What genre would you describe your music as?

House-tech music (not tech-house, I call it house-tech if you know what I mean)


Where are you from?

Lima, Peru

What age did you start DJing?

24. I am the Luke Skywalker of the DJs – start late, became a Jedi Master fast.

If you weren't a DJ, what would you be doing for your career?

Directing and producing audiovisual content.

What's your favorite artist/style of music outside of dance music?

Pink Floyd, The Beatles, James Brown, Prince, Jamiroquai, Gustavo Cerati, and more.
Blues, rock, funk, soul, and roots.


TolinchiLove never intended to be an ambassador for the Peruvian house music scene. He didn’t even intend to be a DJ or producer, “I only wanted to dance. I just wanted to party and connect with people.” He was simply a well-known raver and occasional promoter in Lima, Peru. He entered his local rave scene at 17 with his eyes and ears open and spent nearly 10 years absorbing music and culture. And then in 2010 sought to apply that knowledge to a sound that’s soaked in the nostalgiac beauty of classic house. A sound that he says is, “A joyful funky groove. An exciting clubbing dance house vibe.”

South America is home to a thriving group of artists drawing international attention to a well-established dance music community spread across the continent. “We are the first generation of Peruvian artists that are coming outside,” he says.

He’s proud to be an ambassador of a dance music culture whose history dates back to the ’90s. It’s stayed insular due to a lack of resources to gain an international audience. “We used to import a lot of talent in the 90s. We knew a lot of music for a third world country. We started as a little community and then it spread. So we're the first generation of professional artists that are here for real, [that] know how to manage our careers. in Peru, that is very difficult because there is no managing. There are no agencies. We are the first ones that are learning how to do it and teaching how to do it to others. It's important for us to be acknowledged because we are representing the people that are coming behind us. We are opening doors.”

He hesitates to call himself a pioneer though. “There's always people saying that pioneers are not only ones. There are other pioneers in another kind of way." He always pays respect to those that came before him. The DJs that taught him how to DJ, and first exposed him to dance music. 

Tolinchi and other Peruvian house producers like Ammo Avenue and Chinonegro are among the first to receive international attention. And for someone who only cared to dance the night away, he couldn't be happier. He's spreading that joy to others. It's like his life has come full circle he says, "We are the first ones and were happy about it. And that's why we take [it] so seriously. We’re making art. Communicating something.“

Tolinchi is humble when it comes to calling himself a musician. He values his work, but he sees it as a form of audio archeology. “The music is not that complex. We are not musicians. We work with musicians. We are musical people like musicians. But we as producers take stuff from all the knowledge we know about music. And that’s why we can do some of the things we do. Because of the love of music. We are like the Indiana Jones of music.”

His digging began early on when he discovered a group of DJs who were pioneers of classic house music but had never traveled to Peru. Dennis Ferer, Masters at Work, and Frankie Knuckles had a lasting impact on Tolinchi and are forever coded into his musical DNA. But none more than Danny Tenaglia, who he now calls a close friend. 

“Danny was the first one. When I was first learning dance music the parties I could go to were only techno parties or early progressive. I wanted another kind of music. Another vibe.  A friend of mine showed me BackToBasics disc one and it was incredible." It was the first time he recognized DJing and house music for all that it was. A beautiful roadmap of perfect track selection and precise transitions.

Peru offered plenty of opportunities for music discovery. But something was still missing for him. “All that mattered to me was why is this music not here. Why can’t I listen to this music? It was so musical. It was another school of house music that never came to Peru. So we don’t have the real house culture. I have to look it out and try and get it to my country.”

His career as a DJ is that dream realized. The mission to bring the sounds of classic house to Peru and South America began to materialize when he first stepped up to the decks. And as he looks back on his journey from raver to DJ to international producer, he’s happy that he’s been able to spread the good word of house music to so many people.

“My mission in the world is to spread that message and that’s exactly what I have to do. Before college, it was the perfect road to the dream. I was already living the dream. From a lot of time working in Peru being nobody to where I was touring all of South America. I have something to say and something to give to electronic music. For me it is a dream come true.“

Tyler Young may seem like a fresh face in house music but when you pull back the curtain you'll see over a decade of grinding. Add to that a musical upbringing that stretches back to the birth of West Coast hip-hop, and throw in some peak dance floor experiences, and you are one step closer to understanding how Tyler Young got here. 

Young’s influences are wide-ranging. On a given day he easily bounces from The Cure to Young Thug to Noizu. He also has a remarkable musical upbringing. As the son of hip-hop pioneer and entrepreneur Dr. Dre, rap was the defacto sound in the house. However, Young may have some dance music coded into his musical DNA as well. He says, “My pops told me he was working on dance music at the very beginning. He was making house in the very beginning. I was like, Wait, what? Wow. So he's done it all, like two times over.”

When your father is an icon, there’s much to learn. Young's father has been an inspiration not just because of his music. He also impressed on Young important lessons in how to move about the world.

“I've learned so much from the guy. And it's been massively inspiring to watch someone with such a fine-tuned sense of detail. There's always that element of trying to just be 100% authentic. And trying to just think outside the box, not really be trapped in any way.”

His father encouraged him to be confident in his aspirations. Young says that his only expectation was that whatever it was he chose he should, "Go for it, and just give it your all. Be the best you can be, for real."

Young realized his dream at one of the most iconic moments in dance music history. In 2006 he witnessed the unveiling of Daft Punk’s Pyramid. He was already a fan of dance music but this was when he recognized that dance music was his future.

“Watching that happen completely catapulted me to the point of wanting to commit to it. I think that was the first time where I felt so connected. Their sound and the energy was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. You know, I felt like, up to that point, nothing had ever grabbed me like that.” 

Beyond the visceral experience, it was a spiritual awakening. “There are lightbulb moments where you kind of see yourself in the future. Then you stick to that goal and never stop and essentially, for me seeing Daft was that moment.”

Shortly after Coachella, Tyler immersed himself in DJ culture. However, resources for fledgling DJs were limited in 2006. But even the most illustrious careers emerge from humble beginnings, and a little bit of ingenuity. “I wanted to go home and start DJing but acquiring the gear wasn't as prevalent in that moment. My friends would come over to my crib, we'd sit in my room and we would just practice DJing on the [laptop] trackpad on Traktor. Just trying to teach each other how to get a clean transition.” 

He eventually got a proper DJ setup and by the time he moved to San Francisco for college, he was ready to destroy dancefloors. “I was still underage at that point. And with no fake ID, it was kind of hard to get into 21 plus spots out there. [It] didn't really stop us from fucking rocking it.” 

He stuck to college parties and undergrounds but he values every moment of those early experiences. "House music was always a goal. I was doing little things towards it the whole way. And now that I'm here, it's funny how everything comes together. And you realize that all those years of going at something you felt was in your heart ends up working out."

Tyler’s tastes shift with his moods. He draws from broad influences that he hopes steep their way into his music. He says, “I'm all over the spectrum and I need it. I'm definitely an emotional being. So at points I need more of that sad and then other points I need the four to the floor club vibe, that energy. But I'm always balancing out different kinds of energy because my emotions are complex. And I think that helps my creativity because I'll get ideas and [open] new mental pathways when I'm listening to something like The Cure."

His ability to translate emotion into music is on full display in his debut single “My Time.” It features the glorious vocals of Hayley May amidst a sweltering bassline and a bed of classic piano riffs. Equally built for radio and the club, it’s a culmination of years of hard work. And a nod to his father’s lessons in proper execution. 

The song was passed on to Young from Jon Kong of Leftwing & Kody after they couldn’t find a proper home for it. “They were willing to pass it to me if I wanted to work on it. And I couldn't believe it. This is just a massive opportunity. And I have just been so thankful for that. It's been unbelievable.” 

May and Young were never in the studio together, yet he captured the spirit of her vocals masterfully. It's a record that sparks joy, in a time when we could all use it.  And, he says it’s been an unexpected stepping stone, “What's crazy is that this wasn't initially my plan [or] direction for my initial debut. But the way the cards kind of came together, It worked out beautifully.” 

“My Time” is a song he says, “Anyone of all ages could just dig.” Young wants to occupy two spaces at once. He’s equally focused on dance music for the masses and filthy club bangers for the ravers. 

He’s proven he can make great dance music with mass appeal. And he's ready to take on dancefloors that are primed for peak hour beats. “I think the direction is [to] smash this club out. With clubs back open, I thought we could start pushing a little bit more edgy and go a little bit more tough. That's always been the forefront of my heart, the club. And some of that's gonna bang for sure.”

Korolova, real name Olga Korolova, finally feels connected to her music. Her lilting and emotional melodic techno represents a full-circle moment for the Ukrainian DJ and producer. 



She first fell in love with dance music while watching Gabriel & Dresden in 2003. And while she's spent much of her career in EDM, she's held her connection to the soaring melodies she heard that night close to her heart. She's spent the last year reinventing herself, and she feels at home at last.

“I’ve never been a very big fan of pop music,” she says. “Before I listened to Korn and very hard music. Or British rock and old music, like Bob Marley.” But when she watched Gabriel & Dresden perform something woke up in her. She knew that she wanted to give others the same feeling.

Korolova immediately took to DJing. And she pivoted from a degree in mathematics to music, much to the dismay of her parents. Although her mom encouraged her to take music lessons as a child - a tradition she's continued with her daughter -  her parents weren’t convinced DJing was a realistic career choice. “My parents started thinking that maybe you need to change your way and try to something else. They were worried. You can be a good music player, but my parents were not thinking about this as a good profession.”

She eventually found herself traveling the world as an EDM DJ under the name DJ Da Queen. She was living her dream of being on stage, but her heart was somewhere else. She says, “I was not very big fan of that style, actually. For me it’s too much hard bass. It’s why I wasn’t a very good producer of this music. I’m not feeling that.” 

Korolova was grateful for her success, yet she struggled to find her voice. That changed when she traveled to Mexico to perform at Daydream Festival in 2017. She was booked to play the main stage with Yellow Claw, Oliver Heldens, Afrojack, and a host of other massive EDM heavy hitters. After her set, she ended up at a stage that resonated with her deeply. As she marveled at music from Claptone, Boris Breja, and Kölsch she turned to her manager (husband) and said, “Andrew, we need we need to do something in this way for sure. This is music for my soul.”

She started to work on techno as a side project in 2016 and still accepted gigs to play EDM. “Every time I wanted to start something my company would say ‘Olga you don’t have time, you have a lot of gigs.’ It was very hard for me.” That is until COVID hit. With no bookings, nothing was holding her back anymore. “It was time for me! I was very happy that we had time for my project Korolova. And it’s worked!” 

Korolova has found her heart song. Her keen attention to melody is something she’s wanted to share since she first heard Gabriel & Dresden nearly 20 years ago. She’s now remixed Tube & Berger, released a collaboration with Jan Blomqvist on Get Physical, and has an upcoming project on Tiesto’s Musical Freedom. It’s a remarkable moment for her because Tiesto’s trance classics are such an integral part of her musical DNA.

She’s leaned into the beauty of her music with a series of YouTube videos recorded against breathtaking backdrops. They’re almost like personal Cercle events complete with drone shots of fantastic locations like Love Valley in Turkey, an ancient castle in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine, and the Farsh Café on the cliffs of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

It’s a fascinating way to connect with her audience. And while the experience has been gratifying she admits, “It's a little bit sometimes complicated. Especially one of them in [a] frozen lake.” She imagined recording from a place many could only dream of. Especially her family in Portugal who has never seen snow before. However, she says, “It was very hard because it was minus 10. Can you imagine?” And her set from Egypt was another extreme, “And the last set was another situation, it was plus 35. It was so so hot!” 

This intimate way of connecting with her audience is a nod to her preference for small rooms. Festival stages are too detached. She says, “I love to see the people. I love to see that reaction. They bring me energy and I'm bringing it back.” She goes on to explain how she needs to feel the warm energy of a smaller venue. “I prefer [a] small place when you can touch, you can feel each other.” 

With her sound solidified, and her direction sure Korolova is eager to take on the future with a renewed sense of purpose. She finally feels heard, “My whole team, now understands what I tried to tell them [for] 10 years. It’s not just [a] project. It’s music.”

What genre would you describe your music as?

Uplifting house music, minimal deep-tech, old school house, and tech house.

Where are you from?

Ibiza, Spain, the best place on earth!

What age did you start DJing?

15

If you weren't a DJ, what would you be doing for your career?

Property development, hotels, or anything related to tourism and lifestyle.

What's your favorite artist/style of music outside of dance music?

I love all music, but I do love hip-hop and funk. My fav artist at the moment is Drake.

Manu Gonzalez is one of Ibiza’s most successful hometown heroes. He’s achieved a kind of international success that’s rare for DJs from Isla Blanca. His groove-laden house effortlessly spans the breadth of the genre. And his skills as a selector became clear long before he laid down his first club set. 

Manu is the self-described black sheep of his family. And while his parents hoped for a university career and the stability his siblings chose. He was always interested in music. So, his father called in a favor from a friend and got Manu a job at Discos Delta, the legendary record shop in Ibiza where Sven Vath, Roger Sanchez, and Pete Tong bought their wax.

“I wasn't even supposed to be working there. I was young, only 15 and in Ibiza you can work when you are 16. I had to get a special paper saying it was okay for me to work,” he says. Surrounded by the best DJs in the world at such a young age, he began to make the connections that would eventually put him on a path towards global success.

Discos Delta was a pivotal part of Manu’s musical development. It was the most important record shop on the island. Among its legendary clientele was the “Father of Balaeric Beat,” Cesar De Melero who invited a young Manu to Amnesia. 

Imagine for a moment being invited to your first club night, by a pioneer of Spanish house music, to stand in the DJ booth of one of the most well-known clubs in the world. 

“I was only 16, but if you have permission from an older person like a parent you can go the club. So I told my bigger brother.” When he arrived at Amnesia that night he handed the bouncer a handwritten note from Malero. “Of course we got there and it was rammed. And I just stood there with my pinapple juice and watched him play.” As he looked out over Amnesia terrace he imagined himself as the master of the dance floor.

Before digital music was the standard, record shops held all the cards for a successful release. Joan Tur recognized that Manu had a keen ear and gave him his first shot as a curator.

“We used to get calls from the labels and they would play their songs over the phone. We would tell them how many of each record we wanted. I got the chance to select some of the records for the store.” He explains. “And when the big guys would come in, I would recommend them. And these bigger DJs who would come in started to notice ‘he's got great taste and he's so young’ "

Meanwhile, he spent every waking moment honing his craft. He bought CDJs with his salary. He used the decks that were in the store. As he says, “Anytime I wasn't working, I was beat matching.”

It was a transitionary period for DJ culture. Digital had begun to replace vinyl. And record stores were no longer the default distributors of dance music. Manu recalls, “When MP3s started to get big the record store owner told me ‘I can't afford to keep you here anymore.’ I had already started getting gigs here and there but nothing big.” 

On a friend's advice, he took off to the mainland. He remembers, “A friend of mine told me I should go to Madrid to learn production. So I did three years there learning. And it was the best thing I ever did. Because my manager Danny has always told me, that you can make good money DJing, but to be global you need to do it all.” 

He’s since logged thousands of frequent flyer miles between Europe, Asia, and South America. In 2019 he played a blinding 150 shows. Still, many of his most memorable moments are tied to the island. Even the short conversation that led to his 2014 remix of “Restless” by Hot Since 82 and Alex Mills.

Manu had just finished opening up for him and was surprised when he was asked to do a remix for Knee Deep In Sound, Hot Since 82’s label. Manu was honored, but lots of things are said at the club. So he thought nothing of it. Until he received an email the following week to confirm the offer.

Despite Ibiza’s status as a global dance music mecca, DJs who live on the island don’t always see the kind of success that Manu has. He believes that's due in large part to the relationships he's spent years building. And the encouragement of his manager Danny Whittle.

Whittle is another legendary figure in dance music. He's been a staple of the club scene on the island since the mid-90s. And he's had a hand in many of the famous clubs on becoming what they are today.

Manu says that Danny has been a significant part of his success, "I could have easily been one of the DJs who only played in bars for my whole life. But Danny my manager always said we need to play the long game." Whittle wouldn't even book Manu at his own bar. He goes on, "And he advised me on things to take and things not to. Sometimes he would tell me that a gig wasn't good enough for me. The goal was always to be global."

And even given his immense, he feels that there is more work to be done. He remembers an interview he did in 2014 with Ibiza Spotlight. It was in the lead up to one of his favorite nights as a DJ, playing International Music Summit on Dalt Vila. 

 “When I signed with Danny they told me 'you are going to be the first ever bicenca who will play at IMS. You have shows at Ushuaia. You are signed with Danny Whittle, one of the pioneers of electronic music what's your dream?' And my dream was to work many years. To be together with Danny. And to break through in the American market.”

It seemed that he was on his way to that before COVID kneecapped the industry. Yet, Manu remains hopeful that this time without gigs has taught us all something important. He's learned that nothing is guaranteed. And that going forward we have an important duty to keep the global dance music scene thriving without ego, “We are all here for the same reasons. We need to really help eachother. We need to love each other. We really need to be nice people and help each other grow. I really think it’s going to bring the best out of each of us. I think that once this is over things are going to be even better.”

Many fans of Martin Ikin discovered him in 2019 when he released the massively sought-after “Hooked” with Fisher’s Catch and Release label. Although his career has recently taken off to new heights, Martin is a true veteran of the house and techno scene.



Born in Liverpool, but growing up in London, Martin’s career began in the early 90’s. “I had my first release in 1991, I was 17. I was DJing a little bit then but not a lot. At the time it was the rave scene, lots of warehouse parties. My friends were putting on parties and I would play for their shows. Straight from the bedrooms to the warehouse raves.” Coming up in that era, Martin was inspired to DJ by the likes of Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson.

It took Martin many years to turn the hobby into a profession. “It was a lot different then, it wasn’t a thing to be a DJ. Back then it was not a career choice. I was still doing my apprenticeship while being a DJ on the side. It was harder to buy equipment, there wasn’t loads of choice. I had one Technics turn-table and a Sony belt table from my dad which I broke. I’d use all that and record on my dad’s Sony tape deck and just pass it out. There were no CDs or USBs.” Not only was the industry and scene more underground at the time, but Martin was also busy exploring another side of live music. His favorite music to listen to outside of house/techno is Jazz. “I play and study jazz piano. I have an old 1968 record player. I play all my old records on that. Oscar Peterson is my favorite jazz pianist. Herbie Hancock when he was doing Jazz on Blue Note. It’s just my love of piano. I taught myself how to play in my early teens. I took some classes and studied it. It’s the ultimate way to play piano and it stuck with me forever.” 

With this knowledge, it’s easy to see the influence jazz has had on Martin over the years. Many of his greatest tracks are tinged with beautifully constructed piano melodies and breaks, helping to bring an uplifting and soulful vibe to his music. That being said, Martin is a fan of big energy whenever possible. When it comes to his setting of choice for performance, the answer was easy. “Festival. They’ve all got pros but it’s gotta be festival. It’s normally daytime and it’s sunny, the crowd is massive and always ready for a party.” Furthermore, when discussing the perfect lineup at a club, or his preferred brand of party, high energy seems to fuel the answer. “I’d have to put all my mates on there… definitely fish, Chris Lake, Noizu, Biscuit, all my pals… I’d have to play BTB with Fisher cause he’s just mental… I’d also love to be on an elrow party. That’s the one that sticks out. Their production is so unique and it’s just an amazing vibe.”

Although we now have a picture of what the Martin Ikin sound is, he has gone through a variety of phases in his career. Some of his early releases such as his “Rage EP” and “I Know EP” have a distinct bass house feel, tinged with breakbeat sounds and a clear influence of the 90’s sound in the UK. “I’ve always been influenced by the early stuff that I started out doing. 1991 was when I started, the rave era. That moved forward into Drum n Bass and even a few years after that I started making Garage. All my music is influenced by the stuff from the early '90s.”

Martin continued to release music consistently, although it was not until 2018 when he seemed to find his modern sound and begin to cement himself as one to watch. Releasing the “Pulse Wave EP” in 2018, Martin’s sound switched to a more tech-house sound, with four on-the-floor beats and snippy vocal samples.

He followed this with a release on the legendary Toolroom Records, and then banged out two of his most famous tracks to date, “No No” and “Hooked.” 

For those who didn’t know Martin before, they certainly did now. For Martin though, he had a hard time looking at it like that. Internally, he didn’t even know that he had created a hit. “When I’m making tracks I always make something that I would want to play. If I’m working on an idea, would I play this, if the answer is no then I don’t go any further with it. For me I always think my tracks are good. It might sound a bit big headed but it’s just the truth. ‘No No’ and ‘Hooked’ to me weren’t any different. I just thought they were good tracks. The weird thing is, sometimes it takes people a while to latch on to what you’re doing. I’d sent both of them out to a lot of people and no one was interested. It made me doubt myself and feel like they weren’t good. Thank god for Lee Foss and Fisher cause they took them and gave me their platform and helped elevate me. You can be making good music but if it doesn’t get into the right hands it can be tough to take it to the next level.” 

Martin’s breakthrough is a story of decades of experience and hard work. Some artists find themselves in the spotlight after a year of strong releases, some take longer. For Martin, he had his share of moments of doubt but his perseverance is an example of how staying true to oneself can and will pay off. “It feels personally validating. You’ve been sending your music out to a lot of people and they either don’t respond or don’t give positive feedback. When you get that sign-off, it shows you you can do it and it opens the door on your career… There were loads of moments when I doubted myself. I’ve never felt like I’m gonna stop doing it but there’s many times where I’ve felt like it’s not gonna happen but I’m gonna carry on anyways. ‘Kids if you get those moments, carry on! You never know what’s around the corner.” 

Having big-name artists open the door for your career is in reality, just the start. For Martin now, he is focused on maintaining a consistent output of quality music while remaining fresh and always experimenting with his sound and production style. “I try not to ever make the same record twice. I love synthesizers, that’s one of my favorite things is making noises and sounds and finding something new to put in the next track that will make it sound different.” A self-professed gear head, Martin’s synth collection is ever-expanding as he seeks to truly create a brand new sound. “Sometimes it might be a vocal sample, that’s the kick-starter, having a little clip and build around that. A lot of the time it’ll be making a sound on one of the synths. I made the sound for ‘No No’ five years ago. When I made a new synth sound on my Jupiter synth, I knew it would go with the vocal and so I built the track after that. Sometimes it’s a bass sound from the Pro-1 or the Moog. The Moog is my baby, from 1972. The 303, Jupiter, Juno and Korg, are all also personal favorites.”

When Martin envisions the future of his live performance, one word comes to mind first. “Lasers. Going back to the old rave days of the '90s. Big green ones and some nice visuals behind me.” He hopes to bring a taste of the early days of rave culture to the modern world of high-powered visual spectacles that now are an industry standard in any electronic music show. Martin would like to eventually play at Coachella and Burning Man, although in the near future, he is excited about making his NYC festival debut at the iconic Electric Zoo festival. The veteran DJ and producer has many years of greatness ahead of him, and we look forward to catching him live in the states soon.

For David Wheatcroft (AKA Wheats), electronic music and a passion for DJing was introduced to him in his early childhood. Despite growing up in Portsmouth, a city without a vibrant house and techno scene, David’s father helped show him the ways of the world of electronic music. “He was a huge fan of Carl Cox and Frankie Knuckles, he used to show me that kind of music as a child and it inspired me to take it up. I used to peer over the decks when i was 6 years old and watch my dad play… I decided to pursue it myself by the time I was about 13.” 



A home education in house and techno, and close proximity to Southampton and Brighton gave David all the tools he needed to launch his career. That being said, the early days were not to be taken too seriously. “I was 14 and my dad snuck me into a nightclub called Sky bar in Portsmouth. I took my laptop and old CDJs in there, no one turned up whatsoever, I was just playing for my dad and his friends.” Despite humble beginnings, David has since built up a career that now seems him as one of the hottest names coming out of the UK with a distinct, hypnotic sound. Although he has found success, he remains driven to continue growing and achieve new goals with his career.

David’s inspiration comes from a variety of avenues. Although he has played some of the biggest stages in the world, there still remain untouched venues. “After watching Jamie Jones smash it [DC-10 in Ibiza] the last few years, it would be a dream to play there.” In line with this, David notes a strong preference for the type of performance he prefers. “In an intimate club, I feel you have more control over the crowd. At a festival, the crowd is a diverse spread of people. At the club, you can create connections and control the floor in a different way.” 

The first official Wheats release came in 2014 with his “Knee Deep EP.” He followed this with a handful of releases over the next few years, waiting until 2017 to start releasing with regularity. 

In the beginning, David was still finding his sound and working on his identity as an artist. “When I first started, I didn’t have a direction. Even up to 3 years ago I was still figuring it out. I felt a little bit lost, I hadn’t been out enough and explored enough music to understand where I wanted to go with it. Now I know I want to go down this path of hypnotic trippy sort of style. When I’m on the dancefloor [as a fan] I want to be hypnotized, so that’s how I want to play.”

Although he now knows his sonic direction, the progression was a slow roll. David’s Al Shrill EP (released in 2017) marked the first real development in his style. The EP came out on Amplified Records, a local brand for which David was a local resident with in Portsmouth. “They shined the light on me first and took me under their wing. That motivated me to have [someone else] sign off on my talent. It is a small brand but had great connections. It made me feel like I wanted to keep going forward and smashing out records.”

Around the same time as the 'Al Shrill' EP, David connected with Toolroom Records and proceeded to make the label his home for the near future. “I met Toolroom in Brighton and handed in a demo which won their demo of the week competition. Later in the year, their sub-company, Engine Rooms, asked to manage me.” The recognition of David’s talent continued soon after with a major sign-off from American house legend, Kerri Chandler. “I met Kerri at a festival in 2017 with my dad. My dad got chatting to him about some old vinyl records. Kerri asked me to hand him some music. That day he opened his set with one of my tracks and it blew my mind. He was the first major artist to play a song of mine. We’ve kept in touch and we even have the same booking agent now. It’s just crazy to me.” 

After a few years on Toolroom, David honed in on crafting a true identity for himself sonically. 2019 saw him head into a deeper and darker realm of house music. The influences causing this had a wide range. “Whenever I’m in the car I always have a radio station playing called BBC Radio 2. They don’t play anything top 40, just a widespread of music from older eras or current stuff that’s not popular. You can generate ideas for your own records by having inspiration from the music you might not normally listen to.” David notes that listening to a broad spectrum of music is key to development, but he can also point to a specific moment that changed everything for him. “I went to We Are FSTVL with some friends, we watched Jamie Jones BTB Marco Carolo BTB The Martinez Brothers and it just blew my mind. It changed the direction I wanted to go in musically and it opened a door for me mentally.”

Jamie Jones has long been one of David’s biggest influences and idols. The two first met in April of 2017 and since then David has worked hard to foster the relationship to the point that he is now releasing music with Jamie Jones. “I got friendly with a club owner in Southampton. Ryan [the owner] invited me to the green room to meet Jamie. When I met him I handed him a USB. Ever since then I kept sending him music and in the last year or two he’s finally started asking me to sign music with him, as well as inviting me to play at his Paradise shows.” The first result was a hypnotizing slow roller EP called “In Your Head.” 

Going forward, David has seen doors open and opportunities abound as his profile continues to grow. “Recently I was in the studio for about two weeks with Latmun, we wrote 5 or 6 tracks. We just started sending them out for feedback… Recently I’ve been working with quite a few vocalists, a young woman named Medusa who just helped me on my recent Hottrax EP [Jamie Jones’s label], she does awesome trippy vocals.” For David, the process of music production can vary greatly. Sometimes he hears a sample or sound and decides to build a record around that one sound, other times he simply sits down and in the studio and creates from scratch. “There are great samples from all over the place… recently I’ve been doing edits of old 80s tracks and turning them into modern house tracks.”

The future is bright for David and he plans to dream big when it comes to the next phase of his career. David is currently working on a project called Box Red where he is putting out edits on Bandcamp and doing limited edition vinyl releases. He hopes to build out the project into a real label as it grows. David is also focused on eventually entering a curation role, building out his own party brand to help push the sound he loves. There will be a handful of Wheats releases in the near future, as well as a USA tour in the fall in which he will be co-headlining with Latmun.

For many, Malta conjures images of crystal clear blue waters, historic castles, and an incredibly diverse culture given its proximity to both Sicily and Northern Africa. For Edward Carabot, Malta is home and a bastion of funky house parties. Edward, also known as Edd, is a rising DJ/producer from Malta. He broke onto the local scene with an infectious upbeat energy and production style that exemplifies the Maltese sound. Since Covid-19, Edd has focused all his energy on music production, the results being an incredible EP that is out now on Patrick Topping’s Trick Label. 

Growing up in Malta, Edd was surrounded by music from an early age. At age 7 he started playing guitar, eventually teaching himself the piano and drums. Over time he began to produce using Fruity Loops. “Originally I made hip-hop and classic EDM tracks… I’d just post my beats on SoundCloud and would be happy about getting 10 listens.”

For Edd, producing came before Djing. He started to learn by using his friends' equipment and playing with them until eventually, his father bought him a Traktor S2. “My mom didn’t let me play parties so I just did it at home and continued to learn and make friends who spun. Eventually, my friends helped me get some gigs at clubs. Once I did that I started to learn more about house music and producing house music, and I completely fell in love with the scene.” 

The club scene in Malta has developed and grown tremendously over the last few years. The clubs became more professional, the parties grew bigger, and the talent of the DJs has risen. Edd broke through by networking at every show, and taking any gig he was offered. He was bouncing around, playing any club that would have him until one of his sets was heard by a promoter at Uno Malta, one of the biggest venues in the country. 

Edd was invited to play at Uno and was told if it went well, he could potentially secure a residency. “After he told me he was going to pay me for it, I’d never been paid before… I told him I would literally pay you to let me play.” For Edd, success has nothing to do with money, he simply loves the music. That passion translates onto the decks, as Edd’s skill for performing was quickly recognized and allowed him to secure a residency at Uno, playing the club's legendary Distrikt party. 

“It’s a challenging place to play as a resident because you’re always trying to raise the bar from your performance last week, as well as some healthy competition with other residents.” The sound in Malta skews more towards disco and vocal house tracks, although for Edd he hopes to help build out the tech-house influence in Malta. Despite his local success, Edd has bigger dreams. Traveling to Amsterdam Dance Event was an inspiration, seeing so many world-class DJs in the same place gives Edd the drive to continue to grow and learn. He hopes that his new music and continued success will one day land him an international residency in a place like Ibiza which he refers to as the gold standard. 

In order to achieve these goals, one must consistently release high-quality music. As with everyone else, Edd’s life changed during the global shutdown. He was used to spending most of his free time prepping his sets for his residency and getting into the studio to produce simply when he had extra time on his hands. With no shows to play, he locked in on producing music. Furthermore, the influences he experienced changed. “I haven’t been influenced by the Malta sound in a while because of the lack of shows. Instead, I’m finding that clips of my favorite DJs spinning are pushing me to produce different and challenging sounds.” 

The sound of Malta comes through in many of Edd’s previous releases. To Edd, his track “Sola” is the perfect representation of Malta. 

However, quarantine has allowed him to try new things which are reflected beautifully in the Trick EP. Although his signature sound comes through, the EP has a dancefloor-ready feel with four on-the-floor beats and heavier basslines. The extra time in the studio shows, as the EP marks a level of experimentation and willingness to try new things. We can only hope that Edd continues the hot streak and that other big-name artists give him their stamp of approval as he grows and develops as an artist. Edd is truly one to watch, and the electronic scene in Malta will continue to rise with him.

Artist Interviews