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Jackin’ houser Melé on the birth of Scouse House
“I went to school in Birkenhead on the Wirral, near Liverpool, and Scouse house was something I first encountered when I was about thirteen. It was something you literally couldn’t escape; either everyone in your year was an MC or you had all the latest tracks. Even if you hated it there was something about it that everyone loved. Along with my group of mates I was one of the people that never actually admitted that I was into it, though we all secretly loved it. Check out Killer Kombo or Menace Of The Mics on YouTube if you feel like taking a musical trip to the Wirral. As for me, I’m off to dig out my tape packs!”

House duo Waze & Odyssey love a good sample sale
“Living your entire musical life without coming across some sort of sampling would be like missing sand dunes in the Sahara. It’s everywhere, man; and it’s smashed across a broad selection of all musical genres. Hip hop, disco and current electronic. Taking snippets of other songs, manipulating them – you know the deal. We’ve bounced on a bunch of kit in the past, MPCs to computers; it’s dope no matter which way you run. You make stuff your own. The MPC gives you next-level crunk on the fly. You know how Moodymann likes it? DAWs, Sound Forge (before it went whack!), Cool Edit, Sliex now straight in Ableton, POW! Those cats doing the live thing, they’re dope. It’s sampling on the fly. That’s some next-level performizzle right there.”

No Regular Play just love Champañería in Barcelona
“One of our favourite things to do is visit the old Champañería in Barcelona. Nick discovered it while studying, and when I visited it was the first place he took me. It’s an amazing old tapas bar with jamon hanging from the ceiling that serves bocadillos and cava. It’s rammed with people standing up and chowing down on amazing sandwiches and drinking bottles of cava. It’s important to order a whole bottle, maybe two, as they are only €2–€5 each. We used to say that the best cigarette in the world was the one you lit up after stuffing your face with bocadillos and polishing off a bottle of cava. Alas, you can no longer smoke in there, but aside from that nothing has changed.”