Apollo View: The ‘Shine A Light On’ Mix

Hold your breath, this one is about to get heated. 

Apollo View are a relatively new duo with a lifetime of experience. Jon-Mark has worked alongside Tom Coveney (a.k.a. one half of Psychemagik & 100% of techno-titan Thomaas Banks) to record new music for Ransom Note affiliated sub label Insult To Injury. Together the pair cooked up two magical reimagined versions of pieces that inspired them when they began their musical journey together back in 1992. The result is "Delta V" – a new EP which packs a hell of a punch. 

The pair have a vast, sprawling musical knowledge, much of it learnt through first hand experience beneath the glow of lights and hedonistic parties. Rave revival? These two were part of the first launch and as such, know more than a thing or two. 

The new EP comes complete with remixes from Naive label boss Violet and recent Optimo signee Logtoad. 

Apollow View are in the mix… Here, we, go…

Please introduce yourself… Who are you, where are you and what are you?

We are Tom Coveney and Jon-Mark, we met on the first day of secondary school. We became friends through sharing Walkman earphones to listen to each other’s favourite tape-packs. Right now Tom is in LA and Jon-Mark is in London. We are a DJ and production duo making electro and techno infused with the sounds of the early 90s UK soundscape.

What does your music sound like?

Like you used a broken time machine and your iPhone came out the other side as a iPhone/Walkman hybrid and only plays the musical lovechild of rave/breaks/proto-jungle and current electro/techno.

Where was the mix recorded?

In JM’s studio back in Medway the breeding ground for Apollo View’s sound.

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?

In the car on the way to and from a rave. The first half starts slow and builds into a old skool rave climax as you arrive at the venue. Then the second half carries you home again.

What should we be wearing?

Bomber jacket, Reebok Classics and your hair in curtains (undercut, goes without saying)

What would be your dream setting to record a mix: Location/system/format?

Free Party/Warehouse Rave, vinyl only recorded to tape.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

TC: Come my Selector by Soundbwoy Killah. & Steal The Show by Posthuman…

oh and I think there’s some Apollo View track I kinda like on there 🙂

JM: Dirty Palette Cleanser by Redstone Press. Also, it’s not a track, but I love the NASA Apollo 11 audio clip used at the start of the mix talking about sample rates, tape and data formats.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

TC: Ellis Dee at Fusion circa 94, closely followed by Layo & Bushwacka! Essential mix from 99. We both listened to that mix (Ellis Dee) so much the we wore the tapes out.

JM: I had it on everyday on my paper round, I’d be brockin’ out on people’s driveways. When I heard the horns of ‘Horns 4 94’ come in, I’d get goosebumps. I thought it had been lost to the sands of time, but I actually found a copy of it recently and digitised it so we could both listen to it. One side is pretty messed up, flangey, warped and low volume. But it still takes me back. I’d love to have a Mint copy of it, so if anyone has got it or can get it, send it our way.

What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?

JM: I was 11 or 12 so didn’t have any money to spend on my first set up, I made do with what was available. My mum was a primary school teacher and she brought home from school this record player, it kinda looked a bit like a gramophone. It was huge wooden box on the bottom were built in speakers, but importantly it had an auxiliary out. The deck itself had no pitch control, but it played at 14, 33 1/3, 45 and 78. Which made it great for me experimenting trying to make hardcore in my bedroom from random tracks in my father’s vinyl collection. The second deck was my father’s Leak record deck. It did have pitch control so I could actually beat match between the two decks. These were fed into a two channel mixer I bought from TANDY. When I was about 14 I bought my Soundlab Belt Drive decks. They had two pitch faders one for 33 1/3 and one for 45. This meant each control was about 3cm long and you had to be super accurate to get a tight mix. This meant when I finally bought my Technics at 16, mixing was super easy and each mix was totally locked in.

My current setup is still my 2 x 1210s which are now over 20 years old, in the last month I just replaced my equally old DJM-500 for a Xone 96 which is amazing. It has two send and returns which I use with a Master Sounds FX unit (which you can hear splattered all over this mix) and a Eventide H9 stomp-box. The Xone 96 also has an inbuilt Sound Card which outs midi clock which I’m using for clocking a BeatStep Pro which I have set up for triggering my homemade 808. So expect some Jeff Mills inspired DJ sets in the future (obvs 808, instead of 909)

TC: My first set up was an inspiration from my Dad’s efforts. It was my 12th birthday and he managed to source 2 Sony Direct Drive Turntables the same from separate sources and a 4 channel mixer. The Model of the Sonys escapes me now but they were pretty slick. Only +/-6 but. I loved those things. Now I’m running 2x1200s , 2x900Pioneer CDJs & a simple Vestax PMC25 mixer.

What’s more important, the track you start on or the track you end on?

For a mix tape the opener as it sets the tone for the mix. Whereas playing out it’s good to leave people with a lasting memory so the last track is most important.

What were the first and last records you bought?

JM: First: Underwater Fireworks by Nut-E-1 on Bear Necessities. Last: I go vinyl shopping at least once a week in Phonica and I bought about 10 tracks last time. But the last one’s I actually added to the stack were two old tracks from Autechre “Skin Up, You’re Already Dead/Quex-rd” & 444/Falling Free and a new track, Luke Vibert’s “Libertine Traditions 10”, it’s so good.

TC: I cant remember the first record tbh and I think its long gone unfortunately, but one that does stand out in my mind early on is Intalect by Orca on Lucky Spin Recordings. I was obsessed with that track, then the his own remix of it dropped and that was next level. Lessons in production could still be learnt from that remix. More recently I bought Anatasia Kristensen’s release on Arcola “Acsetic” and a few EP’s from Rendered.

If this mix was an edible thing, what would it taste like?

Tab Clear Coke, and Tooty Fruities bought from the school vending machine.

One record in your collection that is impossible to mix into anything?

Yeah I have a bunch of tracks with 3/4 or 6/8 time signature. Most of the tracks are obscure, but the best known would be ‘6/8 War’ from Leftfield’s Rhythm and Stealth. Good luck trying to mix that in the middle of a normal 4/4 set. Anything by Perry Como.

Anything else we need to discuss?

Soldering irons…

I want to encourage people to get soldering and making their own analogue instruments. I made my own 808 from scratch and it wasn’t that hard. It just took few months to do. All I needed was the original schematics a bit of time and perseverance. I am now starting to build my own DIY Modular System.

Buy the new EP HERE.