Optimo: Forever Mixing It Up

Dance music legends don't come much more consistently creative and jaw-droppingly inspirational than Optimo, the DJ pairing of Glasgae music lovers Twitch and JG Wilkes.

Having recently called time on their much loved weekly Glasgow party of the same name, the pair have already set up a new night - Hung Up! - to showcase the city's deep rooted musical talents.

We caught up with the duo ahead of their set at Stop Making Sense this September to find out more...

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
Twitch: "On the road all the time but hopefully will get a bit of time to relax."
JG Wilkes: "2 or 3 club gigs most weekends. Rockness, The Electric Frog, Glastonbury, Ibiza, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, USA."

Tell us about your latest projects?
Twitch: "Working on my label - Optimo Music. In the studio producing Scottish legends Sons and Daughters. Lots of remixing."
JG: "We run a new weekly party on Sunday in Glasgow called "Hung Up!" It's at the Sub Club. We program the line-ups, local and international, both live acts and dj's and we play at it occasionally ourselves. Hung up! has run 3 weeks now with great local dj's playing and it's taking shape nicely. Next week, 30th May, Twitch will DJ and Chromehoof will perform live - should be great. Other stuff…We're doing an Optimo party on a paddle steamer on the River Clyde and another on The Thames in London. We are also co-curating an all-day event at Tramway Glasgow on June 26th which culminates in an evening performance by one of our all-time favourite bands "Nurse with Wound" - we've called it 'A Midsummer Day's Dream with Nurse with Wound'. There's some surprises planned too for the Summer/Autumn period."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
Twitch: "Amal Saha, Group Doueh, Chrissy Zebby Tembo, Troup Majidi, Christoph Buchel."
JG: "Nurse with Wound, The Comeme artists, Divorce, Arvo Part, David Hammons, Factory Floor, Wooden Shjips, Paul McCarthy, Levon Vincent and more."

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
Twitch: "Lots of dancing."
JG: "Music we honestly love that we hope will make people want to dance."

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
JG: "Matias Aguayo."

Any unusual festival tips?
JG: "I'm a relatively inexperienced festival goer and am usually in and out… I guess I would say remember that mosquitoes can ruin everything…. apparently Catnip is a more powerful repellant than DEET."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
JG: "Somewhere quiet."

SMS festival madness: the people, the parties, revealed in full glory!

Kyle Hall: new school Motor City cool

One of Detroit techno's brightest stars and hottest new talents, Kyle 'Motherfucking' Hall (as he likes to be called) is set to be one of the breakthrough stars of this year's Stop Making Sense.

So, while we await the man's sure-to-be-stunning exclusive SMS mix, we thought it high-time he shared his thoughts on life, love and, er, baby wipes...

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"Spending time with my new wife and gigging around Europe."

Tell us about your latest projects?
"My Latest Project that's coming out is on Third Ear recordings. The title is 'Must See', that comes out this month in May. As for My label Wild Oats There will be A new Release By KMFH (fyi. Kyle Mother Fuckn Hall) due out in the summer called 'The Sungoddess' EP. This record is going to be pressed to gold color vinyl and Have amazing artwork done by none other than the Incredible Mr Thrasher (he did the Hyperdub artwork for my Hyperdub release). He's an Amazing young Graphic artist who's from Detroit Also."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"Currently I'm drawing inspiration from not so much artists but just my friends. Just people emotions and how they function in everyday life. Lately Ive been using my music as a way to model and personify my observations of people."

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
Kyle Hall - Kaychunk

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"Fun!"

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"Mickey Mouse."

Any unusual festival tips?
"Bring Baby wipes....things will get dirty."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
"Gritz."

SMS mix 07 - Nick Agha

In addition to the headline-grabbing big hitters such as Carl Craig, The Very Best, Friendly Fires, Theo Parish and pals, our first summer festival will also showcase the estimable talents of some of the UK's best up'n'coming DJs and producers, and none more so than Nick Agha, a Brixton-based house and techno zealot best known for being the brains behind club/events company Don't Panic.

Nick's exclusive SMS mix, the seventh in our weekly series, features plenty of his own tracks, several unheard till now, alongside re-rubs and mixes by revered house heads like Prosumer and Chez Damier (tracklisting below). We caught up with Nick to find out more...

Download: SMS mix 07 - Nick Agha

Tell us about the mix you’ve recorded for SMS?
"My productions range between deep house and techno but I wanted to keep this mix on the house tip to create the feeling of outside daytime dancing in sunny Croatia. It gets more slamming in the middle with an abstract peak with my track satellite over and out of Nikola Gala and into some Levon remix genius mellowing again with some old school productions at the end. I haven't mastered my tracks so it was tough mixing and EQing these waves into vinyl so sorry if the sound quality isn't the best but I think Ive achieved a live raw loose which is important to me. All the effects are done live in the mix with a midi controller."

Any exclusives on there?
"There's 8 exclusive tracks of mine on there which until released we can call works in progress."

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"Got my first release scheduled on a great new label Canta run by some serious young house heads really into the music and the scene as well as the creative and design element of the label towards the end of Summer and a few other labels interested. Definitely hitting Sonar and hopefully a holiday to Borneo! :)"

Tell us about your latest projects?
"Really it's the music all the time and Don't Panic keeps me pretty busy."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"Levon, Omar, Prosumer, Qu, Jus Ed."

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
Party People Clap / Doublejointed Cosmodrome

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"More of the same music-wise hopefully with a visual element if its possible."

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"So many! Juan Atkins, Theo, Patrice, Wbeeza, Giles and James, Rob Summerhayes, Girlcore."

Any unusual festival tips?
"Don't forget the magic word."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
"Dancing on the beach hopefully."

Track Listing:
Nick Agha - Moving Image (Original Mix)
Lovebirds - My Man (Original Mix)
Nick Agha - The City and the Stars
Sascha Dive - Just Groove (Chez Damier Mix)
Nick Agha - Nightfall (Original Mix)
Motor City Soul - Deliver Me ft. Ernesto (Prosumer Remix)
Nick_Agha - Silent Running (Original Mix)
Delano Smith - Truth (Original Mix)
Nick Agha - Step Sequence (Original Mix)
Nikola Gala - The Phunk (Original Mix)
Nick Agha - Satellite (Original Mix)
DJ Qu - Party People Clap (Levon Vincent Remix)
Nick Agha - Calling Home (Original Mix)
Nick Agha - New Year (Original Mix)

Yes my selectah: meet Mexico's hottest new star

We're huge fans of Mexico's cumbia-dancehall-mash-up renegade Toy Selectah here at Stop Making Sense, which is why we booked him to bring a little tropical Latin partying madness to our first festival, and asked him to compile an exclusive SMS mix (download below!) - a brilliant selection of "Raverton" re-rubs and mixes that'll set your head on fire.

Now, we hear from the man himself and life, musical loves and "cute and hot ladies"...

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"Basically traveling! Both sides of the Atlantic, a interesting USA East Coast Tour starting at Celebrate Brooklyn Festival and the Latin Alternative Music Conference, followed by dates in the best parties around DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia and NYC areas, then a Europe dates around End of July and August in Germany. Lots of remixing work and the release of my MAD DECENT EP called CUMBIAS MACHINE!"

Tell us about your latest projects?
"This year has been so interesting cause aside of been traveling, finishing my EP and doing big remixes as the Vampire Weekend ones, i been working with some of the upcoming Urban and Indie Music stars in Mexico and Latin America, producing and remixing the hottest new songs of the hottest new Latino Bands, i really enjoy the fact that as we are conquering the world i got the opportunity to work and been hot in my own place and country."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"Interesting that i get inspiration from a wide range of art work! From Gabriel Orozco (Mexican artist famous for his work with recycled materials) to DJ Blass (one of the hottest Puerto Rico Urban producers during the last 10 years) or the rhythms and sounds that are and been happening in Latin America and Africa during the last 20 years! Colombian Music, Peruvian Music, African stuff!!!"

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
"Something from Sound Pellegrino Label like Gucci Vump, some Tribal Guarachero from 3Ball MTY Crew or my Remix of Wildlife track called JUMBIE."

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"A proper Raverton Dance oriented "Ensalada" with the hottest sounds that been around my radar!"

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"Definitely Matias Aguayo's crew and the Bumbumbox parties they put together, funky, simple and fun sounds!"

Any unusual festival tips?
"Be aware of the sun and the sniffing dogs!!!"

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
"Definitely afterpartying some where around cute and hot ladies!"

FACT mag & Matias Aguayo host South American street party on a boat at Stop Making Sense!

We’re pleased to announce details of the boat party our friends at FACT magazine are hosting at Stop Making Sense.

Joining the world's most on-it music mag for a sun-dappled bash on the high seas is Kompakt crooner and electronic innovator Matias Aguayo (pictured), bringing the already legendary Buenos Aires street-party vibes of his BumBumBox parties to this divine, little-known corner of the Mediterranean.

Matias will be joined by Rebolledo, one of several disco ball-grabbing discoveries that Aguayo has brought to the wider world via his Comeme label. Expect loose-limbed dance music rooted in house, techno and tropical electro, all shot through with an ineffable South American charm and rhythmic flair.

The party takes place at 1.30pm-6.30pm on Saturday 4 September, and it’s quite clearly going to be amazing.

There are also Stop Making Sense boat parties hosted by Allez Allez, Sub Club, Warm, Favela Chic and more - click here for more deets!

SMS mix 06 - Django Django

Expertly straddling the wheels of steel for the sixth in our series of exclusive Stop Making Sense mixes are fast-rising disco-loving Scots-Irish fly boys Django Django, who'll be bringing their ecstatic live show to the Adriatic this summer when they play our first festival.

With their mix spanning Suicide's classic NYC punk funk to Roxanne Shante's '80s hip-hop, Tangerine Dream's spacey synth biz and more riotous UK dancehall that you could royally jump around to (full tracklist below!), this one's a tad special.

Download: SMS mix 06 - Django Django

Tell us about the mix you’ve recorded for Stop Making Sense...any exclusives or particular favourites on there?
"No exclusives I'm afraid but my particular favourites would have be the dancehall oddity i found in a charity shop last weekend , jack reuben and the riddla 'Ah nio nu-un' .. it sounds like Beenie Man dueting with Barny from the Simpsons. Also the Early B track 'Wheely' that our synth player Tommy put forward...forget boasting about girls, cars and guns REAL bad boys know how to pull a good wheely on their bmx!"

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"Ah .. the gold old British summer time...crack out the umbrellas and get the kettle on... well festivals are on the agenda i guess...starting quite soon a think, with great escape in Brighton. the highlight honestly has to be Stop Making Sense festival though.. not only because Carl Craig is DJing, but we've always wanted to go to Croatia, so were very excited about this one."

Tell us about your latest projects?
"We've been 'in the studio' (my flat) since the start of the year trying to pull an album together. last year we were just taking it song by song but we have our album hats on now, so we are trying to choose tracks to concentrate on and bring it all together. its exciting, and looks good on paper to us... its about 60% done so it might make an appearance this year. if not then 2011. that sounds like ages away! but its not really when you consider tweeking, mixing and mastering etc. so well see how it goes."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"We listen to so much different and random music as you can probably tell from this mix. I'm always on he search for exciting new sounding music, but that tends to be old music from the 60s, 70s and 80s... obscure soundtracks, forgotten acid house 12"s and oddball library LPs. There is a lot of music out there! i love the production on 80s and 90s dancehall records.. when you listen to the version side you start to appreciate the crazy samples, synths and rhythms these guys were playing with.. people like sly and robbie, the fire house crew, lenky, steely and cleviea, shocking vibes crew.. its unlike anything else and some of its is pretty weird."

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
"Okay, I've sent a text out for this and Tommy is the only one replying. He says Scott Walker 'the seventh sealand jacques dutronc, hippie hippie hourrah. I'm going to say, the it 'donnie' (and any other Larry Heard productions), Stevie Poindexter stuff and generally lots of '80s Chicago house. I know vinny is really into the gun club at the moment.. and king congo and the pink monkey birds...jim has two tapes.. 'a fish called wonda' soundtrack and 'pizza' by angry anderson."

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"Cowbells and bad shirts probably...the set is a bit like this mix, pretty random. it tends to start off with quite a lot of four four beats and dancy grooves them slip into a more raw garage / surf sound."

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"Juan Atkins, Theo Parrish and Carl Craig. I was really into acid house, electro and techno growing up...I still am really, so hearing these three DJ will be a real treat."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
"As long as were not in Croatian custody I don't mind."

Track Listing:

martin rev 'mari go round'
pierre henry 'cosmic ballad'
basile 'il tubodell anno'
transam 'firepoker'
devo 'Uglatto'
tangerine dream 'jenny artichoke'
Pulsallama 'Ungawa Pt. II'
A Number Of Names 'Sharevari'
roxanne shante 'go on girl'
missy elliot 'im really hot'
epmd 'you gots to chill'
horace andy 'quiet place'
uprising allstars 'massacre in dub'
Early B - 'Wheely Wheely'
prince jammy 'not another word'
mr peck 'ouich ole'
fire house crew '?'
beenie amn 'weed and grabba'
sparticus r 'profitable genocide'
jack reuben and the riddla 'ah no nu-un'
black hole disco theme

Stop Making Sense takeover London!

Following our riotous, rammed-to-the-rafters party at Favela Chic last month, at the end of May Stop Making Sense will be taking over clubs in East and West London to bring the capital a flavour of the musical delights and good times-writ large that you can expect at our debut festival this September!

On Thursday 27th May we return to Favela Chic with a live show by Giles Peterson faves The Worm, specialists in West African blues and riffs, with support from DJs Gringo Da Parada and SMS resident Madera Verde.

The next night, on Friday 28th May, we head across town to take-over Notting Hill Arts Club with tripped-out house and disco specialists Loose Fit and Culprit 1, with SMS mix heroes Allez Allez ably manning the ones and twos.

Back East, on the same Friday, we hit fast-rising new venue The Camp, with the quite frankly amazing Joana and the Wolf (pictured, above) playing live alongside teen stars Fran and Josh and DJs from our friends at FACT magazine ripping it up.

Join us!

SMS LONDON PARTIES

Thursday 27th May
@ FAVELA CHIC
LIVE: THE WORM
DJS: GRINGO DA PARADA + MADERA VERDE
Favela Chic, 91-93 Great Eastern Street, London, EC2A 3HZ / Tel: 0207 6134228. Nearest tube: Old Street
Entry free before 9pm - £3 after / 7pm – 1am

Friday 28th May
@ NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB
LIVE: LOOSE FIT + CULPRIT 1
DJS: ALLEZ ALLEZ
Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate, London, W11 3JQ
Nearest tube: Notting Hill / Tel: 020 74604459
Free entry before 8pm, £6 before 11pm, £8 after / 7pm – 2am

Friday 28th May
@ THE CAMP
LIVE: FRAN AND JOSH + LONGJON LA FLECHA + JOANA AND THE WOLF
DJS: FACT
The CAMP, 70-74 City Road, London EC1Y
Nearest tube: Old Street / Tel: 020 7253 2443
Free / 7pm – midnight

Nathan Fake: keeping it real

UK electronica wunderkind Nathan Fake will be bringing his sepia-tinged take on techno and wistful house to the Adriatic this summer to play our very first Stop Making Sense festival.

The Norfolk-born producer signed to James Holden's Border Community label is still best known for his stunning 2006 debut album Drowning In A Sea of Love, and is now finishing off this third LP, of which he'll no doubt be playing tracks and exclusives in his Stop Making Sense set.

We caught up with the man himself to talk festivals and favourite tunes...

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"I've actually got a pretty quiet summer ahead gig-wise, though I'm doing a lot of work on music, an album and stuff like that."

Tell us about your latest projects?
"An album as I just mentioned, and a couple of remixes, I've just done one for Jon Hopkins.

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"I really like the last albums from Four Tet and Caribou, i am also enjoying stuff by Lone. and Autechre's new album is total hardcore."

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
Autechre - known(1) / Legowelt - interflug electro

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"I'll play some new tunes and some old tunes of mine."

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"I'm not sure of the whole line up actually, but I'm looking forward to seeing my pals Sam & Steve (Allez-Allez - download their SMS mix)."

Any unusual festival tips?
"Don't camp."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
"Probably hanging out with my girlfriend and friends."