secret Party, Petting Zoo, Sovereign Academy and Television. We would flyer each others parties even though competition was fierce. In the end, we all became good friends and I did numerous other parties with Sassquatch, Mankazam, King of Town, Riaan and the guys post Cellardoor.

We started adding live music to the mix and over time hosted some of the coolest bands around. The night we had Cape Town bands Taxi Violence, Wild Eyes and Dirty skirts was probably the high point next to the Cellardoor Live album launch.

The Cape Town contingent that put Cellardoor on the map

The Cape Town contingent that helped put Cellardoor on the map

Between Oct 2005 – Jun 2007 we released two Cellardoor CDs. One was a selection of music we played and the other was a compilation of all the bands that graced the Cellardoor stage. We also took to inviting ourselves onstage and playing a song with a couple of the bands. We specially recorded them for the Live album. Check them out here and here. Fiona designed both albums.