This weeks interview & mix comes from Wayward
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Selector Afterdark – Wayward by Selector After Dark on Mixcloud
Introduce yourself and tell us about the part of the UK you’re from?
Hello, we’re Wayward, consisting of two average Joes from London town just tryna make a buck. We’re both from North London…Finsbury Park/Hornsey. It’s nice here – we’ve got the best pub in London called the Faltering Fullback and that’s what makes our lives exciting. Catch us perched there watching the World Cup for the next few weeks.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’ve been working on recently?
We’re just about to send our next single off for mastering. It has been a very long process getting this single approved and completed so it’s a massive relief for us to put it out! We’ve also got Basement Jaxx and Kwabs remixes dropping soon and also working towards an EP.
Sounds great, cant wait to hear the new stuff! Can you talk us through the mix?
I suppose we just wanted to reflect the sort of stuff we like to play out. We tend to move between more upfront house stuff to disco but hopefully there’s all sorts of styles in there.
And can you give us a taste of some of the British artists you’ve featured in your mix?
Pretty excited about all of the British artists we’ve put in the mix. It’s nice that we’re able to put some of our friends’ tunes in there, not just cos they’re our mates but because they’re making amazing music. Dan Shake and Catching Flies are both pals and both have a really exciting sound. British music is pretty healthy at the moment from both perspectives, whether it’s up and comers (like Dauwd, Catching Flies etc) or the more established names (Scuba, Caribou) and so hopefully the mix reflects the rich past and present, and the promising future of British music.
Some really strong names in there! Can you tell us about some of your British DJ Heroes and influences in general?
Lawrence: My first experiences with DJing came through listening to a lot of Drum’n’Bass, going out to clubs to see the likes of D Bridge, Alix Perez, Friction and Andy C. Their ability to take you on a journey, and how dynamic their sets were, always stood out for me. These are the guys that first got me into DJing so even though I may not go out to many Drum’n’Bass nights now, I’ll always keep them in mind when thinking about the kind of DJ I want to be. As my music taste has developed, the DJs I look up to have changed slightly. I’m a real fan of selectors who have the ability to jump between various genres, so DJs like Oneman, Jackmaster, Jon K and particularly Gilles Peterson impress me in the way that they are diverse and can read a crowd.
Louis: Likewise Gilles is a big hero for me. I find it mad that my middle-aged parents were getting down to Gilles at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and then a week later I was in a club with 1000+ 18-24 year olds going mad to a 2hr Brazillian set he was doing. He’s crazy passionate about loads of types of music and I think people really respond to that.
For years I’d always DJ’d in my bedroom for fun but as cliché as it sounds, when I saw Scuba play at Cookies in Berlin a few years ago it made me want to take things seriously and so he is definitely up there as far as British DJs go for me.
And what’s on the cards for Wayward in the immediate future?
We’ve just moved into our first studio which we’re really hyped about. It’s nice to have somewhere to go and make music that’s not your bedroom. We’ve also got a single coming out on Black Butter Records which is a massive honour for us. We’re playing Ibiza for the first time next week, which is another box ticked! It’s a really exciting time at the moment.
Very exciting indeed! And finally, where is the best place in the world you have DJ’d and why?
For the last 5 years we’ve been running a club night called Dilation at a venue called Beaverworks in Leeds (where we both studied). We recently threw our last ever party. It’s a bit of an unusual choice picking a grimey old metal works factory in Hunslet, Leeds but we’ve easily had some of the best times DJing at this venue.