Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/424619
7 13 Issue 69 / 2014 HOUSE / ELECTRIC guestlist.net FOR PEOPLE THAT DON'T KNOW YOU, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND AND WHAT YOU'RE ALL ABOUT? Well I like to keep to bass and house music, I don't like to go too heavy. I suppose a lot of people would say it's got a lot of garage elements to it, but I don't like to be pigeonholed with that so I do try and mix it up. AM I RIGHT IN THINKING YOU'RE FROM BIRMINGHAM? IT SEEMS TO BE GETTING QUITE WELL-KNOWN FOR CHAMPIONING THAT BASS- HOUSE SOUND. Yeah, we've been doing it for a long time here before it caught on. Birmingham's always had quite a big garage vibe as well; it never really died out here for some reason - especially in the afterparties! There was an old- school garage night that I think must still be going - and they used to have people like EZ and everyone before he made that massive comeback. There's a few people that have done really well out of Birmingham, like Hannah (Wants) and Chris (Lorenzo). There's been a lot going on here for a while. SO YOU'VE NOW GOT YOUR LABEL SIMMA BLACK - HOW LONG HAS THAT BEEN GOING FOR? That's quite new - I think for about a year, but it's been going really well. I've got someone helping me running it now who knows what he's doing. We're getting stuff sent through now, we've gone up a level and we're getting some really good stuff. SO IT'S ALL KICKING OFF NOWADAYS? Yeah totally, we've got a few in the chart on Beatport at the moment. Shiba San's just done a remix on the label too so I think that's really helped pick things up, because people are loving itat the moment. OK THAT'S REALLY COOL. SO TALKING OF YOUR OWN MUSIC, YOU WERE SAYING YOU PUT OUT AN EP EVERY SO OFTEN. I NOTICED THAT YOU'VE GOT THE SO REAL EP COMING OUT INDECEMBER RIGHT? I REALLY LIKED THE SUMMERY PIANO VIBES. Yep, that's coming out on the first of December. I've found in the past that if your music's too hard, it's mainly the lads that are into it. So I think this So Real track appeals to everyone. It's nice to have the girls into the music as well - you don't want to turn up to a club and just have 200 sweaty lads there! It's nice to do some uplifting stuff too. You know it was kind of an accident - I did it a while ago, but then a few people heard it and really liked it. I think it's nice to have pianos and a vocal. I thought people might have criticised me for it, but I haven't really had a bad word about it - you know how some people love to jump on Soundcloud and hate on stuff? But it's been really positive, so I'm quite surprised by that, and the feedback from the label has been really good. OK THAT'S REALLY GOOD, BECAUSE A FEW PEOPLE I'VE INTERVIEWED RECENTLY HAVE MENTIONED THERE'S BEEN A BIT OF THIS CULTURE IN THE UK OF PEOPLE BEING REALLY BITCHY ONLINE AND ON SOUNDCLOUD... IT'S GOOD THAT YOU HAVEN'T EXPERIENCED THAT TOO MUCH WITH THIS ONE. It's a shame really but I think a lot of kids think it's normal now to sit there and just be really rude. But yeah I find that I don't really have too much of that, which is cool, cause I've seen some people get absolutely slated! I think it was Julio Bashmore who put something up once and he had hundreds of people telling him he was shit, so I think he actually had to disable the comments in the end... people get really angry. That's another thing as well, you can change your sound because people will criticise things sounding like your last track, but then some people will then be pissed off because they wanted you to do your usual thing. You can't please everyone, so you might as well not even worry about it. OK SO OBVIOUSLY YOU'RE LOVING YOUR TIME PLAYING IN ALL THESE GREAT CLUBS, BUT WHAT'S THE WORST JOB YOU'VE EVER HAD OUTSIDE OF DJING? I've had some horrible jobs in the past, to be honest - just your normal office, answering the phone kind of jobs. DID IT TAKE QUITE A LONG TIME FOR YOU TO FINALLY SAY THAT YOU WERE JUST GONNA GIVE IT ALL UP AND MAKE MUSIC YOUR REAL FOCUS? It's all I've done now since about 2007. I think it's hard for anyone who gets into music, because the thought of going back to that after working for yourself doing something you love... it could send you over the edge to be honest! But I think it's a good motivation. It's hard as well because if you try and go into something that's not music- related, your CV just doesn't impress anyone! It puts people off. If I tried to get a job now, it would be difficult - it doesn't make a lot of sense to a lot of people who aren't interested in music. YEAH, WELL HOPEFULLY YOU'LL NEVER HAVE TO GO BACK TO THAT! LOOKS LIKE IT'S ALL GOING PRETTY WELL SO FAR - HAVE YOU HAD ANY "WOW" MOMENTS IN PARTICULAR SO FAR IN YOUR MUSICAL CAREER? Well, it was under a different name but I played EDC in LA, and that was just insane - I was on before Major Lazer and there was just thousands of people, it was mad. I had my own trailer and it was absolutely crazy. But hopefully I'll do something like that as Low Steppa as well. There's been a lot of times like that where I've just been wow, this is amazing! It's just a shame that a lot of it happens abroad so I haven't really been able to share it with friends. Could be worse though! OK, SO WHAT'S THE NEXT BIG PROJECT OR SHOW THAT YOU HAVE LINED UP THAT YOU'RE PARTICULARLY EXCITED ABOUT? Moving into next year, we wanna start doing some parties for the label. That'll be a lot of fun, having a group of artists playing at a show, people that I know... so getting that off the ground is the next step. IF YOU HAD THE WHOLE WORLD TO CHOOSE FROM AND YOU COULD HAVE ANY CLUB YOU WANTED FOR YOUR LABEL NIGHT, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU GO FOR? It'd probably be the States, It's a bit of a second home for me. I used to play a club called Avalon in Hollywood which was always a lot of fun... too much fun! YEAH I CAN IMAGINE! OK SO, EVERYONE HAS A CRAZY FIRST TIME IN IBIZA STORY, DO YOU HAVE ONE AND IF SO WHAT HAPPENED? *laughing* The first thing that comes to mind isn't that crazy but it's funny... I don't know if I should say this, but I was dressed as Jimmy Saville. FUCK! WAS THAT BEFORE EVERYONE KNEW WHAT HE'D BEEN UP TO THOUGH? Yes! This was back in 2003. So yeah I was dressed as him and I got wasted, fell asleep, and woke up in Pacha in a room that was shut and locked up because they didn't even know I was in there! So I had to try and escape from this closed room in Pacha, dressed as Jimmy Saville. So that's the first thing that comes to mind when I think of my first time in Ibiza! Miriam | guestlist.net " I don't think I should say this but… " Low Steppa has been flying the flag for Birmingham's flourishing music scene on dancefloors across the world since the early 2000s. He's achieved success under various guises, getting gigs as far away as EDC in LA and Womb in Tokyo and landing himself an ever-popular Rinse FM show. Things have been really kicking off since 2014, however, with his new label Simma Black going from strength to strength. It looks like things are only going to get better in 2015, so we got the man himself on the phone to talk us through what's been going down recently. www.facebook.com/LOWSTEPPA