Video
The Hacienda
2026

Pat Fahy opens up about growing up in care, discovering creativity, and finding freedom in Manchester’s acid house years.

In this conversation, Pat talks about being in care from the age of two, having his own flat while still at school, and how art, design and music became a way forward. He shares how one early moment with a foster carer stayed with him for life, and how creativity gave him focus long before he ever stepped into college or club culture.

We also talk about the people and places that shaped him — from school days in Salford and early influences like Mike McEwan, to hearing acid house for the first time through a friend’s headphones and stepping into a Manchester scene that changed everything.

Pat reflects on the years from 1988 to 1993 as some of the best of his life, and explains why that era was about much more than music. We get into The Haçienda, Nude nights, The Silver Screen, Most Excellent, Flesh, Manto, Afflecks, The Underground Market, and how Manchester felt like a complete melting pot of music, fashion, creativity and characters.

He talks brilliantly about how Electro records, album covers and designers like Peter Saville influenced not just his taste in music but his whole visual world. Long before he ever worked in design professionally, Pat was already absorbing how typography, sleeves, flyers and club graphics could be as exciting as the tracks themselves.

There are also some amazing details in here — from getting tapes from the DJ booth at The Haçienda, to seeing the Strangeways riot while working at Joe Bloggs, to nights out with some of Manchester’s wildest and funniest characters. What really comes through is how special that whole period was, and how deep the friendships and creative connections ran.

We also talk about what came after — Pat’s career in branding, digital design and AI, and how the same curiosity that pulled him into music, design and Manchester nightlife all those years ago still drives what he does now.

This is a really personal one — about Salford, survival, creativity, acid house, design and Manchester culture — and about how the people you meet at the right time can end up shaping your whole life.