Noise101: Nightmares On Wax

I'm good, I've acclimatised now. I arrived here yesterday which is an absolute luxury with my travel schedule. I'm well-rested and ready to spread some good vibes today. 

It's great being back in Dubai, I always have a great time here. When I first came here which was probably seven or eight years ago I didn't know what to expect. Over time, I've seen the different parties and scenes that have evolved here and it's good. I feel that people are really open to music in general. I'm excited to just play and spread good vibes. 

If I can remember it, really busy but also really really joyful. When you are touring a lot and doing as many shows as I'm doing, you tend to lose track and think, 'hang on, did it happen this year or last year?' But you know I love what I do and I'm very privileged that music takes me to where I am. 

I don't isolate the changes to the UK only. I see the changes happening everywhere I go to be honest with you. While touring in China, Beirut, Australia, America and talking to local people to try to get some sort of insight in what was happening socially in all these places, I found a common ground in what everybody wanted. I couldn't really understand the narrative that was being spread across the news because when you talk to people, everybody wants the same... everybody wants a bit of peace and quiet, to be able to provide for their families and have some fun you know? It's a universal thing, it's within all our spirits. I feel that the future relies on how we see it, not how it is. We should start focusing on what we want, rather than on what we don't want. This is what inspired me to write Shape the Future.

You're originally from Leeds. Can you tell us a bit about your youth there and how you got into music?   

Leeds is an amazing city; very multicultural with an industrial past. It's always had a really strong music scene. I was inspired by the many reggae sounds that were emanating from the area I grew up in called Hyde Park. This was in the 70s so I wasn't old enough to go to all the events...but I'd sit and listen to the music and the windows rattling. Music was always around me, more in a street sense... I didn't learn to play an instrument or anything, it was just a strong part of my social life. And when hip hop officially came into my life in 1982, that's what changed me. Hip hop gave me a voice and an avenue to express myself, whether verbally or by experimenting with records. 

I think during your formative years, you spend a lot of time trying to be like your peers or like your inspirations but at some point you have to find yourself. You learn a method from somebody that inspires you and then from that, you start to find yourself. I think I've come to a point where I'm closer to finding myself in my music. There's still a lot more to discover and a lot I want to achieve but, if anything, I've come to the point of understanding how to simplify all the information I am faced with so that I can create my own space in music. Making music and, through it, occupying a space is the most important thing for me.

I didn't imagine that to happen at all. To be completely honest with you, I didn't even know what Boiler Room was when I went to go do it. I was on a promo tour in which I did BBC 6 music, NTS, and Boiler Room was in the same schedule. Truth is, I was putting music together in the back of a taxi on my way to the Boiler Room studio as I hadn't put together a set. I arrived, and I played naturally. For me, the Boiler Room set is a reminder to myself to keep being in the moment and to be natural when DJing. You're currently based in Ibiza. Do you encounter any difficulties in maintaining the Leeds sound-culture you've spearheaded, from there?

No, I don't think I do. Like I said, the environment I grew up in nurtured my music production but because I've travelled to so many places my perceptions have become a lot broader. I get inspiration from all over the world, not just from one environment. I try to incorporate my various experiences from everywhere into my musical expression. I don't know what that expression is until I'm at home, feeling balanced. That's when, and where, my experiences manifest themselves into music.

The UK has got an edge I would say. The thing about Ibiza is that it's a beautiful place, a great island but you're not going to find an edge there. It's great to write music from but I often feel the need to go back to Leeds. I need to be in the city because the city tells me something. I listen to my demos while walking around Leeds and I know straight away what needs to be done. I can be all blissed-out in Ibiza and make something really shiny and polished but it won't give me what I need to deliver the edge I try to capture in my music. 

I'm not going to pretend I know a lot about what's happening here. I'm open to it though. If anyone wants to send me new music, please do hit me up on Instagram...I am all ears. I think that the fact that electronic music is spreading across the planet, in places that you would never expect it to, is a beautiful thing. 

How do you feel about the increasing commercialisation of the club culture (in Ibiza and UK)? Have you ever felt like it has led you to compromise on your artistic image/mission?  

No, I don't feel like it has. Have I ever felt like I've had to play and not been myself? Probably yes, a long long time ago. But I'm always honest with my music. The fact that I have been is why I am sat here talking to you today, so why would I interfere with that?

I'm always working on new music and putting sketches down. I've spent the last five days in the studio with a new artist. I can't really say a lot about it apart from that I'm really excited and feel like I'm entering a new chapter in song-writing, a new chapter in production. I'm sensing a new maturity in what I'm gravitating towards and writing. I don't like to say I'm writing an album...if I sit there and say to myself  'Ok, right I'm writing an album,' it becomes artificial. I think about how I feel, create something out of it and then let it fall into a space, naturally.

Food is a really important factor because I love food...but also meeting people, as I believe that people always have something valuable to say in some shape or form. Knowledge is such an important part of life and everyone holds a golden nugget somewhere. What can I expect? To be honest, I don't go into things with any expectations. I know what I'm going to bring though and that's good vibes. I'll make people dance.