Carlotta grew up in Didsbury and, thanks to a tight web of early connections around Factory Records and the Haçienda, found herself in exactly the right place at the right time as Acid House hit Manchester. In this conversation, she traces that journey from skiving school to the Midland pub, sneaking into the club before Hot nights, and riding the first wave of 1988 — bandanas, dungarees, new tempos, and a city that suddenly felt transformed.
She remembers how fast it moved. One week away on holiday and the look, sound, and attitude of Manchester had flipped. What started as indie kids and misfits became a mixed, open scene — random crews from Chorlton and Huddersfield, future band members, and friendships that still bind people decades later. Carlotta calls them “social ley lines” — the invisible routes that keep old Haçienda people crossing paths.
We talk first pills, Freaky Dancing flyers in the queue, and why the scene felt small, close, and strangely safe despite the realities in the background. She’s candid about the blurred line between sorting for mates and being pulled into something bigger. That honesty leads to the pivotal part of her story: being caught in the U.S. with 10,000 ecstasy pills, the shock of facing a possible 10-year sentence, then being released on time served after cooperating — just weeks before giving birth. She reflects on fear, resilience, and the support that many women inside simply didn’t have.
Out of that trauma came purpose. Carlotta founded Stretch, a charity using arts and storytelling with people in prison and on the margins. She talks about lived experience, why giving back completes the recovery loop, and how today’s thinking around trauma, MDMA / psychedelic therapies, and post-traumatic growth echoes what many felt back then — that music and shared experience can reset a life.
There’s nostalgia here — Warehouse Project flashbacks, the old unity on the floor — but also a challenge. With clubbing now expensive and over-produced, she hopes the DIY spirit returns: small, smart, community-led nights like the ones that built Manchester’s reputation in the first place.
To close, Carlotta picks a track that zaps her straight back to Whitworth Street: Ten City – “That’s The Way Love Is.” Perfect — because beneath the chaos and the headlines, that feeling of connection is what kept people coming back.
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