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Erol Alkan is a man of many guises. You may know him as a DJ, responsible for the last (and best) in the Bugged Out series of mix albums and the architect of many a night of musical abandon on dance floors across the world. Maybe you may know him as a remix genius, melting down musical bullion by pals Franz Ferdinand, Death From Above 1979 and Mystery Jets (among others) and refashioning it into acid-infected opuses of disco destruction. Or perhaps you’ve heard of him as a promoter, thanks to his long-running and truly ground-breaking London-based alternative club night, Trash. For more than nine years, Erol has foreseen and helped to shape the UK’s alternative zeitgeist while refusing the spotlight and superficiality of the celebrity circuit. So when peta2 heard that Erol was no fan of flesh-eating and that he had a heart for animals, we just had
to talk to him. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the most modest man in music … and one of his cats!
When and why did you stop eating meat?
I stopped eating meat about eight years ago. My lifestyle then basically involved waking up at silly o’clock in the afternoon, foolishly drinking heavily, DJing at nightclubs and then stumbling home on the night bus, hungry – the only place open being a kebab house. I stopped eating meat because my weight was spiralling out of control. I’d eat quite infrequently, and then I’d binge on kebabs or beef burgers and stuff like that. So really, I stopped because I was aware that I was eating such bad food. There was also the fact that my conscience got the better of me through a lot of the music that I was into.
Bands like The Smiths seem to have a big effect on many young people, because we’ve heard that from quite a few of the musicians we’ve interviewed.
Yeah, it was The Smiths! I think I can pinpoint it to the live version of “Meat Is Murder”, which was the B-side to, I think, a Smiths seven-inch. And it was really haunting. All the noises on it – it was scary. And also, a girl I fancied didn’t eat meat, so in the end, you know … The Smiths, health, girl, weight – all roads pointed to not eating meat.
 What did your family make of your decision?
Well, I have a Turkish background, and in traditional Turkish cooking, meat is left to stew in its own oils, etc. I just thought, “This isn’t that healthy”. For a long time I went to family weddings and there would be one vegetarian meal, for me, and everyone thought I was crazy. But a few years ago, unfortunately, my uncle passed away; he had clogged arteries and so on. So now my mum uses a lot of meat substitutes in her cooking. The quality of meat seems to have slipped so much that who knows what those who eat meat are getting. My mum uses vegetable-based stuff 500 per cent more than she used to.
Do you think people should give vegetarianism a try?
I do understand that people who have been doing something for a long time might find it hard to change, but you do need to try – for health reasons if nothing else. I lost two and a half stone!
You run a club with a reputation for glamour and so on. Where do you stand on the fur issue?
I’m really anti-fur. The whole glamour side of Trash is … and I don’t want to drop a bombshell, but … we never encouraged people to dress like that. It was always about saying “escape”, you know, from the fucking dull world. And people liked dressing up, so we were like, “OK!” But I’ve never liked fur; I’ve never liked looking at dead things!
Have you seen the video footage on peta.org.uk of Chinese cat and dog fur farms? It’s horrible stuff, and people can’t believe that it’s happening every day. And everyone who buys fur – people on the street and celebrities like J. Lo – is endorsing that cruelty and saying it’s acceptable.
Fur products are basically being made by evil people for evil people. People like that – you mentioned J. Lo – I’ve got utter contempt for. They’re disgusting people. The way they flaunt their jewellery, their fur, their status – I hate it; I see the way they operate, and it’s not what I’m into at all.
That kind of spirit sometimes seems rare in the music industry. But then part of what seems to make Trash so different from other clubs is the fact that behind the rock ‘n’ roll and glamour and so on, there’s a DJ who wishes you well and tells you to take care getting home at the end of the night …
It was never planned, but Trash has always been the biggest happy accident in my life. I just want to play records, and I don’t expect anyone to want to do it more than me.
Exactly – it seems to be a rare example of genuine passion coming before careerism.
I’ve never viewed what I do as a “career”; I’ve just stuck to my guns and had good luck with the things that I’ve accepted and the things that I’ve declined. If you’re doing something for good reasons, for genuine reasons, then good luck finds you. But I do work hard! I work about 16 hours a day!
What makes a good DJ?
Technical ability is not important to me – it’s more about the songs you play and the order you play them in. If you can mix two songs together, well, that’s great. But if not, it doesn’t matter – to me it’s all about the choice of music.
So no plans to give it all up anytime soon?
I always said I’d stop when I was 30, but to be honest – and not to sound immodest – I don’t feel threatened by anyone yet. If Trash all ended tomorrow, I’d feel bad not so much for me, but for the people who enjoy it, who go there to hear new music and see bands and stuff.
And finally – you have two cats who are pretty well known to your fans, right? Can you tell us a bit about them?
I got two cats from the Cats Protection League, both of whom I love dearly. One reminds me so much of a human, with all his mannerisms, etc. The other one was the runt of the litter, and he’s a bit more shy and stuff – he needs a lot of TLC.
Inspired by the man’s work ethic? Well then get up and get active yourself – join the Street Team!
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