Our first interview of 2024 comes from the artist behind one of our favourite mixes 2023. Chanel Kadir aka Basic Chanel is the founder and editor of Untitled 909, one of the best online independent publications and mix series going. We got the chance to catch up with Chanel about her music influences, Untitled 909 and the current state of UK dance music culture.
Hi Chanel, firstly thanks for agreeing to this interview. How have you been and have you been up to anything fun since we last spoke at the start of summer?
Hi, thank you so much for having me! It’s my first proper mix and interview for a platform so I’m very excited and grateful for the opportunity. I’ve been good thank you; I’ve just come out of the busiest six months of my entire life. It was a very intense summer workwise that involved a lot of traveling, which of course I feel so lucky to be able to, but it takes it toll so I’m looking forward to spending the next few weeks at home in London and reconnecting with my life here. Some fun highlights from that period include running a marathon after being injured for the last 2 years and having my best friend with me for support (shout out Léa), basically going on tour with my friends for the real silly season, first time at Draaimolen, adopting our first family puppy and finally making it over to New York and meeting lots of internet friends IRL for the first time – that always feels very surreal. It’s been a real trip!
How did you get into being a music publicist – what challenges do you face and what are some of your favourite things about your line of work?
I kind of fell into it. I started in fashion and was working at a boutique fashion PR agency, looking for a way out of it. I was writing for a music blog at the time where I was invited to review the first edition of Junction 2 and met the lovely crew at Listen Up who were working the festival. When I got home from J2, I researched the PR agency and applied for an internship there. From that moment, it all spiraled out of control and I have been working in music PR for 8 years now.
You’ve clearly always had a passion for music, can you tell us about some of your earliest music related memories?
Haha I think the earliest music memory I have is my mum playing Jamiroquai in the car during school drop-offs. It was on repeat along with The Black Eyed Peas and Blue (my favourite band growing up). My mum used to take me to concerts when I was a kid which I loved – this included the first Pop Idol tour with Will Young, Gareth Gates and Zoe and Blue. Following that, I’ve always been a fan girl, becoming completely obsessed with a particular band, artist, song, film etc. When I was in secondary school this was Justin Bieber and One Direction lol. I have a picture with Justin Bieber where I could pass as his twin. Not sure why I’m admitting that here… might be the first and last interview I do lol.
And then, what was your progression into dance music and DJing?
I was first introduced to dance music and clubbing by my boyfriend at the time who within the first two weeks of our relationship took me to fabric for a Playaz event in 2014. Pretty bold of him to do so this soon into our relationship as I was pretty much exclusively only listening to the likes of Queen and Jimi Hendrix at this point but I absolutely loved it. There was a LTJ Bukem takeover in Room 2 which blew my mind and ever since then drum & bass/jungle will always have a soft spot in my heart – it’s the music I love dancing to the most. It took a bit longer for me to get into techno and other strings of electronic music to be honest but again, I was taken back to fabric, this time for a Saturday night party with Ben Klock, Terry Francis, Craig Richards and John Digweed. It was a pretty special night and I remember lasting till the lights went up completely sober – John Digweed’s closing set was magical. It all blew up from there and we spent most of our weekends going to the club with some of my favourite memories from the early days including the Sunday morning sessions at fabric with Ricardo Villalobos, a Hessle Audio takeover (also at fabric and there’s a track we still haven’t been able to ID that hasn’t left my mind since), and going to Dekmantel for the first time in 2015.
With DJing, I never really had any plans for this. I got a controller soon after being introduced to club music just to play around with it and I would say that it’s only in the last two years that I’ve dedicated some time to learning and practicing the craft – more so this year. I buy, listen and download a lot of music and I love sharing my favourite finds with people so I approach DJing as an extension of that. I’ve only recently just started enjoying putting more ‘club’ focused mixes together because I haven’t really had the time to practice and put a lot of pressure on my self – my radio show usually falls within the realm of ambient / home listening. But I played my first gig this year (which I hated because I was so anxious) and I’m playing at Corsica Studios in the new year for Small Talk x Floorless Festival which is equally exciting and nerve wrecking. I really loved pulling this mix together for you and has definitely put the fire in my belly to do more – excited to see where it takes me.
What was your inspiration behind founding Untitled 909?
I’ve been blogging ever since I was a young teenager, whether that was via Blogspot or Tumblr, it’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing. At university it was mainly fashion and personal style that I was writing about and stopped once I started working in the music industry. It was during the early years of working in Music PR and working with artists that didn’t really align with my taste that I was inspired to start my own music platform. I wanted to connect and engage with those I followed and loved listening to and missed having my own creative output. So I just started it and had no real goals or aims besides working with artists I’m a fan of. Maybe because it’s a disciplinary that I don’t know too much about besides surface level stuff (with regards to music production) and just being a music fanatic in general but I’m so drawn to conversations with artists that delve deep into their artistic journey, creative processes and what has influenced and inspired them over the years to get to where they are today and how they approach DJing or produce a piece of music. Like I have no idea how an artist sits down and writes an album – music production blows my mind and I’m more intrigued to learn about who they are as a person that influences this process, getting them from A to B rather than the technical side to it because that’s something I may never get my head around. The mix series has become the most consistent part of the platform but I’m keen to do more interviews in the new year and bring that back as the focus.
What challenges do you face when running an independent music publication and what motivates you to keep it going alongside a day job?
I guess the biggest challenge running the platform is money. I don’t make any money from the platform and I’ve always talked about having contributors who write monthly features and have their own column as such, but I can’t do that until I have the financial means to do so as I wouldn’t expect anyone else to work on it for free. I have done in the past with friends but it’s not something I want to continue doing so contributions are on pause for now. Paying DJs for their mixes is also something I would like to achieve soon. Time is obviously another issue as I’m running it alongside a full-time job which often means I’m doing interviews or writing up features either early morning or late night. This being said, it’s the thing that gives me the most joy and I get sad that I can’t spend more time on it. I love running this platform, connecting with artists, curating the mix series and sharing music and other things that I love via the newsletter. I studied fashion journalism at university and one of my biggest dreams is to design and edit my own print magazine which I hope to do with Untitled 909 one day so watch this space!
Final thing on Untitled 909…the mix series is one of the best going – your Field Maneuvers series of mixes were particularly wicked. What’s the curation process behind the mix series?
Aw thank you for the kind words, that means a lot! There’s no set process behind curating the mix series. I spend a lot of time online and listening to music, whether that’s new releases on Bandcamp or mixes and from there I will note down artists I’ve come across that I’m a fan of and think are doing something sick and interesting. I’m conscious of the curation and who’s contributing, trying to make sure I’m tapping into scenes that are underrepresented and that it’s balanced in terms of who’s contributing. Maybe slipped up on this recently since life has gotten in the way but definitely a priority for the new year.
You’re a regular on one of the best stations out there, Refuge Worldwide (Basic Chanel). How did it come about and what does the station mean to you?
I used to live in Berlin and was introduced to George (one of the founders of the station) via someone I lived with at the time. I had been following Refuge Worldwide for a while as they used to run parties in Berlin and Scotland (if I remember correctly) and was intrigued by the idea of potentially having a radio residency as an extension of the Untitled 909 platform. I pitched the idea to one of the curators before the station launched and I’m so happy they said yes. Feel very lucky to have the radio residency on Refuge Worldwide. It’s an amazing station whose values I really align with and appreciate that they are using their platform to bring attention to global issues – not just focusing on the music or DJs playing on the station. It’s been super exciting watching Refuge Worldwide grow over the years – it’s incredibly important for platforms like this to exist in the industry and that we continue to support them.
What’s your opinion on the current state of dance music in the UK?
There’s a lot of exciting stuff happening outside of London. I wouldn’t really say that London is a go-to spot for dance music. Of course there are some amazing things happening in the city with the likes of Kindred, playbody, Unbound, Floorless Festival, Tropical Waste, Lighter Dance, and SUZIO to name a few but in terms of artists, I think the sickest music is coming out of the North of England with the likes of Rainy Miller, Henzo, BFTT, Iceboy Violet, YCO, Strange Riddims and more.
There’s a lot of issues in the UK with more clubs shutting down than ever, a massive shift in the crowds that are attending these parties and not being as engaged in what’s going on and it being quite expensive to access studio resources as well as huge costs for a night out. There’s a few initiatives that you can get involved in to help with entry into the music industry such as Saffron where they host DJ and production workshops but they are few and far between.
And to be honest, I haven’t been paying as much attention as I should be to the UK scene, probably because I haven’t spent a lot of time in London recently, and I’m much more inspired by what is happening elsewhere. Most of my favourite dancefloor memories this year have been abroad and I’m really excited by the music that is coming out of Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria right now like the really sick intersection of deep techno, psytrance, breaks and drum & bass.
Can you shout-out some of the artists that you have enjoyed playing alongside, producers and labels whose music has found a home in your record bag, and clubs that you’ve enjoyed playing most in 2023?
Going back to the point above, some of my favourite labels right now include amenthia recordings, Midgar, Woozy, Semantica Recordings, Somatic Rituals, Omen Wapta, TraTraTrax, 3XL Recordings, co:clear, Lowless, SPE:C and Animalia. Producer wise, I’m in constant awe of Beatrice M, their output has been insane, unstoppable really – every release is sick! Sunju Hargun, Ayesha (new album is incredible), Polygonia, Purelink, Ben Bondy, dj lostboi / Malibu, Varuna, Tammo Hesselink, Henzo and so many more!
What are your plans for the rest of 2023?
I sign off work for three weeks from this Thursday so I’m looking forward to having some downtime. Being in London, exploring the city and going to galleries and the cinema, reading a lot, prepping for the Corsica gig and training for my next marathon. I’m also really looking forward to going away on a retreat over NYE where I can switch off completely.
Interview By: James Acquaye Nortey-Glover