Fifty-six years after The Beatles released their Abbey Road album, Soulwax held the first-ever rave at the iconic studios in London.
The night was titled ‘Abbey Road After Hours,’ and Dave and Steph were invited to curate the line-up. It featured DJ sets by Laima, Nadia Ksaiba, their long-time friend Erol Alkan, and 2manydjs.
Access was available for free via a public ballot. Fans were also invited to call the Soulwax rave hotline at 07886 072699 to enter. Posters for the event, which included details about the hotline, were seen across the capital. Around 5,500 people tried to get tickets, with demand at more than ten times the available capacity.
I have been very lucky to see Soulwax and 2manydjs perform at some unique places over the last twenty-five years—from iconic venues like the Roundhouse in London or Les Halles de la Villette in Paris, to the sunny beaches of Calvi in Corsica.
The ‘One Night Only’ event at Printworks in London in 2023, where 2manydjs performed a one-time “under the covers” live set of their masterpiece As Heard On Radio Soulwax pt II, was a night to remember. So, naturally, expectations were high for this event at Abbey Road Studios.
Inside the Session
Leading up to the rave, Soulwax recorded new music at Abbey Road earlier that week. Stories from the recording sessions were posted by band and crew members on Instagram. Iggor, Aurora, and Blake could be seen recording drums, and Laima shared a picture from inside the vocal booth where we could read the lyrics of the new track ‘Perfect We Are Not’ they were recording.
French director and friend So Me shared that he was at Abbey Road to film the whole experience. By that point, it had already been revealed that the night would be filmed for broadcast on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2026.
On Friday, the band shared this image on their social media accounts and sat down for an interview with Sky News.
“Who doesn’t want to throw a party at Abbey Road?” says Stephen. “It’s very hard to explain to people, but there’s something about walking into this building because there’s so much history, but it also feels… for Dave and me, one idea after another just came by walking from one room to the next. There’s something about this place. Hopefully, we don’t ruin it.”
“Are you saying we have an attraction to stupid ideas?” laughs David. “Because we do… yeah, it fits completely because we’ve got one foot very much in this world where—not just for us, I think most people’s musical DNA is shaped by these rooms, isn’t it? Whether it’s popular music or classical, it’s such a big part of the musical vernacular. So for us to be given the opportunity to bring something new in here, of course, in our minds it makes complete sense.”
The Arrival
On Saturday morning, I jumped on the Eurostar from Brussels to London. While on the train, I received a welcome message from Abbey Road and a digital entry pass for the day.
After arriving in London in the afternoon and checking into my hotel, I headed towards the studios. Now, I must admit I’d had the privilege of visiting Abbey Road Studios in the past. I spent an afternoon there years ago, recording a version of ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ with my colleagues from the radio station where I work. But witnessing a rave at the studios was going to be a completely different experience.
I entered Abbey Road Studios around 6 pm, just in time for the soundcheck in Studio One. No Despacio sound system this time, but they did bring their own DEEWEE soundsystem (the Pioneer GS Wave) —which sounded incredible. And loud.
At the top of the stairs, which led to a small VIP room, they had installed a Leslie organ speaker. I was told it was one used by Pink Floyd (and being at Abbey Road, there was no reason to believe this wasn’t true). They hooked it up to the sound system, though they eventually didn’t use it during their DJ set. Upstairs, engineers were finishing the new Soulwax track ‘Perfect We Are Not’ they had recorded before it was cut to an acetate vinyl.
Ed the Head
About fifteen minutes before the doors opened, Chris (head of production) yelled, “Hey Kev, can you help get Ed in?” Ed is the giant chrome head from the From DEEWEE album cover that you might have seen spinning at Soulwax shows a couple of years ago. Maneuvering an extremely large flight case through the corridors of Abbey Road Studios wasn’t on my bingo card for the day, but “Ed The Head” had officially entered the building.
The rave
Around 7:30 pm, Laima took to the decks and the crowd began to filter in. The volume was kept low, and the vibe reminded me of the first hours of any Despacio night: people walking in, admiring the speakers, and checking out the room.
And there was plenty to look at. Besides the massive Studio One, there was a second bar at Studio Two, where The Beatles recorded most of their albums. The hallways are covered with photos of music legends who once recorded in these studios.
Nadia Ksaiba, a recording artist on Erol Alkan’s Phantasy label, was next. Erol Alkan then turned up the volume to get us really dancing before handing over the decks to Dave and Steph.
They placed the acetate on the deck and, for the first time, we heard the new Soulwax track ‘Perfect We Are Not’ recorded right there at Abbey Road. It’s a track that could have been lifted from the All Systems Are Lying album—focused on percussion and drums, but very melodic. It features vocals by Steph and Laima and an insane build-up and drop in the middle.
This really got the party started, and we were treated to another fantastic 2manydjs set. Other highlights for me were their mashup of Josh Wink’s ‘Higher State Of Consciousness’ with The Rapture’s ‘House Of Jealous Lovers,’ and their own remixes of Oliver Sim’s ‘Sensitive Child’ and Sylvester’s ‘You Make Me Feel.’ They ended the set with ‘Get Off The Speakers,’ an unreleased remix/re-edit that has been a fan favorite for many years.
I felt incredibly lucky to have been part of this evening. Luckily, you can watch So Me’s documentary and the full broadcast on YouTube soon!
Thanks to the amazing Soulwax family crew and the lovely people at Because Music for making this happen.
Images by Scarlet Page / Babycakes Romero
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