Strøm Mixx 039 – headrush

Delicate, percussive, low-end heat skillfully mixed by headrush

Hi Dan, thank you so much for creating this mix. Glancing over the track list it’s clear that the it’s quite influenced by UK sounds. Hailing from the UK yourself, how do you think that has affected your approach to DJ’ing?

I read this comment on a music forum called Dissensus a while ago which said “Jungle is like in power rangers when they all come together to make one massive power ranger. It’s all these cultures combining to make a mega culture.” I think the same applies to most UK music really, in that it combines all these different cultural influences and then merges them into something new. Source Direct, Burial, Shackleton, Beneath, Mala, Ratty, Muslimgauze, Apple, Easygroove, all these artists that have blown my mind over the years, their music is an amalgamation of a variety of cultural influences.

With my DJ’ing, what I’m trying to do (and I’ve still got a long way to go I think), is to take all these different areas of dance music from across the world that inspire me, and then combine them and mess with them and morph them into a continuous piece of music that attempts to say something, that tries to place them in a new context and draw lines between them. But then it’s also just about improvising and getting to experience those moments where you hammer a Kuduro tune on a UK Funky tune and are like woahhhh that rhythm is cool.

Inside the mix you play an unreleased track of your own, can you tell us about the way you work when creating music?

I think I’ve known for a few years what music I want to make, and what it needs to sound like, but I’ve found it very difficult to actually make it. poltergeist was the first tune I’ve made where I feel like it actually sounds like me. When making a tune I’m trying to make something that is rhythmically interesting and intuitive to dance to, while also communicating a certain feeling or mood. I’m not really interested in super out-there sound design or really complicated stuff, I just want to make music that is fun and engaging to dance to, and that makes people feel a certain kind of way, whatever that may be.

In 2024 you and Chris Mayer aka LFL started the label tactual, can you tell us about your vision and future plans with the project?

Me and Chris (LFL) met towards the end of 2023, and quickly realised that we’d both been sitting on the idea of starting a serious musical project for a while, and that our vision for what we wanted it to be was strikingly similar. So we decided to start a record label together: tactual. For me, tactual is about producing dance music culture. I’ve spent a lot of time consuming dance music, and now it’s time for me to contribute. I want the label to be a platform where we can showcase music that is functional and tangibly heartfelt. In terms of plans for 2025, tactual’s third release will be announced in the next few days: a VA compilation with 5 tracks that span from Perlon style tech-house all the way to gqom. We’ll also be throwing more parties this year, and there will be more releases to come. I’m really excited to share what we’ve been working on!

Tracklist

Shackleton – Headcleaner

Azu Tiwaline – Berbeka

Al Wootton – Albacete Knife

Isolated Material – Rushing Into Silence

Beneath – Send

Hodge & Facta – Spheres of Costa Rica

Shackleton – Tin Foil Sky

CAIV – Ötzi 2.0

Webstarr – Clocked

Doussala Demba – Drena Antiga

Randomer & Hodge – Simple As

Dominowe – Umthakathi

Apple – Totally Messed Up

Hardhouse Banton – Sirens

Kombé – Third Pillar

Skee Mask, MJK & Riko Dan – One By One
headrush – poltergeist 

Apple – The African Man Said GO!

DJ Marfox – Lucky Punch

Lighter – Skanker

Tommy Kid – Psyqom

Ploy – Stinky

Asusu – Velez (A Made Up Sound Remix 1)

Unknown Artist (Hard ‘N’ Heavy) – Never Felt

DJ Fallout – Love Me

Kid Lib – Sound Move

Stay up to date with headrush and tactual through Instagram, Soundcloud and Bandcamp.

Listen to the previous Strøm Mixx by HAKEEM or explore the archive.