Music Not Diving with Scuba

The touring lifestyle is not for everyone. It's the classic case of something which appears to be endlessly glamorous from the outside, but the reality of which is something else entirely. Everyone wants to be a part of it, few manage to sustain it for very long. At this point Ali Shirazinia, aka Dubfire, might (without too much of an emphasis on 80s imagery) be described as a road warrior. Touring hard internationally since the mid 90s as part of Deep Dish, he seemingly never lets up and is absolutely a creature of that way of life. His reinvention as a solo artist over the past 15 years have taken him everywhere and put him at the forefront of all the changes in the live side of electronic music over that time. Our conversation covers his forthcoming album, his experiences in the New York club scene of the 90s, dealing with social media, and why high-end tasting menus are kind of like an open-to-close DJ set. In other news, we are now LIVE on Patreon! Join us to support the show and help us develop it into something bigger. The entry level tier is just $4 or £3.50, and there is a $10 tier which gets you all of the music released on Hotflush and affiliated labels early, and in the best quality formats. Bonus content on Patreon includes extra podcasts, the first of which is available now. Join us in the Hotflush Discord ServerListen to all the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlistFor more links and other info visit the official Scuba websiteFollow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prince taught us all the importance of controlling your own music, and that is a concept which this week's guest has taken to heart over the course of his career. A label-owner, publisher, and spinner of DJ sets featuring exclusively his own material, Levon Vincent is a producer's producer and a proper hero of the underground. In this conversation we get pretty deep into his roots in Newark and New York City, covering his formative musical years in the late 80s, through his experiences as an opening DJ at the legendary Limelight club, through to the Giuliani era which brought New York clubbing to an abrupt halt. We also discuss topics including the life-affirming experience of Berghain, the difficulty of coming up with original titles (or even DJ names), and the importance of sound checks. This week 'OneZeroFive', the second part of my collaboration with Bakongo aka Roska is out on Hotflush, also featuring a remix of 'Over Again' by Hassan Abou Alam. We have also announced a Hotflush label event at Æden in Berlin on 2 Sept... Get involved! Join us in the Hotflush Discord ServerListen to all the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlistFor more links and other info visit the official Scuba websiteFollow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dubstep Wars is a series we're incorporating into the show which takes a serious look at the development of Dubstep in the US. How it got there, how it grew, and what happened then. This is the second in the series, but we've got so much more than that on this episode. Joe Nice is an actual hero of underground music in North America. Justifiably regarded as the first person on that side of the pond to push the Dubstep sound, he's also a political activist of deep knowledge and passion. Regular listeners will know that I love digging into political matters with music people and we absolutely do that here, including on whether musicians have a duty to be political, the differences between the US and Europe, and the issue of censorship in the media. We also discuss topics including the cutting of dubplates, AOL Instant Messenger, and the legendary NYC Dubstep institution that was Dub War. This is our longest conversation to date on the show and one that I absolutely loved having. Joe is an awesome guy and I can guarantee that you will love his stories and energy. No releases on Hotflush labels this week but we just announced the next collab between myself and Bakongo, which also includes a remix from the totally awesome Hassan Abou Alam. And don't forget to check the new Anna Kost EP if you haven't already. It's really good. Join us in the Hotflush Discord ServerListen to all the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlistFor more links and other info visit the official Scuba websiteFollow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hospital Records is one of the biggest labels in Drum n Bass, but its origins came out of the musical crossroads in the mid 90s which involved Acid Jazz, Broken Beat, elements of UK Garage, and of course Jungle. Chris Goss was a co-founder, a key part of London Elektricity whose music Hospital was in part set up to support, and now runs the label and all of its constituent parts as the MD. We talk about the history of the label, how it functions today, the relative importance of the Hospitality live events side of the business, and go down many peripheral rabbit holes relating to all of that stuff. Hospital was a real inspiration to me in setting up Hotflush, so I was very excited to have Chris on the show... he did not disappoint!On Hotflush and affiliated labels this week we have the return of the hugely exciting young artist Anna Kost with her new EP on Who Whom entitled Waste Of Skin. And the special talent that is Jayson Wynters returns to Rhythm Nation with Exit Wound, also featuring remixes from the amazing James Welsh. Join us in the Hotflush Discord ServerListen to all the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlistFor more links and other info visit the official Scuba websiteFollow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Should you bother to learn music theory if you want to make dance music? This is a rare area in life where ignorance is quite often openly celebrated. That's not to be sniffy about those who can't pick out the sixth note of a minor harmonic scale, but the arguments used to justify the lack of knowledge do lend themselves to a suspicion that the people involved are either kidding themselves or seeking to do as much to everyone else. In the introduction to an interview with MJ Cole, the term 'classically trained' is reliably invoked - notwithstanding the opening paragraph this is an epithet which can justifiably be met with some trepidation. In this case however, the briefest acquaintance with his late 90s, genre-defining UK Garage classic 'Sincere' instantly banishes any such worries. This is a maker of tunes with the highest level of sophistication in terms of knowledge and technique, but also the chops to know when to let those things get out of the way. I was intending to have something of a deep dive into the development of UK Garage during this conversation, but instead we got a snapshot of a career defined much more by a personal approach to music than fitting into a given genre, even though the MJ Cole name is synonymous with the aforementioned style. We also discuss other stuff including that first question about the value of technique in making club music, engineering tunes for DJs, and the relationship between UK Garage and Jungle/DnB.This is an awesome conversation with a really important figure in UK music. You will enjoy it! Join us in the Hotflush Discord ServerListen to all the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlistFor more links and other info visit the official Scuba websiteFollow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What constitutes a hit record? In the underground dance world the definition can be very different to one that, say, a major label exec living in LA might use. A genre-defining club track is not a "hit" on everyone's terms. But this week's guest has made records which can unambiguously be associated with the H-word. Since starting out in the mid 2000s on Tiga's Turbo label, Duke Dumont has established himself as perhaps the leading UK exponent of what might be called 'pop house', and having decamped to Los Angeles a few years ago, he is able to give us a slightly different perspective on the industry to previous guests on the show. We discuss topics including the mental bandwidth war in social media, the debilitating nature of depression on creativity, soundtracking experiences, and the freedom of writing albums. This was a great conversation, you will enjoy it! On Hotflush and affiliated labels.... this week Closet Yi drops the full release of her 'Simmer' EP. Check it out, it's awesome! Join us in the Hotflush Discord ServerListen to all the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlistFor more links and other info visit the official Scuba websiteFollow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At this point the argument over NFTs probably seems a bit tired. But the fact is that very often the real benefits, theoretical though they might be, can be absent from the conversation as a whole. When Jacques Greene effectively sold the publishing rights to a track via the blockchain he was hinting at a world which currently doesn't exist, but the reality of which would unquestionably be a huge improvement to musicians. That is a world where contracts automatically execute without the need for legacy institutions which operate with extreme opacity and questionable efficacy. So clearly the subject needed to be addressed during this conversation, and on this episode we get fairly deep on all that stuff. Additionally to the NFT debate, we cover topics including the minutiae of 808 kickdrums, his experience with a major label, and the effect of high and low rents on the productivity of musicians.This was a super-interesting conversation with someone with whom I have many mutual friends but had previously never talked to directly. You will enjoy it! On Hotflush and affiliated labels.... a reminder for last week's drop of the James Welsh Sound Exchange Remix of Jayson Wynters' Lost City. This week we have Biemsix dropping the second half of his latest EP with 'Highway High Way Too High' - proper techno. And over on YAEL trip, Glaskin present their full remixes EP featuring me + Etapp Kyle, Baby T, Uncrat and Isaac Reuben... also out on Friday. Join us in the Hotflush Discord ServerListen to all the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlistFor more links and other info visit the official Scuba websiteFollow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you're trying to get started in music there is a tendency to find yourself doing all sorts of stuff just for the privilege of being involved. One of the first things I ever did was conduct an extremely poorly-researched interview with an up-n-coming DJ and producer who was making tunes every dark garage DJ wanted (it wasn't quite called Grime yet). He called himself Plasticman. A few years and one letter from Richie Hawtin later, Chris Reed aka Plastician was spinning on Radio 1, and shortly after that became one of the busiest DJs of the Dubstep explosion of 2006. Fast-fwd another fifteen years and he is still DJing, making tunes, and running his label Terrorhythm, while also heavily involved in the Friends With Benefits DAO, and a firm advocate of the web3 space as a whole. As the above would indicate we discuss a wide range of topics, including the end of UKG as we knew it in 2000, what exactly a DAO is anyway, and the legendary DJ Hatcha. We also get pretty deep into the challenges of making a living out of music over the course of multiple decades, and the many different opportunities that present themselves along the way. Chris is a true soldier of the UK underground and you will enjoy this conversation! On Hotflush this week the 'Iceberg' EP from Bakongo drops, featuring the 'Over Again' collab with *me* which first dropped a few weeks ago. Join us in the Hotflush Discord ServerListen to all the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlistFor more links and other info visit the official Scuba websiteFollow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Musicians can be broadly assigned one of two categories - those who are willing to say what they think, and those who are not. There is an element of risk and reward at play in this dynamic - and it might be a calculated strategy or purely a reflection of a given person's ability (or otherwise) to express themselves. This week's guest, Dave Clarke, is a reliable representative of the former group. He is frequently interviewed, and those interviews often cover topics which have little to do with music - international politics is a common point of discussion.... which leads us to the disclaimer that there is quite a lot of non-music related chat on the show this week.BUT THAT'S OK. DJs shouldn't be limited to talking about kick drums, and we cover topics here including living abroad, Brexit, energy policy, cultural conservatism, as well as the disappearance of counter-culture, the perils of record deals, and the secret sauce of hardware compressors.This was a conversation I was looking forward to having and it did not disappoint. On Hotflush this week we have the second single from Closet Yi's 'Simmer' EP, entitled Red Comet. It's a cracker. And my remix of Glaskin's amazing track Hydrogroove I is also out on Friday. 140bpm breakbeat action ! Join us in the Hotflush Discord ServerListen to all the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlistFor more links and other info visit the official Scuba websiteFollow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the pandemic hit, no part of the music scene has been dissected so minutely by people with less direct knowledge than the club and festival circuit. That was inevitable - everyone loves to party and far too many take an unhealthy pleasure in the misfortune of others. Thankfully on this week's show we have some actual expertise to draw upon. Rich McGinnis has an inordinate amount of experience of the area in question, going back to the early days of the rave scene in Northern Ireland, working at Amnesia in Ibiza, to being one of the key players in the seminal North-West parties Chibuku Shake Shake, Circus, and The Warehouse Project. He's also found time to play a key role in festivals including Parklife and Lovebox. We talk about all of the above, plus the perils of chaperoning the denizens of Big Beat, why it's not always wise to build a DJ their own special booth for one gig, how ecstasy can change international politics, and much else besides. Rich is a raconteur with stories to tell and you will enjoy this episode!On Hotflush affiliated labels this week, Biemsix returns to Who Whom with the first part of a 5-track EP of signature deep and energetic techno.Join us in the Hotflush Discord ServerListen to all the music discussed on the show via the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlistFor more links and other info visit the official Scuba websiteFollow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.