UK producer Powda stepping up for the latest edition of Prima Lux. Tune in below! What’s more, we catch up with the former System2 man for some Q&A action. Check it out 🙂

Hello Powda, thanks for the guest mix…..can you tell us how & when you started DJing and who were your early influences?

Yeah thanks for the invite to do it. I started dj’in back in 2001. Bought myself a pair of 2nd hand belt drive decks & a crappy behringer mixer & learnt on those. I upgraded to a pair of Technics 1210’s once i’d found my feet a few months after. Used to love going down to the record store twice a week & rifling through what they had. Everything was vinyl back then. Mint times. It’s almost too easy now to get the newest stuff from any artist with 95% of it being digital. My earliest influences into dance music were The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim & The Prodigy. That’s all i listened to in college back in the late 90’s. Once i started to get it had to be Felix Da Housecat, Seb Fontaine, Mylo, Steve Lawler plus so many more that i’d be seeing on a weekly basis at the old Sankeys Soap.

With you also producing music, what do you try & do in the studio from the outset?

My aim is to always create something different to anything that’s out there. I don’t like to tag my sound to a particular genre. Since I started making music 15 year ago i’ve done so many different styles of music. I love being in the studio with a clear mind & creating something different. My album with System2 on Fatboy Slim’s SKINT RECORDS was a highlight for me having followed him for so long. I’d love to find enough time to make music for adverts & films/programmes in the future too on top of making underground house.

Your first Powda EP “Nineties” made into the beatport top 100, how pleased were you with that & what else do you have lined up to come out in the coming weeks/months?

It was great to get myself charted with my first EP. The track got to 68 which is pretty good for a fairly unknown artist. Having it on a label like Underground Audio obviously helped out massively. The track made it onto Danny Howard’s BBC Radio One show too so all in all the EP for me was a huge success. I’ve actually got a few bits due out in the next few weeks. My remix on Twisted Fusion of Truth Be Told’s “Dirtee Hanga” is just out & I’ve got an EP out May 31st on an Italian label called Cutting Wax. Another track out on my very own Powda Jam imprint called “Lick Ma” on June 7th, another track on a Twisted Fusion VA & a remix on Ki Creighton’s Under No Illusion Records for George Smeddles.

So as you’ve mentioned above you were also a member of System2?

Yes, I’ve gone from H2 launching in 2002 to System2 in 2014 now to Powda. It’s been a pretty great musical journey so far. Met so many people & learnt so much. I’ve ran so many events as a part of both H2 & System2, made some great music & had some top memories with Danny & with Kal who guided us for a massive part of it all.

What do you think of the industry & where it’s going at the minute?

Competition is healthy & there’s never been as many dj’s about at any point more than there is now. I do think things are more simplified now. Like I said earlier most music is so easily accessible now. You can find any mix by an artist & have all of the same music in half an hour with shazam. A lot of people could get themselves on beatport or any music platform & buy what’s the most popular. Dj’in for me has never been easier either. I don’t think any of that matters as much now. A lot of promoters are going the same way with their bookings. I don’t think people tend to research who they want so much, more how many followers do they have on Facebook. Local lads struggle unless they get 20 mates down. It’s created itself & snowballed into what it is. I think in tech house, it seems if you get yourself on Relief, Hot Creations, Sola or one of the bigger labels & that’s how you get on peoples radars.

We’ve seen you’ve been getting some pretty good support so far too, can you tell us who by?

Well I send Jamie Jones everything I do. Had him playing quite a few of my tracks. As well as Danny Howard I’ve also had Michael Bibi playing some stuff out, Detlef too & there’s been loads of support on my music coming through the labels on their feedbacks. It’s just making that initial contact & them trusting your music once you get them to check it out. It’s the hardest barrier to break with the bigger artists but i’m getting through to a lot of them now.

Tell us more about the mix you have made for us

I was looking for some vocal stuff really. Summer is here & I think its a great underground mix with some great vocals thrown in for a party outside under the sun. There’s 3 Powda tracks on there, all mentioned above as coming out in the coming weeks.

To wrap up, what are your summer plans?

I go to Ibiza in a few weeks for a week out there in the hills. I’m playing whilst out there with PAX & Kreature on a Paradise pre party boat (July 4th) for Underground Artists. My next gig is down in London at Lightbox with Flashmob (June 16th) for his own Flashmob Records party. When i’m back from Ibiza i’ll be playing at South in Manchester (July 20th) again alongside Kreature & PAX. I’ve just finished a 3 track colab with Jacky so let’s see where that goes too.