True to our word at THUMP UK, we've decided to mark the End of Year features run with something a bit different. In our Editor's Note, we said that we'd be "amiss not to engage with the very people who we listen to and see perform every day", so we've asked some of the producers, DJs and tastemakers we care about to tell us about their 2013; what they've loved, what they've hated, and how the feel looking back on another year in electronic music.
Next up is Midland.As well as releasing two excellent 12" on his brand new Graded label ("Archive 01/Realtime", "Drumtrak") UK producer Midland also played pretty much every festival going this summer. We figured he'd have a few stories to tell about the experience, so we caught up with him to hear about his 2013.The charitable element aside, I'm such a huge fan of Optimo as well. JD Twitch is a real asset to the UK scene. "Under-appreciated" isn't the right word, but I think Optimo and their contribution to dance music is huge. He's been amazing to work with; super professional, super friendly, and always willing to go that extra mile.With projects like Autonomous Africa getting such a warm response, it honestly feels like a lot of ground work over the past two years has really paid off in 2013. In terms of actually DJing, it's been about trying to strike a balance. People always place an emphasis on producers blowing up as DJs super quick these days, and I'm kind of glad it's happened more gradually for me. If I put myself in the position of Joy Orbison or Julio Bashmore, say - if I'd written my big record in my first year of playing out - I would have just imploded with the pressure, really. It was a matter of trying to be consistent in 2013; consistent yet different. That sounds a little bit Matthew Herbert of me, ha, but it's true.There have been some amazing albums in 2013 that have blown my mind, but at the same time almost dampened my spirits as to how good they are. James Holden - "The Inheritors" is just incredible. It's really intelligent machine music, but sounds so natural. It doesn't sound like it was made by a human, but it also has so much humanness to it. Tim Hecker – "Virgins" is amazing too. There are quite a lot of grating parts, but I felt like they are followed by parts that let you indulge in it. It's a challenge, as it rightly should be. Then there's Roly Porter - "The Life Cycle of A Dying Star". That's beautiful. Words fail me in trying to describe it any further.One thing I could do without in 2014 though is the intense focus on the DJ as "personality"; being on Instagram and social media constantly. Maybe the DJ as personality has always been A Thing and it's because of the internet that we've been able to see it more, but it's still weird. You know: "DJ posts photo of cat on Facebook", huge response. "DJ posts new records", which should appeal directly to the people who follow them as fans of theirs, and it gets a minimal response. I think it all depends on how clever or calculated you are. It's not something I hate so much, I just find strange.Anyway, back to DJing.Playing at Panaroma Bar and Berghain for the first times respectively in 2013 were two very different and amazing experiences for me. I started off in February at Panorama bar for Substance. I'd been there once a couple of years before as a punter, but had no idea what to expect as a DJ. There is so much difference of opinions when you ask for advice from your peers: "No you can't go too weird!", "No, it's the best to go weird", so I just went with my gut and it turned out much better than I expected. I think basically not even focusing on those clubs but just on learning in all these different situations, and just about getting away with it, is the highlight.My favourite moment of 2013 though was Stop Making Sense festival this summer. I played a boat party with Appleblim and Will Saul, and I can't barely remember such an intensely loved up and mental time. It was just one of those crowds where everyone on the boat was a friend of a friend of a friend, so when we were coming into the harbour and I played Fleetwood Mac - Dreams (in that really original festival way), everyone was just smiling and hugging. VIBES.
Looking back, it's been an incredible year.One of my favourite projects has easily been my work with Optimo's JD Twitch on his Autonomous Africa series. When we decided to work together on a release I obviously wanted to do it knowing that it was going to a good cause, and I happened to mention to Twitch that my parents run a charity in Africa. Twitch kindly offered to donate all the Autonomous Africa proceeds to their charity, which made it an even more personal thing for me. It all went to a school that my parents fundraise for and oversee the running of; it's in the Tanzanian bush, really deep in the mountains.
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