Hey Yockley, welcome to the AMF blog, thanks for putting a mix together for us. I always like to start these interviews by asking our guests to tell us a bit about their musical journeys. When did you start DJing and why? What was the catalyst for you?
I started DJing in 2017 after returning from one of the best weeks of my life at Glastonbury. My older brother had recommended I check out Skream who was playing an extended set in one of the tents near the Glade and after watching him do his thing and seeing everyone lose their minds around me, I knew I had found my calling.
I had always had a love for dance music but had never thought of doing it as a job until that point. A couple years later I found my perfect sound in techno and have never looked back. I decided to take it full time during the middle of the pandemic which seems like a strange time to quit your job, sell 90% of your possessions and move to Manchester but I had been really miserable up until that point in previous “professional” jobs and knew that music was the only thing that would put a smile on my face and give my life meaning again.
There was no scene really where I was living before but I had spent a couple of years visiting Manchester regularly and felt the scene and overall vibe here was the perfect fit for me.
The mix you’ve put together for AMF is certainly on the heavier end of dance music. Which clubs, events and artists would you cite as inspirations for your sound?
Aside from that moment at Glastonbury, I’d say Fabric in London has been my biggest inspiration in terms of venues and events – I’d honestly take a bullet for that place! None of my friends are into this scene as much as me so I got into the habit of going to gigs solo, which took a bit of time getting used to but was honestly one of the best things I decided to do.
I’ve seen so many amazing artists perform and met some great people along the way, and would definitely encourage other people to try it. I’ve also been heavily inspired by a few artists’ journeys, especially those that are pretty relatable to mine.
Eats Everything for example was stuck in recruitment before he decided to take the plunge and Amelie Lens also used to take herself off to gigs solo. Reading their stories and seeing how far they’ve come in their careers gave me the confidence to give it a proper go.
In terms of sound inspiration, I really love the work of artists like Setaoc Mass, Rene Wise, Edit Select, Joaquim Ruiz, Berkel, and Spiros Kaloumenos to name just a few. The mix I put together for AMF has a nice balance of groovy, hypnotic tracks, and some harder numbers. During lockdowns, I was listening to a lot of slower, really hypnotic stuff to take my mind off the chaos going on around me, but since I’ve been able to get out to gigs again, I’ve been taken by sets with a bit more energy.
I should also give a shout out to Eastern Bloc and, in particular, Means&3rd who have really helped shape my sound in terms of recommending artists and labels I would have struggled to find on my own. It really is one of the best record stores in the world.
We’re out the other side of the pandemic now (fingers crossed) what have you enjoyed most about the easing of restrictions? Festivals, clubbing, record shopping? Any big events on the horizon you’re looking forward to attending?
Meeting new people and performing in Manchester. When I moved up here in February this year, I didn’t really know anyone and struggled with isolation a bit, but since restrictions have eased, I’ve been able to play a couple times with Mixing Mates run by Weedot and meet some lovely people through that.
It’s also been really nice experiencing some of Manchester’s clubs properly too. I think the biggest thing I’m most looking forward to is Glastonbury next year, which is still a long way off but having been cancelled twice, is something that I’m desperate for now.
I also took a leaf out of Rebekah’s book and signed up to a night course at Spirit Studios which has also been great for meeting people as well as upping my production game.
As well Djing you’re also a producer. Can you tell us a bit about your studio setup and your approach to producing tracks? Do you use a lot of hardware or do you mainly work from a DAW? What comes first, a drum loop or a lead line?
I work in Ableton which I think is one of the best DAWs for creativity. I tend to get a few loops going in session view and use my MIDI controller to jam around for a while so I can get a feel for the arrangement and what elements fit well together.
I’ve got a trusty Korg Monologue that I’m starting to use a lot more now too. I attended a Setaoc Mass masterclass not too long ago and took a lot of inspiration from how he lays his tracks out, which tend to be a lot of synth loops that are heavily processed, pitched, and layered to create a fuller sound.
Automation, especially with more hypnotic raw-sounding tracks which rely on quite subtle elements, is super important to keep the track evolving and interesting to the listener. I don’t really have a lot of space at the moment so collecting lots of pieces of hardware isn’t really on the cards for me at the moment.
I can however go down to Spirit Studios and mess around with all the bits and pieces there if I’m lacking inspiration from software.
Moving on to your mix, can you tell us a bit about how you put it together? Do you plan out your mixes well in advance or do you rock up to your CDjs and feel the mix out from there? What’s your approach?
This mix was put together using 3 CDJ’s, which is something I’ve been working on for a while. With the kind of techno I play, I think it’s really important to try and have at least three tracks going at once to keep things interesting and also to enable remixing on the fly.
When putting together mixes, I throw a bunch of tracks into a playlist knowing what they all sound like but not necessarily planning the whole thing out as I think that can take the fun out of it and also adds a bit too much pressure.
When you’re performing live it’s obviously important to read the room so in those cases I don’t think you can really plan every tune out unless you’re absolutely certain everyone in that crowd is on the same wavelength for the duration of your set – which would be something of a miracle. That said, if I were doing something like a FabricLive I would probably be a bit more methodical!
Are there any standout tracks in the mix you wouldn’t mind sharing with us? Any tracks that remind you of great moments on the dance floor or just generally in life?
The Shape Fascination remix by Setaoc Mass and Berkel’s “Chemical Disturbance” are two tracks in particular that remind me of when I first started going to gigs solo and experiencing the true joys of clubbing.
S_A_G by Spiros Kaloumenos always reminds me of the journey to an event as well. It’s got kind of a nostalgic vibe to it with a great pace. It’s also just a really well-produced track that shows you don’t need a lot of elements and gimmicks to keep a track interesting.
Thanks for chatting with us today. It’s been lovely catching up. Lastly, where can we catch you playing in the near future, and do you have any projects you’re working on you can tell us about?
I have a couple of things in the pipeline in Manchester with dates to be confirmed so keep your eyes peeled. I’ve also just started working on a new batch of tunes that take inspiration from some of the artists I mentioned earlier and will be made mostly from my Monologue which is something I haven’t tried before. It’ll be a different sound from my previous release on Sunora Recordings but I think listeners will still know it’s me.
