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DANNY HOWARD'S MONTHLY DJ MAG COLUMN

Nothing else matters... but the music

BONTAN BEATS!
Earlier this month when I covered Pete Tong’s legendary Radio 1 show, I had the opportunity to select my ‘Future Star’. I wanted someone who I really believed in, someone who has earned their stripes... then it hit me!

My old mate Andrew Phillips who I used to DJ with whilst at university near Southport always had an ambition to produce music, and produce music he did, for around five years. 

Andrew was at my gig in Ibiza last year and when Sander Kleinenberg took over after me and opened his set with summer hit 'Got a Feeling', he said: ‘Ahh this is my beat’. I said, ‘No, no, this is Bontan’, to which he proudly replied ‘Yeah, I’m Bontan!’ He kept that one quiet... look out for him with releases coming on Cajmere’s Cajual label and his incredible remix of Clean Bandit’s ‘Extraordinary’. 

NACHO AVERAGE SUNSET...
Excuse the awful pun! And when reading it back, I suppose it doesn’t really justify the stunning sunsets that you can experience down at the world famous Café Mambo... obviously whilst enjoying a man-sized bowl of their incredible nachos! 

They really have nailed it in terms of positioning — to lose yourself in the moment and take time to just chill out, enjoy blissful music and take in the spectacular transition of day into night. The perfect set-up for an epic all-nighter of Balearic raving... an absolute ‘must’ if you’re visiting the White Isle this summer.

RETURN OF THE MAU5...
For a guy that gave me my worst ever broadcasting experience, you’d think I’d be reluctant to play any Joel Zimmerman music for risk of frightening/cringe replays in my head of the car crash radio interview he once gave me in my early days at the BBC.

Yes, he might have told me his cat (Prof. Meowingtons) had more Twitter followers than me, but all is forgiven as I guess the cheese... err, I mean cream always rises to the top.

He hits us with a two-disc album called ‘While (1>2)’, and plans to tour it around the world — complete with what sounds like the biggest production show on Earth — are near. Early tracks off the record such as 'Avaritia', 'Seeya' and 'Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer' sound huge and are definitely making us all very excited to see that famous Mau5 head back in action!

RADIO 1’s BIGGEST WEEKEND... EVER!
For regular listeners of BBC Radio 1, there was no escaping the Big Weekend in Glasgow — it was flipping huge! My particular highlight had to be the dance-dedicated night in George Square on the Friday, with all DJs contributing something... let’s say ‘different’ to the occasion. Tiësto followed 'Adagio For Strings' with an unexpected mini ‘hardstyle’ set, much to the delight of the ‘hungry for more’ Scottish crowd. Meanwhile, Martin Garrix made ‘The Macarena’ sort of cool again by ending his set with the ultimate party anthem. Check out the videos for all the sets at www.bbc.co.uk/radio1