The life of a true music lover is a divine mixture of beauty and obsession, dedication and impulse; and there are very few who can be fairly categorised as a true music lover more than Thomas Koch, aka DJ T. His list of accolades and contributions to electronic music are irrefutable, indelible and seemingly endless. There’s his editing and publishing work in the periodical world: founding Groove Magazine in 1989 and remaining its publisher and author for 15 years (Groove remains one of the longest running – 20 years and counting – and most respected dance music periodicals in the…

Buraka Som Sistema have always liked throwing curveballs. From their first DJ residencies, where off-the-cuff sets were “pretty much rehearsed live… mixing for people at raves, that was our practice – kinda like shock therapy” to incorporating unusual material into their songs – recording shattering glass, or throwing an orange at the wall and using the sound as a snare. Even their first drum & bass collective, Fusion Lab, had a reputation for mixing things up: “it wasn’t all about drum & bass, it was all about experimenting with crazy beats.” So it was hardly surprising that some years ago,…

Being a key member of the worshipped Minus family, Magda is used to being propelled into the fast moving, cutting whirr of the hype machine, but she doesn’t really pay it any mind. “I’m not really into this hype thing; I think it’s kind of silly. What really matters is to develop your own ideas and not make any compromises against yourself. Even if there’s big hype – or if it isn’t cool anymore – as long as I’m happy and stay interested and things inspire me, then it doesn’t matter.” All overblown hype and needless gender stereotyping aside, she…

With their vibrant club night Kill Em All, the Filthy Dukes have made an individual and indelible impact on the nightlife landscape of London. True pioneers in their own right, Kill Em All first struck a chord at Camden’s unassuming Barfly in 2001, after the pair recognised a thirst amongst a public raised on both guitars and electronic music. Bored of the dull notion that the two scenes should be kept separate, the Filthy Dukes (Olly Dixon and Tim Lawton) decided to unite dancefloor-geared DJs with hard-edged scuzzy rockers, and went on a quest for artists that embraced both disciplines.…

Anyone can construct a track, and lay out its elements in all the right places – have the bassline kick just here, or the percussion build right there – but only a select few can actually design one. It comes as no surprise that Matt Edwards is a graphic designer and artist by trade, as a visual thread runs colourfully through his sonics, rhythms and arrangements. Shaped by the groove, and ever leaning on an uplifting hypnotic lilt, every production that falls under the spell of Edwards becomes certified dancefloor gold. But success has never taken away from his prolificacy,…

The U.K’s most enduring, influential clubnight Bugged Out! return with another instalment of their highly respected Suck My Deck album series, following releases by Simian Mobile Disco and Boys Noize. This time the mixing honours fall on hotly tipped DJ-producer Brodinski.

Brodinski is one of the most exciting electronic artists to explode onto the scene in recent years. Hailing from Reims, Lille in France, Brodinski’s musical style joins the dots between noisy techno, bass heavy house through to melodic minimal and is renowned for his tight, impeccable programming and unfailing energy behind the decks- the probable reason why he has a…