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The fight to preserve Ukraine’s electronic music culture in a time of war

Amidst the horrors of russia's war on Ukraine, local DJs, producers and music professionals have had their lives ripped apart, but many have passionately continued their work at home and abroad, using their experience to provide funds and direct aid to causes on the ground. Here, Tanya Voytko talks to artists from across the country about their personal experiences over the past six months, and to learn how they’re striving to preserve and promote their rich and diverse electronic music culture

I started writing this article on 22nd June, the day of remembrance for the victims of World War II in Ukraine. At dawn on that...

Photo of T.williams posing in a white t-shirt and blue baseball cap

Over the past two decades, West London DJ and producer T.Williams has worn many hats, from his roots in grime and jungle through to spells in garage and soulful melodic house. His recently released debut album, ‘Raves Of Future Past’, finds him freed from all limitations, and pays tribute to this wide-ranging career. Here, Ben Murphy speaks to him about writing songs versus bangers, the freedom of expression of the early 2000s era, and how he made his classic track ‘Heartbeat’ with Terri Walker

“That cross-section between a banger instrumental and a nicely crafted song was always something that I really enjoyed,” says T.Williams, reflecting on the kind of...

Over the past 10 years, DJing has undergone seismic transformations in technology and process. New styles of DJing have emerged, and some have had huge...

In the last decade, trends came and went — thank you vaporwave, lo-fi house and hypnagogic pop — but some of the most profound and...

Inside the UK Afro house renaissance

The Afro house sound is an ever-growing presence in UK dance music, with new labels, club-nights and a dedicated radio station springing up. Alongside a mix from Mr Silk, Ria Hylton explores the sound’s history, and speaks to some of the scene’s key players about forging strong connections with their growing audiences, and their aim to nurture a unique UK Afro house identity

Afro house is steeped in the percussive materials of South Africa’s townships. For decades, its polyrhythms played out on traditional African instruments — bongos, congas...

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...

Overmono's Ed and Tom photographed by Rollo Jackson 2

After years in the UK underground as solo artists, brothers Tom and Ed Russell, formerly known as Truss and Tessela, have made huge strides as a duo in recent years as Overmono. Lauren Martin learns how they’ve built a sound and A/V live show that taps into UK dance music legacies, all while staying true to themselves

When Tom and Ed Russell moved into their studio in 2018, they felt the weight of UK dance music history. Housed in the deep south-eastern...

Aluna George DJ Mag North America April 2022 cover

Aluna Francis’s life has been one of discovery — of uncovering truths about herself, about society, and about the fundamental ways in which the dance music industry fails people. The Wales-born, LA-based music maker, formerly of AlunaGeorge and now working as a solo artist, tells Bruce Tantum how she’s putting the knowledge she’s gained into practice via the new Noir Fever festival

"I perhaps could have been a bit more cautious,” Aluna Francis — sitting in her downtown LA home, sunglasses perched upon her braided blue coif...

The summer of 2021 has seen a perfect storm of drug-related risks hit the UK dance scene: from an abundance of first-time ravers who turned...

Ever since the birth of acid house in the late ‘80s, UK dance music has been defined, legislated against and demonised on the basis of...

Vintage Culture press shot in a yellow jacket

Vintage Culture has come a long way from a small town in Brazil to playing stadiums, topping dance charts and partying with football royalty. After suffering near-burnout from constant touring, he’s recharged and full of vitality, with a deeper sound he loves with all his heart, hundreds of tunes ready to go, Ibiza and Las Vegas residencies scheduled, and a set lined up at DJ Mag's Miami Pool Party

Lukas Ruiz grew up in Mundo Novo, a tiny municipality with under 20,000 inhabitants, right on Brazil’s border with Paraguay. His mum had always told...

In response to big room club culture, a number of grass roots promoters, venue managers, artists, and opportunists are seeing success from putting on free...

Last year’s International Music Summit report showed that over one-fifth of British nightclubs closed in the year to December 2018. The tip of a more...

Above & Beyond’s latest delivery is an acoustic gem fit for a queen

The artist’s green room in London’s Royal Albert Hall doesn’t quite match the scale of grandeur its main arena boasts. But for the talent fortunate...
Octo Octa in a red cut out top against a blue background

From her first release as Octo Octa in 2011, there’s always been an element of rapturous freedom inherent to Maya Bouldry-Morrison’s music. But since coming out as a trans woman and meeting her life/work partner Eris Drew, that feeling is rendered in brighter shades than ever. Taking time out from a European tour, Bouldry-Morrison details her road to house music happiness

This feature originally appeared in print in the June issue of DJ Mag North America. It has been amended for online publication, due to two...

Some high-profile DJs have been criticised for playing big, crowded legal shows — dubbed ‘Plague Raves’ — in Europe during the COVID-19 crisis. Some have...

As society has been tentatively emerging from various forms of COVID-19 lockdown over the last few months, each of us has been faced with a...

MS in a pool float

Delivering explosive, quick-witted lyricism over beats that blend kwaito, amapiano and gqom with grime, punk and pop, South Africa's Moonchild Sanelly has become a global sensation. Here, she speaks to Makua Adimora about freedom of expression and her new album, 'Phases'

“I always describe myself as ‘Snow White turns 21 and then the seven dwarfs become her strippers’,” Moonchild Sanelly says matter-of-factly, when speaking to DJ...

Rooted in the isolation and unpredictability of lockdown life, Loraine James' new album on Hyperdub, ‘Reflection’, sees her consider the political and social upheaval that...

As 2019 drew to a close, Loraine James found herself at a crossroads. Buoyed by the success of her breakthrough album for Hyperdub, ‘For You...