Interview: Ben Eastwood & Sam Condliffe

Ben Eastwood (Ms Kenton) and Sam Condliffe (Condy) are currently London-based, Newcastle-raised friends & selectors who are bringing clubbing back to its roots. Their own party, aptly named Basic Function, has recently been delivering raw house tunes on the crispest of soundystems across London. Fortunately for us, they return to the North East this Friday 20th February. 

Ben, playing under the moniker of “Ms Kenton” and who is a phenomenal selector in his own right, explained  the ethos behind the club night “We want it to be more of a ‘party’, as opposed to a club night – with free entry for punters wherever possible.”

Their most recent party in Newcastle was back in October 2024; so we caught up with Condy to see how things had been going since:

“Since we last came to Newcastle the party has really spread its wings – we’re proud to say we’ve pretty much kept it free the whole time, and have booked some really exciting DJs and artists, inc. Rowland (and his amazing AV show), Shawn Cartier, Chris Airplays, Bellas, Auld Rab, Geordie local sound system hero Diz, Brighton based Niamh, Bristol bass duo Introspect who run the Babylon Uprising stage at Glastonbury, and most excitingly and recently, Lukas Wigflex playing a secret set (which is the only gig we’ve charged for – the economics of raves n all that). We’ve got a home at Bricks in Brixton where our residency and main night is held, which is an amazing, warm and intimate space with killer Funktion One sound that allows us to do free entry and 3am finish. We’ve done one off parties at All My Friends and London’s best rave barge, The Goose (where we recently put Wigflex on with a 6am finish!) We’ve also had bookings around London in All My Friends, The Greyhound, Jaguar Shoes. We’ve done collaborative parties with Fantasy Trax and have a second collaborative event lined up in Bristol with the Introspect crew again. 

“We also managed to wangle a gig in Ortigia in Sicily, playing a set of records we purchased 24 hours previously, so our first international set, and we’ve our first festival over the summer, Nowadaze.

“We’ve already got a pretty full 2026 calendar and have our targets set on some of our favourite selectors. We’ve just locked in an amazing DJ coming over from Amsterdam a week before their annual ADE party (watch this space), and have Newcastle’s very own homegrown legend and King Street resident ROSIE coming over to us in June, which will hopefully be accompanied by a very exciting up and coming Paris based DJ in the upstairs club room. 

“We’re most proud of the fact that we haven’t really strayed at all from our core ethos and we’re slowly building month on month, 90% of what we do is free, and we’ve retained as much love for it as when we started out. 

“We’re absolutely buzzing to be back up in the city that’s our second home and cannot wait to bring what’s becoming our trademark energy back to the place that started it all for us.”

As they told us in Italy, viva la Funzione di Base 

They’re ably supported by emerging talent Poyntless Noise. An innovative DJ and producer; recently making waves with a mix of ambient cuts and heavier nu-garage edits. He’s one to watch; and has considerable shoes to fill after Jonno’s superb supporting set last time out. 

Put simply, it’s a fantastic night produced by two DJs who have both contributed to and learned a lot from Newcastle’s house scene. Things this good aren’t often free. Dust off your dancing shoes and head down to Ernest this Friday.