Nowadays

Avalon Emerson

Raised in Arizona, Avalon started to make, release and play music in San Francisco before moving to Berlin in 2014. Since then, she has toured the world’s most famous clubs and festivals, released critically acclaimed solo and collaborative productions and remixed the likes of Slowdive, Robyn, Four Tet, Lena Platonos and more. Avalon’s selections reflect a deep knowledge of house, techno, new wave, EBM and rave as well as the experience of an adaptable selector. Her style transcends the confines of time or genre by recontextualizing dance music from previous eras among contemporary sounds and her own productions and edits.

Mixes | Live At Mutek Mexico & Essential Mix

Aurora Halal

Shadowy and psychedelic, Aurora’s live hardware & DJ sets have a hazy sensuality and metallic dance floor intensity that’s at turns playful, dark, euphoric and emotionally vulnerable. In all her projects, she treats dance music as an are­na for trans­for­ma­tion and since 2010, her events have been root­ed in an under­ground, DIY approach that push­es for­ward-think­ing sounds, pro­duc­tion, and ideas. She’s spent the last 10 years tour­ing like-mind­ed clubs, raves, and fes­ti­vals world­wide and gained a rep­u­ta­tion for pow­er­ful, unique per­for­mances that work both the body and mind. She’s 4 years into a res­i­den­cy at NYC’s Nowa­days, is a reg­u­lar at Berghain and pre­vi­ous­ly De School.

Mixes | Resident Advisor & Nowadays Live & Direct

Ayesha

Ayesha’s musical approach brings together a love for manipulating found-sounds and a knack for trippy sound design, channeling percussive techno rhythms and UK soundsystem pressure in equal measure. The result is heady, maximal body music tailored to the dancefloor. Similarly, Ayesha’s DJ sets are a menage of styles, reflecting her playful curiosity as a producer and years spent as a working DJ in DC’s club and warehouse party scene. Expect big dancefloor moments, with Ayesha digging deep across techno, breaks, garage, and all the areas between.

After almost 10 years of DJ experience, Ayesha is also slowly gaining notoriety as a producer of forward-thinking Club music. The release of her last EP ‘Potential Energy’ on UK label Scuffed Recordings in 2021 set off a wave of momentum with no end in sight. Following releases on respected outposts Fever AM and Control Freak, and a contribution to rising NYC label Eto Ano’s No Cash In Booth compilation, Ayesha’s work has received critical praise from RA (Best New Music), DJ Mag (Fresh Kicks), and the hotly-tipped Lobster Theremin (LT Podcast 176) who join a growing list of international supporters.

Mixes | Live at Fourth World & LT Podcast

DJ Python

Originally inspired by the dembow rhythms emanating from souped-up Honda Civics during his teenage years in Miami, Piñeyro’s first forays into electronic music production were influenced by reggaeton. Already well-versed in house, IDM, dnb/jungle and downtempo, Piñeyro came up with a dreamier dembow varietal that was softer around the edges, integrating the headspace and soulful atmospherics of ambient and deep house.

Python’s all-tempo DJ style, honed in New York City’s network of dance bars, became an underground phenomenon. Piñeyro would follow his debut album with the deft, melodic Derretirse 12-inch for Dekmantel, as well as DJ gigs and live PAs at Sustain-Release, Unsound, Dekmantel, Tokyo’s Contact club and Printworks to name a few. At home in New York, he holds down a residency at Nowadays in Queens and frequently plays with friends around the city.

With that momentum, Piñeyro prepared for the spring 2020 release of the second DJ Python album, Mas Amable. Then the world stopped. Yet somehow, the album—both a 45-minute piece and an eight-track LP, an ambient composition and a modern club record—was exactly what people needed to hear amidst the uncertainty of lockdown. Gauzy atmospherics stretched over hypnotic beats like a blanket, spoken word sections by NYC poet LA Warman were listless yet prescient. An ambient house record for a new generation, Mas Amable came in at #1 on Boomkat and Resident Advisor’s list of the best albums of 2020. Other accolades for Mas Amable came from Pitchfork (30 Best Electronic Releases Of 2020, 22 Best Songs By Latinx Artists in 2020, The 100 Best Songs Of 2020), The Quietus, Crack, NPR and many more.

Mixes | Live at Lente Kabinet & Beats In Space

Donis

Donis is a Afro Dominican DJ/Producer born and raised in New York City. Their style is rooted in the city’s soulful house music history. Through the growing club culture in their home borough of Brooklyn, they have expanded their sonic palette playing various styles of electronic music and mixing US regional styles with their Latin/Caribbean heritage. They have become well known in the underground scene playing parties for Papi Juice, Boiler Room, Dweller Festival and regularly playing at local venues like Lebain, Elsewhere and Paragon. In 2022 they dropped a single on critically acclaimed compilation, Where Were You by Somersault Records and has been shelling their residency at renowned club Nowadays.

Mixes | Rave Scout Cookies & XOXA

Eamon Harkin & Justin Carter

Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter are the founding resident DJs of Nowadays as well as long running parties Mister Saturday Night and Mister Sunday. Started in 2009 in DIY spaces and back yards, Justin and Eamon founded Nowadays in 2015 and brought the parties there.

In addition to DJing, throwing parties and running Nowadays, Eamon and Justin run a label called Mister Saturday Night Records and produce a series called Planetarium, where people bring pillows, blankets and sleeping bags, lie in silence and listen deeply to music.

You can find out about gigs Justin is playing here, and music he’s released here. Eamon’s gigs are here, and his music is here.

Mixes | Nowadays Live & Direct & Resident Advisor

Honey Bun

Honey Bun is a New York City-born interdisciplinary Afro-futurist artist with an omnivorous and expansive taste that is at once sensual, adventurous, and playful. She blends the sounds of her East Coast roots, Southern upbringing, and the ever-evolving, interconnected sonic output of the global Black diaspora: seamlessly merging everything from contemporary breaks and bass to sultry R&B, soulful house, Detroit techno, and cosmic electro classics. Her commitment to centering intergenerational Black femme DJs inspired the burgeoning Soul Connection party, which she runs alongside friend and DJ, Lovie. Over the last couple of years, Soul Connection has been blossoming beautifully, and like her DJing, continues to showcase her growing expertise in going deep and filling dance floors with love. Her monthly BUNTOPIA show on The Lot Radio has been essential listening for us over the past couple of years and recently, she has brought her sonic vision to notable booths, including Sustain-Release, Boiler Room in New York, and Djoon in Paris.

Mixes | Deep South & Coloring Lessons

JADALAREIGN

livwutang

livwutang sits within a modern continuum of DJs whose sound can’t be contained to one particular style or genre – she instead delivers a distinctly eclectic array of exuberant kinetics, introspective strength, & chaotic dexterity to any dancefloor she’s a part of. Beginning her DJing journey amidst the liberated frequencies of pirate radio & the psychedelic embrace of DIY rave in Seattle, her expressive practice has only continued to evolve & connect her inner world to those around her.

Underpinned by elegant buoyancy & an unrestrained sense of manifestation, her mixing accesses a constantly shifting point of serenity – subtly creating full fledged sensory experiences, always attuned to immersive narrative building & delivered with a keen sense of danceability, confidence, & poise. It’s within this spellbinding maelstrom that she brings a unique & adventurous flare to DJing, constantly reinventing her present surroundings to create innovative glances into the past & future.

While her style is grounded within the unifying spatial awareness of dub and the joys of dance music’s renegade sound, lifelong influences from her musical upbringing are channeled into her enthralling musical vision – an enchanting sonic palette deftly maneuvering between the jubilant rhythms of Central & Western Africa, the innovative momentum of Black American music, & an expansive love of timeless vocal flourishes and earworm melodies from the last 60 years of popular music.

Mixes | Live at Sustain-Release & Dekmantel

MORENXXX

DJ, producer, and anti-disciplinary artist MORENXXX— also known as Jesús Hilario Reyes —is a true enigmatic force exalted from Chicago’s underground. MORENXXX’s hypnotic yet blisteringly-fast sound ranges with rapturous percussion and ethereal intensity, weaving infectious grooves and defiant rhythms far above the genre battlegrounds, culminating in something otherworldly and entirely their own. Tectonic, boundless, and undeniable, MORENXXX blends the contemporary and the timeless with cyclonic fluidity; their cunning prowess invigorates dancers to riotous peaks, bringing out something primordial yet contemplative, leaving behind a scarred dance floor.

Mixes: Live at Nowadays & Live at Sustain-Release

musclecars

Native to New York, musclecars is a DJ / Producer duo consisting of Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield. As musicians, they equally share an admiration for the art form. Their desire to blend genres and express their appreciation for music is focused around their community- the end goal is to bring people together. This mission has led them to play some of the biggest clubs in the world, from their residency at Nowadays in New York, to bookings at Panorama Bar in Berlin. They’ve been recognized in publications such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, Mixmag, Vinyl Factory, and most recently their ‘Breaking Through’ feature on Resident Advisor. Through a regular stream of high quality mixes and multiple outstanding releases, they’re constantly turning heads in underground circles.

In 2018 they launched ‘Coloring Lessons’, a party that was aimed to add value to their city’s nightlife culture. While the party and sound is not genre specific, it is heavily focused around house, disco, jazz, and soul, embracing the musical elements of their black and brown ancestors. The monthly party’s intention is to bring New York City’s dance music scene back to what it was during the golden era of NY nightlife, pulling on a lineage of inspirational spaces, such as The Paradise Garage, The Loft, Body and Soul, and 718 Sessions, to name a few. They aim to spread the music and sensibilities that have been influential to them, and share it with a younger generation of their peers.

In 2020 the pair launched the label Coloring Lessons Records. The label, like the party, is intended on building up artists from their city and beyond, with the sound indicative of the Coloring Lessons ethos- which is sharing music created by their peers and inspired by their ancestors of color, and teaching younger generations about the roots of this music.

Mixes | Juanita’s & FACT

OK Williams

Born and raised in London, OK Williams has emerged in recent years as one of the most exciting talents in dance music. With an understanding for how to turn out a dance floor that goes way beyond her years, Kanyin’s eclectic and freeform approach to her selections and the confidence with which she runs through them has turned the heads of dancers across the world and has led to a busy touring schedule over the last couple of years. When she’s back in London she holds down a monthly residency on NTS Radio.

Mixes: HOR Radio & NTS Radio

Powder

As like a scenery pops up on the corner when you driving a car, even you don’t see anything over the corner, it doesn’t mean there is nothing over there. Powder seemed to suddenly came up in sight, but the truth is being just little bit ahead of a curvy road we drive. Perhaps, still keeping distance quite a bit, some times think you see, but it’s just sprinkles of existence and impression left in the air. Her track can be described as minimal, floaty, fanny … which all tends to be used up terms. Although, it’s hard to find new word for it, any word seemed to fit in with association with something Left-field. In the same time, the weird-ness is not really emphasized, but always maintains a perfect balance as an authentic dance track. These ‘Authentic, Left-field tracks‘ are deconstructed in a low-key way, not trying to recreate dance music, but looking for different attention in a classic form of it. Seems like Powder is more trying to express by not necessary something new, but something never-heard. In 2019 Powder began her label Thinner Groove(TG) as a way to maintain a safe space for her musical output and expand beyond gigs. This label showcases her ‘friend’s groove’, and takes its time to introduce the unique music coming from the community she cares a lot about.

Mixes: Resident Advisor & Sustain-Release

RHR

Influenced by the raucous rhythms and powerful percussion of the São Paulo ghettos, RHR has been quietly honing his craft as a producer and DJ in Brazil since 2010. Since breaking out into the international scene a couple of years ago, Roni has blown minds at some of the most world’s most notorious clubs and festivals with a head, razor sharp mixture of techno, bass, dancehall, electro and baile funk that honors the raw spirit of his hometown. He’s released five distinctive solo EPs to date with NYC’s Tijolo Records, Miami’s Omnidisc and Brazilian label Nice & Deadly all playing host to his singular productions. With plenty more new music in the works and head full of creative ideas when he gets behind the decks, RHR is establishing himself a unique talent capable of pulling off everything, without giving up anything.

Mixes: Unsound & Gop Tun

SHYBOI

SHYBOI is a Jamaican born, New York based multidisciplinary artist. SHYBOI is the moniker she uses to cause sonic disruption. As a creative positioned between Caribbean and American culture, she uses sound to interrogate ideas of identity, notions of power, perceived histories and the entanglements that happens within these topics. She is also member of the queer artist collective #KUNQ whose ethos is centered around the production of multidimensional work through sound, visual and performance art while expanding the discourse surrounding the subcultures and genres that have become diluted or obscured in the name of hybridity. SHYBOI has three Boiler Room sets under her ever widening belt as well as two performances at MoMA PS1 and a sold out show at the Guggenheim. Recent sounds have been featured in Fact Mag, Thump, Rinse FM, MixMag, Resident Advisor and the Fader.

Mixes | Juanita’s & The Fader

Soul Summit

Soul Summit Music consists of DJs Jeffrey Mendoza, Sadiq Bellamy and Tabu — a three-headed soul hydra whose two decade history of inclusive dance floor positivity is the stuff of Brooklyn legend. They founded the legendary Fort Greene party of the same name 21 years ago and have been committed to community building and sharing their signature blend of deep, bumping, spirited music ever since.

Theo Parrish

Theo Parrish was born in Washington D.C. in 1972 and raised in Chicago, IL where his passion for music developed. Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, George Gershwin, Bob Marley, as well as his uncle, jazz musician Dexter Sims, all had strong influences on Theo’s early musical life. Chicago’s radio influences and House artists such as Ron Hardy , Larry Heard, Lil Louis, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Gene Hunt , Mike Dunn, Frankie Knuckles, Walter Get Down Brown and Andre Hatchett, helped to spawn his early career.

He began spinning and producing tracks in 1986, at the age of thirteen. After graduating from the Academy for the Arts, he received a scholarship to the Kansas City Art Institute where his interest in music was taken to a new level through his study of sculpture. In 1994, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from KCAI with a concentration in Sound Sculpture, a form of orchestration using live instruments, looped recordings, the human voice, and numerous other sound generating devices. While in Kansas City, Theo continued to impact and be impacted by dance music, helping to bring a dormant underground music scene to life. In 1994, Theo Parrish moved to Michigan where he became heavily involved in Detroit’s underground music scene. Producing music and delivering his unique and dynamic sets in venues throughout the Detroit and surrounding areas, as well as abroad he has gained the attention and respect of DJs, producers, listeners and dancers worldwide.

Mixes: Live At Nowadays & Live In Detroit

Vladimir Ivkovic

Vladimir Ivkovic is a DJ blessed with a particularly unique talent for selecting records and weaving them into a larger – and often unusually compelling – narrative.

Born and raised in Belgrade, Vladimir first dabbled in DJing as a teenager in the mid ’80s, but it was only after leaving Yugoslavia (to study in Germany) and later coming back for a summertime visit that he truly immersed himself in the craft, taking up position behind the decks during a series of impromptu parties at a lakeside restaurant owned by his parents.

From there, he spent much of the next two decades honing his skills while throwing events like Selected and Substance that played host to a cross-section of boundary-pushing DJs, long before it was fashionable to do so. Eventually, Ivkovic found his musical and spiritual home at Salon des Amateurs in Düsseldorf.

Salon provided something of an open platform, a place where true music lovers could experience DJs exploring sounds and genres that strayed far from traditional electronic dance music tropes. That same adventurous spirit has found its way into Ivkovic’s curation of Offen Music, a label he launched in 2015. Although the imprint’s output is all but impossible to neatly categorize – experimental Serbian rarities sit alongside ambient excursions and moody synth-pop in the label’s catalogue – the label’s open-minded approach and embrace of off-kilter sounds perfectly encapsulates Ivkovic’s artistic temperament.

Mixes: Live at The White Hotel & Live at Solstice