We Should Hang Out More: The ‘Shine A Light On’ Mix

Music

The DIY ethos of the North has long been written about and described with great wonder. Glasgow remains a key city in the evolution of electronic music and is widely regarded as being a hotbed for up and coming talent – be this in the form of producers, dj's, diggers or bands.

We Should Hang Out More are a prominent duo who operate in Glasgow, running widely praised parties and delighting dancefloors with vigour and energy. They have their fingers in many pies, those of you who know will be well aware of their late night endeavours and efforts to make the nightlife scene in Scotland as prominent and prolific as it can be. A noble venture and one which demonstrates commitment.

As dj's they are fast paced, lively and fun focussed. This mix is as upbeat and happy go lucky as you might find.

Listen and read the interview below:

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

We’re We Should Hang Out More, a production and DJing duo based in Glasgow. We hold residencies in the city’s Sub Club and Berkeley Suite. We play and make music for parties

Where was the mix recorded?

We’ve recently moved into a flat together – we’ve set up a studio in a generous cupboard and slapped a set of CDJs in the living room. It’s as you’d expect. The living room has this magnificent aspect, three floors up overlooking Queen’s Park train station in Glasgow with a park to one side and a bustling street to the other. Kinda feels like you’re soundtracking the motions of the city as you play. Undoubtedly an inspiring spot.

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

Given its length and variety, hard to place but probably the last two hours of your working week before you have a well earned day off. Whether that’s closing down a bar between sips on a pint or rifling through the last of your emails in an office; this mix is a journey with the destination being the abstract joy of being free for however long you’ve managed to strap your wings on for.

What should we be wearing?

Only your best clobber. You want a few pockets on there. Comfortable, fresh looking trainers (they don’t have to actually fresh, just make a bit of effort). Hats are optional, gloves are not. Everything should be ready to be removed within a moments notice, you just never know these days. Keep the colours understated though, this isn’t the 90s.

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

One of those nights playing out where you can’t do anything wrong. In this particular dream, you're in Sub Club, switching between vinyl and digital seamlessly, watching the writhing mass of bodies on the dance floor, completely engaged with what your playing, loving every drop and transition. You finish your set and a beaming Sean (Subbie’s famous in-house tech) turns to you and says; ‘I fuckin’ recorded that’ and you’re thinking to yourself… “Yas”.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

Has to be the boy wonder, Laurence Guy’s new release on Shall Not Fade, ‘This Isn’t My Best Light’. A subtle nod towards the struggles everyone faces day to day whilst not being an emotionally demanding listen if that makes sense? We think his music has always been versatile in how you can enjoy it – chilled and club ready at mutually exclusive moments.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

For a number of reasons, Midland’s Fact (185) Mix. It’s such an eclectic blend and came out just as we’d moved to Glasgow. Going out three nights a week, chatting shit for hours on end, making mad plans – it soundtracked some of the most treasured moments of our formative years in this city. It’s almost as good as Solomon’s Boiler Room.

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

Another tough one and maybe another overly patriotic reference but we find it hard to look past Optimo. We remember Riverside festival last year and Carista playing with Keith and Jonnie, or Optimo 20 with the Black Madonna – Both of their guests looked so in their element, so happy, so on form. We think they create this experience when they play that no one else can really emulate yet there’s zero pretence to it. They allow anyone to engage and when they bring another artist on board, they allow them to play to their strengths, elevating them at every transition, sharing their vision. And it’s also a tantalising possibility given our geography…

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

Oliver: My dear friend Bob let me wreck his ortofon’s, with a Numark mixer and 1210s. His brother had moved to Aus so we had his whole record collection (he was an avid player on the Edinburgh scene) to blend horrendously to begin with before we were nailing the Coma Cat/Adrenaline mixes. Markey: I downloaded Virtual DJ on my laptop sometime around 2004. I’d sit in my bedroom pretending the back garden view from my window was full of people loving my epic blends of Mylo, Shapeshifters and Lemon Jelly. Now we live in a flat in Glasgow’s southside with some 1210s and Pioneers. Don’t think any of my mixes have ever been as good as those auto-matched, non-EQued beasts though.

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

Live: Ender Mix: Starter With a mix, you’re never playing to no one. The fact that someone has pressed play means your playing to more people than some club nights you’ve been part of over the years. When playing live, due to transitions between slots etc it’s sometimes hard to tell what the first song a DJ plays actually is. In Glasgow the one-more-tune is an institution, so we feel the scales tipping towards the end.

What were the first and last records you bought?

Oliver: First record, I think, was Just Enough Education to Perform by Stereophonics (lol). Last would have been the sexy house workout, Caddy Neutre by Naux on GLBDOM. Markey: First single I ever bought was actually Prodigy Breathe. I know that sounds like a fake answer to make myself look cool but it’s actually true, the single came in this amazing foldable CD sleeve with a dead goldfish on it. The parental advisory sticker sealed it. The last record I bought was for this mix, the opener, Nautilus by Anna Meredith. I’d been wanting to use it in a mix for a while, it’s an epic piece of music, Ransom Note seemed like the obvious choice.

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

Microwave popcorn, covered in butter and Valentina hot sauce. The badman one with the black label.

If it was an animal what would it be?

A Madagascan Fossa. Fierce, cool, rare and ready to cover everything in scent.

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

Oliver: It’s definitely not impossible, but I always manage to make a James Blunt of mixing FYI Chris’ ‘Juliette’. There’s an atonal quality to the vocal sample which always sounds good on cue, then sounds shit on transition. It's nothing to do with the production tbf – just you know how sometimes you just have a bogey track? Markey: Omni Trio – Renegade Snares (Foul Play Remix). I actually love this song, and at some of our more illicit after hours shows in Glasgow I always like trying to bring this in but its blessing is also its curse. It sits at around 154/5 BPM, which means it isn’t solidly in contemporary DnB tempo so can theoretically sit in amongst some other faster tunes in our sets, however the fact that it’s at such an awkward BPM within a contemporary context makes it a nightmare to blend seamlessly. I refuse to let it get lost in the ether though, I’ve made it work a couple of times (thank you Master Tempo).

Upcoming in the world of We Should Hang Out More…

WE’VE GOT A MIX COMING OUT ON RANSOM NOTE WHOOP! Also playing some cool festivals, booking some great acts in Glasgow and releasing a bunch of new music on a stack of great labels. EYES PEELED. Our next release is out in late April on Midnight Riot and it is a total electro-disco beast, some of the tracks are in this mix You’ll love it.