Hostage: Shut up and get on with it

Dance music is an ever mutating, evolving beast that becomes ever more difficult to categorise with time. With lines now more blurred than ever between house, techno and garage, often filed under anything goes umbrella term 'bass music', dance music is definitely at its most exciting and creative best.

No producer or DJ embodies that unbridled, boundary free mindset more than Edinburgh's Hostage, a man whose work has been championed by everyone from DJ Zinc to Annie Mac, and continues lead the way on the Black Butter records roster.

We catch up with the hirsute Scot ahead of his arrival in Preston on March 8th, to grill him about his recent free release via Radio One, his thoughts on the state of dance music in Britain, what he's got up his sleeve for Beats of Rage.

Tell us about your free track for Annie Mac. How did that come about and where do we go to get hold of it? 

Annie had the first exclusive play of this as a digital dubplate on her Radio 1 show, she championed it, so it was only fitting she should give it away for free. (Head here for the free download)

When did you realise that your future was in dance music? Was there a particular record, or night you went to that made you think ‘yeah, this is what I want to do’?

When I was 11 years old, at the first day of High School you had to write down what you wanted to be when you grew up. I wrote down I want to be a DJ. If you write things down they come true it seems.

Are you looking forward to the forthcoming Beats of Rage? We know you’ve played at the night a number of times before, what encourages you to keep coming back!?

Very much so, I think this will be the 7th or 8th time I've played in Preston. Preston is real, the people are real. There's no pretense in Preston. People like to party and are genuinely enthusiastic about music - there is an actual sense of community and friendliness.

For those of us that haven’t caught you before, how would you describe one of your sets?

Music. Sorry. Please just check my monthly mixes on my Soundcloud - every month, tunes you probably won't know but will like.

How do you rate the current state of British dance music?

It's always good really. I've never had a problem finding music to listen to which I enjoy in my life. People are obsessed with the state of 'The Scene' - shut up and get on with it.... there's fun to be had!

Are there any artists that have been really doing it for you recently?

Not really, I find a lot of producers have one or two tracks I like, but then there's a million producers and only so many hours in the day - my promos pile is always full and there's always a gem to be found in there.

So what does the future hold for Hostage? Are there any upcoming releases that we can look forward to?

More gigs, more original music and more remixes. My next EP is on Simma Black and is a bit of political house called 'Who Leads Us' - it features on a 3 track EP alongside 'In The Back' and 'Feel It' out in April.

Hostage appears at Beats of Rage on March 8th, at The Adelphi, Preston.

Get your Beats of Rage presents Hostage tickets here

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