Manchester artist and DJ Stanley Chow joins Manchester Scene Stories to talk about The White Stripes, his Grammy-nominated work, the creative community around Night & Day Café and his years behind the decks at venues including Planet K and Fab Café.
Stanley begins with the remarkable story of how a fan poster changed his career. After hearing that The White Stripes were playing Manchester Apollo, he created his own poster inspired by the band and shared it on MySpace.
Two years later, their management contacted him and initially asked him to remove the image. Just as Stanley began worrying that he might be sued, they revealed that Jack and Meg White loved his work and wanted to collaborate with him.
Stanley was commissioned to design characters of Jack and Meg for limited-edition USB drives connected to the Icky Thump album. The project was subsequently nominated for a Grammy Award and helped introduce his distinctive illustration style to an international audience.
He went on to work for publications including The New Yorker*, *Time*, *The New York Times and *Variety*, while also creating work connected to artists such as Pixies and The Smashing Pumpkins.
But before many people knew Stanley as an illustrator, others knew him as a Manchester DJ.
He remembers playing at Night & Day Café, Fab Café and Planet K during a period when musical boundaries were beginning to disappear. At Planet K, Stanley and his friend Michael J. Fox—not the Hollywood actor—created a successful student night where Britney Spears, Beastie Boys, Metallica, Aphex Twin, house, drum and bass and indie music could all exist together.
Stanley reflects on how the arrival of the iPod, Napster and LimeWire changed people’s listening habits. Music fans were no longer restricted by the cost of buying records from unfamiliar genres, and a new generation became increasingly comfortable moving between completely different sounds.
We also discuss the often-overlooked creative scene that developed around Night & Day Café in the 1990s. Stanley remembers it as a meeting place for musicians, artists, writers and actors before many of them became widely known.
Regular faces included members of Elbow, Doves, I Am Kloot and Haven, alongside figures such as Joe Moss, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Bryan Glancy. Unlike the concentrated explosion of Madchester, these artists found success at different times, which may explain why this particular Manchester scene is discussed less frequently.
Stanley also talks about his continuing love of DJing, illustrating his heroes and the music that takes him back to that formative Night & Day period.
He ends by choosing “The Shining” by Badly Drawn Boy—a track connected to Andy Votel, Twisted Nerve and an important chapter in Manchester’s musical history.
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