Question Time With Via

I grew up in a very musical family - my dad actually DJs and produces to this day, my grandad plays guitar, my cousin and uncle have been DJing for the last few years also. Both of my parents instilled a huge love of dance music in me from a young age - MTV Dance was on all weekend, every weekend growing up! I was surrounded by acid house, trance, Madchester indie, disco and breakbeat from a very young age. I was encouraged to try several instruments (piano will always be my favourite) and I was just involved in musical activities all the time. When I went through college I started being shown lots of new music, and really started to fall in love with DNB. Eventually I moved to Manchester for uni and started going to raves at Antwerp Mansion and WHP, and it just completely ingratiated itself into my life. 

It got to a point where my playlists just started expanding at a crazy rate and I often found myself in control of the AUX cord wherever possible! So many people around me were DJing by then, and as I moved through the scene I wondered what was stopping me from doing the same thing - my family and friends were all DJing, I was watching the music evolve in front of my eyes, and I realised I wanted to join in on the fun! I only wish I had started sooner, DJing just brings me absolute joy and I’m so lucky to be surrounded by such talented and inspiring peers.

Where to start?! I draw a lot of inspiration from such a wide variety of music, and I listen to all sorts at any given time of day. In DNB, I’ve recently been spending a lot of time listening to artists such as Enei, Tom Finster, Lukher, Wiguez, Alix Perez, Waeys, VISLA, and Skantia (I could truly go on, it’s SO hard trying to narrow down to a select few!). I have a huge soft spot for dancefloor, and always will, but recently the minimal/techy side of DNB has really dominated my listening habits and is continuously introducing me to all kinds of new sound design.

Outside of DNB, my music is all over the shop - I draw a lot of influence from dubstep, midtempo, jazz, rock/metal, donk, frenchcore, even film scores! Honestly the list is endless, I try to immerse myself in as much music as I possibly can at all times. I keep an open mind when crate digging for new tunes and I think having a diverse taste is imperative in allowing for creativity in sets.

The sheer number of artists I have met along the way makes this such a hard question to answer - everyone is absolutely rocking it right now!! There’s far too many names to mention, so I’ll name just a handful of collectives and labels that are full of artists just smashing it and are being championed in the scene (and rightly so!). Shoutouts here to Croakheads, SYN LDN, Lovely Drop, Teez, Abyssal, Valkyrie, Brainrave, and Neurosystem - all of these names are pushing so many underground artists to the forefront, at the top of their game - it’s awesome to see the underground scene booming right now! All the names on the lineups these names create are just incredible, there’s so many artists to watch out for.

In a heartbeat, hands down, it would have to be Rezz, the queen of midtempo! This is not a surprise to anyone who knows me well at all, her sound design and creative vision is just nuts and I’ve been head over heels for her music for the last year - the music she creates is just a whole other universe to get lost in. The mix of EDM, hypnotic horror, the influence of rock/industrial - it’s just the perfect storm for the most creative and groundbreaking music I’ve heard in a very long time. What I would give to even be a fly on the wall to see how she creates her sound would be a dream come true.

This list literally changes daily, so I’ll do my best to answer! Currently this is where my head is at, and I know I’m missing so many other favourites, but again, I could be here all day making this list:

I’m actually quite lucky to be pursuing my other passion alongside music, which is books! Working as a librarian is such an interesting mix with the music side of my life, it gives me more opportunity to crate dig while I work, my headphones are always in (no one knows I’m listening to rollers and riddim as I shelve books every day lmaooo) - they say life is all about balance right? I enjoy researching new topics, and honestly I’d probably never leave school, I’m even studying now while working on the DJing! 

Alternatively, I’d definitely be working in the arts, I have a background in art history and I used to draw all the time, my teenage dream was to be a tattoo artist when I grew up - if music wasn’t in my life, I’d be building a portfolio and continuing to draw constantly. I definitely have a creative brain, where logical subjects such as maths and science has never really clicked for me, so I think I’d still be immersed in the arts scene - just in a different medium than music!