New Wave Podcast 035: DAWL by New Wave Radio published on 2021-03-09T21:01:13Z New Wave Podcast 035: DAWL We recently caught up with Darren for the first ever written interview on New Wave. Q)Starting back at your roots, could you tell us a little bit about some of your earliest musical memories? Are you from Essex originally? A) Yes I was born in Barking then moved to Basildon in Essex when I was very young, i was an 80s kid and Hip Hop and Electro was the new big thing, I got into breakdancing and graffiti, the Street Sounds Electro series was basically the sound track for those early years. Breakdancing for me was short lived but the music and graffiti stayed with me. I suppose the first real musical experience would be when I started to go to raves my first was a big outdoor rave in Essex called Raindance(Jenkins Lane) back in 1991 I was only 16 at the time so it was quite an eye opener. Q)Were there any people or parties you were attending in particular that helped you delve into DJing and producing? A)Not really no, I started collecting records in 1988 and got my first set of decks when I was 14 back in 1989. This was about 2 years before I had even been to a rave or club I was always into the music more than the party scene itself, saying that though I did go to a few raves back then and they were amazing but I was not a big raver. I was originally influenced by the Hip Hop DJs as a young teenager, I just thought it was the coolest. Q)You have self-released a lot of old school/hardcore sets from the 90s. Can you discuss what the sound means to you? Did you release those for purely nostalgic purposes or do you still play those kind of tracks in your sets today? A) Nostalgia is a small part of it but the main reason is that I still love that music as much as I did back then. Basically I do those mixes for myself to listen to but I like to share them on Soundcloud for anyone that wants to have a listen. I have created two playlists 1988-1991 and 1992-1993 and I will keep recording more and adding to the lists. I've been collecting rave music more or less from the start of it and I have a large collection of old school records and I'm still buying to this day filling in the gaps. All the podcasts and radio appearances I have done over the last few years have been all new music mixes, a lot of the new stuff I play does sound like its from back in the day there’s quite a few producers out there making some great old school sounding Electro, Techno, breakbeat and Jungle I love it and I am always keeping an eye on the new releases on a daily basis to grab them as they come out, as I noticed a lot of the old school sounding stuff can sell out really quick if you sleep on it you can miss out and end up at the mercy of the scalpers on Discogs. Q) Could you discuss how you got into production and when did you fully settle into the electro sound as a producer? How do you try be creative and make your music stand out? A) I started producing about ten years ago before that I had no real interest in making music really I was happy just Djing, playing and collecting records. I suppose what started it for me was when I started recording my mixes to my computer rather than tape. I started playing about with the editing tools on Goldwave and Audacity which lead to making little re edits just for fun. I later got a Mac which had Garageband built in, I had a play around with that and then I was hooked I then upgraded to Logic Pro things really took off after that. I don’t think that I try to make my music stand out, its more that I try to make the kind of music that I would want to find in a record shop, my music is very self indulgent I love mixing Techno and Electro with Breakbeats. I think what I make is a mixture of Techno, Electro, Acid House, Breakbeat, Hardcore with a little bit Hip Hop woven in to it and maybe Jungle at a push, I suppose its basically Freestyle. Genre DAWL Comment by HADI 🤖 2023-01-29T17:30:23Z Comment by Robanskovich bomb 2021-04-27T09:35:52Z Comment by Robanskovich 👽 2021-04-27T08:40:54Z Comment by matthis Id pls? Amazing mix! 2021-04-24T13:21:16Z Comment by Mung Records <3 2021-04-11T18:28:09Z Comment by Amelie te amo 2021-03-29T17:35:42Z Comment by Ethan McNamara 🔥 2021-03-24T13:06:33Z Comment by Amelie 💣🥭 2021-03-22T15:06:38Z Comment by Gonza insane 2021-03-21T15:11:34Z Comment by nikola-prekpalaj since weekend i replayed this set x times, and damn its such on point megablaster which makes me wanna club even more... 2021-03-16T05:25:57Z Comment by nikola-prekpalaj dude this one 2021-03-16T05:23:53Z Comment by John Fulgü wow 2021-03-15T14:05:45Z Comment by Jose Iniesta 💣💣id here ?? its another planet!! 2021-03-15T13:50:58Z Comment by switch! DAWL mixes are my favourite of all the old school DJ mixes across SoundCloud. every one I listen to has all the tracks I loved back in the day and a few surprises too. cheers for all the music 2021-03-13T18:29:31Z Comment by sefff Id please 2021-03-13T08:11:13Z