Kiwi: Before I knew it, I'd quit my job and started making music

The London based creative workhorse has been creating all sorts of buzz of late with his prolific run of releases and remixes, encompassing a sound that lies somewhere between disco, Italo, house and techno (hear that in his Rinse FM mix below) that has earmarked him as one of the underground's hardest to categorize characters. 

Now an integral part of Duke Dumont's Blase Boys Club as well as a resident at London hotpot XOYO, the lauded producer continues to purvey a unique, genre defying approach to dance music, that has rightly seen him praised by legends like Weatherall, Avery and Alkan.

Hi! Thanks for chatting to us. You’ve got a very busy summer schedule coming up. Where are you particularly excited about playing?

I'm very excited about Ibiza, the Orlando Boom boat party at Stop Making Sense Festival and the XOYO birthday party. Also looking forward to Festival Number 6 in the beautiful Portmerion.

Tell us about your involvement with Duke Dumont’s Blase Boys Club? How did that come about and how’s it all going?

It's all going swimmingly thanks, we're just preparing the first release. It came about through demos, the usual way. Duke Dumont liked the music and asked if I'd be interested in signing.

Is Ibiza somewhere special for you? How do your sets there differ from say your residency at XOYO? 

That's an interesting question, I’ve only been twice before, so I’m not sure. The sun certainly puts me in a different sort of mood. I'd really like to play a set during the day, so I can go all old school and balearic. But in the club I’m not sure a lot is different. I always try to play to the crowd and the room, whether it be warm up or peak time.

How did it all begin? Was there a track you heard, DJ you saw or night you went to that made you realise that your future was in electronic music? 

It began at Trash/Durrr, that's where my inspiration came to start my own night. The DJing naturally followed and before I knew it I'd quit my job and started making music and playing records full time.

It must be pretty cool having the likes of Daniel Avery, Erol Alkan and Andrew Weatherall as fans of your work… but what’s been the highlight of your career so far? 

All of those guys are amazing and praise from them is unbelievable. But it would have to be hearing DJ Harvey (my hero) play my record, and subsequently being given the opportunity to remix his band Loccasolus which will be out in the near future.

Your sets traditionally encompass a huge range of differing styles. How would you describe the Kiwi sound?

Well that's just it, I find it impossible to describe my sound. I think the only word that comes close is Dynamic…?

You enjoyed a prolific run of releases over the past few months on labels like Sneaky, Days Of Being Wild and Deep Shit as well as a putting together a tonne of remixes. Have you any more productions lined up for release soon? 

Loads! Llama (the Deep Shit release) is being re-released on Defected. I have the Blasé Boys release, which is really exciting plus a track out in a few weeks on the Clouded Vision Experiment. A new EP with Ashworth, and a few more remixes are i the pipeline too, so definitely expect a busy end to the year.

And finally, hypothetical question… You have the power to throw the ultimate rave. You can play alongside any DJ from the past or present. Where would you have it and who would be on the bill?

Ooooh love these questions. I'd construct a full outdoor nightclub on a beach, open air. 24 hour long party, beginning at midday and ending midday the following day. A nice warm Martin Sound System. Larry Levan would come back from the grave, and would be joined by DJ Harvey and myself, back to back for 24 hours. 

Catch Kiwi in his weekly Blase Boys slot at Sankeys Ibiza by grabbing your tickets below. 

Find out where else Kiwi is playing by heading here.

Tickets are no longer available for this event