Rave ready house and techno from Mixing Mates founder WeeDot, find a warehouse and throw this on! You best believe there’s a track list with it too! Head to the bottom of the page to find it 🙂 You can also catch our interview with WeeDot below:
Hi WeeDot, thanks for coming on the blog. I wanted to start by asking you about Mixing Mates. The night has been running for over a year now and has seen great success at Stage and Radio. Why did you start the night and what was your thinking behind the event?
Hi AMF, thank you very much for inviting us onto the mix series!! Yeah, Mixing Mates… Eh, where to start… Most folk would say it’s because “I’m a DJ and needed an outlet” but actually that never had anything to do with my want to start a night (which is relatively noticeable because I don’t tend to play at any of the Mixing Mates nights).
I suppose what really started it; is the simple fact that I love a good night out!! There are loads of brands kicking about in Manchester who are all putting on some really great nights like your Meat Free, High Hoops, BLOOM, Nite School, Boxed:Music, Zutekh!, etc. but no-one was really inviting along any of the DJ’s that I really wanted to hear and they weren’t about to either… So I had a sit down, put a plan together, had a wish list, checked my finances, spoke with Stage & Radio – and it just sort of grew from there… Nearly 2 years later and still going – hopefully for a few more years to come!!
You’re also a regular on Pie Radio. What drew you to hosting radio shows and how did you get involved in the Pie family?
Honestly, I just fell into radio – definitely wasn’t in my plans. 3 years ago I was in SSR using the Spirit Studio to do some recording and I came across Solomon (who is the Station Founder/Manager of Pie) and he listened to a mix and asked me onto the station to do a show every Saturday night. I said yes and it went from there, just an absolute chance encounter leading to a great opportunity.
Me being me though, I decided to start running the station on a Saturday, changing it from Urban to Electronic Dance and getting in guests and more branded shows. My time there was great and the wealth of knowledge and experience I gained was invaluable but as I grew as a DJ (as well as Mixing Mates as a brand) and bookings started coming in more regularly – I could no longer commit to the station on the weekends and I had my last show back in October. But since then, other doors have opened and you can now catch Mixing Mates every month on Limbo Radio, normally on a week night.
Backtracking slightly how did you get into DJ’ing? When and where did you start playing records and what’s your DJ journey looked like from then till now?
This could be a long one… I’ve always been into music (like most folk) but I started out more into bands and live gigs and it wasn’t really until I was 18 and my mates took me to T in the Park and introduced me to the infamous “Slam Tent” that I started listening to more dance stuff. Then my mum (Oor Wee Julie) she had loads of bangers in her collection like Chicane, Leftfield, Chase & Status, Prodigy, David Holmes, among others and I started listening to all her tapes and CD’s.
Fast forward a few years to 2012 and this absolutely brilliant music enthusiast called B.Traits started an “In New DJ’s We Trust” residency on Radio 1 and I was just hooked on her DnB vibes at the time. Unfortunately at that point, I was concentrating on my (non-music) career so all the partying/events that I was attending had to take a back seat.
Then of all the things, I moved to Leeds and in 2015 managed to eventually catch B.Traits play at Canal Mills for the Snowbombing Launch Party… Straight after that night, I was on the internet to get a set of decks and some records and have a bash… A year later I moved to Manchester, met some like minded people (including Lucy Ironmonger from Meat Free) and Lucy was a course co-ordinator for SEM – I enrolled on a Music Production course and then everything just sort of happened from there.
Since that one event in 2015 – I’ve been part of Mixmag playing warm up sets for Bonobo, PBR Streetgang, Ejeca at Live Labs – played a few festivals like Riverside, Bee, One Day, Sonder and Reach – and more recently gained a monthly residency with the crew over at Boxed:Music as well as doing radio bits. {cheesy promo, but here’s a short minute video created by Mixmag of part of my journey:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agWQL0miUz4}
Has there been any individuals, collectives or clubs that you’d cite as influences for your own DJ style?
**Broken record moment** but B.Traits has always been massively influential for me. She just has a really good ear for really good music of all genres but instead of hoarding them all to herself, she shares her knowledge and introduces everyone to something that you might have missed other wise and I’ve got a lot of time and respect for people (especially in the industry) that share their finds… Their bits of treasure.
Growing up in Glasgow where you have Sub Club and (had) The Arches – they were staple institutions in the development of dance music in the city – some of the nights being hosted like Pressure and Sub Rosa, Harri & Dominic with Subculture – fully influential, especially for Glasgow’s thriving nightlife… In terms of my style though, I float through genres quite a lot and I’d say that’s influenced by the DJ’s/Producers that I’m listening to at that time. For me; at the moment.
I love what Holly Lester is doing and the vibes she brings to a mix or her radio show; she just has this abundance of track knowledge and curates it really well whatever the setting and it’s good to see her starting to get the recognition for her craft… Also up there, with how completely versatile they can be is Blasha & Allatt, never once heard a bad mix from these two and the energy they bring when playing out is always on another level.
They’ve also just made this absolute heater of a remix for Blue Hour – one for the Techno purists – not the Drumcoders. There’s a good few others on the list, but listening to something that these folk have created, spurs me on to find new tracks, get up on my decks and start playing around with it all – blending different genres and just experiment.
Moving on to the mix you did for AMF. How did you put the hour together? Is this how you typically approach creating a DJ set or did you decide to do something different for this show?
It’s probably going to sound a little strange, but sometimes I prefer putting a mix together than playing out to a crowd. Weird eh!! It’s all about the freedom you have with a mix; it’s your track selection for your own satisfaction. That freedom of it having a warm up track or a few but then suddenly it’s a little heavier, can drop in something a little older, or slide a token track in there – something that’s been inspirational to you; before maybe completely switching genres.
For me, personally, that’s not a freedom that I have playing out and normally it’s because I’m playing warm up or I might be in a space and it’s not appropriate for the setting. When I’m putting a mix together I go through a load of my records, trying to find that opening track and most of the time I know where I want to finish. It’s about how I’m getting from A to B. Really bad for having about 40 tracks ready and then having to deduct (and that’s utterly soul destroying – because no one ever wants to deduct).
If I’m struggling or I need some positive thoughts to help guide me, I’ll have a listen to some mixes from other folk – get the motivation and the inspiration that I was maybe lacking and then I just go for it… Not going lie though, I do record various versions of the mix, swapping and changing tracks/placement and then normally one just fits together, that I’m really satisfied with – that paints a smile on my face.
Lastly, what is on the horizon for Mixing Mates and yourself? Are there any events or nights you have in the pipeline you can tell us about?
For Weedot. you can catch me every first Saturday of the month playing with Manchester’s Boxed:Music crew… As for Mixing Mates we’ve got loads coming up, our next event is 3rd May with Marion Hawkes & aalice… And if you head over to our FB page (https://www.facebook.com/MixingMates/) you’ll be able to find the rest of our dates where we have Blasha & Allatt, Our First Pride Party: S.L.A.G. and also DJ Fart in the Club.
Tracklist:
Krankbrother – Disappear Here – [Krankbrother]
Editions Haighton – Perfect Potion – [EH003]
B.Traits – North Shore – [In.Toto]
Jeigo – Pearl Leaf – [Valby Rotary]
Unknown Artist – Clouds – [Chikyu-u Records]
Moderat – Damage Done (JF Edit) – [Monkeytown Records]
Booka Shade – Body Language (Interpretation) – [Get Physical Music]
PBR Streetgang -12:32 (Fort Romeau Remix) – [Futureboogie Recordings]
Tom Cat – Black Jack (Avalon Emerson Cybernedits Edit) – [Cybernedits]
Company B – Fascinated (Jordan Nocturne Edit) – [Nocturne Edits]
Klic – Disco Music (Tuff City Kids Acid Mix) – [Home Tapping is Killing Music]
Chicane -Saltwater – [Xtravaganza Recordings]
Aurora – Queendom (B.Traits Remix) – [Glassnote]
