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Kaidi Tatham by Dan Medhurst

With a discography that spans jazz, broken beat, hip-hop and soul, Kaidi Tatham's influence on UK music is untold, but often under-appreciated. With his new album, 'Don't Rush The Process', he’s stepping into the spotlight like never before. Sam Walton speaks to him about escaping pigeonholes, learning by ear, and looking for the ‘ouch’ moment in music

On a Saturday lunchtime somewhere in Belfast, Kaidi Tatham — DJ, producer, multi-instrumentalist and one-time member of influential production crew Bugz In The Attic —...

Phelimuncasi

South African gqom trio Phelimuncasi have risen to fame with their politically charged vocals and innovative beats. Makua Adimora catches up with them to learn about their new album ‘Ama Gogela’, their creative process, and why their music is here to entertain and agitate in equal measure

“‘Phelimuncasi’ means ‘you drink whatever you drink with a straw and you finish it’,” Khera, one-third of the South African gqom trio, Phelimuncasi, tells DJ...

Two pictures side by side. On the left, the Eldorado Auto Skooter sound system. On the right, some of its bumper cars

An iconic 1970s soundsystem lives on inside a Coney Island attraction. Vivian Host catches up with sound engineer Dan Prosseda about the magical speaker stacks of the Eldorado Auto Skooter bumper cars

Most of New York’s revered club soundsystems of the ‘70s and ‘80s are long gone, as are many of the men who built them. Richard...

NQ x Abbey Road Studios

Through its nurturing of new superstars like Aitch and other young local talent, Manchester’s NQ has become a veritable institution of modern UK rap, helping elevate regional artists across the UK. James Keith meets members of the crew during a recent takeover at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, and heads to NQ’s northern base to discover the secret to its success

NQ is reshaping Manchester’s musical identity one mega-hit at a time. An entertainment company consisting of a record label, management and publishing house based in...

A shot from AUDRA festival in Kaunas featuring Caterina Barbieri's synth performance in a tower-like hall

From AUDRA festival in Kaunas, Lithuania, Martin Guttridge-Hewitt reports on a long-standing, tight-knit and thriving electronic music scene often overlooked by outsiders

Pergalė is a sprawling industrial complex in a forgotten corner of central Kaunas, Lithuania’s modest-sized second city. A gated entrance obscures interior yards from view...

JakoJako in a blue top and green shirt in Berlin

Berlin-based modular obsessive and Berghain resident, JakoJako, shows Niamh O'Connor around her hardware-heavy studio, the famous local synthesiser store where she works, and her favourite place to grab a bowl of pho

Sibel Koçer comes bounding down Kottbusser Tor street when DJ Mag meets her on an overcast morning in July. She’s here to take us inside...

Selections: SPFDJ

In this series, we invite DJs, producers and label heads to dig into their digital crates and share the contents of their collections. This week, SPFDJ spotlights hard, fast and hallucinatory techno

SPFDJ’S ascent in the years prior to the Covid pandemic was as hard and fast as the music she plays. From becoming a Herrensauna resident...

On Cue: Warlock

South London-based Warlock has been DJing since 1989, and has watched the UK scene evolve through countless phases. He’s taken that history with him, but as Ben Hindle discovers, he is driven by a dedication to the new. His On Cue mix goes from 130 - 210 BPM, and demonstrates his genre-mashing sound

Warlock. The word conjures images of hooded figures casting dark magic. In dance music circles, it refers to a man who wields similarly arcane power...

Neurodiversity in dance music lead feature image

Neurodiversity refers to a wide range of neurological conditions including ADHD, autism, dyslexia and Tourette syndrome. After being diagnosed with ADHD and suspected autism earlier this year, DJ Mag writer Harold Heath began to wonder: is there a particularly high number of neurodivergent people in the scene? Here, he embarks on a personal journey to try and understand the relationship between neurodiversity and dance music, and its wider relevance within the scene

I’m Harold Heath: music writer, former small-time DJ/producer, and life-long club culture fanatic. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with ADHD and suspected autism. Why...

Get To Know: Charisse C

Get acquainted with Charisse C, the Southern Africa-born, UK-raised DJ embracing amapiano's unifying power

Southern Africa-born and UK-raised, Charisse C has been collecting the old and new sounds of her Zimbabwean and South African heritage for a while now...

Picture of Arielle Free wearing sunglasses and a stripey top

DJ Mag Ibiza catches up with Arielle Free to discuss her debut residency on the White Isle, and her perfect weekend on the island

BBC Radio 1 DJ Arielle Free has stepped up to the main stage this summer with her first ever island residency at David Guetta’s Future...

Reinier Zonneveld: live and direct

Before headlining international festivals with his immense live techno sets, Reinier Zonneveld cut his teeth on the Dutch underground rave circuit. Megan Venzin catches up with the artist to learn about his approach to performance, and why his fans can always expect the unexpected

It’s been a while since Reinier Zonneveld had to outsmart the cops. Nowadays, when the Dutch producer arrives at an event, it’s because he’s guaranteed...

Bemz by Andy Lowe

Sent to live in a tiny town on the west coast of Scotland in his teens, Bemz took up music to reconnect with what he’d lost. Over a decade later, he’s cementing a legacy for himself, his family and the Scottish rap community

Everything Bemz does is driven by one thought: “For every pound I spend on music, I take that away from my daughter’s mouth. So I...

Sudan Archives in a pink fluffy bra top with pink ponytails, by ALLY GREEN & EDWIG HENSON

A violinist, beat maker and vocalist with a talent for humorous yet heartfelt lyricism, Sudan Archives new album ‘Natural Brown Prom Queen’ is out now on Stones Throw. She speaks to Christine Ochefu about her open-book writing style and her determination to follow her own path

Brittany Parks, the artist known as Sudan Archives, is particularly straight-talking. Donning a purple trapper hat and grin revealing a mouth full of silver braces...

Billy Nasty shot by Carl Loben

A stalwart of the UK’s dance music community for over 30 years, DJ Billy Nasty was a pioneer of '90s progressive house before launching his techno and electro labels, Tortured and Electrix. A true vinyl devotee, he now runs the Vinyl Curtain record shop in Brighton. Harold Heath meets him in his home town to talk mix CDs, underground dance music history, running labels and the enduring importance of vinyl DJing

It’s fitting that DJ Mag meets acid house original, world-class DJ, UK techno trailblazer, mix-CD pioneer and vinyl-devotee Billy Nasty in his record shop The...

Timmy Trumpet: brass tacks

An accomplished jazz musician, Timmy Trumpet made the switch to electronic music some years ago and has quickly become one of the world’s biggest DJs, famed for his ecstatic energy, collaborative mindset and improvised trumpeting on stage. DJ Mag speaks to Timmy — and his wife Anett — about his journey so far

“My friends and I used to make fun of dance music when I first got into it,” laughs Timothy Jade Smith, rather sheepishly. At that...

TSHA surrounded by flowers, shot by Nicole Ngai

London-based DJ, producer and live artist TSHA has risen rapidly in the scene, and is receiving her flowers with grace. But it hasn't always been easy.  As she prepares to release her stunning debut LP, 'Capricorn Sun', on Ninja Tune, she speaks to Amy Fielding about overcoming online trolls, astrology, the art of DJing and more

Across one bitterly cold weekend in February 2017, Ninja Tune’s revered live act Simon Green, AKA Bonobo, descended on South London for two sold-out performances...

12 emerging artists you need to hear this September

The latest and greatest DJs and producers rising to the top this month. From bass-heavy techno and understated deep house to transportive ambient music and drum & bass here's September 2022's list of upcoming talent you should be keeping track of

DJ N.E.GIRL (Esther Wanyama) is not just a lethal weapon behind the decks, but a community-builder behind the scenes. Represented in sets for Keep Hush...

Stihia Festival Feruz Rustamov

Claire Francis travels to Stihia festival to find an event that serves as a vital platform for emerging DJs from within Uzbekistan, as well as supporting local sustainable development

In the desert in a remote corner of Uzbekistan, where rain is infrequent and water is scarce, an unexpected and ferocious downpour is unfolding. It’s...

Get to Know: Zakente

Get acquainted with Zakente, the rising star
making waves with his transportive take on Afro tech and house

Herodes Santo’s birth certificate says Angola, but this isn’t the place in Africa that has his heart.
“For me, São Tomé and Príncipe is the best...