Manchester

Many regard Hoya:Hoya as one of the top club nights in the world. It’s progressive mentality coupled with the open-mindedness of the audiences keep things consistently fresh. A few artists who have performed there include Rustie, Kode9, Hudson Mohawke and Actress. Holding it down as resident dj’s we have Illum Sphere, Jonny Dub, Eclair Fifi, Jon K, Lone and Krystal Klear. Today I’ll be speaking with Jonny Dub! His mix contribution for the Hoya:Hoya podcast (below), is one of the slickest things I’ve heard in a while. Wonderful variety. So listen up, in this feature you’ll hear tracks from some of the artists that help make Hoya:Hoya grand.

DD Welcome Jonny! What are you doing right now?

JD Right now I am listening to the new Brownswood compilation from Kutmah, writing responses to these questions, and enjoying the few days of downtime we get between having just put on one Hoya event before we have to start getting the promo out for the next event.

DD Let’s talk about your Hoya:Hoya Podcast Mix #2. I instantly became amazed by this. Very unique atmosphere, what an impressive mix! What was a recent set of yours like? How did it sound in comparison to the podcast mix?

JD Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it. My last set was on Saturday at the Hoya 4th birthday which was a fantastic night and part of our secret series of events. On this occasion I started the night and played a mellow mix of tunes ranging from psych, folk, hip hop, electronica & some beats just to tease the crowd and ease them into the dancing vibe. I usually like to go in hard on a crowd and get the energy up as there as much as possible, however when your starting a night off its best to keep it cool and mellow and allow the place to fill up and get bubbling before going in to much. The podcast mix was fairly typical of one of my sets in a number of ways due to the fact that very little planning went into creating it. I’m an impulsive person, so when I approach a mix I just jump in there, get it done in one take and see how it sounds. I take the same approach when dj’ing ina club or wherever, and tend to play instinctively with no planning, opting instead to read the crowd and see what they are feeling and base my music choices of their reactions.

DD Explain to those who haven’t been to your Hoya:Hoya night what the environment looks like. What kind of sound system are you working with?

JD Hoya takes place monthly in the Roadhouse, a legendary Manchester based venue with a rich musical history. It’s not a shiny venue with amazing lighting and all the trimmings like many other places, but instead it’s a darkened room, with a low ceiling and a great sound system. (the subs were taken out of the Hacienda after it closed). The beauty about having a neutral venue is that we can make it what we want to help create the vibe we are after, and with EMN on the visuals and Chunky on the mic it really transforms into a brilliant environment for playing in as well as partying. Our set up is fairly straightforward in terms of 2 turntables, CDJ’s and a mixer however we opted for a formula sound mixer instead of which we bring in every month due to its incredible sound clarity which just blows the doors off most club mixers that seem to do the rounds. The system is a bit dated compared to a lot of new venues, however the sound engineers at the venue know our sound and what we want and can pretty much nail it most of the time. When it’s running at full pelt its a pretty devastating system that can shake the fillings out of most people.

DD Who do you look up to as a DJ?

JD For me that’s an easy question, as it is something I have thought about a lot over the years. I would say in no particular order..

Peter Parker from Fingathing – For making me realize the turntable could be an instrument.

Mr Scruff – For teaching me about how to DJ many styles and genres as well as opening my eyes to so many different sounds.

Mr Thing – For showing me how to dj hip hop better then anyone else (in my opinion).

DJ Woody – For showing me things that can be done with a turntable that I would have never had thought possible.

And finally I have to do shouts to Kutmah, Illum Sphere & Jon K who continue to inspire me every time I watch them play and teach me so much about music and mixing.

DD Your music partner Illum Sphere seems extremely cool and dedicated. How do you guys relate to each other, as the heads of Hoya:Hoya?

JD He’s a really inspiring person and has a clear vision about where he is going in terms of his own musical direction and that of Hoya, and things have been going really well for him over the last year or so which is great for both him & Hoya as an entity. In terms of our working relationship we always try and discuss things with each other and aim to keep a singular vision for what we would like to achieve with the night and the label and neither of us will do things unless we are both happy about the decisions. We try and get together fairly regularly to discuss any issues and make sure we keep on top of things to ensure the events run and people enjoy themselves.

DD What’s next for your label in 2012?

JD We are looking into our next few releases at the moment, however we wanted to allow the first ones a chance to breathe a bit before rushing the next lot out. Today’s musical consumer society is so quick and throw away with new labels popping up daily and the average lifespan for labels getting shorter and shorter that we wanted to try and do something with longevity. I hope for us to have some more releases coming out in the not so distant future and I am also working on some of my own music at the moment, however it may be a bit longer before any of that hits the streets, as I feel I have a long way to go with my personal development.