Sunday School History

History Lesson – Sunday School

In today’s current ‘EDM’ enriched times, the vast majority of raver-newbies are taking full advantage of this intoxicating alternate reality. These days people are gifted with the option of choosing from several different large scale events featuring A-list DJs taking place on the same night. Let’s not forget to mention the thousands of music festivals around the globe that are based anywhere from the beautiful beaches of Mexico to the center of Downtown London. With all of this being taken into consideration, the Festival Advisor team has noticed a disheartening trend, one that needs immediate correction.

The history of our beloved scene has been undervalued by the masses of today. Want proof? Ask three of your biggest ‘house-head’ friends who Larry Levan is? Better yet, ask what role did producers such as Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins and Theo Parrish play in the development of techno? Odds are you will receive a confused face with an ‘I don’t know man’. In an effort to help our readers understand what key artists, brands, promoters, clubs..etc helped forge the massive entity we all love and enjoy, Festival Advisor is proud to present our next series – ‘A Day In House History’. Remember boys and girls - knowledge is power.

Todays Lesson – Sunday School For Degenerates

Ibiza Voice labeled the Sunday School For Degenerates event as the ‘one party that defines the underground in Miami’. Pulse Radio described SSFD as ‘a legendary house and techno dust-up’. GenXGlow continued the wave of praise for Sunday School by placing it as ‘unquestionably one of the best’ during WMC. Many of you are probably sitting there a bit confused after realizing the only Sunday School that you’ve heard about is the underground arena inside the Electric Zoo Festival. Well here’s a newsflash - if it wasn’t for the massive success of these annual talent packed marathons, it could be argued that Electric Zoo may have never happened. In addition, many nightlife veterans including music industry professionals alike, have claimed it may be nearly impossible for any event to match the magnitude and vibes created during the final installment of Sunday School For Degenerates. With Made Event currently boasting a resume that includes countless event successes, co-founding partners Mike Bindra and Laura De Palma really started out by facilitating one of the most respected events ever to hit Miami. To make it even more impressive, the two took the typical Miami Music Week leaders head on to no falter. Garnering them respect from the fans all the way up to the corporate leaders at UMF and WMC, Sunday School developed into an important staple in
the re-creation of the South Beach club community.

The History

Currently valued as one of the biggest and most successful event companies in the industry, Made Event hasn’t always been the festival titan it is today. The story begins with Mike Bindra and Laura De Palma well over a decade ago. To date, this club couple boasts over twenty years of nightlife experience and event production, but where to begin? Shooting back to a time where nightclubs such as Limelight, Tunnel and Vinyl reigned supreme, Mike Bindra was a key member of this very tight knit community, and developed what was arguably the most popular club night in America at the legendary club Twilo. Upon Twilo’s closing De Palma left the fashion industry, and the two teamed up for what started out as a multi-faceted brand.

Dabbling in both label work and events simultaneously underneath the ‘Made’ umbrella, the two eventually started to produce events in multiple clubs in New York City, and venues previously off limits to electronic music acts, such as Central Park Summerstage. They officially changed their business title to what we know it as today – ‘Made Event’.

Fast forward to 2006 and here we find the first installment of the Sunday School For Degenerates. With this event representing the first large scale, multi-day event that the duo officially produced, SSFD 01 was more than just a groundbreaking and reputation forging event. Not only was this event boasting a lineup that today could only be paralleled by Europe’s Awakenings Festival, but it was also scheduled during Miami’s Winter Music Conference. Competing with not only the historical conference but Ultra Music Festival as well, Made offered up a bill featuring some of the most respected and beloved underground artists. Offering party goers a 12 hour non-stop marathon, Made Event’s blatant disregard for the established promoters and events garnered them respect from not only attendees but their competitors alike. Striving to showcase their ability to provide hospitality to patrons, strategically booked lineups and reasonably priced tickets, this Made Event debut was only the beginning of what was to come.

Following the swell of success found post WMC 2006, the two set forth to constantly improve their concept and push the envelope even further. From 12 hours to 24 hours, from 18 artists to 40, Made was able to increase the outreach and popularity of their Sunday School madness each and every year. Starting from their first party in Miami until their last, Sunday School always added something or progressed in some fashion. Without constant change it’s hard to keep the masses interested and no one took that more to heart than Mike Bindra and Laura De Palma.

The End Of Sunday School In Miami

Fast forward again to 2011, at that point, Made Event had become much more than just a first time nuisance during WMC. Embraced as part of the wave of next generation promoters that would help lead ‘EDM’ event productions into the next frontier, 2011 marked Made’s final and most impressive installment of Sunday School. Following the founding of their NYC based Electric Zoo Festival in 2009, both Bindra and De Palma had decided that it was time to take their latest project to the next level and leave Miami behind. Rather than retire the iconic brand that had brought them so much praise and respect, Sunday School was integrated into their festival layout. For their farewell, the final edition of Sunday school was much more than the average late night. Promoted as a 36 hour marathon (12 Hours Night 1 – 24 Hours Night 2), the ‘Lost Weekend’ as it was called, featured over 40 of the undergrounds’ most respected artists. Inviting Richie Hawtin and his Minus family, Luciano with his Cadenza crew along with a number of other respected underground DJs, the Sunday School swan song represented the change of an era for the Made Event team. Transitioning the long time partners from merely party promoters to event production industry leaders, Sunday School’s legacy has been able to live on through one of the biggest electronic music festivals in the United States. To this day, those who attended these legendary events claim that the Sunday School gatherings were so much more than an amazing party. The old school vibes mixed with the constant variety of leading underground artists yielded a result not found this side of the Atlantic.

What Sunday School Means To Us Today

Although most new generation EDM-ers were not lucky enough to have an opportunity to attend an official Sunday School marathon in Miami, it was still recent enough that it’s reputation of being a game changing event lives on through veteran clubbers and Electric Zoo. Long before DJs such as Loco Dice or Chris Liebing were getting main floor bookings at domestic clubs such as Pacha NYC or LIV Miami, Made’s concept was not only innovative but it placed them leagues ahead of the big time club owners. Recognizing that the artists Sunday School would feature were equally as – if not bigger - around the rest of the world in comparison to the artists found on the main stage of Ultra at that point in time, Mike and Laura not only knew that they were ahead of the game but they also planned to continue their proven practice with other genres in the future. Nearly eight years since the first Sunday School For Degenerates took place, it has taken their competitors up until the past two years to shed the deserved light upon leading underground artists.

Leading by example, Made set a precedent for musical diversity with Sunday School and now as they approach their sixth anniversary of Electric Zoo, the powerhouse duo have successfully expanded to showcase quality talent from every genre underneath the EDM umbrella while at a much larger and effective scale. In closing, if not for Sunday School and it’s leading to Electric Zoo, many artists that the masses have been exposed to due to Made Event’s dedication to exposure may have never found the wide spread praise they enjoy today. Delving even deeper, the success of current underground artists that level at ‘rock star’ proportions subsequently enables the next generation up-and-comers to be heard and truly appreciated for what they are, not what they could do for mass acclaim. Even though there are a number of brands who do close to what Made does in terms of festival production, it would be hard to find any leading festival companies that can boast a deep rooted history in electronic music’s past and a natural growth from start to finish. It’s a product from someone like us but from the past, and nothing could be more appealing.

What’s next?
To be continued…