Stay ConnectedPaul Rose aka the musician, DJ, and label boss known as Scuba talks to people of significance from the world of electronic music about their experiences, observations, and attempts to cultivate a life for themselves in the murky and sometimes treacherous waters of the music industry.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Copyright: © Copyright 2023 Scuba
Music Not Diving is supported by AC55ID... head over to www.ac55id.com to check out the fastest growing electronic music marketplace, a central hub for music discovery, streaming and purchasing!
And for artists and labels... use the code Scuba6 for six months free use of the platform!!
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Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving
We've been talking a lot in recent weeks about politics in dance music. Over on the Patreon feed we did a bonus episode covering the debate around private equity in festivals, of which there will be a second part this week. There will be a solo podcast covering all that on the main feed in the next couple of weeks but in the meantime we wanted to return to one of the absolute best episodes we've done, one which covered many of the wider themes that have come to the forefront of the discussion recently, from all the way back in March 2023.
Tijana T is a DJ from Serbia. She's been involved in the scene in Belgrade one way or another since the 90s, a period which for obvious reasons was extremely fraught across the whole region. The discussion covers her wider career, but we spend a lot of time discussing the effect that conflict has on art, and on artists. From a position of direct experience, Tijana speaks with real insight on these topics.
Covering this sort of thing is difficult. Not least because we get blocked from promoting our videos on Youtube when certain topics are even mention. But this is the important stuff that's happening in culture right now, and while tackling anything of it with a degree of nuance is a serious challenge, it's one that we enjoy on this show.
Even if you listened to this episode the first time round we highly recommend giving it another spin. It's highly relevant to what is going on today.
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If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.
You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.
Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.
Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Music Not Diving Podcast Spotify playlist
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and how you can support the show
02:32 the problems with music journalism
12:40 privilege in dance music
21:20 developing as an artist in Serbia
33:30 the rave scene in 90s Belgrade
47:10 war in Yugoslavia and the dance scene
56:00 representing Serbia as an artist today
01:06:00 the war in Ukraine and the dance scene
01:22:00 performative activism in music
01:35:00 musical pigeonholing
01:40:30 DJs and personal branding
01:48:30 favourite DJ mixes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Music Not Diving is supported by AC55ID... head over to www.ac55id.com to check out the fastest growing electronic music marketplace, a central hub for music discovery, streaming and purchasing!
And for artists and labels... use the code Scuba6 for six months free use of the platform!!
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Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving
Andy Cato is half of Groove Armada - one of the biggest ever UK dance acts and source of some of the biggest hits of the late 90s and early 2000s.
To a younger audience, however, he might be more familiar as the guy who does regenerative farming on Top Gear alumnus and pantomime villain Jeremy Clarkson's weirdly successful Amazon show 'Clarkson's Farm'.
This is an interesting combination to say the least, and really we could've done with another couple of hours to explore the two things in full, and also the link between. But an hour is all we had on the day... because Andy had to go off to film with Clarkson.
We actually focus mostly on the second half of Andy's career during this conversation - I found the prep for this so interesting that I had a ton of questions on his journey to prominence in this area, as a farmer but also a co-founder of the Wildfarmed organisation, and also the area itself.
But we also get into the music too.
Episode 1 of Farming Not Diving it is...
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If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.
You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.
Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.
Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Music Not Diving Podcast Spotify playlist
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and how you can support the show
03:14 Getting into farming - France
09:40 European agriculture
15:00 Agriculture in the US
19:00 Regenerative farming
36:00 The food industry
44:00 Farming and climate change
50:30 What is rewilding?
55:00 Music!
58:20 Working with Clarkson
01:01:20 Hit records
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Music Not Diving is supported by AC55ID... head over to www.ac55id.com to check out the fastest growing electronic music marketplace, a central hub for music discovery, streaming and purchasing!
And for artists and labels... use the code Scuba6 for six months free use of the platform!!
--
Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving
How important is it for musicians to have a political message? Not just the platitudinous virtue signalling that many in the arts indulge in - but a real message that poses a challenge to the powerful forces in society? That's a question that sounds like it has an easy answer to it, but reality is always more complicated.
Hot Chip's Joe Goddard joined us on stage last summer at Lost Village festival for a chat in front of an audience that you can find on this episode of our previous incarnation - the Not A Diving Podcast. But this episode is not that - Joe joined us in the studio earlier this month for a 'proper' episode in which we tackle the above questions and a lot more besides.
We also discuss the process for making a Hot Chip record, and also the processes behind his solo material. We talk about his work a producer for other acts and his music making philosophy more generally. We continue on the topic of grunge from our last conversation, and we ponder the challenges of staying relevant in music over a long career.
Joe is one of the good ones and you're gonna enjoy this!
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If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.
You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.
Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.
Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Music Not Diving Podcast Spotify playlist
00:00 Intro and how you can support the show
04:00 new Hot Chip album sessions
07:00 writing music in the studio
12:00 working with different producers
17:30 the art of music production
25:00 jamming and song writing
32:30 Kneecap and Rage Against The Machine
41:00 is politics in music important?
53:20 is the streaming model evil?
01:05:00 the debate over ticket prices
01:09:00 the economics of live tours
01:17:40 reasons to be optimistic
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Music Not Diving is supported by AC55ID... head over to www.ac55id.com to check out the fastest growing electronic music marketplace, a central hub for music discovery, streaming and purchasing!
And for artists and labels... use the code Scuba6 for six months free use of the platform!!
--
Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving
Is the club scene dead? Have festivals killed it? Or are festivals themselves in terminal decline? Or is everything actually doing great in live music, humming along nicely with a rosy future?
These are questions inexpertly pondered in the usual morass of music discussion, but on this week’s episode we are graced with real expertise on the subject.
Steve Hogan is a partner and senior agent at one of the world’s biggest talent agencies - WME - who looks after acts including Pete Tong, Eric Prydz, and Groove Armada.
He's a twenty-year veteran at the company who has seen it all in the live sector and particularly the electronic side of it.
We address the aforementioned questions, as well as discussing the role of the agent in an artist’s career, ticketing and the role of Ticketmaster, and we also get into the topical question of politics in music and the specific example of Kneecap.
Strap in for some expert opinion!
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If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.
You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.
Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.
Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Music Not Diving Podcast Spotify playlist
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and how you can support the show
04:30 Big hitters
08:40 State of the club scene
12:22 Super clubs changing the landscape
16:05 Relationship between fans and artists
20:44 Growing organically
21:55 Keeping one foot in clubland
22:46 Clubs are the lifeblood of what we do
27:17 We’re all still clubbers at heart
29:27 Techno at 195bpm
30:16 On Keinemusik
31:27 Martin Garrix and fireworks
32:10 On UKG resurgence
34:46 London is the leader
35:51 The pros and cons of festivals
40:48 Cost of living crisis
45:30 Balancing the needs of the artist
46:26 Artist integrity
48:30 Politics and music
52:40 Ticket prices and hidden costs
01:02:36 Live bands vs. DJing
1:06:45 Fish56Octagon
1:08:48 TikTok in the industry
1:12:05 Nightmare scenarios
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Music Not Diving is supported by AC55ID... head over to www.ac55id.com to check out the fastest growing electronic music marketplace, a central hub for music discovery, streaming and purchasing!
And for artists and labels... use the code Scuba6 for six months free use of the platform!!
--
Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving
What does the short-lived Lo-FI House trend of the late 2010s have in common with the subprime mortgage crisis of the previous decade?
On this episode with one of the biggest names to emerge from the aforementioned scene we find out.
Lo-Fi was very much a 21st Century style of breakout, via Facebook groups and tunes posted to YouTube months before getting signed. But the wiser participants in the scene, including DJ Seinfeld and Ross From Friends, got out early and almost without exception carved out successful careers for themselves.
Baltra, a Philly native who got into music after a move to NYC, epitomised that trend. His 2019 album Ted - a tribute to to his late father - was a step outside of the parameters of the scene that had got him noticed, and since then he's established himself as a fixture on the global DJ circuit and one of house music's most interesting producers.
We discuss all of that, plus his previous, slightly inauspicious career on Wall Street and his experience working in the sector during the biggest crisis in the industry since the 1929 crash.
Get involved!
--
If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.
You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.
Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.
Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Music Not Diving Podcast Spotify playlist
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and how you can support the show
05:42 NYC scene
13:35 On Lo-Fi House
16:18 Bad publicity
22:04 Developing scenes
27:50 Breaking out of Lo-FI
34:09 DJing in New York
35:48 Making 'Ted'
44:35 Slowed down TikTok tunes
46:28 Musical journey
52:36 Studying Finance at NYU
01:00:10 Working on Wall Street in 08
01:05:30 Getting fired
01:11:26 Manipulation and skullduggery on the floor
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Music Not Diving is supported by AC55ID... head over to www.ac55id.com to check out the fastest growing electronic music marketplace, a central hub for music discovery, streaming and purchasing!
And for artists and labels... use the code Scuba6 for six months free use of the platform!!
--
Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving
What's the link between repetitive beats, wellness, neuroscience, and phones in nightclubs?
We discover on this week's episode with someone who has written a very interesting book, 'Music Is Medicine', covering these topics and a lot more besides.
Emma Marshall's career in the industry was initially in roles at giants such as CAA & Sony, but the wider story told in the book led her to found Movement is Medicine, a groundbreaking education and research platform that explores how rhythm, BPM, and tempo influence the body and mind.
As well as discussing her personal journey, we cover topics including the reimagining of nightclubs, the significance of repetitive rhythms in societies throughout history, music therapy, as well as the cost of those cameras intruding into the rave.
This is a really interesting one... get involved!
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If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.
You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.
Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.
Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Music Not Diving Podcast Spotify playlist
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and how you can support the show
05:21 Drum n Bass as first love
12:21 Mystery illness
19:51 Alternative treatments
23:51 PTSD and trauma
24:39 Working with functional medicine
27:12 Hyperthermia
30:36 Frogs as medicine
33:16 Fake shamans
41:14 Finding God
42:55 Music as healing
46:05 On Plague raves
49:21 Observing tribes
51:36 Trance dance
54:43 Vision questing
58:16 Raving is not content
1:00:06 The effect of rhythm on the body
1:02:12 Rhythm as a spectrum
1:05:01 Phones and dancefloors
1:09:06 MDMA the love molecule
1:14:36 Music and sobriety
1:16:48 Changes in consumption habits
1:21:06 Movement is medicine
1:28:06 Parties going underground again
1:33:36 Music as therapy
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Music Not Diving is supported by AC55ID... head over to www.ac55id.com to check out the fastest growing electronic music marketplace, a central hub for music discovery, streaming and purchasing!
--
Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving
Death In Vegas broke through in the late 90s with a run of albums beginning with 'Dead Elvis', a classic of the era that brought together many of the sonic trends of the not-quite-dancefloor, back to mine side of the dance scene. The new album, Death Mask, is out soon.
As a DJ, Richard Fearless has remained a crucial figure throughout. A resident at the Heavenly Social in that late 90s era, he has more recently been running the 'Goo' parties with Daniel Avery in London and across the world.
In this conversation we cover Richard's leadup to the point of breaking through with debut single 'Opium Shuffle', growing up in apartheid-era Africa, as well as the classic period of hedonism at clubs like Turnmills and across the world.
And we also get the positive case for dance music in 2025.
Richard is a highly engaging guy with some great stories... you're going to love this one!
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If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.
You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.
Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.
Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Music Not Diving Podcast Spotify playlist
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
04:50 Self-releasing music
09:40 The first album
12:30 Growing up in Africa
15:20 Working at Reckless records
17:30 Changing habits of digging
23:00 Techno the sound of Detroit
26:40 Back to mine ideology
28:05 Andrew Weatherall
34:32 Acid House
43:54 Fame, success and getting dropped
49:38 Oasis, back to school and New York
58:05 Studio gear and the creative process
01:05:30 Supporting Nine Inch Nails
01:10:15 London as an engine
01:14:34 Starting a night with Daniel Avery
01:20:55 Running a label
01:25:24 Reasons to be optimistic
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Music Not Diving is supported by AC55ID... head over to www.ac55id.com to check out the fastest growing electronic music marketplace, a central hub for music discovery, streaming and purchasing!
--
Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving
Everyone loves a bit of nostalgia, but can you be too retro? And what do you need to do to take a classic piece of art and update it into something new?
These questions are addressed on this week's episode, in which we welcome arguably the most important producer in the new wave of Jungle that has caught the imagination of so many people over the past few years.
We also discuss the broader Jungle/DnB scene today, and how the various parts of it fit together, as well as Tim's personal pathway from first hearing an Andy C cd at school in the mid 2000s to his current position.
And we also discuss his label, Future Retro, and the changing tactics and strategies required to be successful in today's landscape.
Get involved!
--
If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.
You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.
Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.
Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Music Not Diving Podcast Spotify playlist
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and how you can support the show
05:00 Can you be too retro?
06:18 Being the new torchbearer for Jungle
12:30 Jungle in the wider world of DnB
17:30 The role of Internet Forums
27:26 Learning to use FL Studio
39:00 Getting into DJing
43:45 Digital vs vinyl
52:25 Functional music
55:00 Future Retro the label
01:06:00 The modern Jungle audience
01:12:30 Storytelling in Music
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Music Not Diving is supported by AC55ID... head over to www.ac55id.com to check out the fastest growing electronic music marketplace, a central hub for music discovery, streaming and purchasing!
--
Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving
Train Wrecks is a podcast hosted by this week's guest that has been going since 2016. Even taking into account a few breaks along the way, that makes it (by our calculations) the longest running piece of alternative media in the electronic music space. So it's great to welcome Dustin Zahn to Music Not Diving for an episode that will be going up on both feeds.
Dustin has a wealth of experience in techno, having released extensively as well as running his Enemy Records label. But his interest in music goes beyond that, and we discuss a wide range of issues concerning the scene today and the historic context of rave in the US.
We also discuss whether counterculture is back in fashion, the political nature of rave, the cyclical nature of the music, and the current golden age of standup comedy.
This is a good one!
--
If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.
You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.
Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.
Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Music Not Diving Podcast Spotify playlist
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Music Not Diving is supported by AC55ID... head over to www.ac55id.com to check out the fastest growing electronic music marketplace, a central hub for music discovery, streaming and purchasing!
--
Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving
Elijah is one of the deepest thinkers in underground culture. Having first come to prominence in the second wave of Grime along with Skilliam and their label Butterz, and as an artist manager to UK DJ Flava D amongst others, he has reinvented himself in recent years with the Yellow Squares project which seeks to encourage debate around the changing nature of the UK music scene.
His appearance on episode 41 of the audio-only predecessor of this show (link below) was one of the most popular and best episodes, so it's great to welcome him back for a full video episode.
The Yellow Squares project is now a book which you can get hold of here: https://velocitypress.uk/product/elijah-close-the-app-make-the-ting/
We discuss the changing landscape of the UK music scene, from the decline of music's audibility generally in London itself to the obligation (or not) of successful acts to support smaller venues. We also discuss the push for diversity in recent years and associated trap of tokenism, as well as the changing role of artist management over time and the obsession of Xtra radio programmers with a particular 20 year-old Joe Budden track.
And we also touch on the cultural influence of professional wrestling and the need for more heels in music...
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If you're into what we're doing here on the pod then you can support the show on Patreon! There are two tiers - "Solidarity" for $4 a month, which features the show without ads, regular bonus podcasts, and extra content. And "Musicality" which for a mere $10 a month gets you all the music we release on Hotflush and affiliate labels AND other music too, some of which never comes out anywhere else.
You can also make a one-off donation to the podcast using a card, with Paypal, or your Ethereum wallet! Head over to scubaofficial.io/support.
Plus there's also a private area for Patreon supporters in the Hotflush Discord Server... but anyone can join the conversation in the public channels.
Listen to the music discussed on the show via the Music Not Diving Podcast Spotify playlist
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and how you can support the show
07:30 Yellow Squares project phase 2
11:53 Not enough UK festival headliners
13:47 'We're a small nation of old people'
18:50 The need to do things differently
21:30 DJ AG is the most important DJ in the UK
25:55 Keep London loud
32:10 Should big DJs play in small clubs?
34:16 Black British music on vinyl
31:30 Corporate sell outs
46:10 Diversity of the money
54:00 Public speaking gigs
59:20 The changing role of artist managers
01:09:50 The problem with 1Xtra radio programming
01:17:25 The role of the BBC in music
01:19:40 Peak authenticity: kayfabe and UK music
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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