Strøm Mixx 043 – DJ Camov

Hi Grant, thanks for recording this stunning mix for us – can you tell us a little bit about it?

My pleasure! With this mix I wanted to showcase some of my favourite, up-and-at em’ tech house tunes with a few surprises and different genres in there too. Some of these records are really old favourites and some brand new, but of course, as my digging style goes most of this music is from the 90s or 00’s. There’s a good amount of tunes / collaborations by the late, great, Nathan Coles, and a lot of other UK acts from that era such as Mr. C, Spinycle, Terry Francis, Dexter & more.    

It was recorded at the Strøm studio which was a fantastic experience. The sound is awesome in there and I could play really loud, which perhaps added some energy to the turnout of the mix. I must say a huge thanks to Frederik (2000F) for the studio access, sharing his vast knowledge of vinyl and of course for the quality mastering of the set.

For playing this mix I’d recommend grabbing a tasty drink and playing it loud on a Friday night before going out. It’s probably also nicely heard buzzing through the streets of Copenhagen on your bike, and for my homies in Australia with cars, I think it would sound pretty good blasting through your car stereo!

Juggling (and excelling in) many different genres (from d’n’b, to goa trance to tech house and beyond) what type of music got you into DJ’ing in the first place?

Thank you : ) The first music that I started collecting and mixing was late 2000’s drum n bass. I started collecting records by Calibre, Lenzman, Spectrasoul, Break, Zero Tolerance (to name but a few) and would have almost weekly shipments from the UK arriving at my doorstep, it was a great time.

There was a monthly party that my friends and I would sneak out to as youngsters in 2009 and beyond called Wobble. It was held in a dank basement venue called The Night Owl (now known as The Sub Club) with a massive, and I mean MASSIVE purpose built sound system. It was operated by Derek, Stryka D at the controls of his legendary Heartical Hi Fi. There was so much bass in that room we would joke that it could almost shake your pint glass out of your hand. The music was on point and it was during this period that I got to know DJ Woz and Retsa (now known as Midnight Tenderness )  Woz would warm up with the craziest selection of UK Bass / Dubstep / “how the hell does he mix these records!?” type of music which was so refreshing and unique for me to hear. Later in the night Retsa would play the sickest, most tasteful drum n bass tunes with the smoothest mixing you’ve ever heard. The rest of the nights were soundtracked by SpinFX rinsing ‘94 ‘95 Jungle tunes to any remaining dance floor soldiers at 6am, Cubist dropping Adam F’s Circles time and time again, AC23 (R.I.P) playing the maddest UKG, 2-step and beyond. It was a hectic night out, but always awesome, I have really fond memories of it!    

As I became mates with Woz and Retsa, and after a fair few Sunday afternoon bedroom DJ sessions at their respective places, a pair of hand-me-down decks, and a huge inspiration from their music taste and DJ skills, I decided to start collecting records and learning to mix.

How did your taste and DJ style evolve from this?

Good question. I would have to say it was after a long visit to Berlin when I was 19 that I fell in love with House music and the warm, happy and positive feelings that it evokes. I remember seeing local deejays like Spunky, Resom, Gunther and talking with them after their sets, getting amazing track ID’s like Davina – Don’t You Want It, Kerri Chandler – Track 1, Round One – I’m Your Brother. Spunky was even kind enough to email me links to his live DJ sets, and Gunther shared his Monday Edition podcast, both of which I devoured at the time, and for sure took much inspiration from. I was on a big Euro-trip and would sort of travel to cities to visit parties and see artists play. It was a lot of fun 🙂 I discovered a lot of good music, met a lot of sweet people along the way and took home a huge stack of records.

When I eventually returned home to Melbourne, the local underground party ‘C Grade’ was in full swing. It was here where local DJ’s like Lewie Day / Tornado Wallace, Otologic, Simon TK & Moopie would grace the decks with their top selections of classic house and beyond. These nights out were super fun, and for sure fundamental in furthering my love for house music. 

I got a great momentum going when I started playing out around 2013 with having residencies at some legendary places in Melbourne such as Survivor at the Bottom End, Revolver Upstairs on Thursdays, Sleep D’s Mania night at Lounge and was lucky enough to support artists such as Terrence Parker, Bicep, Mr G, Jay Daniel, Moomin, DJ Bone, DJ HMC, Gene On Earth, Jamie 3:26, Delano Smith. And countless local legends of the Melbourne scene such as Francis Inferno Orchestra, Kia, Bayu, Andy Hart, Pjenne, Edd Fisher, Dylan B, Harold, Bex, Terri, Reptant, Harvey Sutherland, Simon Caldwell, Sleep D, Magda Bytnerowicz, PWD (if there’s anyone i forgot, im sorry!) the list could go on and on!

A key figure who also shaped my journey is my dear friend and top local DJ, event organiser, Myles Mac from the mainstay Melbourne Deepcast mix series. Around 2014 we were asked by local DJ Dawn Again to join forces for a one off gig to play strictly 90’s house records. It was also around this time that I was digging like crazy for all things House and Deep House, mainly seeking sounds from the 90’s US movements from New Jersey, New York, Chicago, & Detroit. Records by Kerri Chandler, Chez Damier, Boo Williams, Jovonn. 

 This collaboration named Project 95 was a success and we really vibed off each other’s similar taste and shared idea of how we like to structure a dj set. Since then we’ve played countless looong sets most weekends, up until I moved to Copenhagen in 2019. We still keep the project alive and whenever I’m back in town we enjoy some extended sets, deep into the early mornings where we get to pull out our favourite, long lost classics from the era.  

 Another collaboration I gotta mention is Loose Joints. This was a group consisting of Midnight Tenderness, Woz, Rings Around Saturn, Tuscan Prince and myself. The concept was always a huge back to back jam all night, where we’d end up playing anything from UKG, drum n bass, jungle, and all things in between. One of the earliest parties we did was in a long gone venue called Hugs & Kisses. We managed to pull hundreds of people through the door and it was a wild and chaotic night. We would invite special guests to play as well and had a lot of fun along the way.  

The love for Goa Trance came after a trip to Rainbow Serpent Festival where the modern full-on and progressive psytrance at the time dominated the stage. Upon returning home from that enlightening weekend, I wanted to dive deeper into the history and roots of Psytrance and discovered Goa. I kinda went crazy for it, and after many more trips to Europe to visit psy and goa festivals I was lucky enough to become affiliated with the Belgian label Suntrip Records as my other alias Goasis, and I suppose the rest is history!

What is next for Goasis and DJ Camov? Any pending genres waiting to be picked up??

Coming up next week is Distortion Festival where I’ll be playing as Goasis on the Shadow Stage deep into the morning, I’m really excited for that. Later in August ill also be playing 2 sets at Apsara Festival in Hungary, one on the main floor and also on the chillout. It’s an incredible festival with an insane lineup. I’m very thankful for the opportunity and really honored to be a part of it. As DJ Camov, Martinez and I have a Dream Mode party coming up at Baggen, which shall be a lot of fun no doubt! Alongside gigs I’m also working on releasing some original productions this year, so stay tuned for those. For new genres hmm, Donk perhaps? Ha-ha just kidding… but I’d like to dig a bit deeper into some more records from the mid to late 2000’s Dubstep / Breaks / UKG crossover realm, and 90’s freetekno. 

Tracklist

1. 1. Box Clever – Smile
   2. Richard Summerhayes & Timmy .S – Haysidays
   3. 3 In Key – Untitled
   4. Coke, Stoned & Bailey’s – Your Dad
   5. Two Right Wrongans – Sorry Mate You’ve Got The Wrong House
   6. Housey Doingz – Curly Wurly
   7. Terry Francis & Richard Grey – Has Been 
   8. Flunky –  Hey Marvin
   9. Dexter – Wino Man
   10. Martinez – Clown Paradox
   11. Pop Out and Play – On Our Way
   12. Mr. C – Click
   13. John Tejada – In Control
   14. Two Full Minds – Untitled
   15. Spacebunny – Spacebunny
   16. Spincycle – Cannonball Kid
   17. Kurtis Blow – The Breaks (Get F*cked Remix) 
   18. Flunky – Rattlesnake 
   19. Bluegoose vs Silverlining – Taken Over
   20. B.L.I.M. – Their Culture
   21. Sub-Sequence – Drum In Space
   22. Motiv One – Loop Progression

Stay up to date with Grant and his many escapades over at DJ Camov or Goasis (for the trancers) and find more mixes and music on  Soundcloud

Listen to the previous Strøm Mixx or browse the archive here.