Music Not Diving with Scuba

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 seek...

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 establi...

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...

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 an...

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...

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 experienc...

House music all night long is a fine adage for the feckless youth of no responsibility, but try delivering the aforementioned while breastfeeding a newborn and facing the prospect of doing the same thing tomorrow in a different country. Cassy has unquestionably done the 'DJ thing'. Formerly resident of Circoloco and graduate of the inaugural Panorama Bar class, she's played all the shows anyone se...

Techno is a functional form of art, one which on first glance might seem highly formulaic but upon closer inspection reveals itself to be almost infinite in the number of variants in which it can appear while still feeling fresh. Chris Liebing is a master of the style. From a starting point in the early-90s Frankfurt scene, through launching his recently-relaunched label CLR in 1999, up to his pre...

Musicians often view the public relations side of the industry with a degree of suspicion. Sometimes outright hostility. This is occasionally the result of misinformation, or perhaps just a poor level of understanding of what can be a crucial cog in the wheel of an artist's career. But like most things in music there can be a slightly unsavoury side to the construction of narrative and crafting of...

Manchester in the late 1980s was as vibrant a musical environment as you could wish for, and following the second Summer of Love in 1987 societal barriers were crumbling as the combination of music and ecstasy provided the catalyst for eventually became the all-conquering leviathan that we now know as the global rave scene. A Guy Called Gerald made key contributions to that moment, but the experie...

No-one knew anything about Dubstep in 2005. Almost no-one in London but definitely no-one in Denver, or so it would've been reasonable to assume but Nicole Cacciavillano launched her Dubstep night Submission that year and runs it to this day, now at her own venue The Black Box. It's fair to say that Nicole has been extremely influential in the development of the music scene in Denver, in her capac...

We are 15 weeks into the Not A Diving Podcast. On this week's show we discuss how it has gone so far, what the emergent themes have been, how it might develop in the future, and why we're doing it anyway. We also assess a weekend in Berlin involving two shows of sharply contrasting fortune. The interview mentioned: http://www.lebronjames.co/interviews/scuba Also discussed is: Der Klang Der Familie...

Following his debut release on Moving Shadow in 1999, Tim Exile has forged a singular path for himself in music. Releasing LPs on Planet Mu and Warp, previously working for German music-tech behemoth Native Instruments, and most recently founding the collaborative platform Endlesss, he has a restless creativity that often leads to unusual results. We cover topics including the pleasures of drum n...

Mark Broadbent, the slightly embarrassed recipient of an Outstanding Contribution award from DJ Mag, is a nonetheless-legendary promoter and prominent proponent of the importance of serious music policy in nightclubs. Most noted for his work in Ibiza with We Love Space and Cream, he currently works on festivals in Croatia (including Love International and Hospitality) and events at Pikes Hotel in...

Surgeon was part of what Dave Clarke has called the 'second wave of British techno', emerging from the mid 90s Birmingham scene as a resident at House Of God and affiliate of Regis' Downwards label. In the years since he has cemented a reputation as one of the foremost exponents of genuinely forward-thinking techno, and explored other styles with his work as Anthony Child and with Daniel Bean as T...

Yotam Avni is a DJ and producer who established himself in the last decade with key releases on a wide range of some of the best-loved labels in house and techno, including Ovum, Innervisions, Kompakt, Stroboscopic Artefacts, and of course our own Hotflush Recordings. We discuss music journalism, his development as a producer, and his relationship with different music scenes around the world. We a...

Appleblim came to prominence in the mid-2000s as part of the Skull Disco label which he ran with the highly singular producer known as Shackleton. He was a big part of the 'second wave' of artists who emerged from the formative dubstep scene in London, and became synonymous with the 'post-dubstep' movement from 2008-2012. In recent years he has released albums on Sneaker Social Club and continued...

Mano Le Tough emerged as a DJ and producer of note in late 00s Berlin, in the wake of the minimal sound that had defined that decade and of which he was not a particular fan. Originally from a small town outside Dublin, he made his bones as a DJ in the Irish capital before decamping to Germany after Tensnake picked up his first effort on Ableton via Myspace. We talk about all of that, plus his voy...

Machinedrum is a producer from the United States, currently based in Los Angeles having voyaged from beginnings in North Carolina through the deep waters of New York and Berlin. His reputation as a sonic innovator pays tribute to a career steeped in collaboration and a commitment to releasing albums. We dig into his long-players on Ninja Tune and Planet Mu, finding a balance between experimentatio...

Deadbeat is one of the foremost exponents of dub-influenced electronic music. A Canadian living in Berlin for more than 15 years, he has vast experience of making music, performing, and forging a path through the steep mountains of the North American and European electronic scenes. We talk about the development of the rave scene in the 90s, the birth of the Mutek Festival in Montreal, Berghain fro...

dBridge is an unequivocal legend of Drum n Bass. From his work as part of Future Forces Inc. on Renegade Hardware in the mid 90s, through the supergroup Bad Company and the Autonomic project with Instra:mental, right up to releasing 4 albums since 2018 on his own Exit Records label, he has been right at the cutting edge of the genre, and of electronic music generally for more than 25 years. We tal...

Roska is a DJ, producer, and label owner from the UK. His name is synonymous with UK Funky, and his three albums, released on UK label Rinse and his own label, are classics of the genre. He has stories to tell and many highly digestible nuggets of experience and advice to share with us.... you will enjoy this conversation! Join us in the Hotflush Discord Server Listen to all the music discussed on...

CINTHIE is a DJ, producer, label owner, and record shop proprietor from Berlin. We cover topics ranging from the early years of Berghain to the delights of making music using vintage outboard gear... a really fun conversation which covered a lot of topics. You will enjoy this one. Join us in the Hotflush Discord Server Listen to the music discussed on the show in the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify p...

Tiga is a Canadian DJ, recording artist, owner of Turbo Records, and host of the Last Party On Earth Podcast. Join us in the Hotflush Discord Server Follow the Not A Diving Podcast Spotify playlist Follow Tiga: on instagram or twitter For more platform-specific playlist links and other info visit scubaofficial.io/podcast Follow Scuba: twitter instagram bandcamp spotify apple music beatport Hosted...

Recondite is a producer and live performer from Germany. He has released LPs on Innervisions, Ghostly Int., Acid Test, and Plangent (a label he launched in 2010). His new album, Taum, is out now . The limited vinyl-only reissue of Phalanx, his EP on Hotflush from 2018, is available now exclusively from the Hotflush Bandcamp store Join us in the Hotflush Discord Server Follow the Not A Diving Podca...