This week’s interview & mix comes from Hostage.
Introduce yourself and tell us about the part of the UK you’re from?
My name is Alan and nowadays I live up a hill somewhere in rural Scotland where it’s really quite windy!
Can you tell us a bit about what you’ve been working on recently?
I recently put out my first wearable release, a t-shirt with a download code on the label – the artwork on the t-shirt and the tracks are all inspired by 90’s rave.
And can you talk us through the mix?
As always I just picked some of my current favourites, some of which have gone down well in the club, as well as some of my forthcoming new material.
Nice, talk us through the British music featured in this mix? Which British artists are you most excited about?
There’s forthcoming stuff from MJ Cole and Melé in there, a couple of great producers who both have tons of versatility and bags of character in their tracks. Always stand out stuff which pushes the envelope.
Cool, tell us about some of your British DJ Heroes..
Someone slipped me a Carl Cox tape in 1992, which was pretty special. I know it’s a cliché but I really did used to obsessively listen to John Peel on a tiny handheld radio under the duvet when I was a kid and should have been asleep. Annie Mac always entertains and I’m eternally grateful for the life-changing support she showed me and my music early on in my career.
Great and what’s on the cards in the immediate future?
I’m also half of ‘Modini’ with Neil Landstrumm and we’ve been releasing tracks on Dixon Avenue Basement Jams and our last EP was out in December on Hypercolour. We’re working on our live show and have a couple of live gigs coming up soon which I’m both nervous yet looking forward to as it takes it up a level from DJing on my own.
And finally, where is the best place in the world you have performed and why?
I’ve played Glastonbury a couple of times, once was on the massive Arcadia Afterburner. It was both totally frightening and exhilarating and something which I’ll never forget as I never thought I’d be dropping tunes from the head of a giant fire breathing spider to tens of thousands of people.