- Old-school techno with flair from one of America's greatest newer acolytes.
- Earlier this year, we described Los Angeles act 1morning as one of the funkiest young producers in modern-day techno. And we stand by it. The fast-rising upstart is building a solid fan base around North America and beyond with a rugged, vintage style of swung techno and hardgroove. His all-vinyl DJ sets and pumping productions on the likes of Fixed Rhythms and Mala Adh stand out for their distinctly old-school flavour: steamrolling hi-hats in the vein of Robert Hood, swift choppage behind the decks and deep, deep grooves. Like many of his all-vinyl heroes, he's also a treat to watch behind the decks.
The up-and-comer had a hell of a year in 2023, from playing in Japan to going on his first European tour, and his momentum shows no signs of slowing. He debuted at New York's dweller festival this year and K9 Unit, his duo with Bloodhound, recently did a night with fellow hardgroove king Regal86. It's only a matter of time until 1morning gets to a festival or a club near you so until then, enjoy his RA Podcast for now. The mix unfortunately came with some less than stellar circumstances, as the records 1morning pulled were stolen from his car, and so instead this RA Podcast became a statement of resilience and creativity—and, in his words, "an outlet for my rage."
What have you been up to recently?
Honestly, I've been practicing putting more space in between music. It helps me enjoy producing more because I'm not constantly trying to make the next hit. I have some more vinyl on the way and possibly another self release. I'm gonna be in NYC playing all June, then Berlin in July through August.
How and where was the mix recorded? And can you tell us the idea behind it?
I had to rethink everything after my traveling collection of records that I tour with were stolen from my car right before the deadline. Songs that I had grown attached to, collected from various parts of the world and more in line with the funk my music encapsulates are all gone. I guess the idea of this mix was to test my own creative limits after losing around 100 records I was so used to playing. I'm still very frustrated so I used this as an outlet for my rage. From start to finish you feel a range of energies in these tracks that I think reflect how I've been feeling. It's also very raw with a few skips of the record followed by some saves. I recorded at NoNonsense Records, a shop run by a good friend of mine in Downtown LA.
What's one club or party that had a major impact on you as an artist?
Neurotek's Los Angeles' free parties had probably the most impact on me coming up as it was these parties where I really met my core group of friends in music with whom I take a lot of musical inspiration from.
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to?
I would like people to pay more attention to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and realize that this conflict isn't as complicated as the legacy media describes it to be. I want the US and the rest of the west to wake up to this and put an end to the destruction of the people of Palestine.
What are you looking forward to in the near future?
I'm looking forward to the inevitable shift in the sounds that are dominating our current landscape. I feel like a lot of producers and DJs in general are trying to fit into this Berlin aesthetic because they're consuming the same repackaged sounds and aesthetics reinforced at the popular clubs they want to play at. I think there's going to be a shift very soon as more people grow tired of what's going on and I'm looking forward to it. I've already seen more and more people discover and become more influenced by the sounds of the '90s and early '00s and I think that's a great thing—as long as it's genuine.
TracklistDJ Rush - Mak'n Love
Angel Alanis - Contaminated Musik
Justin Berkovi - Ping Pong Track
Mike Dearborn - Arena 23
Player 3 (DJ Bam Bam Remix)
Mind Burn - What I Need
Andrei Morant - Scrape
Mike Dearborn - Solution
DJ Rush - Club Freaks
Umek - Bronildera
Umek - Difolvon
David Cayle - Untitled
Static Drum - Eternal
David Cayle - Untitled B
Chris McCormack - Skyline
Leandro Gamez - 1952 (Oliver Ho Evening Mix)
Hertz - Untitled
Devilfish - Live 1999
Co-ax - Phaser
Alenia - Systems
Rino Cerrone - Massive Compressed
UK Gold - Lost
Mark Williams - A DJ's Groove
Johannes Heil - Paranoid Dancer