Anyone who's done research into the history of techno knows the genre was born in Detroit, and anyone who knows techno was born in Detroit knows it wouldn't exist without DJ Minx.




DJ Minx, the DJ, producer, and label head, who was born Jennifer Witcher. Commonly known as "The First Lady of Wax," Witcher was hitting now-mythical nightclubs like Detroit's Music Institute as far back as the 80s, just as the burgeoning genre was making its first impact on the gritty industrial landscape of Motor City.




Witcher still calls legends she met when they were still locals like Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson, and Moodymann friends. The latter being the person who encouraged her to start Women on Wax, the groundbreaking label she continues to run to this day.






Three decades into her dance music journey, the most important thing about the scene for her remains unchanged.




"30 years into me doing this music thing, the one thing that still brings a glow to my eyes is the fact that people love the hell out of this music," Witcher says to Gray Area over Zoom, golden Detroit logo earrings dangling from her ears. "And I think about myself when I first started listening to it and how I felt when I went to the club and I looked at the DJ. Now I'm in the position of people looking at me coming to listen to me and to feel what I put out there."




In recent years as house and techno music have emerged as the top genres in dance music, Witcher has confidently ridden the wave. And in 2022, for the first time, she hosted her own stage at Movement Music Festival, Detroit's preeminent dance music festival.




As a stalwart of Detroit techno, Witcher has played Movement every year since its inception in 2000. And even on its massive stage, she feels connected to the audience like she's playing in the darkest, most intimate club.






"Everyone is here at the home of techno where it all originated," Witcher says of Movement. "And with me having the stage it was very personal. People would come and talk to me and tell me 'I'm going to be at your stage on Monday. I'm going to be at your set on Monday.'"




Months later, people still extoll Witcher for her set and curation on that fateful Memorial Day afternoon. And while she certainly appreciates the praise, what she finds even more heartening, is that people are clearly doing their research and understanding Detroit's role in the history of techno.




From her perspective, Detroit hasn't yet received its due respect for creating the genre, but she does see progress happening in that regard.




"There's a large amount of respect, and with that comes knowledge," Witcher says. "It's making a world of difference with the artists that are out here right now."






One vital piece of knowledge connected to the history of techno in Detroit is Witcher's 2002 track, "A Walk In The Park." Released initially on Women on Wax, it was a sought-after hit that every Detroit DJ wanted in their set.






One of these many DJs who wanted to play "A Walk In The Park" was Ricardo Villalobos. Now, remember, at that time, 20 years ago, there was no Spotify. There weren't even MP3s. So like most tracks in those days, it only came out on physical media, and like most independent releases, international distribution was minimal.




Villalobos managed to get his hands on a copy and played it at a European festival. When the record played, Detroit legend Richie Hawtin was in the booth with Villalobos.




"I almost broke my neck, trying to get to see what it was," Minx remembers Hawtin saying to her about the track, but once he did, he went to a record store, bought all the copies, and decided he wanted to sign 'A Walk In The Park,' to his record label, Minus, which he did for a 2004 release.






The track was such a hit that Witcher watched Hawtin play it for 12 minutes straight at a club in Windsor, Canada, and the crowd lost it with every new drop. It was so everpresent that a man rudely accosted on the street her about it, telling her he hated the track because it was on the radio so much.




"Well that's good for me, not for you," Witcher says with a laugh.




For all its popularity, what's most remarkable about "A Walk In The Park" is that Witcher produced it in roughly 45 minutes. That's how the track got its name. It was so simple for her to make that it felt like a walk in the park.




And yet 20 years later, it still resonates with the dance music community. So much so that Insomniac-owned Factory 93 Records rereleased it with a new remix package including a fresh edit from Witcher, remixes from fellow Detroit natives Seth Troxler and Carl Craig, and additional remixes from younger artists like the Dirtybird resident, Ardalan, which she finds especially rewarding.






"The music is timeless. You know it's old because of its date, but like me and my edit, you add different elements to it. It just feels good to hear what someone else's interpretation of this track could be," Witcher says. "I like Ardalan's productions. What he did absolutely sounds wonderful having that knowledge of the music."




If you show you know the music, Witcher is down with you. Whether it be dance music veterans or giant pop stars like Beyoncé, who recently staked her claim in the world of dance music with her 2022 album RENAISSANCE.




There was some criticism of Beyoncé following her GRAMMY nominations in the dance music categories, but what Witcher respects about her and her efforts is she tapped the originators of the sound as collaborators on the album.






"[Beyoncé] used Big Freedia. She used Honey Dijon, Luke Solomon, Terry Hunter. Someone on her team did some research to actually pull these people," Witcher says. "These are people that are putting this music out today which is going to amp them and when it amps them and puts them in the spotlight, that's gonna shed more light on us as well."




One thing Witcher has always been about since her early days is shedding light on deserving young artists. For many years she served as a mentor to female artists in dance music, working with now-famed talents like the Berlin-based artist Magda, and starting in 2023, she is going to get back into it.




For anyone interested in working with Witcher, she encourages you to send her an email at queenbeats@gmail.com. This is a chance to work with someone vital to the history of techno and become a part of that history yourself.











DJ Minx

There's never anything overnight about success. The paths we follow to our most treasured goals are often long, winding, and include switchbacks and detours. Peruvian tech-house DJ, Bastidas (né Jose Guerrero Bastidas) has been obsessively consuming everything about music and production for over 20 years. After years of hard work, he's not only writing infectiously lucious Latin-tinged records, he’s uplifting and supporting the South American music community in an effort to pay back the immense support his community has given him.




Bastidas grew up in Lima, Peru with an insatiable appetite for music. His parent’s weren’t musicians, but he cites his uncles’ massive music collection as an early inspiration.









“I was into every type of music, I loved to collect music,” Bastidas said when I spoke to him over Zoom. “I remember having a little notebook, and when I was looking at music videos that was my addiction, just writing the names of the songs and musicians.” It wasn’t long before Bastidas—affectionately nicknamed Basti—discovered electronic music.




After moving to Miami with his family at age 11, Bastidas began an obsession with dance music, much ado to his influential older brother. He bought his first bit of DJ gear when he was 12, and a fire ignited. It was the early 2000s, and the Miami club scene was just about the explode.




But before he could headline the Miami clubs, young, ambitious Bastidas had to hone his craft. He played house parties and high school events before he was old enough to go clubbing. Even from these tender early years, Bastidas was a hustler. “I remember when I was 15, I used to play everything. Sometimes I used to play in restaurants too. Anything, you know, because it was like a hustle.”






He could've waited until he was old enough, but the pull was too great. So, as soon as found a good enough fake ID, he started exploring the local club scene.




Bastidas regularly visited Club Space in Miami, a mecca for dance music lovers craving marathon raves in the Sunshine State. The reggaeton and Latino influence on Miami’s dance music was palpable, especially during one of Erick Morillo’s sets. Morillo wore his Columbian heritage on his sleeve during his sold-out sets at Club Space, and young Bastidas was intrigued. He saw this merger of house music and Latino culture as vitally influential and widely underrated. Those Morillo sets at Space helped shape Bastidas’ trajectory for the next decade.




By 2010, Bastidas was orchestrating his own showcases at Club Space with big-name South American artists and producers (Jean Pierre, and Patrick M, for example). These early iterations of his label and project From the South already had a fully formed ethos: to celebrate and uplift Latino music and producers.




“When I created [From the South] I was like, let's see if I can push more artists from over there that really they keep working hard and producing 24/7,” he said. “Obviously, they sometimes cannot fly because (getting a) visa is difficult for them. But they're such talented people all around.”




The label’s premiere single “Vinotinto” features Bastidas and two other grade-A Latino producers, Luciano and Carloh. Five days after its release, “Vinotinto” was cruising steadily in the #1 spot on the Beatport charts.




Though a debut single reaching #1 is impressive, the pièce de résistance of Bastidas’ career thus far is undoubtably his pop-up shows in Comuna 13 in Medellin, Columbia. Most famously known as Pablo Escobar’s old neighborhood–that was once rampant with drugs, poverty, and violence–Comuna 13 is now a slowly blossoming community. One day, Basti and British producer wAFF, decided to throw a block party in Comuna 13.




“We planned out everything in one day,” he said. “When we started playing, we didn't know what was going to happen and we didn't know if the cops were going to come shut us down. So it was crazy.”




The cops didn't shut them down. Instead, they created a moment of pure communal support and joy. With rented decks on a small rooftop, Bastidas and wAFF converted Comuna 13 into a happy house playground. Children ran playfully through the dancefloor, and local mothers opened their homes (and restrooms) to the guests.


“Everyone was so happy,” Bastidas recalled. They made you know so much money for their families and the community. It was a mix of everything, so it was beautiful.” After a successful rerun of the block party in 2022, Bastidas now hopes to turn the event into a festival.




With such an impressive work ethic, it’s no surprise that Bastidas is keeping one foot in the future. With a successful new record, a blossoming record label, and a passionate purpose driving it all, Bastidas only has one question for himself. “Nobody expect this, you know. When ‘Vinotinto’ was released, we saw the love from the people. It was so organic. Now we're just preparing for the future. ‘So what's next?’”




Bastidas

The Piratebay, the world's most resilient torrent site, is actually a real place.




Ardalan's been there.




Many years ago, somewhere in Tehran, Iran, there was a mall. In this mall, there was a room. In this room, there was a man with a computer filled with compilations of music, and for a nominal fee, he would burn that music onto a disc for you.




It's where Ardalan Noghre-Kar, a premier house and techno artist, would buy music growing up. Covert missions to buy music engrained the gritty, clandestine, and illicit nature of the underground into his musical DNA. He continues to honor that upbringing with his eclectic DJ sets and productions today.




"It's all about that raw feeling you get the first time you make music or you look for music. I've never wanted to forget that feeling,'" Noghre-Kar says from a studio in a barn somewhere in Los Angeles. "For me, it's always that feeling. It's always going to go back to that feeling. It's that excitement that keeps me wanting to do what I'm doing."




The real-life Piratebay wasn't Noghre-Kar's only source of music in his early days. In Iran, where Western music was banned and there were no legitimate record stores, he had to rely on two primary sources.




The first was his family. His father was an avid saxophonist. And his brother sparked his interest in house music when he gifted Ardy a cassette tape that featured Daft Punk's "Around The World" on one side and Tupac on the, which explains the significant hip-hop influence in Ardalan's music.






The second was new technology. As an architect, his father was one of the first people in Iran to work with CAD programming giving Noghre-Kar early access to computers and the internet. Ardalan's interest in technology drove his interest in music.




"I was really into computers since I was 6-7; downloading games and music. It was a really interesting time because I grew up on the internet. I would find so much music [by] downloading illegally because you didn't have anything else in Iran," says Noghre-Kar.




He perused now-ancient platforms like Winamp, which included a section called SHOUTcast with different web-streaming radio stations playing genres like drum & bass, house, and techno.




Noghre-Kar also spent a great deal of his younger years in the Bay Area (which he would eventually call home as an adult), and through those travels, his love of music and technology evolved.






The Bay Area was always an affluent hub for tech. And when he first arrived, he fit right into that culture. He attended De Anza College (the same school Steve Jobs attended with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak) and took an intro electronic music course.




"They taught some really cool tricks with programs that I use like Reason and Ableton," he remembers. "That class made such a profound effect on the rest of my life."






As he was engaging with music production from a more academic perspective, he also attended notable electronic music parties in the area. He attended Sunset parties thrown by the mythic Wicked crew. He went to Drum & Bass shows thrown by Haight-Ashbury outfit Compound Records. But most influential on his life trajectory was the regular Dirtybird BBQ in Golden Gate Park. These parties birthed the globalized record label, clothing line, and event brand that Dirtybird is today.






Noghre-Kar attended his first BBQ when he was 17. It was also his first real music event in the US. Founding members Claude VonStroke, Justin Martin, and Christian Martin were all there playing great music as the late Grillson served up great food.




"Doesn't get any better than this. This is the direction I want to go," Noghre-Kar says of the first BBQ. "They all took me in and got me really excited to make music."






He skipped his shift at Cold Stone Creamery to go, got fired the next day, and the following year he debuted the unmistakable "Mr. Spock" on Dirtybird with Justin Martin,






"It was a really interesting and fun way for the universe to tell me you're doing what you're doing. You're doing something for yourself," Noghre-Kar says.




That track would launch a close relationship with Dirtybird that persists. He's had numerous releases and compilation offerings on the label, including his debut album Mr. Good. Ardalan (or Tiesto of Modesto as Dirtybird's most passionate members lovingly call him) is still an expected and very welcome name on the lineup for the summer-camp-themed festival, Dirtybird Campout.






"It's always fun. It feels like you're back in high school in some ways when you go. All your friends are there and you can interact with the fans. Very homie vibes," Noghre-Kar says.




That sense of fun and community is something Noghre-Kar carries into numerous activities, including his nascent party brand, Ardy Pardy. In a relatively short life span, Ardy Pardy has expanded all over the US, popping up in San Francisco, Chicago, and Art Basel in Miami.




"I just always wanted to throw a party. Curate the sound and have that simple element of wanting to throw a fun party where I can have a good time and not necessarily DJ the whole time. Have my friends who I really love play my parties and be able to enjoy it with other people," Noghre-Kar says. "It's a very fun experiment where I can be creative visually or I can make the party super fun in a simple way. Being silly but also having really good music. Now it's become something where I need to take it to the next level."


Ardy Pardy isn't his first mission in community building. With the help of other friends and musicians with Dirtybird associations like Walker & Royce, Justin Martin, and VNSSA, Noghre-Kar helped to start a Twitch channel over the pandemic called GoodTV.




The pandemic was jarring for Noghre-Kar, but it also afforded him the opportunity to revisit his love of tech by learning all about streaming.




"I went back to feeling like I was 10 years old learning something," Noghre-Kar says.






Like taking that electronic music course in community college, learning streaming presented new opportunities for him to express his creativity and connect with his roots. The first stream he did was with Deep House Tehran, a collective of artists living in Iran.




"There were all these Iranian fans and that was the most beautiful thing ever because I hadn't played for people from Iran ever," Noghre-Kar says. "I started curating nights where I would showcase artists specifically from Iran and it was really amazing to be able to open that door for people around the world—creating new fan bases for them because there are so many talented artists in Iran. For me, it was an experience of learning about people from my homeland and seeing their art and having a platform for them."






Noghre-Kar is determined to continue supporting artists from Iran either through more streams in the future or a record label he intends to start.




He acknowledges that he is blessed to be in a position where he can travel the world playing music or shack up in a barn making a new album like he was doing just before the interview (expect Tarzalan sometime in 2023).




But he knows now more than ever there are so many artists in Iran who have the potential to do the same, and many of them are probably still hitting The Piratebay to get their new music the same way he did.


















Ardalan

If you asked Nakadia to describe herself in one word, she would instead offer two: “Positive energy.” The Thailand-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer has a vibrant, bubbly personality that lights up a room. When she’s behind the decks, she dances without abandon. But the root of her positive energy runs much deeper than what others simply see or hear. Having overcome numerous obstacles in her life, Nakadia learned early on the importance of never giving up, hard work, and always finding the silver lining.






These character traits have served her well, especially in her career. For nearly two decades, Nakadia has risen through electronic music’s ranks with her bold techno sound and unrelenting work ethic. Along the way, she helped elevate Thailand’s underground music scene while playing international gigs nearly every weekend. In addition to releasing music on labels such as Intec, Set About, and Filth On Acid, she has performed at ADE, Tomorrowland, and Loveparade, where she played to over a million spectators.




Any of these events could place as an artist’s greatest achievement, but Nakadia’s answer surveys the bigger picture. “I did my career by myself,” she says. “Even 20 years now in the business, [I’m] always growing. I’m walking on the stairs step by step… I don’t take a lift.”




Independence has been a mainstay in Nakadia’s life since childhood. The daughter of farmers, she grew up in a small village in Thailand’s Isan region with no running water or electricity. “We were poor,” she recalls, “but I am happy because we did not miss anything.” One of her daily chores was fetching large buckets of water from a nearby lake for home use. Rather than pay attention in school, she dreamed of traveling and owning a business.






When Nakadia was 15, she embarked on that dream, leaving home to work in factories—but seeing the same people every day eventually wore on her.




“I love to always change something, look for something new,” she says. First, she found a job at a mall in a sticker shop, then at an Internet café. In the café, Nakadia began learning English by using chat rooms to connect with people from around the world. Soon after, she made a friend (and eventual manager), Sebastian, who invited her to visit him in Germany.




Nakadia had, in some ways, practiced DJing before she knew what a DJ was. Back in the village, she blasted cassette tapes from her brother’s boombox, occasionally taking requests from the neighbors. Later, when she shared an apartment with six other girls in the city, she soundtracked their private rooftop parties with pop music and samba. And at the Internet café, she handpicked and played new music for the patrons.









During her first trip to Germany in 2002, Nakadia visited a nightclub headlined by Marusha. She instantly noticed how the people faced and revered the DJ on stage, and the rush the pounding techno gave her. “My hair stood up like, wow,” she remembers, “and I wanted to be a DJ in that moment. I love to party anyway, so why not make this a job then?”






She returned to Thailand with two records but nothing on which to play them, so she practiced beat-matching and mixing on a local club’s turntables during the day. The following year, Nakadia returned to Germany and spent three months improving her vinyl skills by day and observing DJs by night. By the end of her stint, she’d successfully played at a club in Hanover.




While her reception in Germany was enthusiastic, Thailand’s electronic scene—then dominated by men and commercial music—was less open. Nakadia recalls multiple club owners saying she’d need to change her sound to get booked. Even after moving to the nearby island of Koh Samui, a destination spot for European tourists, she endured multiple rejections in an attempt to DJ on her terms. Finally, someone bit—but with a caveat. “The place was really small, like it can fit 150 people,” she remembered. “But I was so happy that he said yes… He let me play kind of early when the staff get ready to drink, and there was nobody on the dancefloor yet. Then the managers like, ‘Wow, your music’s really nice. You can come back next time to play for the people.’” When she did, promoters from South Korea noticed her and promptly booked her.









From there, Nakadia’s international bookings steadily increased, with each new city and country an opportunity to learn about the world, music, and the art of DJing. Eventually, in 2010, she relocated to Berlin due to its more central location. In the years that followed, she landed high-profile gigs, including at Sankeys and Ushuaïa in Ibiza—while regularly traveling back to Thailand to host her Nakadia Welcomes parties that feature high-profile friends like Sven Vath and Loco Dice.




While her DJ profile was still in its nascent stages, Nakadia taught herself to produce using Ableton. “As a DJ now, you [also] need to produce,” she says simply. Her tracks span the techno spectrum, from the melodic drama of “Tale of Khonburi” to the high-speed “The Red Queen” to the fuzzed-out psychedelia of “Acid Storm.” Staying in one place when the pandemic hit allowed her to build a collection of modular gear, on which she continues to refine and practice her skills when she’s not touring. “I want to learn more,” she says. “Lucky that today you can learn a lot on YouTube.”




Since the world has reopened, Nakadia has been able to do what she loves. “I enjoy giving the people the music that comes from my heart,” she says with a smile. “I bring [it] from my arm to the mixer… out of the speaker to the people. Yeah, that’s the best part.”



















Nakadia

Alain Quême, better known as Braxe, has teamed up with DJ Falcon for one of the most innovative acts in a brand new wave of French house, as Braxe + Falcon. Braxe, famously known for international phenomenon Stardust and their infamous 1998 house cut, “Music Sounds Better With You,” ultimately founded the blueprint for French house in the late 90s. Now, as Braxe and Falcon, the duo (coincidentally also cousins) are setting out to revive the classic, inimitable French disco sound for a new generation of ravers.




The artists recently dug into their back catalog, unearthed rare gems, and debuted new ones on their exclusive US tour in the fall of 2022. Those lucky enough to catch one of four exclusive sets heard a unique tapestry of rave nostalgia filled with the hypnotic elements of samplers, stellar vocal drones, and stunning synthesizers.






Braxe and DJ Falcon recall memories from the era they first experienced electronic dance music and how American house music helped form a foundation for their sound.




“House music is really a key element,” shares Braxe. “For me, it started probably in the early 90s, buying 12-inch imports coming from America. So, it’s really a key factor.”




“Especially the Chicago scene—guys like Paul Johnson, [DJ] Sneak, Todd Terry, all those guys, and labels like Dancemania… They were a huge influence,” adds Falcon. “I discovered it while going to rave parties in the early 90s. Back then, raves were only beginning to spring up in Paris.




“I was just following all my friends and that’s how I got into it. Plus, I was really close with Pedro from Ed Banger. So we kind of discovered it at the same time all together.”





Many of the most historically significant French names in electronic music hail from the era, like Daft Punk, Busy P, Cassius, and Étienne de Crécy. To onlookers, it was a close-knit scene. But for those on the inside, the growing french disco sound was something more. It catapulted many of those involved to unprecedented popularity internationally. As a result, many of the establishing French acts became household names, simultaneously becoming synonymous with coining the Parisian French house sound.






“It’s because the scene at the beginning was very small,” says Braxe. “In fact, it was in Paris, and in other cities in France, but mainly in Paris. It was just a few hundred people really interested in this musical movement in the beginning.”




“There was a party called ‘Respect,’ and this is where we all connected,” says DJ Falcon. “It was on every Wednesday, and we all got to know each other through those parties.”






Originally having stemmed from a mere handful of artists and their fans enamored with the new sounds, it is not lost upon Braxe and DJ Falcon how France became the epicenter for French disco house. Now, in the present age, the pair is reinventing the genre for a new generation of ravers.




“Disco music was really strong in France during the 70s and the 80s,” recalls Braxe. “So there is a big background with dance music in France. But globally? If we want to make it simple, let’s say that when Daft Punk released Homework, they pushed a new version of disco one step further. Daft Punk is a key factor as well in this story.”






Both Braxe and DJ Falcon worked with Daft Punk. Braxe, previously half of the duo Stardust, produced arguably one of the biggest dance music songs of all time with Thomas Bangalter and vocalist Benjamin Diamond, creating a pivotal composition in the history of electronic dance music.






“Retrospectively, it’s quite interesting the way it was produced because it was mainly hardware equipment,” he shares when asked about “Music Sounds Better With You.” “The computer was not a key element in the process. So it’s based on some quite old techniques.”




According to Braxe, writing and producing the tune only took one week.




“Benjamin Diamond, the singer, was also of course involved in the process... It’s a song which is based on a sample [of Chaka Khan’s “Fate”] so I was mainly using the sample and upgrading it with louder drums and a newer production. It was quite a natural process. At one point we were a bit lost in the song because there were much more lyrics, but we couldn’t find the right arrangement. Once we decided to get rid of some of the lyrics, everything was okay suddenly. So that’s it. It was a Sunday, we pressed ‘record’ and that was it.”




This original version of “Music Sounds Better With You,” with the entirety of the song’s original lyrics, was thrown out, says Braxe.




“I witnessed when they played this for the first time,” says DJ Falcon. “I was doing a live show at the Rex club in Paris… They played it for the first time at the Rex, you know? I remember helping Thomas carry a huge AV synth to play the chords. It was special, hearing them play it for the first time at the Rex... Everybody knew something was going on at that moment, it was a very cool vibe in the club.”






DJ Falcon also collaborated with Thomas Bangalter (and Justice) in the early heyday of the French disco sound. Then, he moved on to produce original works, eventually stepping away from music production for years.




“For me, it kind of came as an accident,” said the DJ. “I like to see myself as a tourist.”




After releasing Hello, My name is DJ Falcon on Roule, the DJ collaborated with Bangalter, producing a handful of critically-acclaimed dance cuts. “And then I did a couple of remixes for Phoenix, Justice, Cassius, but I was more into the DJ side.”




The French house producer shared he felt very fortunate to travel the world with various talented peers in the genre, getting an opportunity to dip into his other passion, photography.






Coincidentally, the joint act are cousins. But, say they initially had no clue that either one was working on music within the same space until after they’d already started releasing music.




It was French disco peer Bangalter who clued the cousins in, says Braxe. Braxe released his first record on Roule, and Bangalter, noting Falcon also released music on the label, put them in touch.




“It took us quite some time to decide to make music together. We started in 2014. We spent a few months in the studio working on demos, stopped, and then we reopened the demos like two years ago. Then, we decided, okay, now let’s try to finish this.”






The two cousins met up and pitched a demo to Domino Records label head Peter Berard. “And he said, ‘Okay, you guys should finish this,’ and he made it an EP. He gave us motivation to finish it.”




The Step By Step EP is wide-ranging, pulling soundscapes and elements from both artists’ production styles, moving effortlessly from down to uptempo. Their live performances—with only four stops scheduled in the US—include their latest originals and fan favorites from their individual discographies, performed as a unique B2B DJ duo.




Braxe + Falcon arrives at an opportune moment in dance music that sees a diverse and willing audience of listeners rediscovering the sounds of a genre they contributed in shaping.

Braxe + Falcon

Ben Dorman, best known behind the decks as BIJOU, is renowned for dark, driving, and ominous records. His latest release, “Gang Gang,” out via AC Slater’s esteemed label, Night Bass, proves to be an excellent example of his distinct sound.



“I wanted to create something that was for the people who have followed me from the beginning,” he says. “‘Gang Gang’ is [for] everyone who's supported me, everyone who comes to the shows, everyone who’s listening to my music. I wanted to create something that kept my West Coast-influenced sound but was also driving forward and a little bit housier in regards to the direction that I’m going now with my music.”



Dorman adds that the vocal sample, pulled from LA rapper Baby Keem’s “Gang Activities,” is a big aspect of the song. He wanted something simple and groovy to complement the heavy drop.



This isn’t Dorman’s first release on Night Bass. His relationship with the imprint and its founder AC Slater goes back to 2016 with “We Don’t Dance,” which skyrocketed him to fame.





“AC Slater is one of my really good friends,” Dorman explains as he remembers how he first signed to the tastemaking label. “I actually had flown into [Los Angeles] for one of the Night Bass parties on Thursdays that they do at Sound. I landed at the airport and we were texting,” he notes, adding that he sent AC Slater a song that the label boss liked. “It’s nice to have that relationship with [AC Slater] because it’s more than just music. There’s an actual friendship with him, [and] he’s done a great job with the label as well.”



Dorman grew up in a musical household. His father was a manager for local bands in Phoenix, Arizona—where Dorman grew up. The producer was “always around bands,” and his father played guitar, bass, and drums, in addition to singing at home.



“I grew up listening to reggae,” Dorman says. “My dad was playing reggae and rock and roll all the time, so that has been a huge inspiration and I hadn’t even heard it in my music. One of his best friends came to one of the shows and goes, ‘Did you realize that the drums [you use] in [your] set are very influenced by that sound?’ I never noticed it until he pointed that out.”



Dorman fell in love with dance music after hearing Tiësto’s “Adagio For Strings” in 2009. At the time, he was playing for the West Coast baseball league in Washington. He went out one night with his teammates to a club, and the next day he asked his coach if he could attend a deadmau5 show on the beach. Though his coach said no because they had to practice, Dorman says the team could hear the set during as they did.



While attending Northwestern Oklahoma State in 2010, his teammate suggested they attend Insomniac’s Nocturnal Festival in Texas. He saw Avicii, Armin van Buuren, Porter Robinson, and Green Velvet perform, solidifying his love for the genre. The next day, he downloaded a copy of Virtual DJ. “I was hooked,” he says.



BIJOU cut his teeth in Arizona clubs. His time as a local DJ was invaluable to his skills as a selector, but he tells Gray Area that, given the opportunity, he would give his younger self a bit of guidance.



“I would say to focus even more on production and perfecting my sound and craft,” he says. “I think early on, as a local DJ, I was so focused on DJing. I didn’t understand how important it was to produce and really have my own music. I think that would be the biggest thing that I would actually focus more on and tell my younger self.”



Dorman continues to evolve and transform and says his current music excites him the most. Like many experienced producers, he makes additional income by passing his imitable production skills on to younger artists. And his favorite song to date was produced with one of his students.



“He sent me this record, and I was like, ‘Yo, this is incredible. If you want to work on this together, I’m all for it.’ He’s an incredible producer as well. [He] goes by the name of Zaerd, and the song’s called ‘St. Tropez.’ I can’t stop listening to it, honestly.”

While some artists believe it is necessary to know music theory, Dorman has a different take. “I think it depends on what you’re making. For the type of music that I make, I don’t think so. It can definitely help. I have no knowledge of music theory. I’m totally transparent and I’ve done everything my entire career by sound or by ear and just being like, ‘Okay, is this in key? Is it not in key? Does it sound good?’ Because in the end if you think about it, if it sounds good, that’s all that really matters.”



Bijou

UK-born-and-bred house music veteran Low Steppa, née Will Bailey, has a career peppered with aliases, accolades, and career highs that include being at the axis of tectonic shifts in dance music several times over. He’s one of the select few to hold the title of Defected Records resident. And his label, Simma Black, has established itself as a tastemaker, releasing records that hold steadfast to his ethos that “music’s got to have a groove. It’s got to have a bit of soul.” His solo releases follow suit, walking the line between blissfully dusty classics and pristinely executed modern groovers. In a scene obsessed with trends, Low Steppa remains fascinated with what forms the backbone of dance music.






“I think when you’re younger, you’re more prone to gravitate towards fads that aren’t your thing,” he explains about the decade preceding his 2013 debut of the Low Steppa alias. Bailey spent his early career shifting through various sounds that helped pave the way for dance music’s inevitable explosion in the mid-aughts. Among them were his genre-bending work as part of fidget house outlet Twoker (with Alex Calver aka Skapes) and eponymous, genre-spanning work that saw him collaborate with a range of artists from Chris Lorenzo and Gettoblaster’s Paul Anthony to Valentino Khan.




For an artist whose entrée into dance music was on the soulful house tip, it became increasingly clear that the further he drifted from his roots, the less authentic his music felt.




A sense of nostalgia is inherent in even the most current sounds of “classic” house music. Those that have found inspiration in the creators of the culture, like Masters At Work, Todd Terry, and Frankie Knuckles, are recontextualizing a timeless aesthetic that has continued to persist on the dancefloor for nearly 40 years.






“That’s the beautiful thing about real house music,” he explains wistfully. “You’ve got all the things that are going on right now, you know, your tech house, all this, but it all sort of comes and goes away. Whereas your classic, sort of Defected vibe, I believe it’s always gonna be there. It’s like the backbone to a lot of things. So, I feel like I’ve drifted around along on back to what I wanted to do when I first started DJing and buying vinyl.”




He explains that, unlike other artists who were brought up on a diet of soul and disco, the Bailey household was one rife with rock and pop music. His dad, Richard Bailey, spent a spell as the keyboardist for '80s metal band Whitesnake. And he remembers growing up around studios in Birmingham, England.




“But I kind of made my own way through his record collection. I was obsessed with ‘Thriller’ when I was a kid. And so I think that got me on my way.”




In the ’80s and ’90s, he grew up parallel to the storied UK rave scene. And in Birmingham, a city associated with the tougher side of dance music (and the home of bassline house), he first discovered D&B. By the time he was getting into club life, he found the soulful side of house via BBC Radio 1 DJ Danny Rampling’s Love Groove Dance Party show.




He’d happened upon a sound that often appeals to a more seasoned dance music aficionado. As the years drifted on and he wound his way through a vast sonic soundscape, the distinct syncopated drums of the Birmingham Sound and timeless vibe of soulful house never left him. So when he released his garage-inspired rework of Route 94 and Jess Glynne’s “My Love” as a free download in 2013, he’d finally returned to the sound that made him fall in love with house music.






“I’ve always loved those skippy beats,” he explains about the bootleg that eventually made its way into Route 94’s DJ sets. “And it’s just fun when you’re making beats [thinking] ‘just where can I put these snares?’ And ‘what groove am I gonna get an average swing or quantized one off my beats?’”




As he gives a window into the process behind creating one of his impossibly danceable grooves, he recalls the wise words of Grant Nelson, also known as Wishdokta, Bump & Flex, and N’n’G, who is heralded as the “godfather of UK garage.”




“I think it was Grant Nelson that said to me once, ‘you know you’ve got to be grooving off just your drums.’ And that’s the approach I always have. I mean look at the drum beats that bookend Kenny Dope - 'The Bomb,' stuff like that. You don’t really get so much anymore where a record has an amazing drum beat.”




While modern production techniques have allowed for music to be far cheaper and easier to produce, the reliance on machines and sample packs has created a space where the humanity of music has been somewhat lost. Low Steppa has spent his career trying to reclaim it. And when he hooked up with Defected, he found a group of like-minded folks seeking to do the same.






In 2016 he released Low Steppa’s Disco Party, a 66-minute throwback to the music that arguably made house possible. Defected founder Simon Dunmore recognized Bailey’s inherent need to understand the roots of the music he loved in his track selection. Dunmore hit Low Steppa up to say he’d spent all weekend listening to the mix.




“I think he sort of realized that I knew my music and I think that was one of the key things. I think Simon [has] got a lot of respect for people who know their music or the background of it.”



Bailey has long been a veracious sample hound and music historian. “And that I mean, that’s very important to him, I think. Because obviously, there’s not really people that know much more about it than him.”




After a few opening slots in the UK, Bailey was brought into the Defected fold. He’s released several dozen records there, including a throbbing, organ-laden remix of Hardrive’s “Deep Inside,” an impossibly funky rework of “Freedom” by CeCe Rogers and Jack Back aka David Guetta, and 2019’s disco-tinged “You’re My Life” that masterfully samples Jackie Moore’s 1979 “This Time Baby.”






And while he was already a well-established touring DJ, Defected also allowed him to spread the gospel of house music even further by being a staple on their global club and festival lineups.




“I think Defected did really help me get into the space I wanted to be in because it allowed me to go back to my roots and do what I really wanted to do,” Bailey says.




While he’s in the most creatively fulfilling space of his life, there are times when he feels he could take it even further. “I still can’t always play what I really want to. Sometimes I’d love to play a more soulful set, but when you’re in a festival or busy club [and] it’s hyping, you just know what you got to do. I do miss playing in a bar where people are just chilling, and you’re just playing some light, soulfuric vibes.”






The pandemic allowed him to connect even more with his roots by doing just that. He quickly became a staple of the streams and dug in the crates for long-lost house music gems. It’s likely what led to his monthly Defected Broadcasting House Show.




“I think that’s what was great about it for me. I went and found all these records I used to play. And I was just playing a lot of this old stuff and I loved it. Everyone was just at home and [the] dance floor was equal. Just play whatever you wanted, that was one of the beautiful views of it all for me during those times, as weird as it was.”




Low Steppa has had the good fortune of an extended and fruitful career in dance music. He’s remained a relevant and culturally significant voice for the duration. He explains that he’s done so by staying in his own lane.




“That’s exactly the phrase, stay in your own lane, and just be happy with what you’re doing," he says. "I’ve got my followers, and it’s important to just keep them happy, and not get to get caught up in the trends. I don’t really want to want to follow the trends. I mean, it’s great to hear stuff that’s new, and you’re like, 'oh, wicked,' and they get a vibe off that. But I do want to stick to what I’m doing.”



Low Steppa

“I wake up everyday, do a meditation, take a cold shower, have a coffee, and play piano for 30 minutes. I do this literally every day, seven days a week (yes, that’s hard on the hungover days), and it has been paying off since I've never had any lack of energy or ideas for my music.”



For anyone familiar with the music of Rose Ringed, it is easy to understand how his morning routine has helped push his music into the hands of some of the most notable tastemakers in the dance world. The Dutch producer utilizes analog and digital sounds, calling upon his extensive collection of synths to create a diverse range of music, including melodic techno, house, and synthpop.






“I gravitate between an external perspective of concepts that fascinate me, and an internal perspective mostly about deep inner emotions.”




The Amsterdam native has gained notoriety since his debut release in 2018 was featured by Kölsch during his BBC Radio 1 Residency. The unique blend of upbeat, dance-heavy tracks that also manage to incorporate complex melodic elements makes the music of Rose Ringed truly unique. Artists like Solomon, Blond:ish, and Joris Voorn are just a few of his supporters.


With a background in live instruments, producing synth-heavy, melody-influenced dance music is a natural fit for the uber-talented artist. An ex-jazz pianist, Rose was born to a music-loving father and a jazz ballerina mother during the early trance rave era of the '90s. Rose’s mother raised him on a steady diet of jazz music. At the same time, his father regularly played early dance music and rock, giving him a CD of Queen’s greatest hits, which heavily influenced his musical proclivities.




“That song [‘Bohemian Rhapsody’] used to be such a big influence when I was really young," he says. "So much happens in that track, I can just hear it all in my head.”



Growing up on deeply complex music, such as Queen’s discography, explains why Rose Ringed produces the way he does. Although dance music’s simplicity and repetition can often feel “safe,” Rose Ringed’s productions are immensely layered and emotional. The more he listened to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the more he realized how much was going on in the track. Internalizing this, Rose has often found the need to take a step back when producing to ask himself if he’s doing too much or not doing enough.



“I always start from harmonies and melodies. That’s my core, for every song," he says. "Chord progression as well. From that, I just write down ideas. Sometimes for me as an artist, the biggest thing that I’ve learned and still have a hard time doing is killing your darlings. To a lot of artists, it’s the biggest thing you have to learn how to do. You have to know which elements are most important and make the track around that and not put every idea into one track. At the same time, I like to break the rules. So as long as you feel the track [emotionally] and it has a message in there, it’s okay… I never tried to rationalize making something complex or difficult, it’s just what happens sometimes.”








For Rose Ringed, producing music is a genuine journey. A producer so focused on layers, analog sounds, and creating live with synths, he often finds himself falling in love with each aspect of his tracks as they are born from his fingertips. Becoming a master producer means understanding that not everything you love makes sense on the same project. Putting hours into each element does not mean they are all useful—a lesson Rose is learning over time.


As with many DJs, his proper introduction to house music came after nights out at the clubs as a teenager. “When I started university, I went to my first festival. That’s when I encountered dance music," he says. "Around age 20 I went on a ski trip with some friends and one guy brought a DJ setup. I found it pretty easy to learn and he told me that because I played the drums I would probably have an easy time with it. That gave me a little bit of confidence and I quickly bought a DJ set, then a vinyl player to mix vinyl. I slowly shifted to producing music and just completely fell in love with it.”




Although Rose Ringed received support from Kölsch on his debut release in 2018, he was humble and smart enough to know that this did not mean he had made it. Although it would be easy to view this as a massive career milestone, the reality is that support from a prominent artist on one track can only last so long. That being said, the moment motivated Rose to continue striving towards making music a full-time career.



“If I’m right now able to make something that [Kölsch] thinks is good enough to play, then I am onto something," he says. "You have to get a little bit nudged into your confidence.”


Despite early success and momentum, like artists worldwide, Rose’s reluctantly put the performance side of his career on hold during the pandemic. He used this time to bunker down in the studio and ask important questions about what kind of artist he wanted to become. Given the type of music he creates, it only makes sense that a crucial element of creation for Rose is the concept of storytelling. While this can feel like a generic sentiment, each song produced by Rose truly has a narrative, often bred at the very outset of its production. When starting a project, Rose has to save the file on his computer. To save a file, you need a name. If the track is meant to be, the name will come easily. Often, Rose cannot conceptualize a name and therefore understand where the project will go and what story it will tell. In these cases, it is time to start over.




“I start by taking my MIDI controllers and making live arrangements. By arranging live you get the most natural way of telling a story, instead of clicking your arrangement you find a natural flow by launching elements and tweaking filters. With tracks like this, there’s a story behind it and I become increasingly inspired throughout the process… when there is no story behind it, it’s just a chill beat and I can’t finish it.”


To have such a complex creative process ultimately means that completing a track can be a lengthy ordeal. But just finishing the production side does not mean the life of the track is over. The next step is, of course, releasing it. The process of finding a label can be brutal, even for established artists. Sending out demos and being rejected, even if the music is great, is disheartening. Additionally, it can often feel like the artist forces themself into fitting the box of a specific label’s sound.

Rose has decided to release all of his music independently. It’s risky but has ultimately paid off for the young artist. He has maintained creative integrity and releases whenever and however frequently he wants. Now that he has established himself, he is beginning to send music to labels, but it has taken him years to get to a place where he finally feels comfortable doing so.



His most recent EP, For Us, is an incredible three-track journey that showcases the high energy, complex music Rose Ringed is producing. His next EP will be released soon with a massive label (we can’t say yet!). It’s safe to say that Rose Ringed is one to watch.





Rose Ringed

Croatian DJ and producer San Pacho is of no mystery to house music aficionados worldwide. His exemplary sound has resonated with a vast audience from every speck of the globe, and he’s become a prominent part of the ongoing tech house and Latin house revolution with his exotic and culturally-inspired soundscapes.




Growing up in Croatia, his life shaped his musical taste and style of artistic expression. Croatia’s breathtaking natural landscapes and refreshing Mediterranean Sea views always instilled inspiration in him no matter what he aspired to achieve at any point in time. Once his love for house music emerged, it was back-to-back summer beach parties on the water that influenced his desire to explore the electronic dance music scene even further.




His ongoing fascination with house music led him to pursue the monumental adventure of one day becoming an internationally recognized producer. Still, he didn’t really dive deep into the scene until 2014, when future house and bass house were exponentially on the rise. One of his early idols was future house pioneer Tchami, who ended up playing a tremendous role in shaping his career.




Before unveiling the San Pacho project to the world, he released music under his Pascal alias. Tchami supported one of those tracks during one of his older EDC sets, so San Pacho immediately reached out to thank him. After a few back-and-forth conversations, Tchami officially recruited him to be part of his renowned CONFESSION label roster. This was when the rebrand to the San Pacho name came to light.








“It’s really great seeing the idols that I listened to and looked up to when I was younger play my music now. Tchami is one idol that always pops up at the top of my head. When he released his Promises EP back in 2014, I was obsessed with his unique sound. I saw that he played my track with Malaa at a nightclub show recently, and I was in shock that someone I’ve always looked up to so much continues to play my tracks. It’s so humbling to witness.”




Deciding to drop everything, including his enrollment at university, was the best decision the self-taught musician could’ve made for himself. After spending numerous hours in the studio mastering the art of production and DJing, he was able to curate a standout artistic persona and sound to match his authentic self.




The San Pacho sound has proven to be one of a kind. He utilizes every whiff of inspiration to create, and he’s flawlessly transitioned his sound to reflect his artistic vision at any given point in time without fear of judgment or industry portrayal. As cliché as it sounds,​​ his principal motto is to always stay true to oneself. By sticking to this mindset, he’s managed to stand out in a sea of like-minded producers by doing things his own way and on his own terms. For him, that’s the key to success. ​​




“I noticed there were a lot of great house sounds out there but I wanted to implement my own take on the genre. I wanted to take inspiration from everyday soundscapes and sounds from all over the world including real instruments and real percussions and merge them into house music. This concept wasn’t as pro​​minent when I first started this journey. This is actually how my idea for ‘La Pasion’ with Matroda came to be. Now I’m known for creating house tracks with Latin melodies, which wasn’t my original purpose but it sort of just happened, and I’m so glad it did.”









“La Pasion” still sits on the top charts a year following its release. This striking Latin house heater skyrocketed San Pacho’s career and tight-knit relationship with fellow Croatian producers. He and Matroda share a similar vision when it comes to dominating the scene, making it impossible for them to not cross paths and coexist in such a niche house music space.




“In 2019, Matroda and I made ‘The One’ but later realized we wanted to make a more tech house influenced song since we both left the bass house genre behind around the same time. After I produced my part, I sent him the demo and he did his thing and premiered it. The initial reactions were insane so we decided to officially release it on his Terminal Underground label and its still one of my top three tracks to this day. Tracks usually age after a while so its crazy that its still on the top charts. It’s a track that anyone in the world can dance to and I think that’s why its been such a popular hit.”




Following a successful summer touring season in 2022, taking him across Europe, the Croatian sensation is ready to embark on his first-ever journey across the Atlantic to perform in North America.




San Pacho is ecstatic to finally get the opportunity to showcase his mixing abilities at some of the nation’s most pristine live music venues, including Exchange in Los Angeles, Marquee in Las Vegas, The Roof at Superior Ingredients in Brooklyn, and more. He’s eager to finally conquer the USA in full force and witness what the crowd culture is all about on this side of the globe.




To tease his upcoming and highly-anticipated North American tour, he recently just unveiled the second edition of his booming The Vault mix series. The 31-minute mix is an enthralling blend of unreleased San Pacho tunes intertwined with some older tracks to get a feel of his listeners’ reactions before officially revealing any new releases. It’s a brilliant marketing tactic. With more new music on the horizon, this mix has gotten fans pumped for what’s to come from the flourishing producer.









In revamping his sound, San Pacho’s fundamental goal was to bring diverse cultures together at clubs and festivals around the world with his outlandish house escapades. And after only being in the scene for a few years, he rests comfortably on the top of the Beatport house charts alongside industry legends like FISHER, Chris Lake, Gorgon City, and more, which is still a surreal concept to him. He describes his sound as refreshing. His hypnotic beats are truly a breath of fresh air in a continuously evolving industry.




“I never had any idea or expectation that I would be standing side by side with artists like Chris Lake on the top Beatport charts. That’s just insane to me, even to this day. I can’t even comprehend that and put words together for how I feel about this. It’s crazy. I’m so thankful for this journey and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

































San Pacho

ACRAZE has enjoyed a career trajectory most electronic musicians dream of since the 2021 release of “Do It To It,” his house rework of Cherish’s 2006 song of the same name.



“Where do I begin?” says the DJ and producer, whose real name is Charlie Duncker. “I feel like that song just put me in another stratosphere.”





A little over a year later, he delivered another impactful release in a similar creative vein. For “Believe,” he enlisted British duo Goodboys for a house cover of “I Need a Miracle” by Coco Star, framing their wistful vocals with layers of melancholic synth chords.



"I remember starting in my bedroom years ago and now I'm traveling the world," he says. "It's just so surreal to be able to do what I love, and to be able to do it at this level as well. It's actually really fucking cool."



For the foreseeable future, though, ACRAZE has shifted his focus toward original music. “There's something about sampling that I feel like there's just always going to be inspiration there for me,” he says. “But I definitely want to stay in the original realm.”





This is by no means uncharted territory for the rising talent. Born in Staten Island, he went all in on dance music several years ago—much to the chagrin of his old-fashioned parents.


"No one in my family is musically inclined so I just came out of nowhere and stuck out like a sore thumb because I wanted to do music," he says. "My parents thought I was absolutely nuts. They were like, 'You gotta go to college.' My parents are very old fashioned. They were just looking for security. And that's why they wanted me to go to school, but I hated school. I hated being in a class learning about stuff that I really didn't care about because, at the time, I just wanted to do music. That's all I really wanted to do, so school was not even an option for me."



ACRAZE lived the starving artist lifestyle while learning to produce music. "I was kind of in a bad slump," he says. "I was pretty broke at the time, and just figuring out how I can find money to buy samples or production stuff. It was a pretty tough time, I'm not gonna lie, but I figured out how to make music. I stayed at my friend's house for like, two, three years, and I just figured it out."



2017 marked his debut solo release, a heavy trap single titled “PULL UP” that came out on MACA. From the very beginning, however, ACRAZE couldn’t be confined to a single genre. “How I produce is pretty interesting,” he says. “One way I catch a good creative drift is that if I’m stuck in a certain genre, I'll move to another.”



This led him to produce house music on more than one occasion, and it proved a more worthwhile pursuit than a simple workaround to eliminate writer’s block. His 2018 single “Marco Polo” landed on Confession, the label of French artist Tchami that straddles the line separating house from EDM.





“I don't really play many of my older records,” says ACRAZE. “But that's one that I definitely play a lot. I don't know why but every time I play, it always goes off.”



During the COVID crisis, ACRAZE doubled down on house more than ever before. He recounts, "I remember during the pandemic, my managers and I were always going back and forth, saying, 'We need to work hard now when nothing's happening,' because there was no momentum for anyone."



"So I was just sitting there working 15 hours a day," he continues. "I would wake up at 8:00 in the morning and work all the way until maybe midnight, just do the same thing over and over. I wouldn't even leave my room to eat; sometimes I would bring the food into the fucking room. Yeah, I was grinding. And I always knew if I worked hard when no one was moving, I would come out with this momentum—and it worked."



By the time lockdowns began to lift he had made a lasting impression with singles like “Funky Town,” which arrived by way of Black Jack Records in early 2021. He delivered “Do It To It” later in the year, and his story since then has played out against the backdrop of stages around the world.



From Tomorrowland in Belgium to Sensation in Amsterdam and three separate iterations of Ultra in different countries, ACRAZE has emerged as a staple of the festival circuit. Has the novelty worn off? Not even close. Gatherings at this scale offer a perfect testbed for his latest music.





“Playing new music is like a different type of feeling—I'm always amped up to play and see the reaction,” he says. “You work so, so long on a song and that's one thing that you always think, but if it goes off, it pays off right there.”



As more and more of these crowd-pleasing cuts trickle out from the dancefloor into the house music ecosystem, it remains to be seen what direction ACRAZE will steer his discography. For the time being, at least, it’s hard to imagine him going anywhere but up.





ACRAZE

“I just feel like I'm so scatterbrained all the time,” Los Angeles artist Kyle Walker says of his creative direction in the studio.



“For ‘All You Need,’ for example, I was listening to Jaden Thompson and the UK sound, and getting inspired through that,” he explains. “And then for ‘Strut’ I was super into the Solid Grooves style right then, so I decided to like try and work on something like that.”





Kyle’s distinctive sound signature still manages to shine through in both of these singles. His percussion is methodical. His arrangements are inventive. It is this tightrope walk between paying homage and reinventing the wheel that has landed him on key tech house labels like Toolroom and Glasgow Underground.



Once upon a time, though, house music fell far outside Kyle Walker’s creative musings. He first started dabbling in music production at age 13, eventually learning his way around FL Studio (which remains his DAW of choice to this day).



Skrillex was one of the first artists who inspired him to pursue electronic music; some of Kyle’s earliest productions remain uploaded to SoundCloud under a dubstep moniker he refuses to disclose. Then, he heard Disclosure’s Settle. Still his favorite house album to this day, the 2013 effort rerouted his creative course and destined him for a career in the time-tested genre.



Three years later, Kyle Walker’s tech house single “Claude VonDeeper”—a reference to Dirtybird boss Claude VonStroke—was selected as one of one of the winners of Insomniac’s 2016 Discovery Project. This landed him on stages at some of the West Coast promotional juggernaut’s landmark events, where he honed his craft as a DJ.





Another significant step up came with his first release on Jauz’s Bite This! label: a collaboration with LondonBridge titled “Infection.” "I forget where I first met Sam, but I just started emailing him music," Kyle says. "I emailed a lot of people, actually; I think I emailed damn near 50 to 100 people my music that was coming out. Sam was generous and nice enough to actually check it out. He had an ear for it, I guess, and really liked it. He helped put me onto one of my first festival plays and was always really awesome with feedback. Then, he was starting his Bite This! label, and he wanted me to be one of the first dudes on it—which I was happy to do."



He followed it up with “Panic” via Insomniac’s In / Rotation imprint. “That helped put me on the lineup of events like Nocturnal Wonderland,” he says, “which got me in front of a lot of people.”



The COVID pandemic could have derailed Kyle’s momentum—it signaled an abrupt halt for nightlife at large, after all. It was during this time off that he instead doubled down on music production. In the end, he came out better for it.



“I was working at the time in the pharmacy at CVS and at Starbucks as well as doing Postmates,” he says. “Then I'd come home and work on music all night, and then I’d go back and repeat the cycle.”



Kyle describes this as a time in which he was able to “reset my production brain” and deliver music that wasn’t totally dancefloor centric. "I sat down to write songs that weren't totally club driven, because clubs weren't around," he says. "So I worked on the melodic side of production and really figured out how to write a song as a whole—not just a club track or a DJ tool—like, actual songs."

In August 2021, shortly after nightlife resumed, he released the three-track EP Zilla on Lee Foss’ Repopulate Mars record label. This cosign put him on the radar of underground house music tastemakers.





Kyle Walker’s early releases on Bite This! and Dim Mak Records don’t appear to have pigeonholed him as an EDM artist in the eyes of labels like Toolroom and Glasgow Underground. “I feel like there should have been [a stigma], but there never was, I don't know why,” he says. I don't know what I did to pivot around the EDM label—which there's nothing wrong with; there's a bunch of great EDM—but for some reason, I never was. I was always kind of like, underground.”



"It's definitely something I didn't see ever happening," he says. It's so weird that I started way, way back making dubstep and then switching then to bass house and now I'm into the more techy style of house. Even when I was working on music like that, I always saw these labels releasing such cool like house music, but I never really thought getting on these labels would ever be something that I would do. But now here we are. So I guess if you just keep working at it, it’s eventually gonna happen."


As far as house music itself is concerned, Kyle suspects that the genre is “definitely headed to the top 40 charts.” If he’s right, it’s as good a time as any for a producer such as himself to emerge as a fixture of the worldwide house community.





Kyle Walker

At age 17, Deeper Purpose had resigned himself to a lifetime of working on a farm with his grandfather. That all changed after his first visit to Croydon, South London nightclub Tiger Tiger, near where he grew up.



“I was underage, and I borrowed one of my friends’ IDs to go to the club,” he says. “I spent the whole night standing next to the DJ booth just watching the DJ. We became friends and I went down every single week after that. He taught me how to DJ, and then farming sort of went out the window. I was like, ‘Sorry granddad, not gonna work on the farm anymore.’”





On the other end of the roller coaster ride that often accompanies such career decisions, Deeper Purpose (real name Stephen Galloway) is enjoying a surge of international popularity. After making a name for himself while holding long residencies at well-known British clubs like Egg London and XOYO, he’s become a familiar face at US festivals like CRSSD and EDC Las Vegas.





“I sort of knew I had a following in the States but I didn't realize to what extent people were going to like receive me as a UK artist,” he says. “I've just been blown away.”



Stephen suspects it was his introduction to DJing at Tiger Tiger, where he landed his first residency, that set him up for success down the road. “That was playing open format stuff,” he recalls, “so it was across the board from R&B, hip-hop, garage, dubstep, and drum and bass. That's where I learned how to play in the clubs, basically, every week.”



While he was holding down this residency, a misadventure curiously led him to his next big opportunity. One night after his set, he accompanied some friends to Egg London. He handed a bag of disposable earplugs to a friend—and the next thing he knew, he was being escorted off the dancefloor.



“I got grabbed by members security, and taken upstairs into the office and searched because they thought I had narcotics on me,” he says. “They searched me and found nothing. The manager said, ‘I’m so sorry I’ve ruined your night, how can I repay you?’ I was like, ‘Well, you can give me a set.’”





That one-off gig dovetailed into Deeper Purpose regularly hosting a room at the club, and eventually into playing direct support for touring DJs. "He gave me a set in one of the rooms upstairs, an unpaid gig in the third room," he says. He gave me a good set time to be fair; it was 2:00am to 4:00am. Right when I got on, there was like no one in the room. By the end of my set, the room was packed."



"Afterward, he said, 'You’ve done really well tonight; let's speak about doing some future stuff.' From there I started hosting the room, so I would get to program the room the whole night, pick my own DJs, and sell tickets. I sold tickets for two years, building my way up through the club. I ended up getting to host room two, the bigger room of like 500-600 people, and then from then on, I got asked to then be the main support act for a lot of the big nights there."



Deeper Purpose began learning to produce music, and by 2017 he was releasing tracks. By the time he released “Safari” the following year, he had dialed in his creative process. Then, he met Lee Foss when the Chicago DJ and producer performed at Egg, which would end up signaling a turning point.





The first tracks Stephen sent weren’t an ideal fit for Lee’s Repopulate Mars imprint. “But he was like, ‘Keep sending me stuff,’” says Stephen. He wrote “Underground” and “Manipulation” over the next couple of days, and Lee asked him to let him test them out at gigs over the weekend before making his decision. By Saturday he had already confirmed it: Deeper Purpose had landed his debut on Repopulate Mars.





As he spreads his wings as an artist, Deeper Purpose is more interested in applying his natural aptitude for songwriting to his upcoming music. “I’m trying to move towards the middle ground between what could work in the club, and what you can listen to it at home, or in your car,” he says. “I've always I've loved songs. I love music that tells a story.”



"I feel there's a lot of tracks out there that are very good but get forgotten about. They've got a two-week lifespan after their release," he says. "I've tried to think about how to create music that's got longevity. I want you to discover a track of mine in four years, and it still works. It stands the test of time and has a longer lifespan than the two weeks that I pushed it on Beatport or Spotify. I just try to base my stuff around ideas that aren't gonna be forgotten about."





This change of scenery is a far cry from his humble beginnings as an open-format DJ in Croydon. With that being said, it is by no means the end. Deeper Purpose is only starting to make his mark on house music, and a long path forward lies ahead.

Deeper Purpose

Between performing globally, releasing on labels like Paco Osuna’s Mindshake Records, and running Woodlands Studio back home, UK talent Iglesias has built quite a brand for himself. All the while, he’s remained dedicated to artistic integrity and put the music above all else.





In case titles like “Rudiment” and “Dance To My Drums” don’t make it obvious enough, percussion lies the core of Iglesias’ creative philosophy. Samples of live drums often form the foundation of his tracks, invigorating them with an organic warmth that resonates subliminally on the dance floor.



"For me, it's all about the groove. It just has to have that," Iglesias says. "A lot stems from what the percussion does. It doesn't have to be over-the-top crazy, it just has to have really cool calls and responses happening throughout for a nice progression. You don't ever listen to a band with just a bass guitarist and a lead singer. You have to have some drums in there to hold it all together.





Iglesias arrived at these conclusions largely on his own. “Most [dance music artists] have a cool story about how their dad’s got a really crazy disco record collection and they got introduced that way,” he says. “I wasn't really into it when I was a kid.”



Iglesias was born to a Spanish father and an English mother. His earliest musical influences came from outside his family, however. “from the beginning, it's always been punk,” he says. “It's always been rock. The rock side of it influenced the way my music is today.”



He first took up DJing and organizing events. "I used to run some parties in the south, and it got to a point when I was booking a lot of artists—wAFF, Steve Lawler, people I looked up to," Iglesias recalls. "I thought, "Why am I paying these people so much money? How are they different from me? We both DJ, what's what's the difference here?' And the key difference was they made great music, and I didn't make anything at all. So that's what led me into making music."







After learning to produce music later in his career, Iglesias found himself completely infatuated with the process. “I became completely obsessed with it; I would have rather made music on the weekend than DJ in the club,” he says. “For most people, it's the other way around.”



After a couple of years of releasing music, Iglesias struck a chord with his 2018 remix of “Real Thing” by Cloonee. Up to that point, he had hesitated to play any of his music in his sets. “Then I started seeing videos of Marco Carola playing it,” he says. “I thought, ‘Oh, I should probably play this song as well.’ I'd never even played it before. So that was like a pinnacle moment in that I started believing in my own music. If you're making music, play it as well. Don't be embarrassed to play it.”



Another release that marked a turning point and gave him confidence in his style was 2019’s “Subdue.” Before that release, he recalls sending demos to Manchester duo SOLARDO for months and never hearing anything back. “I went up to James and said, ‘Dude, just listen to this song, I know you're gonna like it,’” he says. “And he got on his laptop and signed it on the spot. That was another moment that made me keep pushing. It doesn't matter what people say, if people think your music shit or whatever. Just keep pushing, and someone's going to open up the door for you.”



Since 2018, Iglesias has also run Woodlands Studio, a venture in which he offers mixing, mastering, and production classes. 



"It actually started when I was living at home with my parents," he says. I was working in my studio, as in my bedroom, and it was pissing them off a lot. They offered to do something together, so we both went halves on a studio. We took the roof of their separate garage and went halves on it, so now when I go to the studio, I'm actually commuting back to my childhood home from where I now live 15 minutes away."



This extra dimension of his career equipped him to weather the rough waters of the COVID crisis as restrictions prevented performers around the world from gigging. Artists like Latmun and wAFF have given masterclasses on the platform, which offers discounts to students in developing countries.







2021 saw Woodlands Studio expand to include a record label called Woodlands Records. Rather than run a straightforward artist imprint and only sign music that closely aligns with his own sound signature, Iglesias gives a platform to tracks from across the electronic music spectrum. One of Woodlands’ first releases was Nicolò Bonelli’s Pure, Clean & Vegetarian EP, whose two tracks fell somewhere on the spectrum between breakbeat and minimal house.



Iglesias channels the inspiring, confidence-boosting moments of his career by empowering the artists with whom he now works. "I tell them, 'Just go with what you're doing," he says. "People are trying to copy other people. That's not going to get you anywhere. I always try to ask, 'Who are you influenced by? What type of music are you influenced by?' And it doesn't necessarily have to be house or electronic—like how I am with Good Charlotte, for instance. I like the drummer. I like the snares from there. So put that in your own song—that's what I've tried to teach people. I obviously give them techniques, but I remind them not to give a shit what everyone else is doing. Because if someone is already doing it, it's already been done."



With a busier tour schedule than ever before, Iglesias is now capable of showcasing his authentic brand of electronic music on stages across the globe. Not only that, but the brand he’s built for himself will allow him to bring his friends and collaborators along with him.



Iglesias

UK-born producer, DJ, and radio presenter Melle Brown’s music is as soulful as her lively personality. Brilliant and brimming with positivity, she’s a singular artist and a lanternlight for young women and Black creators. Thanks to her genre-melding style that fuses the influence of her veteran raver parents with a love for neo-soul and jazz, she is swimming in industry accolades from the likes of Diplo, Pete Tong, Gorgon City, and Danny Howard. And beyond her music, she’s opened doors for other young creators with Reprezent Radio and Mellody Agency.


Since Melle was a child, music has constantly surrounded her. Her grandfather had an extensive vinyl collection full of groundbreaking artists within various genres. Her fondest memory of his music collection was listening to the astounding selection of iconic Black artists who shaped music history. Her parents were early 2000s London ravers who would play CDs given out at those fabled late-night soirées whenever they took her out on road trips. She was initiated into the scene long before she stepped foot into her first rave in her early 20s.


“My family was always playing music in the background no matter where we were or what we were doing. They played so many different genres. Everything from neo-soul to house to jazz and more,” she remembers. “There was no escape from it. It was loud, and it was there, and it just became a part of me.”


Growing up, she considered herself shy despite her innate, driving desire to perform and express herself through art. Melle was involved in everything from theatre to singing lessons to dance classes. However, she always found herself gravitating toward music-driven courses. Was this her initial sign?




“I’ve always loved performing and sharing art with people, but it comes with a lot of vulnerability and emotion and there’s something really beautiful in being able to let go in that moment and share that art with the world. Making something and getting to share it with the world is what makes this all so special.”




She realized that music was her calling, and she’s worked on both the creative and business sides of the industry. She’s done everything in her power to turn her aspirations into reality. Aside from working at a record label, she worked and volunteered at events across London as well as curating events to support women in music. This was her way in.




Realizing she wanted to pursue music production and DJing long-term was a gradual process, but there was one defining moment that convinced her to follow her dream wholeheartedly.




At university, she had to create a self-produced EP for her dissertation. On top of the sound design and production aspect of curating the EP titled Blossom, she collaborated with other artists, designed the artwork, created a release plan, and pitched it to labels. Despite her initial lack of experience, the process left her buzzing. And that’s how she knew this was her calling.




“I was young and hungry at this point, and it’s an element of myself that I really admire. This point in time is something that I try to hold on to. The music industry is not the easiest place to be a part of, but it’s beautiful when you have the right people surrounding you and supporting you and when you’re in it for the right reasons.”









Her love for neo-soul and jazz music continued, leading her to embrace house music’s deeper, soulful side. She became enamored with those hypnotic rhythms and stirring chords that truly make you feel something deep within. Eventually, she gravitated to UK garage, jungle, and dub soundscapes. Then one day, she realized, “why not intertwine all of these and turn them into something that’s my own?”




After gaining the tremendously sincere support her debut EP release on SoundCloud earned her, she recognized the scene’s strong sense of community is what truly kept her going. This is where the concept of Reprezent Radio emerged.




She created Reprezent to open connections with other brilliant, like-minded people in the industry and showcase the beauty of deep and soulful house music on a biweekly basis. Thanks to Reprezent, she landed her first gig in Hackney and invited the renowned Elkka from Femme Culture as a guest on the show.




Elkka took the lead and curated an all-female lineup of powerful and talented women. Her vision of supporting these fabulous, up-and-coming artists inspired Melle so much that she decided to open the Mellody Agency, a platform supporting flourishing artists through radio plugging. Through these two forward-looking platforms, she aspires to revolutionize how fresh artists are introduced to the dance music community.









Melle Brown's rise in the UK music scene has catapulted her sound into the hearts of thousands of house music lovers across the globe, including some certified legends. In August 2022, she released a remix of Diplo and WhoMadeWho’s “Make you Happy.” Higher Ground reached out to her after becoming enamored with “Feel About You,” and asked if she’d be up to do a remix for one of Diplo’s tracks on the label. Realizing that she was about to take on this remix project alongside artists to whom she looked up—like HoneyLuv and Purple Disco Machine—felt surreal.




Melle Brown has evolved both artistically and personally throughout her music career. Her uncanny creativity consists of many distinct layers. She impeccably merges music production’s vulnerable, emotional elements with the fun, playful elements of dance music. As a result, her music is both eclectic and universal.




“I love the fact that you can start off a music project with a blank screen and there’s nothing there, and then over time, your emotions and how you’re feeling at the time kind of seep into the musicality of the piece," she says. "Then, all of a sudden, after an hour or two you’ve got a sick track with lively notes. Music is such an expressive tool and that’s why it’s stuck with me. It’s my way of expressing myself to the rest of the world and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m really excited to continue to blend genres and not be afraid to showcase the real me to the world.”














Melle Brown

Talk to anyone in the San Francisco house music scene and they’re bound to know the name Miss Dre. In recent years her sphere of influence has grown much bigger than the Bay Area, however.





Her steady climb has landed songs of hers like “Give It To Ya” and “Something Special” on key house labels such as Psycho Disco and Farris Wheel, respectively. A prolific vocalist, she also sings on dance tracks—perhaps most notably Niles Shepard’s Beatport #1 “Follow Me” via Slothacid. Her tour schedule as a DJ has grown in step with her recordings, taking her to cities across the US. Miss Dre is a house music triple threat, and she’s just getting started.





Singing was her first musical pursuit, one she started exploring all the way back in elementary school. Miss Dre, whose real name is Drea Kaplan, picked up guitar soon after and dabbled in everything from R&B to punk rock.



By the time she was a teenager, bass music found its way into her musical awareness. Then, in 2014, she attended her first music festival: Northern Nights. It was there that she witnessed a DJ set by Dirtybird sweetheart Justin Martin, who was still soaring off the success of his debut artist album, Ghettos & Gardens. Experiencing his eclectic sound signature in a live setting opened her mind to the possibilities of house.



“His house music was still kind of bassy, you know?” she says. “Since sonically it was bassy, it was easy for me to get into.”



Buzzing with inspiration, Miss Dre took it upon herself to learn how to produce music. She didn’t perfect her creative process overnight, though. “When I turned 20, I got my first DAW, Logic,” she says. “I messed with that for two years—it was honestly not very logical to me. I then moved to Ableton, and it was way easier.”



After two more years of honing her craft, Miss Dre produced a track she deemed worthy of calling her debut release. “Down Like Me” came out in 2018, and while she recalls feeling “a lot of frustration” while working on the track, it gave her the jumping off point she needed.



“That was the first track I ever released, after I’d made, like, 100 tracks,” she says. “It was probably just daunting for me releasing my first track, like it was a big deal because I wanted people to perceive me as a good producer. You look back in retrospect, and you just need to get your first track out. It’s going to set you off, and you’re going to make 1,000 tracks after that one.”



Miss Dre did indeed write many more tracks after that first release. Slowly but surely, she climbed the label ladder. "Sometimes you have big intentions, and then some record labels are like 'No, it's not for us,' and you get 20 more nos and wonder, 'Oh, dang, is this track gonna get picked up?'" she says. "And then finally, it gets picked up by one that's way bigger who you didn't expect to pick it up, and you're just like, 'Oh my God!'"



On the other side of that long journey, Miss Dre has grown much more confident in her path. She says that tracks like “Technocality,” her second single chosen by house tastemaker Gene Farris for release on his Farris Wheel imprint, practically write themselves. Sometimes, she says she’ll even hear a project’s tones play back on her speakers and intuitively know which label will pick it up.





This uncanny sort of kismet has become a common theme of Miss Dre’s rise. Justin Martin, who first whetted her appetite for house music eight years ago, now frequently supports her music and requests that venues book her to open for him. As if things couldn’t come any more full circle, he even enlisted her to reimagine “Lezgo” for a Ghettos & Gardens 10-year anniversary remix pack.





"Synchronicity and magic have played a big role in how I got integrated in this industry," Miss Dre says. "I met [Justin's] girlfriend, like, three years ago, and I didn't even know it was his girlfriend. We just met at housie and clicked, and then she started supporting me. We became good friends, and then he came to a show of mine—and he's just so incredible. He's so nice, so humble, and just a sweetheart. He supports a lot of younger," green artists.



There’s no denying that Miss Dre is making a long-lasting mark on house music. She’s not done, either—not by a long shot. Stay on the lookout for more from this emerging DJ-producer-singer-songwriter.



MISS DRE

No matter the pursuit, one big break can change your life. One book published, one catch made, or one job acquired, and your life can change in a second.


“I’ve been doing music for so long, and I always had this feeling that I needed to somehow turn the universe and get it on my side. I always knew I’m working hard, I have musical talent, at least that’s what I like to believe,” Maurits Westveen laughs.


“This is my passion, and it just always felt like it wasn’t really organic yet," he continues. "I really had to struggle to get the right numbers and hit the right spots. Before it was like I was in a dark room going around with a small flashlight, and now it’s like I turned all the lights on in the place.”





For Maurits, that light switch, that life-changing moment, came when he officially released his debut single as Mau P, “Drugs From Amsterdam.” Within one month of official release, the ground-shaking tech house tune racked up tens of millions of streams, elevating the name Mau P from hungry newcomer to in-demand breakout artist.


One might wonder, can someone who’s only released a single track have that much time and effort invested in their craft? Of course, the answer could be a resounding “yes” for anyone with a single release, but Mau P is not some random garage band producer who got lucky or paid for big branding. On the contrary, he had been a force in dance music for the better part of a decade under the alias Maurice West.


As Maurice West, Westveen explored every corner of his first love in dance music: big room house. This love started in his formative years in his hometown of Amsterdam.


“When I was fourteen dance music was so big, [it was] the biggest genre in the world,” Maurits recalls.


“I think I got into dance music when the Tomorrowland and Ultra after movies were the thing. You were cool if you knew about the after-movies. During high school, we were watching the after movies like, ‘Oh yeah we should go one day when we turn 18.’”



But then he stops and fondly remembers, “No, I think I even got into dance music before that when Swedish House Mafia used to do the compilation albums. They still made stuff that sounded like early progressive house like ‘Leave The World Behind,’ and those kinds of tracks. That was one of the first songs that really gave me that feeling like, ‘What is this euphoria that comes from this three-minute song?’ I feel like ‘Leave The World Behind’ was still simple, it has the vocal, the piano, the big drop, but it sounded to me like if I spent some time, I could make something similar. Of course, I was wrong. Making music is so hard with mixing and everything.”


That motivation proved unwavering. At fourteen, Maurits spent a year learning the ins and outs of the sounds that inspired him. Fueled by a fascination with boundary-breaking sounds and pipedreams of dance music’s biggest stages, Maurits poured himself into producing.


“It took me a year to make a song that I thought of myself. It was just like how do I make this sound like Wolfgang Gartner has? I was a big Wolfgang Gartner, Madeon, Porter Robinson fan.”


Mauritz diligently worked, and his unrelenting pursuit began to bear fruit in time. Collaborations and sign-offs from industry leaders like Hardwell, W&W, and KSHMR affirmed that the young up-and-comer was indeed on the right track. He even found himself making those festival pipe dreams a reality while playing the main stages of Tomorrowland and Ultra. 

He thinks back the sounds that brought him there, saying, “I was always making big room because that was the music I really love to produce. For me it always had this rave feel to it, or I always tried to incorporate like '90s kind of stuff or acid kind of stuff.”



But as Maurits matured through his teens to his 20s, his taste in music began to evolve.


“At the end of high school, I was into techno as well. That was just the cool thing to do in Holland,” he shares. “That’s the first kind of festival I went to when I was 17 or 18 in Holland, like Awakenings. It was more techno, and then after it was more housey. So that’s what all of my friends like, and what everyone in Holland liked.”


As the big room sounds of Maurice West continued to grow publicly, Maurits grew his library privately. Finally, when COVID halted live shows, the opportunity to further explore these developing tastes presented itself.


“When it was allowed again, there were all these house parties, there weren’t really organized club or festival parties yet. It was me and my friends playing house music, and it was actually people that I taught how to DJ,” Westveen reveals.


“Over the years they became better than me because they play all these clubs in Amsterdam where they just have to entertain the people that go to the club and make them stay the longest and buy drinks. And I’m just put in front of a crowd [at festivals], you play one hour, play all your Maurice West tracks, then you’re done… The student became the teacher,” he laughs.



“Now I’ve learned a lot from them and I found a new love for DJing because it’s a different approach.”


Armed with a new outlook on music, Mauritz took this new approach and new energy into the studio.


“I love the big room sound, but at one point I just didn’t feel like I could contribute anything new to the sound in some way,” he admits.


“I used to always be able to figure out the puzzle and be like hey this is new, this is fresh, this is something new for the whole genre, at least there’s one thing in this song that’s going to be pushing boundaries and pushing the culture forward in some way. So then I started producing deeper stuff.”


Maurits was following his heart, following the sounds that spoke to him and captured his interest. But as COVID restrictions were lifted and live shows returned, a chasm began to form.


“I was doing shows as Maurice West but had found a new love for playing house and techno. So people were booking me still for Maurice West, and when I’d show up I was just playing really underground stuff,” he chuckles.


“People were feeling the vibe, but it was difficult for promoters to pinpoint, ‘Hey we’re booking this, but this is what we’re getting.’”


Mauritz needed to make a decision for the sake of his career. Would he continue with Maurice West and struggle through rebranding his first love, the product of years of hard-fought trial and error? Or would he start anew and launch a new chapter in his up-and-coming story? After careful consideration, Mau P was born.



Since then, Maurits hasn’t looked back. His first release under the new alias was an undeniable home run that instantly put him on the radar of every major house and techno artist in the game. But he remains grateful for the breadth of experience that led him to this new chapter, for he might not be here without it.


“A lot of the way I used to do things, I had to rewire it," he says. "But also there’s this power that I have, this way of doing it in my brain that’s different from the way everyone else is doing it. I’ve spent years writing songs, coming up with hooks, I’ve tried pop music, and before that EDM, and it’s all of that together that makes “Drugs Of Amsterdam” work the way it does. Now I feel like the stuff I used to do in big room is also incorporated in the house stuff that I do.”


It takes guts to pursue a music career. It takes even more to risk an established music career to launch a new one under a new project. But as the son of a jazz saxophonist, arranger father, and a jazz singer mother, Maurits always knew his path would lead back to music.


“The house that I grew up in is actually the house that I’m in now, and the whole ground floor is a recording studio," he says. "So from the time I was able to walk I was able to go downstairs and play on the drums, piano, whatever I wanted.” A music lover’s dream.


“It was always in the back of my mind that if I don’t know what I want to be later on in life, I’ll fall back on music," he says. "I’ve never felt like I needed a backup out of music. Music is a risk because there’s no college for it that guarantees you a job. But I feel like if you learn this skill set of producing and you have your all-around tools of trade or skills, you can sell anything. You can produce, you can make music for commercials, you can even do music scores. If you know how to make sounds or arrange them, or if you know how to make a song, you could go on for years.”


Hearing this, it becomes clear we are not just talking to a dance music producer. Maurits Westveen is a purveyor of sound, demonstrating that the only limits that exist within sonic stimulation are the ones we place upon ourselves.

Mau P

Nearly a decade into a music career that has taken her to stages across the globe, LOVRA has decided it’s time for a change in direction.



Born outside Frankfurt and based in Berlin, the DJ and producer is perhaps best known for radio-friendly, ‘80s and ‘90s-inspired house tracks like “My Beat” and “Spinnin'” featuring Justin Jesso. Recently, though, she’s started leaning into a grittier style of tech house. If you ask her, it better reflects where she’s from and where she’s going.





“I play shows here in Berlin,” LOVRA says. “Berlin is a big techno city, as you know, so I play techno here. I really feel a connection to the higher BPMs but I also love my vocals, and that’s why for me, It comes straight from my heart to connect the two with tech house.”





This isn’t the most unexpected development in her career by a long shot. LOVRA, whose real name is Laura Lungen, has been curating music since childhood, when she recorded mixes on cassette tapes—and later, CDs—for her friends. These evolved into weekly playlists that she published on YouTube. 



Before long, the audience grew much bigger than her friend group. Her channel quickly and organically amassed a staggering 2.5 million followers.



“I woke up one day and realized there were no girls on my channel,” she recalls. “Literally no girls, just guys. I decided I wanted to learn how to produce and DJ. This is how I started my project, LOVRA!”



To her point, when she first started uploading her own music under the moniker, most fans assumed she was a male. Her first endeavor was a bootleg remix of “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye. She uploaded it to SoundCloud and it went viral, racking up 2 million plays in a matter of weeks.





Universal Music Group, which holds the rights to the original, stepped in and had it removed from the streaming service. They nonetheless recognized the value of LOVRA’s rendition, so they made her a deal. The remix would not only mark her debut release, but also her first on a major label. The catch? She was not entitled to any of the earnings it generated.



2014 saw LOVRA deliver “Love Sensation,” her debut solo single, on the now-defunct German record label Emma. “It’s still one of my strongest tracks,” she says. “This year when I was in Ibiza, I was eating ice cream at an ice cream shop in the city and they were still listening to it in there!”





Shortly after the release, Ministry of Sound approached her on SoundCloud. She became a resident DJ for the iconic London club-turned-dance music mega-brand and toured across the globe to perform at their events.



During a visit to Ibiza in 2017, she met French superstar DJ David Guetta at Pacha. The two were fast friends; he enlisted her to open for him regularly at Ushuaïa from 2018-2019 as well as at some of his shows around the world. 



"Of course, then, everybody was interested in LOVRA," she recalls. “'Who’s that German girl who was opening for David Guetta and is going with him on his world Tour?' Of course, it was a big thing that opened lots of doors for shows around the world. I'm so grateful—it was really the time of my life to play in Ibiza for him, and for the world tour."





This career whirlwind ultimately led LOVRA to sign exclusively with Sony Music Germany and perform at festivals as big as Tomorrowland in Belgium and Parookaville in Germany.


"When you're on these kinds of stages, it feels like you're just there for a minute and then the hour is over. You're like, 'What?'" she says. "The energy and the connection with the people is indescribable. For example, at Tomorrowland people come from all over the world and wave different flags, and they're coming just to see you onstage. There are also a lot of people coming to the stage who have no clue about you. They discover your music, and then you get messages like, 'Oh, that was fantastic, and now I'm really happy that I found your music.' This is something that makes me super happy."



As was the case with many artists, the COVID pandemic gave LOVRA a chance to think critically about her career direction—and she chose to hit the reset button.



Sprinkled in alongside her usual, feelgood fare at an increasing frequency are tougher tracks like “Squid Game” and “Let’s Freak.” She’s also toying around with an even more experimental fusion. LOVRA is pairing these tech house rhythms with elements of old techno and trance hits like “Sonic Empire” by Members of Mayday and “The House Of House” by Cherry Moon Trax. The result is an entirely fresh, new sound signature.







LOVRA has parted ways with Sony, and now labels like Toolroom and Glasgow Underground have given a home to her recent tracks. It’s a brave step forward, albeit one that will enable her to engage her every whim. LOVRA’s time in the music business has taught her that you can’t trade anything for creative freedom. At this point in her journey, she has no other option but to follow her heart.



Where will that burning passion lead LOVRA in the years to come? Only time will tell. If the past is any indication, though, it looks to be a wild ride.



LOVRA

The word “authentic” comes up often in a conversation about music with SYREETA. It is by being her most expressive and uninhibited self that so many doors have begun to open for her, after all. Far be it from her to abandon an approach that’s clearly working.



“It really has treated me well,” SYREETA says of the time since lockdowns lifted and nightlife resumed across the globe. “I've mainly been playing in Ibiza, Italy, and Croatia, but I've literally been back and forth every other week.” She’s become a familiar face at event brands like Pyramid, Paradise, elrow, and Circoloco. It’s a far cry from where she stood only a few short years ago.





“Music has always been a huge part of my life,” she says of her upbringing. “I've always associated it with fun times.” She and her mother used to dance around the house on the weekends while doing chores. Her father used to run blues dances in Birmingham that weren’t all that different from underground raves.



SYREETA initially dreamed of becoming an athlete, running the 400-meter race for England. That all changed when she was sidelined by injuries. She underwent three operations on her knees and then suffered an Achilles tendon injury on top of that.



“I realized it was not going to go down well unless I quit while I was ahead. It was devastating because that was all I wanted to do,” she says. “So the fact that I found my career in music—because that's where I went to for my happy times, to feel better—I feel like it was just meant to be.”





She first learned to play records at a house party and soon afterward bought DJ gear so she could practice on her own time. A month later, she was invited to open the room at the grand opening of 512 London in the Dalston area of the city. More and more gigs would follow as time went by.



A major turning point came when SYREETA met BBC Radio 1 presenter Jaguar after they were both tapped to perform for Mixmag and Smirnoff’s Equalising Music initiative. "Jaguar is an absolute babe," SYREETA says. "I love her to bits."



At the time, Jaguar was hosting a show on Reprezent Radio and brought SYREETA on to deliver a guest mix. "After she invited me onto her Reprezent show, I invited her to play at a party that I was putting on, and our relationship just blossomed," SYREETA says. "We've just become closer and closer—I think I can say we are really good friends."



Two years later, Jaguar invited her to International Music Summit in Ibiza, where she attended a panel by Steven Braines and Sophia Kearney of the queer party event brand, record label, and fashion label HE.SHE.THEY. SYREETA spoke to Steven and Sophia after the talk and they hit it off immediately. 





“We were chatting for about 45 minutes and Braines invited me to HE.SHE.THEY’s party that same weekend, their first birthday at fabric,” she says. “And yeah, I got the memo and I came all HE.SHE.THEYed out—I came in chaps—and I think that that was the start of a blossoming relationship!”



HE.SHE.THEY actively champion artists from marginalized communities, taking great pride in creating safe spaces for clubbers from all walks of life. As a queer, female musician of color, this struck a deep chord with SYREETA. Before long she became a resident of the collective, performing at HE.SHE.THEY events at superclubs like Watergate in Berlin and fabric in London.





"These are clubs where I wouldn't have played at that stage in my career," SYREETA says. "So I am truly grateful to have had the opportunity."



Truly, though, SYREETA’s skills as a selector speak for themselves. She digs deep to only play records with which she connects strongly, carving out a niche defined by high-energy cuts packed to the brim with danceable grooves. As house music sees a period of renewed mainstream interest, it is this authentic and decidedly underground attitude that makes her stand out among the rest of the DJs.



Syreeta 

UK artist East End Dubs considers himself a DJ first, and a producer second. You wouldn't guess as much if you took a look inside impressive his home studio in London, however.



On one wall are longtime staples of the East End Dubs sound like the Roland JP-8000, Roland D-10, and Korg R3. Opposite those is a Eurorack modular synthesizer console whose arc towers over everything else in the room like a tidal wave.



"I’ve caught, as I call it, the Euro bug, and I’ve just been collecting things," says East End Dubs. "I can’t stop at the moment — I love it. I love the unique sounds you can come up with, the tone and quality."



These recent additions show that East End Dubs still actively seeks out things to get excited about as an artist. Perhaps more importantly, they stand testament that he's brave enough to expand on his sound signature after more than two decades in electronic music.



East End Dubs first started DJing at school dances at only 15 or 16. He further refined his skills by playing parties while attending Richmond University. After graduating, though, a career in the IT industry occupied his focus—but that all changed when his company went under.



"When I graduated, I start working as an IT manager for a big company," East End Dubs says. "Then the company went bust and I said, ‘Okay, I'm gonna take some time out and fully focus on music.’ This has been my journey for the past 12 years, literally nonstop gigging. But, you know, I've been doing music for over 20 years now."



He didn't always play and release music as East End Dubs. "I had a couple of other projects before, and I’ve done some anonymous stuff," he explains. "I also used to DJ for a couple of major clubs in London here and there. But after all that, it took some time to basically find my identity and decide on the sound that I really enjoy."



2012 marked the launch of the East End Dubs project, and it's been a whirlwind of clubland magic ever since. In 2014, he founded a record label called Eastenderz which now counts well-known artists like Priku, Arapu, and Sidney Charles among its signees. 



Eastenderz also gives a home to music by promising up-and-comers. "We've been recently working with an artist from Argentina called Rigzz, and he seems to be ticking all the boxes right now," says East End Dubs. "He has already released two EPs on his own terms, and we're working on the third one. Rigzz is definitely up there, and I can also name another guy from New York called LaRosa. He’s also released quite a few EPs and is going to release one with us soon."



East End Dubs released the most commercially successful track of his career in 2019. Appearing on an EP of its namesake that came out on FUSE London, "bRave" has amassed more than 1.5 million streams on Spotify alone.



For the most part, though, East End Dubs produces music to play exclusively in his own DJ sets. "To be honest, I think the milestone tracks have been the ones that I didn’t release, or only released limited white label copies," he says. "I don't specifically enjoy releasing music. I make lots of music all the time, but I don't like putting it out. I basically just try to keep it all for myself, and play it out myself. That's what makes my sets quite exclusive in a way, because I play my own music most of the time."



When you consider this approach, it makes perfect sense that East End Dubs would still identify as a DJ first in spite of his obvious skills as a producer. There is nonetheless good reason for house music fans to anticipate his upcoming recorded music releases.



"The stuff that I'm producing right now is quite different from what I actually play, and what I’ve released so far," he proclaims. He says his latest music is "quite emotional" and "heavy on the synths"—undoubtedly a result of his more recent foray into the world of modular synthesis.



As far as house music as a whole is concerned, East End Dubs is optimistic that recent commercial interest in the genre could lead new fans to the underground. "I don't mind it," he says. "I read a couple of articles about that, and recently, people have said, ‘Oh, this is going to bring uneducated people into the scene.’ For me, I think people can start with Beyoncé or Drake and then fall in love with house music. It's a beautiful thing. Why not? You know, it's something that we share together. So I don't mind people getting to know our music that way and then going a little more underground to discover us."



What's to say that several more years into his career, East End Dubs won't embark on an entirely new creative direction? Only time will tell how his sound signature evolves. The world of house music will simply have to wait and see.

East End Dubs

They say there’s a magical synergy between twins. Rising house duo RaeCola are proving that right in front of our very eyes and ears. With the release of their debut EP Bezerk newly under their belts—and their close-knit relationship with underground titan Dirtybird firmly minted—it would appear they are forming a firm foundation.




Hailing from Chicago, Rachael and Nicole Henderson pay homage to the birthplace of house music while advancing the genre with their own unique twist.




“Being from the Southside of Chicago, we felt it was only right to represent the music that was kind of going on in our area growing up: ghetto house, juke music, footwork music. So it was cool to be able to partner them together, and have a kind of balance of the different music that really inspires us.”




RaeCola are certainly paving the way for a revolutionary new style. And when asked to describe their signature sound of ghetto tech house and booty bass, they were cautious not to add another sub-genre to the pre-existing plethora. Yet, they are acutely aware that it didn’t quite fit in anywhere perfectly enough.




“It just really combines our influences of having the ghetto house in Chicago and the West Coast kind of tech house sound and putting those influences together… We’ve been able to find other artists who are kind of doing that feel as well… it’s not necessarily ghetto house, and it’s not necessarily tech house, so that was just kind of the perfect combination.”




Probably like me, you are also wondering what defines RaeCola’s booty bass sound. When I asked, they giggled as they told me that it just encompasses “the songs you have to move to. You just have to move your booty. You can’t help it.”




For them, it seems that the revolution they’re bringing to dance music culture is the joy of mixing different crowds—a concept that harkens to the roots of the movement. It brings together people who haven’t been in the same room before to move their bodies and enjoy the incredible vibes that so effortlessly radiate off the decks at RaeCola’s fingertips.




Growing up, Rachael and Nicole didn’t foresee DJing as a career path. Music has always been central to their lives—they grew up singing in a choir, playing piano, and even the clarinet for a stint. But their predominant interest was, in fact, fashion. And at the tender age of 17, they moved to California together to work in the industy. Nevertheless, it soon became clear, that their inherent love of music and natural flair for producing and mixing was to be the path they’d walk.




Despite not explicitly pursuing a career in fashion, as with music, they seem to have a natural inclination for it. They have no need to hire a stylist for their sets and shoots, as the duo never fail to impress with their bold, show-stopping, coordinated looks.




After almost seven years DJing together, their first-ever EP Bezerk was released in July 2022. RaeCola are also recent graduates of the ICON Collective in Los Angeles, where they say that they planted the roots of the EP.




“Once finishing, we had so many songs we’d been working on,” they said about their time at the production school that’s turned out dance music heavy hitters including Jauz, the late i_o, Dillon Nathaniel, Black Gummy, and SNBRN. “Bezerk was just a fun song. We just made it very quickly…And for the longest time we were just sitting on it thinking, 'Is it ready?”




“Bezerk’s” wonky synths, groovy experimental undertones, and slightly suggestive lyrics perfectly encapsulate that marriage of the Chicago and West Coast underground the duo are pushing. A sound that they’ve spent the better part of seven years trying to perfect. The second track of the two-part EP, “Juke That Zerk,” has elements of ghetto house and juke, with drums and vocals inspired by artists like DJ Slugo. Beyond the marriage of sounds, they ultimately want to write music that raises vibrations, inspiring listeners to have judgment-free fun.




“Hopefully we’ll have more than one release this year… We have a remix we’ve been working on with an artist that we’re really excited to play. If anybody’s been to our shows, we’ve been sneaking them in there. And we’ve gotten some good feedback. So we’re really excited for those releases.”




Amongst the new releases hopefully coming later this year, they’ve also been working hard ticking off their manifestation list, one dream at a time. The duo are confirmed to play at one of the most immersive boutique festivals in the States, Dirtybird Campout.




“Every experience I’ve had of Dirtybird has been so much fun. It’s such a carefree, silly energy, about the crowd. Where you don’t really care about who’s watching and what’s going on. Everyone’s just being themselves to the fullest and deepest. And I love that non-judgmental feel within the crowd,” Nicole tells us. “In terms of music, there’s a lot of freedom, and I guess the freedom that comes with an underground feel within a festival. That’s really cool… I’m very very excited to play there.”




So whether it’s a set at Dirtybird or an LA warehouse, you can catch RaeCola coming to a dance floor near you. And keep an ear out, as you might just catch a little easter egg from the duo teasing an unreleased track of theirs.
























































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