Phonox Circulate Starts Next Week and the Lineup Is No Joke
Phonox, M.O.T. and Jumbi just launched Circulate, a day-to-night summer series connecting three South London venues from May 16 to August 29 with Derrick Carter, Gerd Janson, Leon Vynehall, Soichi Terada, Egyptian Lover and a lot more. South London has its summer sorted.
London has been losing venues faster than it can replace them. Clubs that defined entire eras of the city's nightlife have been closing steadily for years, squeezed out by rising costs, noise complaints, and a property market that treats every interesting building as a development opportunity. Against that backdrop, what Phonox just announced feels not just exciting but genuinely important.
Phonox is launching Circulate, a new multi-venue party series kicking off on May 16, spread across three spaces, Phonox, M.O.T. and Jumbi, the listening bar and restaurant launched by Bradley Zero and Nathanael Williams in 2022, for a cohesive South London experience. Three independent venues. Three different neighbourhoods. One connected summer series that treats South London as a single creative space rather than a collection of separate nights. This starts next week and the lineup is already a lot.
What Circulate is all about
Curated as a distinctive new format designed to challenge industry norms, Circulate will move audiences across each venue, bringing together different environments, musical programming and communities within one cohesive experience in South London. The series will be anchored within Phonox's established club environment and include M.O.T.'s open-air space for daytime sessions, while Jumbi will offer a unique social and cultural environment that bridges both daytime and evening programming.
In practice that means you start the day at M.O.T.'s outdoor space in South Bermondsey under whatever sun London is willing to provide, move through Jumbi's terrace in Peckham as the afternoon turns into evening, and end up inside Phonox in Brixton deep into the night. Three venues. Three neighbourhoods. One continuous experience that moves with the day.
The Phonox team described it as follows: over the next few months they welcome some of their favourite artists from across the globe to join them for thirteen day and night parties in Peckham, Bermondsey and Brixton. Each party will commence under the sun at either M.O.T.'s new open-air space or Jumbi's beloved terrace, before finishing up inside their trusty four walls, well into the early hours.
The lineup across the summer
The full Circulate season runs from May 16 to August 29 and the artist list is one of the strongest independent venue lineups in London this year. Here are the highlights across the summer:
- May 16 opens with Zack Fox, DJ Swisha, Jubilee, Bok Bok and Fiyahdred, a first night that covers a wide range of sounds and sets the tone for what the series is going to feel like.
- June 20 brings Leon Vynehall, Powder, Yu Su and AliA, one of the more atmospheric and emotionally focused nights of the whole season.
- June 27 features Gerd Janson and Krystal Klear, two selectors whose crate-digging instincts and disco-influenced house sensibilities make them a natural pairing.
- July 18 gives Soichi Terada a full night, the Japanese house music pioneer whose music has been rediscovered and celebrated by an entirely new generation of fans.
- July 25 features Egyptian Lover in a Jumbi birthday special, which is exactly the kind of booking that makes an independent venue series feel genuinely different from a commercial promoter.
- August 8 brings Derrick Carter, the Chicago house music legend, alongside Shy One and Jitwam.
- August 29 closes the season with DJ Nobu, Binh, Josey Rebelle and Introspekt, a closing night that covers underground house and techno in exactly the right proportions.
Why this matters beyond just the lineup
The programming approach promises a continuous curatorial thread, with each lineup contributing to Circulate's wider narrative rather than standalone bookings, marking a new evolution in London's renowned clubbing landscape. The programme reflects the creative energy of South London, highlighting the role of independent venues in shaping contemporary club culture.
That last point is the most important one. At a time when London's club landscape keeps shrinking, three independent venues choosing to collaborate rather than compete is a meaningful act. Circulate is not just a summer series. It is a statement about what South London's nightlife can look like when its venues work together instead of fighting for the same crowd.
Phonox's Sammi Hussien said they are collectively excited to launch this new event series and format, bringing together three cornerstones of South London's nightlife for the first time. South London now has a dedicated season-long day and night party series for clubbers to enjoy across the summer.
Circulate starts May 16. Tickets for individual nights are available at phonox.co.uk. Thirteen nights across three venues across three months. South London built itself a summer and it starts next week.
