House music is a staple genre within the electronic music community. House music is feel good music, the type of tunes you throw on when it’s a sunny day or you need a little pick-me-up. It can’t get much better than that, or can it? Enter deep house music. The grooves go straight to the core of your soul.Â
Artists will never come unprepared to a party. They always bring a toolbox packed with tracks that are truly dance floor destroyers. Whatâs in Your Toolbox features artistsâ secret weapons, aka, the tracks they donât leave out of their USB.
Dense & Pika are a British electronic duo compromising Hypercolour label co-founder Alex Jones and Chris Spero, aka Glimpse. Heading up the Kneaded Pains imprint, which has played host to Eats Everything, James Welsh, and Will Clarke alongside their own productions, the duo have been at the forefront of hard-hitting House and Techno since the projectâs inception in 2011.
Arriving on Patrick Toppingâs Trick for the first time, the pair bring their big, booming techno to the label with two chunky tracks. Title track “U, My” sees airy vocal chops floating over big kicks, knocking percussion and a hypnotic, looping low-end, combining to form a heavy club cut, while “Sun Sesh” sees the duo reach for a combination of shuffling drums, tweaked-out FX, and rolling chords for a dynamic, chugging track.
Dense & Pika U, My EP drops on 15th April via Trick
What can we say about Luke, a staple of our Kneaded Pains label. Unbelievable producer, his productions have so much dark energy in them, level any dance floor. Always feature in every set of ours. This remixes an ABSOLUTE STONKER.
Incredible sludgy, slo-mo modular techno on ESP Institute from 2013. Amazing groove under shimmering modular textures. Almost no hats at all. Â
Have always been a huge fan of Makaton. Really like his vision of techno. From abstract polyrhythm to distorted crunchy grooves, this is one of his more playable offerings.
This guy’s incredible. Really pace-y deep techno. Perfect for breaking up a techno set.
Not many records have been in the âboxâ longer than this. For some weird reason people still always ask what it is. Cari has been churning out incredible quality techno for nearly 30 years. This is our fave from his vast back catalogue, absolute wonkathon from 1997.
Would be daft not to put our new record on trick here, this genuinely flattens gaffs. Try it if you don’t believe us ;-)
Connect with Dense & Pika: SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
Scotlandâs young shining, techno talent Frazi.er is pioneering the latest generation of clubbing fanatics. His uniquely raw, energetic sound has led to international recognition, intense touring and seminal releases on world renowned labels such as EXHALE.
Hailing from an industrious town in Central Scotland with a long history of deprivation, itâs fair to say there has been no shortage of music hungry admirers. Frazi.erâs experience focused club nights have become one of the most hard to grab tickets in his home country. None better tells this story than the Open To Close at SWG3âs âGalvanizerâ warehouse selling out two dates in 14 minutes, while fully crashing Resident Advisor.
When not throwing down at the hardest nights in Scotland, Frazi.er can be found at residencies at the infamous Subclub, Terminal V Festival, and SWG3.
Frazi.er is no stranger to big projects having shared decks with the likes of Dax J, Amelie Lens, Floorplan, Speedy J, SHDW and Obscure Shape to name a few. At just 26 years old he’s fast becoming one of the UKâs most sought after artists and in the mantra of his very own CONCEPT: âThe Journey Continuesâ.
Hi Frazi.er! What and/or who inspired you to get involved in the electronic music scene?Â
It was back when I was about 16 years old and went to a few house parties with my mate Nickâs big brother and his group of friends. I can remember asking âwhat is this music?â. It turns out it was of course techno and I instantly fell in love with the relentless groove, so I started digging deeper into this sound. At the time I was listening to electro house and dance music.
Raw, dance floor techno. Good combo. What is your most memorable or favorite event to date?Â
Itâs actually my most recent rave, which was Dax J and Richie Hawtin at UNFOLD on a Sunday evening. This genuinely even blew the vibe in Berghain out the water for me. Itâs one of the best vibes Iâve seen in a club and great to hear Richie playing around 150bpm, with tons of high energy stompers.
In one sentence, describe what it felt like when the RA website crashed because of your upcoming event.
F***ing crazy!
Your clothing line, OVOSI, is fire! If you had to choose, who are your top three fashion icons or brands?
Stone Island, A Cold Wall and Prada.
Besides running OVOSI, you also work with Chrisâs House and The Homeless Project Scotland. Can you share more about these two organizations and your involvement with them?Â
Where Iâve spent most of my time living was my hometown Motherwell. This region had one of the highest deaths by suicide in Scotland which was and still is pretty scary. I wanted to fully support Chrisâs House and help raise awareness as there is a big stigma about guys not wanting to speak up about it. The Homeless project felt fitting as the charity event I was doing was around wintertime and it was important to keep people off the streets and sheltered during these even more life threatening times.
How do you balance your music career with your other interests and passions?
This is something I have always struggled with. My main focus is purely on my music, and Iâve had to make some tough decisions to cut back things on my clothing line to eliminate stress and not spread myself too thin. Working out regularly and eating good food is absolutely essential as well.
Do you have anything that youâre looking forward to in the near future?
Lots of exciting things in the pipeline, and all focused on putting on events with a forward thinking approach. But I canât really divulge any details at this stage, so youâll have to keep checking back for more announcements soon.
Anything else youâd like to share?Â
My new TRANSPARENCY concept which is a visual show Iâm launching in May and will be touring around Europe. We just announced this last week and I am so excited about it. Hopefully I can bring the concept over to the U.S. in the not too distant future.
Following a string of releases on his Involve imprint, as well as Figure, Enemy and BPitch, Regal is one of Technoâs most exciting talents of recent years.
Involve is also the home for his first-ever album Remember Why You Started, which is out this July 2nd. Featuring 12 original tracks, the focus is energetic and raw, in proper Regal style.
Lewis Daniels is known for his relaxed and no-nonsense approach to House Music, delivering original releases through his solo work and together as a duo with Christian B, mainly via their widely acclaimed Friday Fox Recordings label since 2013.
Formerly known as âLavvy Levanâ, Lewis now records solely under his own name and has a quirky new single dropping titled âLove Pussâ. 6AM digs deeper to find out more.
Disco and House connoisseur Mannix has been one of Viennaâs most prominent dance music pioneers since he first started DJing back in the early ’90s.
His colourful career has seen him release and remix tracks on AM:PM, Go Beat, Generate Music, Soundmen On Wax, Polydor, Tropical Disco,Peppermint Jam, Midnight Riot, Black Vinyl and Re-Loved, along with many others. 2021 saw the launch of Mannix’s own new label, DAFIA Records, and on his latest release with VillaLife ft. Andre Espeut, he takes on Juniorâs 80âs Classic, âMama Used To Sayâ.
6AM digs deeper…
Singer/Songwriter Cortney LaFloy hails from the suburbs of Chicago and currently resides in Atlanta.
Centred within her artistic tapestry are the rhythms of 70âs Soul & Funk, Disco, and House Music and her district soulful and jazzy tones have been turning heads in the scene. Cortney has released tracks on Tambor Music, Nervous Records, POJI Records, and Funkhut Records, among others, collaborating with the likes of Timmy Regisford, DJ Pope and more.
As she reveals her sublime new single, âMy Sisterâ, produced by Daz-I-Kue of Bugz In The Attic fame, 6AM digs deeperâŠ
With a music career spanning two decades, singer/songwriter Kavita continues to wow us with her distinctive soulful tones. As she drops her new collaboration with Daz-I-Kue (Bugz In The Attic / BB Boogie), âDeluxe Goddessâ, a song dedicated to women for International Womenâs Day, 6AM Digs Deeper..
Nurturing his own brand of soulful house, Shaheer Williams launched Soul Groove Music back in 2004, which featured collaborations with Kimara Lovelace, Susu Bobien, Stephanie Cooke, Louie Vega, Kenny Bobien and Ann Nesby, among many. He also co-produced the international smash hit, ‘Everybody Be Somebody’ by Ruffneck feat Yavahn on MAW Records. After a few years of exploring other projects, including launching his own night spot in Newark, Shaheer is back in the studio and relaunching his much loved label with a stunning collab with Sheree Hicks.
6AM checks in to dig deeper…
Argentina is a known hotbed for all things melodic, and Maxi Degrassi is yet another rising young talent that proves this notion. Having become arrested with house, techno, and the genresâ more melodious shades as a child, the producer got his start toying around in FL Studio as soon as he could get his hands on it before being able to upgrade to Ableton Live. He began DJing around this time soon, eventually honing his skills enough to become resident at one of the top parties in his home country, Desert In Me.
