Kate Boss - The Ransom Note Mix

Music

While there's plenty of love to be given when one person but together a great mix, there's three times as much adoration from us when you've got the dynamic trio of the Kate Boss team all coming together and pulling as one aural force then there's something pretty darn special in your ears. When Rory Phillips, Henry Fry and Kiwi come together there's very little they can't do to your ears. Their central London disco party has seen the likes of Friendly Fires, Justin Vandervolgen and Krystal Klear appear as special guests in the last few weeks so they must be doing something right. So we'll leave you in the more than capable hands of the Kate Boss team as they give you a delicious mix to chew on and we have a good chat with one third of their team;

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

Im Alex/Kiwi, and I'm a DJ/Producer and part of Kate Boss DJs

When and how did you first get into making music?

When I left Art school, I fell out of love with Art and needed to find another way to exert some creativity, music can be free of a lot of the pretense involved in the Art World.

Do you think your music taste has grown as you have or do you have similar taste to your younger self?

Its grown a lot, I was quite narrow-minded as a youngster, Now I’m much more open to all music, as long as it sounds good.

Were the people of your hometown encouraging of your musical endeavours?

Maybe not at first, I had been in London for a few years already so most of my friends etc were here. But when word started getting back there about what I was upto, I received a lot of love and support.

Where do you see yourself this time next year?

Hopefully in a similar place, I'd like to think Kate Boss is swinging, being every Saturday I'd really like to build that into something special. I just want to be DJing regularly to nice like-minded people.

What's been the highlight of your career so far?

Going back to back with Andrew Weatherall at Bestival this summer is the first thing that comes to mind. That was a very surreal and fantastic experience.

If you weren't making music, what would you be doing?

Probably promoting/booking/running nightclubs or maybe off snowboarding/being a ski bum.

What's your favourite song at the moment?

I recently was turned onto Throw Down – Carmen. Absolute banger.

Where's your preferred place to make music?

In my engineer Joe’s studio in London Fields.

What was the best set you've ever seen live?

DJ Harvey, at Oval Space (the comeback gig).

What's your favourite colour?

Dependant on my mood, right now I'd say a nice pastel orange.

Musical guilty pleasure?

Love Pains – Yvonne Elliman.

If your sound was a visual thing, what would it look like?

An orgy of freaks and leather.

Who would you most like to collaborate with?

Maurice Fulton.

Onto the mix…

Where was the mix recorded?

In my house with the gang, Rory Phillips and Henry Fry.

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

The Kate Boss Discotheque.

What should we be wearing?

A whole collection of bits an bobs from the Kate Boss dress up box. Maybe a glamourous sparkly dress, a wig, and bunny mask.

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

I ideally like to record mixes live, I have a fantasy of one day designing a 24 hour rave on a beach in Bali or something. Custom built soundsytsem, circus dancers etc…

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

Carmen – Throw Down.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

Good question, I couldn’t put my finger on it, I think if you over listen to mixes, you eventually get bored of them so I tend to come back to them occasionally. I'm currently listening to the DJ Harvey Old Testament mix.

If you could go back to back with any DJ from throughout history, who would it be and why?

The obvious answer would be Larry Levan that would be amazing but I think I'd actually have to say Harvey.

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

It was some gastly midi controller/virtual DJ thing. Now I Have 2 1210s, 2 CDJ 2000s, and a DJR 400 mixer.

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

I think they are of equal importance but for different reasons. You need to captivate the audience’s attention with the first track. But with the final track you want to leave them wanting more.

What were the first and last records you bought?

Honestly I can’t remember my first vinyl, my first tape was Blur – The Great Escape. The last was the Toy Tonics edits vol 4
With this gem on the A side – Lonely Man Off (Kapote Remix)

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

Chocolate obviously 😉

If it was an animal what would it be?

A chameleon?

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

Nothing's impossible but a lot of Disco records have live drums and change speed so you often just have to slam them in or let the records play out, (which is no bad thing!) this is a good example.