This weeks interview & mix comes from Applebottom
Selector AfterDark – Applebottom by The Selector on Mixcloud
Introduce yourself and tell us about the part of the UK you’re from?
Yo so i’m Joe, Applebottom. I’ve lived in Brixton, London, most of my life. At around 14 I moved to a lovely place called Stroud fairly near Bristol, in Gloucestershire. So have spent my life in two very different parts of the UK.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’ve been working on recently?
I’ve been polishing off the next EPs/tracks we will be releasing over the course of the year. Making sure each release is a little bit different from what is out there already, which I hope will be obvious when they are released. Very excited to share all the new tracks with you lovely people, cant wait to see what the reaction will be to the new sounds (there’s a cheeky new one at the end of the mix).
And can you talk us through the mix?
The mix is a short representation of new tracks I love from young British artists. It’s supposed to give a sense of community I guess as well, in the sense that as the dance scene develops, my generation of producers should be bouncing ideas and influences off each other. In a way developing a new scene and bringing together the future of dance music (without sounding too pretentious) we have the potential to really make a difference in our scene and the artists and tracks I have chosen for this mix, showcase that potential really well.
Nice, give us a taste of some of your favourite British artists at the moment?
So I opened with an up and coming artist called Truska, he is a massively forwarding thinking fella, draws influences from some of the Swamp 81 guys. But he gives it his own mad twist. Its the not the normal 4 to the floor beats you would be hearing in the club, and that’s why its special, its one of those tracks you’d remember the most from a night out. I think this year could be really good for him, one to watch for sure. I also put in some new tracks from an already well-established act DE$IGNATED. The songs I put in aren’t really what most of their fans would expect from them. They have been developing their sound for a while now, and some of the tracks are again just so unique and unexpected. When their unreleased stuff that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing comes out this year, it will be a nice surprise for everybody. Another guy I included is someone I’ve discovered recently called Myles James. His production is just great. Tracks are so full of energy, techy dark and the structures just take you on a proper journey, and have attitude. I can’t say too much about what he is up to this year but again I’ve heard some of the Unreleased tracks that I really hope he will share with the world, and they are really something. If there were one other artists I’d want to suggest it would be Kalyde. His sound is raw and energetic and full of life. He is someone ill be working with very closely this year as well.
Cool, tell us about some of your British DJ Heroes and influences in general?
For me most of my interest in DJing and production came from the early Dubstep scene. Guys like Peverelist, and a lot of the Punch Drunk fellas from Bristol, really inspired me. Then of course people like Mount Kimbie came along and their bizarre sounds again changed a lot of my preferences for music. After them the Night Slugs crew was possibly the biggest influence on me. They incorporated a lot of the underground sounds bouncing around the clubs of London at the time, and really showed me you can adopt a truly unique sound that is directly derived from well-established genres. At the moment however the British DJ who I think is just wonderful is Eats Everything, his sets kind of encapsulate what I really love about DJing and that is diversity in sounds and selections, as well as making it just fun and entertaining for your audience.
And what’s on the cards in the immediate future?
Release wise we will have one more EP out before the summer, along with a remix in the next few months. Hopefully people will be pleasantly surprised by the different style I’ve approached both with. Have a couple of very exciting studio sessions booked in with artists and vocalists, which will hopefully produce something fantastical. Other than that its just loads of shows and dates, in some amazing places I can’t wait to do!
And finally, where is the best place in the world you have DJ’d and why?
Tough call…honestly I wouldn’t be able to pick a number one, there’s been so many amazing gigs in different places over the last few years. But for energy and crowd response it’s actually got to be Dublin. Every time i do a gig there the crowd is great, just mad energy. If not there possibly Belgium, always up for a party.