Terminal V Podcast 103 || DJ LOVE

DJ Love might be a newcomer, but there’s no guessing that from the way he plays. The London-based new boy has already perfected the art of layering his hard grooves with euphoric energy, both in the booth and in the studio. His tunes on Beardman, Pretty Weird and Wavelengths have been supported by the likes of Interplanetary Criminals and Mark Broom, who, he admits, is a large part of the reasons he plays the sounds he does.

Ahead of a first big Australian tour, we speak to the fast-rising star about finding balance when playing fast, how he challenges himself with his Rinse FM show and what he wanted to achieve with this week’s mix. It’s a great snapshot of where he’s at and the sort of selection that will power you through to the weekend in no time.

 

 

 

How and when did you first get into hard groove and techno, and why did it appeal to you?

Funnily enough, I used to mix a lot of garage and harder industrial techno, but then got put onto hardgroove by Mark Broom. He taught me pretty much everything I know now. Shout out Mark!

 

How do you find nuance and lift and shade when playing upbeat, euphoric music? Is it important to get some balance like that to make the highs even higher?

Recently I’ve been exploring a bit more of a euphoric sound, my whole goal with DJing nights is to give the punters the best & happiest night possible. Can’t be every day moody techno can it! I try to give a nice balance to my sets of those big moments with those proper driving club tunes.

 

ell us about your Rinse show – do you approach it differently than a DJ set, does it allow you to indulge a different side? And what is the art of being a good radio host?

Rinse has been such a blessing for me, I’ve always wanted to be on there and basically just hung round the studio til they gave me a show. When I’m doing my show I really want to put up-and-coming artists at the forefront of it, whether that’s my friends or people that have sent in tunes to my promo email. I love challenging myself and mixing tunes I might not play in clubs but know would go off in Steve from Basildon’s car.

 

Are you excited to play to Australia and crowds outside of Europe for the first time soon?

I’m super excited – I’ve played to a lot of European crowds now, and absolutely love it here, but the Aussies are OBSESSED with hardgroove at the moment. It’s almost funny how much those lot love it. Feel like they’ll be super receptive to my sound this time round. Just not looking forward to the 30hr commute.

 

Tell us about your mix the aim you had with it, and what you wanted it to say.

I wanted to really encapsulate where I want to go with my sound for the next year or so, some curveballs as usual, and some tried and tested bangers. Simple as

What gear did you use? Is that important to you?

I used my home set-up of 2 broken XDJ 700s and my trusty DJM850k. Gear is important formatting wise but honestly anything that presses play works, I’ve seen a guy mix on two Playstation 1s, pausing it to beat match. We’re a bit spoilt with tech nowadays honestly!


What are you working on for the rest of the year?

Mostly just focusing on my Aus tour, but got so many tunes in the locker for the end of this year/start of next. Been sitting on so many bangers recently, the hard drive needs emptying! Want to really push myself to get as much out as physically possible!

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kristan j caryl