DISTINCTION A Brief History....
Founded in 2002 DISTINCTION has gone from strength to strength over the last 15 years evolving into the animal it is today. From the humble beginnings at Pacific Bar opposite the Empire on Corporation Road Middlesbrough the event rapidly outgrew the venue and was moved to the much larger premises of Platinum Bar (Formally the Belmont, 290 Linthorpe Road Middlesbro
ugh) where we had enough room to grow the event and establish a larger following of regular customers and find our focus and direction musically and professionally. We began to introduce performances from DJ’s and artists within the underground house movement including artists from GodsKitchen, City West Records, Killthedisco, Future and GoodGreef to perform alongside the DISTINCTION residents. Just as DISTINCTION was overfilling Platinum Bar disaster struck and the venue was hit by fire and damaged beyond economical repair leaving the event homeless. Word hit the town that we were seeking a new haunt and the team were approached by the management from the newly established Onyx Rooms (Albert Road, Middlesbrough). Onyx Rooms offered up a new dynamic as the 3 floor nightclub was attached to Absolute Vodka Bar allowing us to build things from the ground up and for the first time offer an early start to the event in the shape of a “pre party”. This allowed us to showcase a number of up and coming DJ’s and artists and gave us the opportunity to evolve. Onyx Rooms was a perfect fit for DISTINCTION and almost immediately the event was performing at capacity. We showcased the event in a series of one off events at various venues around the northeast including Tall Trees (Yarm) and The Moby Grape (Stockton) with great success. As life changes crept up on the main players within the DISTINCTION team such as family and work commitments we had no choice but to take the foot off the gas so to speak and we reluctantly had to slow the event down for a year. Following the “break” we stayed great friend and after some time we all came to the conclusion that DISTINCTION ran through our blood and we regrouped. Internet radio had become very popular and we were approached by MGR The Music Galaxy Radio, A London based radio station after the management team had caught wind of our mixed posted on Mixcloud. We began performing for MGR on a regular Wednesday night show that grew legs very quickly being broadcast via FM over South London and via the web and Tunedin Radio app with listeners in over 70 countries worldwide. Our latest project has been helping the owners of Skins & Needles with the launch of their new cocktail bar in Middlesbrough with a monthly toned down version of the event on the 3rd Saturday of the month and offering support on Fridays. We are currently looking for a new venue to collaborate with ourselves to take DISTINCTION into the next chapter and show the world what “Upfront music for upfront people” really means!
