“Are you ready?” is a common question you’ll be asked by 24 year old Sheffield wunderkind Toddla T, and it’s a good question to ask yourself before listening to his FABRICLIVE 47 mix. In amongst his wide vocabulary of homegrown slang and off-the-wall catchphrases, Toddla T (known to his mum as Tom Bell) is a bright embodiment of boundless enthusiasm, unmatched charisma and a musical personality unlikely to be found anywhere else on the planet. His otherworldly taste in beats is often hard to keep up with as he shuffles effortlessly through genres and styles at a reckless pace, guided…

It’s difficult to know where to begin with an artist as complex and multifaceted as Jay Haze. On one hand, his upbringing – desolate beginnings in the processing plant-infested lands of northeast Pennsylvania, surrounded by drug addiction, death, group homes and jail – is a tainted window into the complicated soul within. But on the other hand, against all odds, nothing has overshadowed his talents, and the family of like-minded artists he has shaped is testament to his unshakable spirit and unerring ability.

Jay Haze stands out as a visionary in the world of techno and house, a true nonconformist…

In the midst of the explosion of the acid house and rave scenes in the late 80s there were no strict genres – back then pigeon-holing was a nonexistent entity – and amongst the raft of visionaries introducing breakbeats into a rave scene still dominated by 4/4 kick drums was a young Danny Williamson, aka LTJ Bukem. With beginnings as a DJ on London’s soundsystem scene, followed by the acid house days alongside the likes of Kid Batchelor and Mr C, it was a fascination with the sampler that sprung his career into pace.

“One day, I found myself…

From label boss, hit producer, World Champion DJ, trendsetter, genre-mangling party-starter, to blogger extraordinaire, Alain Macklovitch, best known as A-Trak, embodies the full scope of the 21st Century musician-entrepreneur model. At the mere age of 26, A-Trak has had two distinct phases to his winding 11 year career. Stage one: after winning the World DMCs at age 15 (in 1997), he spent years as one of hip hop’s most renowned selectors. After taking over tour DJ duties for Kanye West in 2004, just as he was beginning to combine a bigger variety of sounds into his sets, A-Trak launched into…

In the post-social-networking era, an artist like Omar-S is not just a rarity, he’s a treasure. The Detroit-based mastermind stands tall as a daring reminder of how things used to be, how things should be: authentic, exceptional music released on a carefully harvested grassroots label, with no attachment to hype or any incestuous ‘Top Friends’ circles. Distributed solely off his own back, and diligently monitoring every step (even hand-writing notes on his white labels), Omar-S’ FXHE imprint has become an underground cult of sorts, and his off-kilter productions bang as testament to his vibrant uniqueness. Bringing back the Detroit ethos…

Two years ago, Graeme Sinden and Dave ‘Switch’ Taylor decided to knock heads on a bimonthly residency at FABRICLIVE in the shape of a club night named, quite aptly, Get Familiar. At the time, they described the night thus: “It’s an anything-goes eclectic club music blaze of the best in everything forward-thinking and party – from the booty popping sounds of Baltimore Club Music and Rio’s Baile Funk to JA’s upfront Dancehall riddims, hyperactive Hip Hop to House/Electro and everything that’s good in-between. Expect familiar DJ faces and live bands at the top of their game to kick it alongside…

Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, breakbeat pioneer FreQ Nasty grew up listening to his father’s stories about his rowdy rock shows (“I remember him saying when he was 14 or 15, he was earning more in a week than his dad was in a month from playing in bands!”) and dreamed of bigger possibilities. He decided at the age of 14, while working his first manual labour job, that he didn’t want to succumb to mundanely being a cog in the machine. That very same boundary breaking sensibility has always transcended through his music, from his scene-shaking…