quote:

Originally posted by PivotTechno To one degree or another, haven't those other styles all influenced what you do play when you DJ? I don't play Jazz or Dub, but they've certainly both influenced what I spin.

Perhaps indirectly, but not to an extent I could list it as an influence. Like the Freestylers mix A Different Story really got me into the b-boy sets where they're throwing everything into a set as long as it was funky and moving through the tracks really quick, but I wouldn't play that kind of set or those kind of tracks. I'd rather go see those DJs out live than any other kind of DJ, but it's not changed my mixing style.

I guess there've been two major mixes that influenced my most. The first was the very first mix compilation I ever bought, Absolute Euphoria mixed by Dave Pearce back in 2002. This was basically a high street trance mix, nothing very credible, but Dave Pearce actually built up a decent set on each disc, starting with slow housey stuff and building up into the glowstick material. There were great inlay notes where he talked about each track and why he'd used them in the mix. Before I'd bought that compilation I had no idea what a DJ did - I was totally discombobulated when I found the music didn't stop between tracks - so this was my first impression of what a DJ did. I think that compilation was very important in instilling the idea that a DJ was supposed to build a set and use different genres.

The other major mix was Sasha's Essential Mix from May '95, which I heard about four years ago when someone posted it here on TA. That was massive not just in influencing my tastes but I basically copied Sasha's mixing style from those days quite heavily. He mixed very different back then to how he did on his compilations or how he does now on Ableton. There are transitions on that mix where he doesn't touch the faders at all - the tracks are perfectly in time and in key and they just play over each other for 1-2 minutes. That's the kind of transition I look for - where the tracks fit together structurally and harmonically. It's very musical, formal mixing, not forcing the transition with EQing or trickery. I have a lot of respect for DJs who can scratch and cut and mash tracks up, but that isn't what I look to do.

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Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/