RA Exchange

The jungle and drum & bass pioneer—and captivating storyteller—unpacks his life, career and new book.Alongside peers like Fabio, Grooverider, Jumping Jack Frost, Randall, Micky Finn, LTJ Bukem and Nicky Blackmarket, Ray Keith played a leading role as jungle took over London in the mid '90s. His new autobiographical book, Dark Soldier, is a reflection on his life: his personal journey, his career, the highs and lows, and the many people who have influenced him. It's also the story of how he and the scene moved from analogue into electronic music. "I was in the right place at the right time," he said in this week's Resident Advisor Exchange, referring to the many Monday nights spent at Heaven in London, catching sets from the likes of Carl Cox, Paul Oakenfold and Paul "Trouble" Anderson. "I was a purist, absorbing the sounds." Keith has put out so many records over the years, under so many different aliases, that he's lost count. He's also had radio shows on Vibe FM, Kiss FM and recently Thames Delta radio, cofounded a booking agency and headed up several record labels. He's a legend in the scene with a wealth of stories to tell. In this week's Exchange, Keith talks about growing up in Colchester, the importance of record stores as a community hub, dubplate culture, how music saved his life and the thrill of watching his daughter, AKA LO Selecta, play her first DJ set.Tracklist:Dark Soldier - Need Me (Forthcoming)Dark Soldier - Newman Elec (Forthcoming)

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Kadallah Burrowes explores the term "Afrofuturism" with the help of Suzi Analogue, Neema Githere, Mia Imani Harrison and Jackie Queens.This past Juneteenth, Burrowes held a digital event called A Moment In Between (after which this podcast is named) at COMMON, a digital club that forms part of Currents.FM. It was, in their words, "a digital pan-African celebration of Black liberation." The interviewees in this week's Exchange all helped make A Moment In Between possible: artists Jackie Queens and Suzi Analogue, plus cultural critics Neema Githere and Mia Imani Harrison. In this documentary-style podcast, which forms part of our celebration of Black Futures Month in the US, Burrowes et al. discuss the term "Afrofuturism. They discuss its imperfect, controversial nature (it was coined by a white academic), how it intersects with electronic music and its relationship to the legacy of the writer Octavia Butler. Last week's Exchange saw Burrowes in conversation with Analogue, the producer, singer, songwriter and founder of Never Normal Records. This week, Analogue delves deeper into her connection to the concept of Afrofuturism. "Afrofuturism to me is just being Black," she said. "It's a bunch of things. Self-determination, self-preservation and self-expression." Born in Nairobi and now based in Brooklyn, Neema Githere is a guerrilla theorist who works within the digital diaspora. In 2017, Githere coined the term "Afropresentism," which presents the idea that the Afrofuturism being theorised in the '90s and early '00s exists here and now. "Afrofuturism is concerned with space," Githere said. "Afropresentism is concerned with earth." Mia Imani Harrison is an interdisciplinary artist and conceptual creator working within dream technology. Her part in A Moment In Between saw COMMON, which had primarily been a space for music, become a place for Black people to come and talk about their dreams. Harrison's understanding of Afrofuturism began with "intergalactic Black folks" in music—Sun Ra, Grace Jones, Parliament-Funkadelic—and has grown into an interest in artists that build worlds and galaxies in their work. "I've always been interested in expanding our concept of the realities we exist within," she said. "Especially as Black people, because we're already told what we can and cannot do, and the perimeters of the spaces that we exist in." The final speaker is Jackie Queens, singer, songwriter, label and agency founder, and community member of Currents.FM and electronic music network female:pressure. Queens' thoughts about Afrofuturism tie in with Githere's Afropresentism. "People say Africa is the future," Queens said. "But I don't like to look at it that way. I always feel like we're the present."https://ra.co/exchange/598

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Suzi Analogue spoke with Kadallah Burrowes about using her label Never Normal to champion innovative Black creators. Suzi Analogue is a loudspeaker for innovative Black creators. In this week's RA Exchange, the producer, singer, songwriter and founder of Never Normal Records speaks with trans-disciplinary artist, musician, creative technologist Kadallah Burrowes about championing art from across the African diaspora. This is the first of two Exchanges hosted by Burrowes, who, next week, will be exploring the term "Afrofuturism" in an audio documentary that forms part of our celebration of Black History Month in the US. Suzi Analogue first experienced club and electronic music in her hometown of Baltimore. Starting out in her teens as a songwriter and producer, her engagement with creative platforms online led to her involvement in events and community radio while studying in Philadelphia. It was when she moved to The Bronx in New York that Analogue first started to feel there wasn't space for young and innovative Black electronic artists to showcase their work. As she played shows abroad and across Europe, she felt encouraged to start a platform of her own, a space to build her own archive and celebrate fellow artists. In 2014, she launched her label Never Normal, a commitment to bolstering Black femme-identifying people to advocate for music, whether through running labels, parties or just shouting about the new music you love. Since its launch, the label has featured work from artists in Atlanta, Oakland, Chicago, Brooklyn, Miami and more. "They're originators in their cities," she explained. "Never Normal is a journey that's building over time." In conversation with Burrowes, Analogue discussed the politics of Black futurism, travelling to Uganda as a US state department cultural diplomat and the importance of capturing and echoing ancestral messages through art and sound. Tracklist:Suzi Analogue - Slow [Never Normal]@uziklip@sunjiru

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"My real gift is arrangement." William Orbit opens up on his 40-year career. ShareBorn in Hackney, London, in 1956, Orbit has been writing, producing and arranging music for four decades. With almost 1,200 credits to his name on Discogs, his vast and varied body of work spans classical, pop and electronic. He produced for some of pop music's most seminal artists—Madonna, All Saints, Blur, Robbie Williams, Pink—as well as being, as his interviewer Matt McDermott explains, "one of the most prolific electronic music remixers of the '90s." He released 11 solo albums and seven collaborative albums—as part of Torch Song, Strange Cargo and Bassomatic—and founded Guerilla Studios in the '80s, working with artists like Cabaret Voltaire and Gary Numan. In 1995, Orbit released the Pieces In A Modern Style LP, which paved the way for musicians like Nils Frahm and Jon Hopkins, who bring together classical arrangements with electronic production in revelatory ways. The journalist Kate Hutchinson described Orbit as "the Mark Ronson or Jack Antonoff of his day." But as this conversation with RA highlights, Orbit is once again enjoying his day. Having, in his own words, "spent 20 years becoming disengaged," he has just put out his first solo release in seven years—the Sunbeam EP on Anjunadeep—and things are feeling good. "I know how to have fun," he said. In conversation with McDermott, Orbit shares stories about his fascinating career, how to make a great record, working with Madonna and how to stay relevant in a fickle industry. Tracklist:William Orbit - Diso [Anjunadeep]William Orbit - Wordsworth [Anjunadeep]@williamorbit

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FAUZIA, DamnShaq and counsellor Darlington Zvionere discuss performance anxiety and how to overcome it with Vanessa Maria.As part of Resident Advisor's wellness month, and in collaboration with Black Minds Matter, host Vanessa Maria discusses performance anxiety—what it is, how it manifests, how to overcome it—with FAUZIA, DamnShaq and Psychotherapeutic counsellor Darlington Zvionere. Support Black Minds Matter here: http://bit.ly/BMMRAIn simple terms, performance anxiety is stage fright. As Zvionere explains, artists may experience everything from clammy hands to stiffness and blurred vision, which then impacts their performance. It's a vicious cycle, he says, as a falter in your performance will likely lead to increased nerves next time. "Be the best you can be in that moment," advises Zvionere. "Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow." In her own experience as a DJ, Maria has suffered from performance anxiety to the point of cancelling shows and relying on the influence of alcohol to calm her nerves. She speaks to DJ, promoter and presenter DamnShaq, known for his "madman" energy in the booth, about the pressure he used to put on himself. He reflects on how the pandemic has allowed him some time to reset and make peace with the fact that his boisterous stage character is not a sustainable way to function day-to-day. For FAUZIA, whose transition from DJing to having a live show has come with a huge increase in pre-performance anxiety, steadying her nerves is a work in progress. She speaks to Vanessa about fine-tuning her set, stepping away from social media and the confidence boost of working with Kelela. Black Minds Matter is a charity on a mission to connect Black families with free mental health services from qualified Black therapists. They are currently looking for 21,000 long-term donors who are able to donate £5 per month. With your support, they will be able to take steps forward to achieve their goal of lasting impact on Black mental health. Contributions can be made on the website if you are in a position to do so.Tracklist:Space Afrika - yyyyyy2222 [Dais Records]Fauzia - Lap, SirFauzia - When It's All Over [with Kelela]Fauzia - Lap, SirKundai - DecisionsHouse of Pharaohs - Okay (Instrumental)andarctica - waiting on the tides@djfauzia @damnshaq

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A rare, revealing interview with the long-time Circoloco resident.For many years, Andrew Grant was one of Circoloco’s most ubiquitous DJs. He landed on the White Isle in the summer of 2001, having spent a few months in Sheffield, England, DJing whenever and wherever he could. Yet, in spite of his widespread public appearances, Grant’s personal accounts of his past are little known given his reclusive character—until now. For this week’s exchange, host Marcus Barnes engaged in a candid conversation with Andrew Grant about his experiences grinding in the clubbing Mecca, teaching lacrosse in the northern UK and even working briefly as DC10's light technician.Raised in Baltimore, Grant’s first musical memories involved listening to Baltimore club radio stations late at night. Back then, he wasn’t allowed to listen to radio, so he’d have to do so quietly and away from prying ears. He recalls catching the Basement Boys remix of the Crystal Waters club classic, “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless),” on MTV, feeling inspired by the fact these artists on the TV were from his hometown.When Grant first began DJing in 1988, he was spinning hip-hop records at house parties and in basements across the city. “I had a box of records and a decent pair of headphones,” he tells Barnes. “I felt like I was doing the right thing.” It wasn’t until a visit to NYC club Twilo in the mid-’90s that he really began to engage with dance music. A few years down the line, in Ibiza, Grant caught his first big break—he was invited to play a Thursday morning after party at DC10. Not long after, he was playing primetime slots on a Monday at Circoloco, before becoming the first American resident of the iconic Ibiza brand when he was just 24-years-old.

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The PAN affiliate talks opera, cooking and solitude. Read more: https://ra.co/exchange/593@pan-daijing

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Dreaming 2 B REAL.For more, visit Resident Advisor: https://ra.co/exchange/592@finnmccorry

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Dreaming 2 B REAL.

Riding the wave from DIY hardcore to DIY dance music.For more, visit Resident Advisor: https://ra.co/exchange/591@relaxerrelaxer

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