"I was surrounded by all walks of life." Live from Dekmantel, the New York native talks about how the Bronx shaped her taste in music, her long-time love of radio and blowing up on the international DJ circuit. Gabrielle Kwarteng is a product of her diverse musical environment. The Berlin-based New Yorker has a unique sound that's dynamic and house-heavy, incorporating elements of acid, techno and everything in between. In this interview recorded live at Dekmantel, she discussed her...

"We're getting better at what we do." The Australian dance music trio discuss their longtime creative collaboration and their new album, Inhale / Exhale. Australian electronic dance trio Rüfüs Du Sol—composed of the artists Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George and James Hunt—is synonymous with catchy, vocal-led bangers. They've received a huge amount of success in more commercial and underground scenes in the more than 10 years that they've been active. In fact, they hit it big from their very first...

Punk house and techno from a modern Midwest icon. Every DJ has their own genesis story: a pivotal sound, a formative scene, a defining philosophy. In Kiernan Laveaux's case, her philosophy, rooted in psychedelia and experimentation, sets her apart. Inspired by Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and New Order, she came of age in Cleveland’s acid house and queer party scenes, developing an ethos that constantly pushes dance music’s limits. Her DJ style is scrambled (in the best way), with zany...

A dubstep legend roars back. When dubstep ruled the roost in the late '00s, electronic music had no shortage of icons and spinoff variants to rally around. But one rumble from Bristol stood out: the Purple sound. Popularised by Joker, AKA Liam Mclean, with Guido and Gemmy in support, it hit like a beam of bright light flooding through the basement dank. When America cottoned onto bass quakes in the next decade, Mclean's taste for chiptune-coded synths and maximum intensity kept his vision...

"I do activism as much as I can." The Peruvian DJ and producer talks about the human rights issues close to her heart, fighting for human rights and the incredible story behind her LP for Ninja Tune. Sofia Kourtesis is a Peruvian DJ and producer based in Berlin known for her buoyant, upbeat music that channels and transmutes sociopolitical activism and personal hardship. While she's put out a number of solo works, her EP Fresia Magdalena and her debut LP, Madres—both of which came out on...

Dubstep-tech hybrids from one of 2024's most forward-thinking breakouts. Born in France to English parents, Beatrice M. is a product of two environments. And like many third culture kids, this lends the Rinse France resident and Bait label head a knack for seeing the realm of possibility beyond arbitrary borders and binaries. Beatrice M. is a part of a wider cohort of artists spearheading an elastic take on dubstep: take Carré and Introspekt in the US, EMA in Dublin and Mia Koden in London,...

"We need to give more people a seat at the table." The Australian DJ and producer talks about exclusivity in the music industry, neurodivergence and London's thriving lesbian scene. The London-based Australian artist Teneil Throssell (AKA HAAi) doesn't have a typical DJ story. She moved to London in the early 2010s as part of a now defunct psych rock band, and once it broke up, she thought her stint in the music industry was over. Unsure what to do with herself, she started mixing dance...

A new record for the longest RA Podcast ever: Ten hours from the powerhouse duo sweeping techno, Chlär and Alarico. Both commanding performers in their own right, sparks fly when the Swiss-Italian duo of Funk Assault combine. The buzz surrounding their productions, DJing and their label Primal Instinct is at fever pitch, and short wonder: when it comes to gritty, high-impact sets that barrel through multiple shades of techno, few are in their league right now. RA.960 was laid down at...

"A system that's equal doesn't benefit the people that have the power." The Rhythm Section International founder talks about creating opportunities for Black artists and entrepreneurs, Caribbean conviviality and his abiding love for Peckham. Bradley Zero, the DJ and founder of the label Rhythm Section International, is known for his commitment to his community. Zero grew up in a rich Caribbean culture in Leeds, where he and his family gathered in friends' living rooms to listen to music and...

Effervescent club cuts from one of Southeast Asia's rising DJ stars. In Indonesia, the term santai (relaxed) is more than just an adjective—it's a lifestyle, one endearingly embodied by DITA. The New Delhi-born, Bali-rooted DJ's breezy attitude to life is reflected in dreamy, blissful euphoria. DITA's RA Podcast is a window into both her disposition and sound, blending wiggly breakbeat into tweaking acid, Detroit house into Spanish electro, Balearic to '90s house and some grittier club...

"There are so many different takes on reggaeton." The Latine supergroup discusses dembow, Afro-Caribbean music and more in this Playing Favourites live from C2C Festival. This week's RA Exchange revisits one of Resident Advisor's flagship live formats, Playing Favourites, where we bring guests onto the pod to walk through their musical influences and play us some tracks that have been formative in their personal and creative development. This week, we're honouring El Dia de la Raza—which...

A journey through 35 years of house from the godfather of UK rave. In popular mythology, the '90s are without question, the halcyon days of dance music—an era of free raves and unadulterated hedonism. It's a myth that Matthew Nelson, AKA Slipmatt, knows better than most–he was there. During the late '80s, as the rave scene in the UK began to boom, Nelson began moonlighting as a DJ. He would land his first residency at Raindance, the East London rave that launched in September 1989 and...

The smartbar affiliate talks to the Fool's Gold Records founder about climbing the ranks, DJ discourse and how to exist in commercial and underground scenes simultaneously. This week's RA Exchange takes us to Chicago, where two big names—The Blessed Madonna and A-Trak—have a chat ahead of their back-to-back set at underground institution smartbar last month. These are two DJs who have been around the block. The Blessed Madonna (FKA The Black Madonna) is originally from Kentucky, but made...

The singular Príncipe artist showcases her shapeshifting sound. Before she was simply Nídia, Nídia Borges was Nídia Minaj. Modelled after a musical idol of hers, Nicki Minaj, in 2017, she shed the borrowed surname. As she later said in an interview with The New York Times, "Today I have my own identity. I'm not going to imitate something that someone has done already." And Nídia couldn't be further from an imitator. As one of Príncipe's two non-male members, her body of work stands apart...

"Our collaboration is greater than the sum of its parts." Kai Campos and Dominic Maker discuss their new album on Warp and what it felt like to work together again after years apart. British outfit Mount Kimbie first made their mark with their 2010 release Crooks and Lovers, inspired by contemporaries like James Blake and King Krule. The group's two primary members, Kai Campos and Dominic Maker, met at London South Bank University, where they simultaneously became enamoured with the '00s...

Maximalist house from the sibling duo at the forefront of Berlin's new wave. Berlin is built on dance music. But of the many DJs who live, work and play there, few represent the evolution in the city's club culture like Tania and Dominik Humeres-Correa, AKA S-candalo. If the city was once governed by the tyranny of minimal, the post-pandemic era has cemented its reputation as the spot for "more-is-more" club soundtracks. It's still house and techno, but the chords are big, the drums are big...

Chicago house pioneer Vince Lawrence and law professor Dr. Olufunmilayo Arewa unpack how record companies have undermined Black musicians—and what we can do to enact change. This past week, Resident Advisor screened and distributed a new, award-winning documentary called Taking Back the Groove. It tells the story of Bronx-born disco legend Richie Weeks, whose song "Rock Your World" with Weeks & Co. climbed to #1 on the dance charts in the '80s. Like many Black artists throughout...

Living, breathing, banging techno from an artist defining the highly-textured new frontier of the sound in 2024. Lindsey Wang, AKA Polygonia, has an amorphous style you could call organic—or, better yet, harmonious. She interweaves unfamiliar elements with a mercurial touch. Wang can make something completely otherworldly sound totally, well, natural. It's made her a fixture everywhere from Munich's BLITZ to major festivals like Sustain-Release and Draaimolen. Unsurprisingly, Wang is not...

"I fell in love with the piano again." The DJ and composer discusses the vulnerability of the creative process, returning to acoustic instruments and touring her latest album. Laurel Halo has been circling around the club music world for a number of years, but she's only recently entered the echelons of jazz and contemporary classical. Originally from Michigan, she went to music school in Ann Arbor before moving to Berlin, and now Los Angeles, where she composed her album, Atlas—a release...

Three sizzling hours from the mind behind one of the world's best labels, Kalahari Oyster Cult. What you'll hear on this week's RA Podcast is the closing slot of 2024's Organik Festival—already a coveted moment. But as the sun dipped on Taiwan's north coast, something else was going on: Rey Colino was laying down quite possibly the set of his life. We're big fans of Colino, AKA Colin Volvert, here at RA. Few do it better when it comes to the type of pacy, lysergic thumpers that have become...

"They were wild and crazy years." The Spanish techno icon discusses his early years in Madrid, running record labels and staying true to his sound for more than 30 years. Spanish DJ and producer Oscar Mulero is a legend of underground techno. Since starting to play parties and make music more than 30 years ago, he's earned a reputation as an anti-conformist tastemaker who's adamantly stuck to his guns. While his trajectory began with Madrid's goth and punk clubs in the '90s, he eventually...

In time for 9/9, here's… 999999999. The Italian duo's reputation as a rave demolition crew has made them one of the most in-demand acts on the global circuit. Too nosebleed for 'business', and too close to Defqon.1-level hardstyle to be hard techno in the classic sense, 999999999's headline sets practically require a new category to convey the sense of scale: let's call it megatechno. Following a string of unsubtle yet undeniably impactful hit records in the late 2010s, Carlo B. &...

"I'm a noodler." The vaunted experimental producer and DJ discusses his playful approach to engaging with philosophy and making art live at Atonal's OPENLESS in Berlin. British artist Lee Gamble has long been captivating listeners with high concept dance music. A loyal affiliate of Kode9's Hyperdub label, Gamble—whose work sits somewhere at the intersection of philosophy, computer music and sound art—has been building weird and wonderful musical worlds that have shot him to experimental...

90 mins of Two Shell, live from Horst. We've been angling for an RA Podcast from Two Shell ever since they shifted from lowkey producers into hijinx hackers rummaging around the dance music mainframe. Now that we've bagged a mix from clubland's premier iconoclasts, it still poses more questions than it answers: Was this pre-recorded? What's the deal with that AI voice guiding the set along? How can we be sure it was even them? Hang on: is "even them" even them? What we can tell you is that...