AK INTERVIEW

Back in August, we sent Detroit music enthusiast and journalist breW out to Red Door Digital with a Zoom Recorder to have some conversations with DJs playing a stacked show that evening.

 Up first, we're dropping their interview with beloved selector AK. You can listen to their conversation about independent artistry and highlight gigs here, or read the transcript below. 

BREW: Did MeanRed get in touch with you about getting on this bill with Notion and Young Muscle?

AK: I've been with MeanRed, not like been with them, I don’t have a deal or anything, I’ve been on their roster for about a year now. I'm also assuming it was because I also opened for Nia Archives...

…Similar style… 

Yes, it's like the Spotify algorithm. They were like okay who do we have here that sounds like them a little bit. And it was like, “AK can do it.” So here I am! *laughs*

You had some documentation as well, Bad Listener? What inspired that? 

So I don’t have any promotional footage as AK by myself out in the world, outside of my personal phone, my friend's phones. I don’t have any professional like– people posting up with professional cameras. Like TASCAM recordings. I was supposed to do their show, they have a show that they do at their spot. Bad Listener...

Is it far from here? 

I don’t know, I've never been. So this is how it happened: I was supposed to go to their spot but I couldn’t line it up properly so I just told them, "Hey guys how do you feel about comin' out to me and coming to see the show? A and B, like making this a part of y’all's segment?"

So getting some footage here and some other stuff elsewhere? 

Yeah, in the future maybe we get [some]. So for this show tonight, it was strictly this set. So this is going to be broadcast on their platforms and stuff.

So they are recording the sound?

So they recorded the sound as well as the video feed for me tonight. This is the first time I ever did anything like that. I’m really excited and nervous– but excited to see, and to hear. Cause I’ve never done this before and we’re just like formally meeting and getting this done. They’re super dope. I'm so grateful.

Two of them?

I think there’s like 5 of them, but two of them tonight yeah–Three, three, three! We got Billy, we got Steph, and we got Rob. Shout out to you all. Bad Listener!

Ok so was it any reason that it happened to be like a jungle and bass set for the year?

Well, this is my first D&B booking for the year that’s like with a big-name artist. Last year it was Nia Archives, the year before that it was Vegyn.

Right, there were sounds for tonight that sent me back to that show.

Yeah, yeah. So I guess they decided to keep the trend going for the third year and have me do Notion!

Is this around the same time of year or is it a little bit sooner?

I actually remember the exact dates. So I did Vegyn on March 5th, I think I did Nia Archives, I did that on November 7th, and then this one is in the summer so I think I've done one for every season except for the winter.

So have you been preparing for this? Did you carry over any sound from any of [the shows mentioned]?

No, I downloaded a lot of new songs today and yesterday, actually. I just have a nice catalog, I guess. Yeah, I don’t play a lot, but I have a lot of jungle and drum and bass just off my own collection. So I just play off that, you know I get new stuff so it can sound fresh. But I also don’t play D&B often.

Did you plan on playing any of this for your Movement set that was unfortunately rained out?

You know what, low key, a few tracks. Not completely D&B cuz I was going B2B with Sheefy McFly and we were doing ghettotech and stuff. So I was gon finess like maybe a D&B remix and track in there somewhere, who knows. That set was gonna be impromptu too so... We practiced but it was still gonna be like freestyle. It wasn’t like an “Ima play this song, you play this” No. We just walked up there and just played whatever.

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OK, so it's cool that for a big event [Movement]... you got to have a more seasoned mixer/ DJ alongside you, accompanying you… It would make me feel safe. You know, like having someone guide you. Are there other areas that you want to feel safer in or that you do to make you feel comfortable?

Yeah, of course. I don’t have a team like, I don’t have a manager or a liaison. Right now, I’m here with my best friends, so that’s my security.

Do they make you feel safe when you go elsewhere too? 

All the time. Never fails– they better than any security team I could hire, if I say. Like honestly being a DJ of my caliber, and not having a team creates obstacles, but in the same breath, it shows how independent I am, and what I can do on my own…I would like to feel safe in the spaces, but whether I have a team, or a gang, or a gaggle or just a big group or whoever, my safety is always at risk so the best thing I can do is take care of myself and keep an eye out for the people around me, report what I see. I’m not a snitch but ion go for no fuck shit. Yeah! Trying to make it do what it do for me, at the best as I can with what I have and a lot of times it be me, and my homies. So shout out to my homies!

The “homies” as well as being Blueprint sometimes.

Absolutely those are my best friends, lowkey my sisters. We’ve been locked in enough...

Do you have any plans with them soon or anything you want to personally share? 

Blueprint is doing a lot of things in the next few months! That I can’t say. I just teased y’all Ah HA! It's a secret. But, keep an eye out, keep an ear out, keep ya ass out!