WHEN it comes to creating a scene, it’s fair to say that Carl Thomas and Rob Casson know a thing or two about making some noise.

Long term friends, the Liverpool pair are the creative brains behind Northwich’s exciting new venture Barons Quay Social which officially launched earlier this month.

The duo, who share a lifelong love of electronic music, first cut their teeth in the music business as Freeze Events and in the past 15 years have brought some of the biggest names in the industry to unique or alternative venues in and around Merseyside and Manchester.

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From hosting Jamie XX, Giles Peterson and Todd Terje at the Bombed Out Church to running the first techno day rave at Camp and Furnace they’ve made doing things differently their trademark, and now they’ve brought a sprinkling of their magic to mid Cheshire following the success of a similar venture in New Brighton.

“Our niche, really, is putting events on in unique places,” explains 38-year-old Carl, who hails from Wirral.

“Rob and I started doing parties – we both love all different types of electronic music and started out by putting on nights for like-minded people. We then moved on to hosting events in English Heritage sites, such as the Bombed Out Church in Liverpool and St George’s Hall. Things just went from there.”

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Last year, along with Carl’s dad Steve Thomas, they launched the hugely popular Marine Street Social in New Brighton, which formed the blueprint for Northwich’s very own similar venue.

So why, when there are cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Chester so close by, pick mid Cheshire for their latest project?

“Yes, we’ve got some great cities on our doorstep, but these cities have already got a lot going on so there’s a chance we’d become a little fish in a big pond, and we want to be a big fish in a smaller pond,” said Carl.

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“We wanted to create a different type of experience. I’ve always loved that vibe of Camden Market – all those different food and market stalls going on, mixed in with great sound systems and venues. The vision was to create something a bit like that.”

And it’s not all just about the night-time economy. Having launched in the school holidays, Barons Quay Social has already put on a range of kid-friendly sessions and the duo are on the look out to work with local community groups and artists in order to offer a growing programme of events and activities.

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“We want it to be ever evolving,” said Carl. “It’s the sort of place that you could come to with your children in the day to do something creative, a place where you could enjoy a leisurely lunch on the terrace in the afternoon or go to a yoga session, and then enjoy a good night out at the weekend.

“The important thing is that people see it changing. We don’t want them to come back and keep seeing the same things each time they visit.

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“We want to offer different events, different artwork, different food stalls so that they keep coming back to Northwich.”

With plans to launch similar ventures in Chester and Warrington in the coming months Carl, who is also a football agent and Rob, a director at ticket agency Skiddle, look sure to be putting Cheshire on the map.

“Our vision is to work collaboratively to create destination venues in local communities,” explained Carl.

And what better way to that than through art and music?

“For us it’s about bringing people together – we’re looking forward to seeing how it develops. We want to bring in lots of different people to create something of a collective – constantly evolving.”