We’re very excited to welcome Dj wiggles to the series who has quickly become a firm favourite of ours via mixes and shows on Kindred, Netil Radio, Rinse FM and Origin Tapes to name a few.
A resident on Netil Radio, Dj wiggles is breaking through. Founder of the event and mix series’ kinetic and off limits, Dj wiggles is here with a focus to give a platform to emerging artists with the hope of being able to help build the artist’s profile, in turn gaining more regular gigs and enter a scene which often times feels off limits as well as encourage more diverse lineups within nightlife.
Leaning more into the trippy, wormhole soundscapes, the past year in particular has seen Dj wiggles play esteemed events and venues including the likes of Risen festival, Colour Factory, Bodily, Patterns, Above Below festival and more (definitely recommend checking out Dj wiggles’ set from Above Below once you’ve finished here!)
Hey Jasmine! How are you doing today? What have you been up to lately?
Hey! I’m really good actually 🙂 I looove autumn so feeling v happy and inspired at the moment, and it’s also my bday weekend, so feeling good!
I’ve actually been taking it pretty easy the last few weeks after a v hectic summer. I moved out of London back in spring to a small cottage in the countryside, I haven’t much time to rest and unwind at home yet so been trying to do more of that the past few weeks 🙂
Let’s start from the very beginning, what was your first introduction to music in general and then more specifically electronic music?
I’m actually not someone who was super musical as a child and neither were my family. That being said I do have very fond and early memories of my dad playing music in the car, him and my mum have always loved music we’ve just never been a very actively musical family per se, we weren’t in bands or anything like that. I played piano but it didn’t hold my attention for very long (something i regret deeply now i’m trying to make music!)
That being said I do feel as though music has been a constant in my life. I’ve always had an extremely emotional connection to it, and the nostalgic element of music is something I ove the most about it – so I guess that’s always been there.
In terms of electronic music, I came to this pretty late in life to be honest. I was more of an indie / alternative kid when I was younger and in my teens, very much into bands and guitars. My first introduction to electronic music came at the end of sixth form / beginning of uni I’d say, when I started to get into post-dubstep, stuff like Mount Kimbie & James Blake. I was surrounded by extremely talented and musical people at uni, some of whom are sadly no longer with us (love u tom), so I spent a lot of time either out clubbing, listening to my housemates write music or play on the decks. It was an extremely creative time actually looking back at it. The Aka Aka Roar parties at LIFE were probably the first parties I properly remember. This is where I started listening to stuff like Julio Bashmore (gassed by his comeback), Moodymann, Seven Davis Jr etc. My first year at uni was actually in 2012, which coincided with the release of ‘Au Seve’ so I must have heard it on repeat most weekends tbh!
Who was the first artist or band that you were a fan of?
Probably Avril Lavigne to be honest, but that when I was about 8 years old so not sure that counts. But in my teens I was really into bands like the Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club. Get Cape Wear Cape Fly + Bloc Party. I’ve still got my old iPod somewhere actually, would love to see what’s hiding on there!
Did you always envision yourself following a creative path? What are some of your earliest memories exploring creativity?
Ooh good questions.
I’ll start with the first question as this is actually something I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few years trying to figure out. I guess the short answer is no I didn’t, but that was mostly down to schooling + my peers rather than a lack of creativity.
I had a really amazing time at my school, but one thing that has always stuck with me is how they never allowed me to even consider following a creative path. I was always taking photos, ever since I can remember – I was always the one in our friendship group with the camera.
I think (well actually I know) I’m pretty similar to my dad, and I think he saw this creativity inside me. He never liked school and wanted me to know I didn’t have to be academic, I could follow a different route. I remember him so clearly saying to me at the end of year 11, “You know you can go to college right, do a photography course? You don’t have to do A Levels / follow this academic path” but at the time I just couldn’t see it or at least didn’t want to. I felt the pressure from my school and peers to do something academic.
Fast forward 13 years later and I’m self employed, working between music and film and probably should’ve listened to my dad. But I can’t help thinking that maybe this was how it was supposed to be and I needed to find this path my own way 🙂
Was there a formative moment growing up, whether that’s seeing your favourite band live or an incredible DJ set, that led you to this path?
I would definitely say I’ve had more formative experiences on the dancefloor / listening to DJ sets. But I would actually say my most formative years came after I first moved to London in around 2016. I guess maybe I was already quite grown up by this point, but these were the years I spent every weekend on the dancefloor.
There’s probably quite a specific event that happened that I honestly think has linked everything up for me, and it was bumping into my, now very close, friend at a Giegling night at Village Underground. We didn’t really know each other super well at the time and he was still at uni in Brighton but he randomly invited me to go and see British Murder Boys with him in a few weeks time as one of his pals (now also a very good pal) could no longer make it.
We had a great night, (ended up in Jaded) and after that he essentially brought me into his friendship group, and most of these people are still my closest friends to this day. It was during these years that I discovered some of absolute favourite house tunes of all time through hours of playing tunes to each other after parties. I’ve spent a lot of time on the dancefloor and sharing music with pals and I think that’s definitely shaped the DJ I am today – it’s helped me have this extremely emotional connection to playing music. I know what it feels like to be on that dance floor and the impact it can have emotionally. I’m sorry I’m rambling but this is actually extremely linked to this mix so it’s nice to talk about.
So yeah, thanks for inviting me to Oval Space Seb! <3
In terms of specific sets, off the top of my head Call Super @ Panorama Bar when he played ‘Let Me Be Me’ by The Other People Place (if I ever get booked to play P Bar this is 1000% making it into my set and i’ll probably cry), Batu closing set @ Dimensions, he closed with these peng reggae / dubby tunes and then ended on ‘Peverelist – Esperanto’, Marcel Dettman also at Barbarellas but this time at Selectors, he played an 80s throwback set and played ‘Enjoy The Silence’ by Depeche Mode. Also Djrum at Freerotation, but that was a couple of years ago so not sure that counts as formative but yeah, he’s pretty good isn’t he.
What inspired you to start the kinetic mix series?
So I’m actually someone who absolutely loooooves listening to mixes. I’m extremely lucky in that I’m self employed and work from home which ofc allows me the freedom to do this. I see a lot of discourse about how there are too many mixes and mix series out there, and it should just be the big platforms like RA / Crack etc and that’s that, but I totally disagree.
I find the process of recording a mix extremely enjoyable, and quite different to the way I approach a set. So I guess I wanted to start my own platform to allow people to express their creativity in this way. And although it’s an ode to all of my favourite mix series, I really wanted it to feel different to anything I’d seen before which is why I’ve made it into a conceptual mix series where each artist choses a theme.
What is your approach to curation?
I’ve always loved finding new up-and-coming artists, so this is very much the premise. There’s no genre boundaries, but I guess the thing that connects it all is artists with creativity. I want people to put time and thought and love into creating this piece of art, and think of it more as storytelling than just playing banger after banger.
Where do you look for sources of inspiration outside of music?
Nature, definitely. I grew up in the countryside, so if I’m in the city too long I really struggle with my headspace. Nature, travelling & hiking all make me feel alive. I’m also extremely inspired by photography, film & strangely enough the link between football & fashion & film. I love football and it’s a fairly life long dream of mine to try and bring it into my career somehow. Big up the arsenal <3
You’ve also pulled together a mix for us, what’s the concept behind this one?
Ooh OK I feel like I’ve rambled so much I’m not sure how i’m only just getting to this point.
There’s a few different elements to it so let me try and break it down. I guess we touched on the first part briefly earlier, and how influential dancefloors have been to me, and my emotional and nostalgic connetion to music. I guess this is probably where the genesis of this mix came from.
I would say that it’s less inspired by the nostalgia i’ve experienced on the dancefloor and actually more from the mixes I’ve listened to at certain times in my life, on my own or with friends, that I can still remember so clearly. In the same waye I can remember specific tracks from a set that will last with me forever, I also have this with mixes.
I wanted to try and create a mix someone can listen to on a long road trip, on their own, with friends, or late at night over dinner with friends and have an extremely emotional / nostalgic connection to it in years to come.
The second part to this mix is that I feel as though I’ve finally reached a point where I’m able to translate the diversity of my music taste into a set. There’s a moment near the end where I transition from some quite dark & wobbly techno into a Terry Francis track, and I smiled to myself listening back to it as there was a time when I really struggled to translate my love of heavier sounds such as techno, dubstep and bass into the lighter sounds of house.
There’s some mixes and artists which I feel cover both my concepts together which have inspired me so much. This mix is basically an ode to them. If anything I make is even slightly this meaningful to someone I’d be really really happy. To name a few, DJ Voices’ Mixtape Club “Avoiding Bad Thoughts” mix, re:ni’s Air Podcast, steffi’s RA 500 mix, livwutang @ sustain release year 7, kia @ sustain release year 8, Akanbi says YES (3.5 hours of pure joy, a masterclass in building energy) + Jasmin’s Patterns of Perception mix. I could go on, but yes these have all been extremely influential to me.
Do you have a different approach to preparation for club sets to online mixes whether that’s for a platform or radio show?
It used to be fairly similar as I used to prepare my sets quite heavily, but I’m actually trying to get to a point with my DJ sets where I’m not necessarily digging for that event. This requires my rekordbox to be in an extremely good state (work in progress lol), so that I can just say “Hey I want to play a dark & wonky techno set today” and I’ll be able to just dip into my tags and curate a playlist with all my existing music. But yes as I said this is very much a work in progress, and i’m not quite there yet.
For mixes, I have a pretty clear idea in mind for what I want to create most of the time. This one actually I started by going through all my music on my rekordbox, and picking out tracks which I felt fitted the brief, and then recording something with just those, then seeing how it sounds and what I’m missing and digging for tracks to build around it. I’ll usually record in full two or three times, upload to SC privately and comment on the sections i’m happy / not happy with whilst listening back until I’m happy.
Is there a staple track in your DJ sets at the moment?
I feel like all of my sets are quite different so there’s not really one track or sound I would play in every set. I only started feeling totally comfortable with my love of different genres and the ability to mix them into a set this year. So generally, no two sets are the same… but I can shout out some artists who are pretty much always in my sets, Vardae & Al Wootton – I should basically start a fan club for them at this point tbh.
As we come towards the end of the year and start reflecting on 2023, what’s been one of your favourite memories from this year?
Ooh good question. There’s actually too many to choose from, but I’d probably say my time at Dekmantel Selectors this year was really special. The whole summer tbh. And maybe the best is yet to come 🙂