Throughout history, the humble Tuesday has seen its fair share of ups and downs, from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and Great Grand Pappies meme stock implosion of 1929, to Taco Tuesday’s, and No Funk at the Hacienda (although depending on who you ask that could be as much a down as an up).
Apparently it can be the most productive workday of the week, but I reckon that’s only if you count sanctimonious social media posts or unnecessarily elaborate 16:45 emails. Well we can at least collectively blame the weekend again, for now.
Down in Rye Wax, for a long time, Tuesdays were taken care of. Back in the days when the only thing that could get you down was, well most of the current stuff, just with less washed hands. Tuesdays in the basement though, became a sleepy yacht club jetty, a soft-rock haven of boozy tranquillity. It was in safe hands. We could concentrate on catching up on orders and finding the fucking little-to-big’s adapters again. It was time for another Soft Tuesday with music from its ever present resident, Ed Word and his posse of special guests.
Ed (from Balham) has worn many hats and guises all in the pursuit of stimulating the local night-time economy, including (but not limited to) heading up the infamous long running Brixton disco shut-in-not-shut-in Boogie Nights, releasing some real cerebral bits under his Let’s Talk alias via Dream Diary and a certain 4am wiggler that's still doing bits via West Friends, as well as appearances on Norwood Soul Patrol’s Rinse, and yearly shellingtons at the glittering fever dream festival Meadows in Bulgaria. A veritable legend both north and south of the River, now commanding a pack of dogs by day - Ed’s done us a stellar and possibly a little misty-eyed Soft Tuesday’s mix for the site so I thought I’d ask him a few questions and try and get to the bottom of what truly makes a Tuesday soft?
Hi Ed! What’s happening?
Not much at the moment, mostly walking the dogs Monday to Friday, and then trying not to be irresponsible come the weekend.
For those who couldn’t make it down, for whatever bullshit excuse, to a soft Tuesday, could you give us an idea of your Original Vison™ for Soft Tuesdays®?
At the time I didn’t really have much to do during the weekdays as I didn’t have a job and I was spending a little too much time at Rye Wax as it, was so I figured it would be a good excuse to start a weekly music affair that wouldn’t impose on the space or staff and also wouldn’t really require me to stress about booking DJ’s or keeping a dance floor active, more just play nice songs for a Tuesday afternoon whilst people passed through to have a dig or a snack.
Could you tell us more about your record collection? It became a totem in the back office, with a lot of “What are these?” labels if I remember correctly. How did it develop? Were there particular tunes or vibes you were digging for?
Lots of those would have come from the British Heart Foundation music and book store I worked at in Streatham, I was there for about four years due to finding it a little tricky/intimidating to get a job in any of the record shops in central and south London so eventually I just volunteered at the BHF. I was still living with my parents then, so I wasn’t after an income, more just somewhere I had access to music that I didn’t know I was looking for, and it was an absolute goldmine. It’s also where I met Nick who opened Sole Proprietors in Brixton, which was an absolute godsend during the first lockdown!
Could you take us through a perfect Tuesday for you?
Fair weather and well-behaved dogs, followed by tea in the evening and a good detective novel is me done.
You did Soft Tuesdays for a pretty long stretch, I wondered if there were any particularly memorable Tuesday’s down in the basement?
Any time Oliver Sudden came and played records with me was special, he’s one of the hardest working disc jockey’s out there and has a real mixed bag. It’s also where I met JD who I now do “Okay Good” with on the few times a year we actually get to pull our shit together, and obviously, the odd occasion I had some more of the big hitters down like DSC, Loefah or Miro.
Also, there were some really nice evenings after when you started doing the talky stuff later on. My brain isn’t serving me well right now but the smiley culture chat was unforgettable!
The mix is wicked, really feels like old Tuesday evenings, can almost hear the faint patter of a Hermes delivery guy in the background. The mix goes some places and I noticed some old favourites – got any top Tuesday tunes, mix or otherwise?
It’s hard to say music wise as there is just an infinite amount to choose from, but outside of that I do like listening to aimless chit chat, Athletico Mince and Three Bean Salad are good for that, the Adam Buxton podcast and RHLSTP are also nice Tuesday listens.
What’s the music saying lately?
I’m always working on new music, been hitting lots of brick walls lately but I do love the process when it feels like I’m getting somewhere. The last two years have been a bit bothersome as my soundcard packed it in during the first lockdown, which meant having to switch from my monitors to headphones which I’m not really into and also the lack of being able to go out meant you kind of lose a lot of the inspiration you’re not really aware of getting when you’re out at parties etc.
Much like Norse god Tyr (also of Tuesday fame), you’ve dealt with your fair share of dogs. Can you tell us once and for all which breed is actually the best?
If word got out I thought any one particular breed was “the best”, those furry freaks would make life pretty hard for me in the parks, let’s just say they’re kind of like humans, most are absolutely wonderful, a select few just happen to be total pricks.
I’m sure this is only the beginning of Soft Tuesday and Ed related content on the site so until next time, wanna tell the people any upcoming bits?
Me and JD are doing Okay Good for the first time in two years on the 1st of January at Tola and I’m at the White Horse in Peckham on the first Friday of every month. I have a track on a VA EP for Dawn State which should be out sometime next year, as Lets Talk, and there’s a couple potential things with other labels but nothing set in stone so fingers crossed I’ll have more things to share in the not too distant future.
Thanks again to Ed for the mix – tune in next time for another exciting edition of the Rye Wax Mix Series.
Much love x