Introduce yourself and tell us about the part of the UK you’re from?
I am Carly Wilford, I’m a DJ and Presenter and head up SISTER Collective. I spend most of my life living between London and Northamptonshire and I travel a lot too.
Tell us about some of your British DJ heroes?
There really are so many. I am a huge bass music fan so massively respect the Croydon crew and everything that they created. Artwork, Benga, Skream, Sargent Pokes, Plastician and so many others around that time shaped the scene as we know it.
What have you been working on recently?
SISTER Collective is my main focus right now. It started as an independent radio show but has now become a bass music collective. We work super hard to bring through more girls within bass music, we put on balanced line ups and stream new music that we discover as well. If you haven’t heard the radio show yet, you can listen back to our past episodes here.
Tell us about the mix, how did you put it together, what did you want to represent?
I took a lot of time over this mix as I wanted to highlight some of the new artists that I am backing from labels that I love, there are also some unsigned artists in there too. A lot of my sets are cross genre so this mix is representative of that. It’s firmly rooted in the UK but stepping over to the US with some of the artists that I am rating state side right now like UNIIQU3 and TT the Artist.
Talk us through the British music featured in this mix? Which British artists are you most excited about?
There is a new producer called L U C Y – every track I hear from her, I love. She’s one to really watch for the future and someone that we back massively on our radio show. Flowdan and Killa P are two of my favourite legendary MC’s so I play tracks that they feature on. I also drop Boy Better Know ‘Athlete’ & Skepta ‘Pure Water’, I have so much respect for the music that they have put our recently and what they have done for not only Grime but independent artists. They have really changed the game.
What is on the cards in the immediate future?
We are spending a lot of time really growing SISTER Collective, curating stages at festivals, putting on events and finding artists that we would like to collaborate with more. I am speaking at IMS on 23rd May so really excited to head to Ibiza and then I come back and we are putting on an event in London on 27th May.
Where is the best place in the world you have DJ’d and why?
We toured with OWSLA last year and played some incredible gigs. Amsterdam, Cologne and London were all very memorable. I have so much respect for them as a label and what they have created. Their fan base is super loyal and they have really strong values. I played after Habstrakt at Heinz Gaul and the atmosphere was like something I have never experienced before. People were stood right at the front watching over the decks taking in every single move you made. There was sweat dripping off the ceiling and as we came out, the sun was coming up. Incredible memories.