Skip to main content

Search


Results for: Sayang

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...

With mental health and wellbeing one of the principal keynote topics at the International Music Summit (IMS) in Ibiza at the end of this month...

Flying high in the music industry can seem idyllic, but is there a price to pay? Coupled with the perceived glamour is a 24/7 lifestyle...

Photo of ANOTR floating in air against a sunset background while reading DJ Mag’s March cover issue

Dutch duo ANOTR have amassed a huge audience with their emotional house music and incredible club events centred around art and human connection. Ahead of their appearance in Miami at the DJ Mag pool party, they tell Amy Fielding how risk-taking, open-mindedness and collaboration are at the heart of everything they do

ANOTR are all about emotions. Enhancing them, recalling them, changing them, understanding them. Everything the Dutch duo do is intentional, produced to share how they’re...

Photo of DESIREE wearing a purple hat and eye-makeup on an emerald background

Soaring ascents, the kind that can take an artist from obscurity to stardom in what seems to be the blink of an eye, don’t occur often, in dance music or elsewhere – those who are lucky enough to have that experience often disappear just as quickly. But there’s little chance of a quick fade for South Africa’s Palesa Desiree Shilabje, the DJ and producer known to the world as DESIREE, who in just a few short years has proved to be one of the international festival circuit’s most exciting new stars. Here, Bruce Tantum hears her story, and about how her evolution through music has been as organic as they come

“I’m finally home.” Those three words are among the first that the South African DJ and producer Palesa Desiree Shilabje utters when DJ Mag catches...

Soundsystem artwork 1

Sound systems have driven the development of music in the UK, powered by hard work, passion and innovation. But preserving UK sound system culture, its knowledge and history, while also pushing it forward, is no easy task today. Ria Hylton traces its path through ska and reggae at blues dances in West Indian households, to soul, boogie, hip-hop and house in ’80s warehouses and at the Notting Hill Carnival, to nationwide tours and global popularity, and finds out how initiatives like the Sound System Futures Programme are seeking to secure its future 

It’s the Thursday before Notting Hill Carnival and Linett Kamala, board director of Europe’s biggest street party, is weaving through the streets of Kilburn. Her...

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...

A press shot of Flume in a striped jumper, holding a bunch of white flowers against an orange backdrop

Caught between the demands of being an internationally-renowned performer and his desire for a quiet life, Australian producer Flume found balance upon returning to his homeland. Amongst nature, and with a restored sense of wellbeing, he completed his most ambitious album to date, 'Palaces'. Megan Venzin learns its story

Flume fills arenas, smashes stage props with sledgehammers, and builds booming soundscapes with the high-tech gear that fills his ever-expanding studio. Harley Edward Streten, on...

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...

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...

Derry-born DJ, producer and Céad label boss Or:la has had a remarkable journey so far, from throwing raves in abandoned buildings to playing the world's...

Becoming a DJ came to Orlagh Dooley in a dream. No, really. During her first year of university, Dooley had an epiphany, in the form...

The flamboyant electronic sound of San Francisco’s dancefloors soundtracked gay liberation in the '70s and '80s, even as its community faced decimation as a result...

Deep in the vaults of the San Francisco GLBT Historical Society and Museum Archives, a modest wooden crate glows with the importance of a sacred...

One of the Internet’s most talked-about acronyms — which stands for non-fungible token — is redefining digital ownership. But could NFTs really revolutionise the music...

Most people’s first experience with NFTs most likely happened within the past few months. It was also, most likely, met with confusion. As GIFs of...

2019 saw dancefloors embracing fast, syncopated and experimental rhythms, with jungle breaks and sounds from the Global South invigorating DJs and producers across the genre...

Dancefloor trends come and go. Familiar genre tropes, motifs and tempos reinstate themselves as dominant themes in clubs and festivals big and small, while inventive...

Inspired by the Midwest American raves that first got her hooked on dance music, Chicago’s Eris Drew wants to bring a psychedelic communal energy and...

Autumn has arrived in Berlin, all bright and crisp. Eris Drew opens her windows and the air cuts through the scent of lavender inside. There’s...

Dance music has a mental health problem. Sirin Kale speaks to artists such as Luciano, Courtesy and Marie Davidson, as well as some PRs and...

March 2017. Luciano, real name Lucien Nicolet, is in Frankfurt airport, and he’s bent double with heart palpitations. He knows something isn’t right: things are...