Breaks, bass or minimal groove, Steelo is well known for busting out some serious-style grooves. Now heading up to take on the alternative room at Lost Dawn this February, correspondent Agnes Klos took some time out to catch up with the professional antagonist and party monster.
Hi Steelo, thank you for finding time to talk to me. Could you please introduce yourself to our readers and describe your background?
Hi Agnes, my pleasure, thanks for asking. Well I'm a London based DJ and producer specialising in deep, moody and melodic minimal and electronica with a smattering of breaks here and there for good measure. I've been knocking around the London scene for many years playing at nights like the great Party Proactive, Raindance, Chew the Fat, Twist, Peach and Sleepless amongst many others, plus a fair few gigs up and down the UK, and a few festies too, including the Lake of Stars festival in Malawi.
How did your journey with music and DJing begin? What got you into the scene?
Well my journey with music began, like many others, listening to my old mans records for hours on end when I was wee. Thankfully he has a pretty eclectic taste in tunes (nowadays he's as fond of Hybrid as he is of classical as he is of traditional Scottish folk music!) which I definitely think helped open my mind to a lot musically. I was also very musical at school, I did GCSE and an A-S level in music and have grade 8 on the trumpet too. What got me into the scene though was listening to Unity 88.4FM and Kiss FM when it was a pirate station. Fell in love with underground electronic music there and then. Then when I was 14 I started helping my local milkman and it turned out he was a proper raver, he even took me to some forest party near Bracknell and got us into Labyrinth over in Hackney. I would say that’s probably where it all began.
Do you remember the first club you ever went to and how did that experience affect your future music and DJing career?
Vaguely! The first clubs I went to were an illegal rave, Labyrinth, Camden Palace and the Sanctuary. I heard all genres of dance music at these venues and there's elements from these that really stand out for me and definitely have moved my music in a certain direction for sure. These distant memories are very hazy nowadays though.
You’re well known for your breaks sound but you also play other genres? How would you describe your style?
Yeah breaks is definitely what got me noticed, back then a lot of people had no idea about breaks really - it was cool to show people something new and see them appreciate it. I also play minimal and electronica though and these are two areas of my musical self I need to push more. You can also hear me bashing out some cheeky old skool hardcore and drum and bass sets here and there though too, rinse out business all the way.
What kind of influences do you take into your music?
Queue drug joke? No, seriously though it's hard to say really, I have a broad range of influences but I wouldn't say I consciously think about them when I'm writing tunes. Sometimes after though when I'm listening back to them I do hear things and I'm like "yeah I'm sure I've heard someone else do that".
You’re also beginning to get your tunes out on the airwaves and across HarderFaster. How do you go about creating tracks? Do you have any particular processes to follow?
Yeah, it's going very alright at the moment. I'm always in the right frame of mind as I'm always excited to hole myself up in my studio, which I think is essential for approaching creative work as the enthusiasm really helps push ideas through. I always start a new project with my auto-load template, which is basically a template I created with a lot of elements I use all the time pre-loaded which helps save time and not get in the way of the flow of writing. Depending on what I write I start with slightly different methods though, e.g. if I'm embarking on an electronica vibe then I generally start playing around with melodies until I find something I like, whereas with minimal and breaks stuff I always build a bit of a drum loop first to get a certain rhythm going before writing a melody to loosely fit around it. After this there's no real structure to what happens though, I just go with the flow.
You are playing at Lost Dawn on 26th February in the alternative space room. What can we expect from your set?
I will be playing minimal, electronica and some melodramatic psychedelic lift music. I'm very much looking forward to the set, I have some crackers lined up for it already and there’s still another months worth of releases to go yet.
What is your favourite moment during a party?
Difficult one to answer really as I always enjoy the whole package. If I really had to pick one though, probably seeing particular DJs with a special place in my musical heart play an absolute blinder, you know one of those sets that are really quite special. That's always pretty good to be honest.
What is your best and worst DJing memory?
Haha, well most moments are 'best' in their own special way, really it would be unfair to pick one, but I will mention playing main room at Air, legendary sets at Sleepless and Chew the Fat with MC Xander waxing lyrical, every Party Proactive since the days of the Purple Turtle, playing at Lake of Stars in Malawi, and the best/worst festival funs ever - Tales of the Jackalope. Worst DJing moment? Well, there are two worst moments actually - desperately needing a number two during a set at Frantic at SE1 when I had a broken leg, holding it for an hour was not fun. And the other moment, also when I had the broken leg, was playing at Scala. You would have thought some bright spark would have put a bloody lift in that place really. Hacking up those stairs when you're bollock to ankle in plaster cast is not fun, not fun at all. I had many gigs there at the time too, sod's law eh?
When you are at home, what do you listen to and do you think this affects your own music?
I listen to a diverse spectrum of music, but when I'm on my own mainly more downbeat and weird electronica type stuff like Boards of Canada, Plaid, Autechre and Ochre. There's a time and a place for everything though.
Can you name goals that you still would like to achieve?
Impossible to answer really as everyday I'm achieving something new so everyday the goalposts are moving further and further away.
You’re a big manga fan. Why? What is it about the genre you love so much?
Well, anime actually. Manga is just a style of comic print, so basically just the art behind the anime. Anime is truly awe-inspiring stuff though. I suppose I have a bit of love of fantasy type stuff (yes, I was an enthusiastic Warhammer geek back in day) and I find that the weird and wonderful no holds barred story lines coupled with their incredible animation skills is a very moving combination. This is a great opportunity to big up a recent purchase I made though which I instantly rated as one of my all-time anime favourites - Tekkon Kinkreet. Seriously, check it out, it's proper lasers what what.
What are you the most afraid of in life?
I wouldn't say I'm afraid of anything really. Actually, maybe Siena when she hasn't had had her morning brew actually.
Have you got any resolutions for New Year 2010? And have you kept them?
Be better and keep pushing forward with the music I guess. I've kept them so far, let's hope I don't procrastinate any.
And finally, could you tell us what your typical day involves?
Eating, wasting time on the interwebs making lulz & aggro, drawing pictures and making weird noises on my Mac.
Some quick questions:
If you where not DJing you would be…
Under the bar
Your favourite pastime activity is…
Making music
Your perfect party would be...
In my pants and you are all invited
The best venue to DJ…
Of the venues I've played at, main room at Air
The thing you cannot live without…
Chili's.
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Photos courtesy of Steelo. Not to be reproduced without permission.
After a rip-roaring first event, Lost Dawn is back. Friday
February 26th will see us return to Cable, London with our
unique, exciting take on electronic music. Join us as we take
your clubbing experience to a new level with aural and visual
artists plus interactive arts and activities. Find your Lost Dawn
with us.
Dale Anderson (Global Underground) headlines:
With releases on world famous Global Underground and
upcoming project DAT Soundsystem with Tim Davison and Anil
Chawla, the world is literally an oyster for our headliner this
month. Join us as Dale Anderson presents an exclusive
experimental sound exclusively for Lost Dawn.
Joining Dale will be a host of exciting international names and
up and coming artists including Carl Cox favourite Clodagh
playing her groovy techno sound plus Miss Fur playing an
exclusive tech house set.
Tom Gallagher steps up from the Alternative Space while
residents Adam Symbiosis and Craig Gunn complete the line up
and make sure the party keeps rocking in our Main Space.
The Alternative Space takes shape:
Our alternative space, a conundrum of mixed up music genres
plays host to Prehab boss David Murtagh, deck wizard Steelo,
birthday boy Badger plus Yoto vs Danny Unkut, Miss C, Craig
Heldsinger and Mark Day.
The Arts Space returns:
Of course Lost Dawn wouldn't be complete without the special
activities and artwork that add an extra dimension to your
night. Returning to join us will be Heilsa Reflexology, Magic
with Sam Cookney and exclusive visuals from VJ Baby K
(Alternate Reality). Watch out for Hula-Hooping Kate around
the club too and take part in workshops at selected points of
the night to work on some hip action!
Stop Press:
Creating a live artwork before your eyes, Saroj will transform
part of Cable into a feast of colours and cool artwork. Watch
out for more information on this exciting illustrator but in the
mean time check out some of his earlier work at his website at
http://www.sarojpatel.com
Find Your Lost Dawn:
For a night of musical genius, visual amazement and
interactive art at just £10 in advance, there's nowhere else
you should be on Friday 26th February! Get your tickets from
http://lostdawn.co.uk/furtherinfo.html now.
From: Jennie Bon 3rd Feb 2010 13:23.58 great interview steelo!
From: anushka007on 5th Feb 2010 14:59.36 Cool interview and this:
I will be playing minimal, electronica and some melodramatic psychedelic lift music
souds interesting indeed!
funky picutures there too! Well done guys!!! I read it all from start to finish
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