HH MIX #024 - JOSH T

Our mix series is going from strength to strength and as we push on with no genre boundaries, this time we've called Josh T into the hot seat for you to find out a little more about one of the key players in Leeds' party scene and our first all vinyl mix.

You're based in Leeds - have you been here all your life? Where did you grow up and how did you get into music?

I grew up in Cambridge, where the music scene is small but pretty cool. There were loads of illegal parties in meadows, tunnels and warehouses when I was growing up, kind of cut my teeth at those. Aim was always to come to Leeds and get stuck into it up here whilst doing a degree. The degree only lasted a year but I'm still here!

You're the co-founder of Louche, right? Give us a bit of background on Louche. How and when did it first come about - did you launch the club night at Mint? (We're very envious of you getting to play regularly in Mint!)

Yep its a lovely place to play, it never gets old : ) Three of us started it- brinsley, ed and myself, we'd been partying together for ages and thought there was a bit of a gap in the market for a house/techno party at mint. Brins applied to throw this charity party for oxfam, we all agreed mint was the place for it, they took us on for the one night, it went well, so we took on a regular slot and Louche was born!

What came first, DJing, production or promoting?

DJing, been doing it for almost 10 years now. Old tosser! Then came producing, then promotion. They all kinda go hand in hand nowadays.

How long have you been producing and where does your unique cross of Hip Hop/Funk/Disco style come from?

Flattering : ) I guess just a love of different genres of music - I was into hip hop and that from about 13ish before getting into house music. Really been feeling the hip hop again over the last year or so, so started digging up shit that I used to listen to, and think about how I could gel them together. I love sampling shit too, it’s such an art.



You're productions have started to get picked up by various labels, most notably, 'Green Surprises' made it onto the Hot Waves compilation alongside some well respected artists in the scene - how did it come about?

This is why I said producing/DJing and producing came hand in hand. We book Lee Foss a fair bit for Louche. Gave Fossy the tune and he liked it a lot. Richie Ahmed played it at Burning Man last year, apparently it went off (wish I had been there) so they signed it up.

Green Surprises - Josh T


Is there a Louche label in the pipeline?

Yep, it’s definitely gonna happen, but we wanna do it right so not rushing into anything just yet.

Have you any views on the absence of quality control taking over the internet with the mass of digital upstarts?

Yeah I guess there are loaaads of labels putting music out, but I reckon the good stuff always rises to the top. And if you uncover a gem that no one else has found then fucking sweet! Lots and lots of new music can't be a bad thing. I've been buying lots more records these days (the podcast is all vinyl) and it’s easier to keep on top of new releases as there aren’t as many as on Beatport or whatever.

5 artists too watch in the coming months...

Well you've already had Louie Fresco do you a mix - he's gonna blow. He's got an album coming on no.19, which we have done a tune together for. Other than that people I'm digging at the minute are FaltyDL, Dam Funk, Jacques Greene, Vakula, Tevo Howard. Not all up and comers but all so so sick in my opinion. There's these dudes coming to Wolf + Lamb called Pillow Talk that are gonna be pretty big I believe. Alexis Raphael is smashing it at the minute. And Laura Jones.

Any news on forthcoming releases from yourself? What should we look out for?

Apart from the tune myself and Louie are working on - quite a slow progress as he lives in mexico, not a lot. I'm actually writing this from a ferry on the beginning of a three week trip to Berlin. Got all my studio gear in the boot of my car and am hoping to get loads done over there. I'll keep you posted! Done a tune with a mate called Emma who's a wicked singer, we'll be doing more of that kinda stuff before the end of the year definitely; the one we have down already is niiice.

Tell us a little about this mix...

All vinyl from my collection over the years - apologies, one of them in particular, the Blaze tune, is pretty scratchy! Bought a Moog lowpass filter for producing last week and routed the sends of the mixer thought that. You'll hear me fucking about with it. It makes this amazing anaologgy resonant wobble when you bring the cut off down. Definitely gonna start playing out with it after this mix. Smashed it out in one take when I came home slightly pissed from the pub on Monday night. Chuffed with it to be honest. Hope you guys like it too.

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Thanks for your time Josh, all the best.