Braiden: I love to see what I can ‘get away’ with playing

What early influences played a part in getting you into what you do now?

The first time I got into dance music was when I first started going to clubs when I was 18. To understand it and feel it in that environment was an eye opener to me. My initial outings were more social and hedonistic, shall we say. The idea of club music as an overwhelming force with a sense of escapism is something has stuck through me throughout my subsequent musical meanderings.

 Your first release The Alps was a huge success, and still gets regularly plays, how does that feel?

 Its nice and I will always have a lot of love for that track. But it was a long time ago - 3 years now - and so much has happened in that time, both in my life and my outlook on music. I'm constantly finding new inspiration for my DJ sets and productions so that track isn't something I think about too much. But it still reflects a lot of things I love in music, an element of soulful tension and syncopated percussion throughout.

Watch: Braiden - The Alps

 What can we look forward to with your set at Stop Making Sense? Do you adjust your sets for the festival occasion?

 My sets do vary for the occasion yeah, but I always play from the heart whether it be more of a soulful vibe or more of an uneasy foreboding sound. Either way I always love to see what I can "get away" with playing. Like building up tension and energy in a peak time set to drop it down to a really deep groove, or playing something a little off kilter in a more house oriented set. If I can take the set to a place where these curve balls work, they are most satisfying times for me.

 How would you describe your sound?

Mood wise I can be quite eclectic throughout forms of house and techno, but always with an emphasis on groove, and often syncopated percussion. Tracks that I deem to be soulful, although that doesn’t just mean throwing lots of major vocal melodies into a track.

Are there any producers you've been really impressed with recently?

Love what the guys on White Material are doing. That is music I can feel right now.

On that note, top 5 tracks at the moment?

Blessed with so much good music around me right now but here's a few picks:

Galcher Lustwerk - Leisure
DJ Fett Burger - Disco Tre
DJ Richard - M.W.A.B
Streetwalker - Future Fusion
Greg Beato - PMA

First record you bought?

I've no idea. Some drum'n'bass 12" most likely!

We know you're an accomplished photographer as well. Do you approach photography in a similar way to your music?

There are some similarities. They definitely occupy different headspaces for me but there's a logical approach to the way I see both. I'm certainly a perfectionist in both crafts, for better or worse.

Check out: www.stevebraiden.com

Where has been your favourite place to play over the years?

Really it differs, depending on so many changing factors. Berlin last weekend was a great vibe for me, and I've played secretsundaze a couple of times which have both been particularly fun.

If you weren't a DJ/producer, what do you think you'd be?

I guess that's obvious: a photographer. Or a filmmaker. I am going to move into doing more moving image stuff soon for sure. If I didn't have these lofty creative aspirations of mine? Well maybe I'd go back to being a cycle courier.

What can we look forward to for Braiden in the coming months? Do you have any more productions in the pipeline that we can look forward to?

I've been working hard on crafting my dj sound so I think I'll be putting out another studio mix this summer - and have just returned to my studio after a few months break from production. Spending as much time as I can in there right now, the results I am sure you will hear soon.

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