Selections: Boxia

Clubs around the world are shut, and opportunities to find new music out in the wild have been ripped from under our feet as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. While hearing new music played out by your favourite DJs will have to be put on hold due to these unprecedented circumstances, it’s never been easier, or more important, to support the artists and labels putting out EPs, albums and compilations in the midst of all the madness.

With tour cancellations and festival postponements leaving many members of the international electronic music community out of pocket, Bandcamp has become an even more vital platform for supporting the music you love, with 80% of all sales from the online music store going directly to artists and labels. In March, the platform announced it would be waiving its revenue share for all sales for one day, and on Friday 20th, took no cut from purchases made. In total, $4.3 million was spent on music over the course of 24 hours, all going straight to the creators. Throughout lockdown, Bandcamp continued to waive their fees on the first Friday of every month, as well as on 19th June (Juneteenth), when the platform donated 100% of its profits to the NAACP Legal Defence Fund. In July, it was announced that a fee-free "Bandcamp Friday" would take place on the first Friday of each month for the rest of 2020. 

In this series, Selections, we’re inviting DJs, producers and label heads to dig into their digital crates and share the contents of their collections. In lieu of opportunities to discover new records on the dancefloor, Selections – along with radio shows and mixes – will give you the chance to nab sounds from the crates of tastemakers, and support the artists behind them while you’re at it. Win-win, right?

After years priming himself front-and-centre on the dancefloor, UK-based DJ and producer Boxia emerged onto the circuit in 2015 with EPs on fellow producer Shadow Child's Food Music and Waveform Recordings, before turning the heads of Drumcode's Adam Beyer and We Are The Brave label boss, Alan Fitzpatrick.

Boxia is now a Drumcode regular, playing the label's festivals and events across the globe, as well as performing under the Cocoon banner. He's also delivered sets at esteemed institutions like Berlin's Funkhaus and Motion in Bristol, and performed in India for the first time at the beginning of 2020. 

Despite the lack of gigs this year, Boxia's deep love for digging has ensured his digital crate is up to date. Fresh off the back of his collaboration with Brighton's Dance System, 'Acid Anarchy', released on the producer's 'Where's The Party At?' album alongside India Jordan, Hudson Mohawke and Lauren Flax, Boxia selects 10 dancefloor driven cuts for DJ Mag's Selections feature, journeying through trance-leaning techno, new-wave jungle, and melodic electronica. 

You can check out his selections below.