NoWayBack: An Artistic Extension of Life on the Dancefloor

Girl has a thing for fashion, falls in love with house music, parties from London to Liverpool to Leeds and Manchester, becomes a DJ, scores a residency at the infamous nightclub Wobble, meets a boy, and starts a company paying homage to the music and culture that caused her to fall in love with it all in the first place. This is NoWayBack, an artistic extension of Helen Dukes’ life immersed in house music by way of hand-printed, limited-edition clothing and accessories inspired by, and in collaboration with, the artists that make our dancefloor dreams come true.

We caught up with Helen to chat fashion, her love for music, and how she and her design partner Chris turned their passion into principal over a night of vodka.

I’m curious about your first experiences with dance music. I read that you were a resident DJ at Wobble—how did it all start for you?
I was always a bit of a soul girl in the ‘80s when the acid house and then house scenes were kicking off. I found that I loved the 4/4 groove and then totally fell in love with house music. I was a student in Liverpool at the time and started going to places like Quadrant Park, the State, Smile, LuvDup—which was in a back room of the Academy (it later became Cream)—and then over to Back to Basics in Leeds, the Hacienda, Monroe’s in Blackburn, and then onto rave in the early days. We really got around; we’d drive to wherever our favorite DJs at the time were playing. Wobble came later.

Holiday breaks took me back down South, visiting London for nights out whenever we could—to places like the Milk Bar, the Gardening Club, and Sign of the Times. So, I was seeing both North and South takes on the emerging house scenes.

I had always bought records during my teenage years, but this is when things went into another level of buying. At clubs, If I heard something I liked, I had to find out what it was—which usually meant I got to know the DJs that were playing it. In the ‘90s, it was a lot harder than it is now in the current digital age, where you can find new music in the comfort of your own home! Radio stations, like Stu Allen on Key 103, were key in me finding new tracks that were being played at the clubs. I wouldn’t leave the house on a Sunday night, not to miss a show. I’d then go to 3Beat Records (Liverpool) or Global Grooves (Chester) to track them down.

How did your residency at Wobble come to be, DJing as the Lovely Helen, and how did the city and local club scene help shape what you’re doing today?
I met Phil Gifford at a party, and he was looking for a female DJ to play at Wobble at the time. It was a case of being in the right place at the right time. Wobble was one of the first all-night clubs in Birmingham, and becoming a resident there brought me to live in the city, along with wanting to be nearer to friends that I’d met there.

Being a resident at Wobble meant I didn’t really go out anywhere else in Birmingham. The guest DJs that Phil and Si put on at Wobble were DJs I wanted to hear, so I’d stay there for the night—DJs like Derrick Carter, Andrew Weatherall, Jon Dasilva, and Ashley Beedle. If I wasn’t at Wobble, I’d be playing at another club someplace in the UK as a guest DJ, so I never got to go to other clubs going on in Birmingham at the time.

NoWayBack takes a lot from my experiences as a DJ—from continuing to buy and post new music and DJ mixes on our social media pages to working with people who had, and still have, a strong involvement with house music culture.

At what point did fashion become important?
I’ve always been into clothes and fashion—I was the girl at school who was wearing a pair of Farahs as my uniform with a Nike windrunner. I think I should have been a boy, as I loved the whole “casual” look. I remember buying a Fila BJ jacket when I was 15 off some kid at school and trying to breakdance with the boys.

Do you remember when you first heard “No Way Back” by Adonis?
Haha, no, I don’t, actually! Chris, my partner in NoWayBack, came up with the name, as he loves the track.

How did you link up with Chris? Do you remember when the idea for NoWayBack was sparked?
I first met Chris when we were out partying a few years back. Chris is a graphic designer, and we were thinking of a way of combining his creative skills and my retail and music background together to start a business. I think we probably came up with the idea over a few vodkas—or 10.

How long did it take from the initial idea to your first sale?
I’d say about three to six months. I was working at Apple at the time, and Chris had his own business, so everything took a lot longer to get together—we just had to fit everything into evenings and days off to start things up.

You’ve collaborated with some great artists. Any fun stories to share about working together?
Funnily enough, apart from Kelvin [Andrews] and [Balearic] Mike [of Down to the Sea & Back], we’d not met any of the other DJs we’ve worked with before starting the collaboration with them! Terry Farley is great to work with—really straight-talking, and keeps everything simple.

Do you have one particular item that has brought you the greatest sense of satisfaction?
We’ve been really pleased with the Originators print we did; it’s our take on who was there at the beginning of the house scene that we now know. The DJs mentioned on the design could obviously go on and on, and I’m sure there’s been some disagreements with who should or shouldn’t have been featured; it’s just people we felt played a strong part in the early house days.

Who do you feel are the most interesting DJs in our culture right now?
I think DJs who have a real individual style in what they play, DJs who set the benchmark—people like Chris Duckenfield, Andrew Weatherall, Bill Brewster and Kelvin Andrews.

Who are some artists and labels you’re keen on working with?
We’ve been lucky to work with lots of artists that we love so far already, so I guess anyone who we like what they’re doing, basically. We never set out to do collaborations; it’s happened naturally. We’ll hopefully be collaborating with in New York next to get some tees for their label.

Do you have any musical style icons (in terms of clothes, as opposed to songs) that just do it for you?
Róisín Murphy and Princess Julia both always have a really original—and strong—sense of style. Danielle Moore from Crazy P always rocks a great outfit whenever I’ve seen them play. Bloke-wise: I love Andrew Weatherall, Justin Robertson and Phil’s [Gifford of Wobble] style. Always ahead of the game.

If you were to soundtrack your favorite designer’s runway show, what would you play?

One Dove “Fallen”