Back in August, we sent Detroit music enthusiast and journalists breW out to Red Door Digital with a Zoom Recorder to have some conversations with DJs playing a stacked show that evening.
A couple weeks ago, we released the first interview with AK which you can check over here. Next up, we're dropping their conversation with Detroit's toughest selector: Young Muscle. You can listen to their conversation about deep admiration for the UK scene and Interference Detroit, or read the transcript below.
BREW: Hi! …We’re outside of Red Door NOTION’s gonna play after AK right now…Initially, what got you into mixing music? YOUNG MUSCLE: I've always been into electronic dance music. When I was a teenager I was on imageboard websites downloading music and when I moved out of my mom's house at 18, one of my friends brought up that I had such a deep knowledge of dance music that I should try my hand in deejaying. She helped me get into mixing, taught me the ropes.
How old?
I was 18 or 19. It was before I was allowed into the clubs. I would get people to sneak me so I could deejay.
Was it around the area you grew up?
I grew up in Sterling Heights, which is about 30 minutes outside of Detroit. Then when I moved down here, I was deejaying primarily at places like City Club which are right in the heart of the city.
So that was kinda the start of your deejaying career?
yea that was definitely the start. My friend Cory, Cory P…. specifically, teaching. Shout out to Cory
Does she still do anything with it?
She doesn’t deejay anymore to my knowledge, but she is the person who helped me get my foot in the door.
From that style around then and with what Corey introduced you to, how would you say it has evolved to what you say is UK techno. How does it embed Detroit sound or Cory’s sound?
When I started playing and mixing I was more traditionally like strictly techno and strictly house. Over the course of a few years, you know, I’d always know about UK Bass music– specifically like James Blake and Burial and other UK artists.
Was it based off some of your discography?
Yes, more so my digging. I would say my discography is based off of my digging and my influences that came up.
Did they go hand in hand? Which ones the chicken, which one was the egg?
It feels sacrilegious to say but–I love Detroit techno but my brain is overseas in the UK. I think that UK dance music is so fascinating and there is so much variety and interesting sounds coming out of London and Bristol. It's really, that’s where my heart is.
Even though you are bringing sound over, which they are all embedded with each other, it doesn’t really matter cuz we all feed off the spaces we are in/ the music we listen to. With that and your influences– being resident of Interference Detroit, how do you think it is shaping you as a deejay?
It definitely pushed me to play outside of my normal boundaries. I saw a meme about how DJs always play the eight same songs during their set. Sometimes it can feel that way when I deejay. I feel that way.
Do you think it is a tempo or a rhythmic pattern?
I would say it challenges me to play slower and faster when there are different headliners and it also challenges me to play outside of my comfort zone…you know? I don’t spin a whole lot of electro. I don’t spin a whole lot of strictly techno. When I play interference I have to push myself into a zone where the music that I’m playing matches what the crowd expects. As well as that, Nick Dagher, the genius behind Interference, and I have a perfect synergy. When we deejay I feel like I don’t have to think about what I'm doing. We can just instinctively go from one place to the next without really focusing too much. It's just very heady, very instinctual.
Sometimes there are expectations when you’re on a bill… and how do you normally impose those on yourself? Is it information based on who is booking, based off of who’s headlining– you kinda said that?
Usually who is headlining. I’ll kinda– if it’s someone I am unfamiliar with– I'll go through and listen to some of their mixes and see what kind of things they play. And then, kinda fine tune my set so that it is appropriate for the night. But I also like to put my own spin on things so I never try to stick to the rules too much.
It is important to be flexible. So you did a lot of City Club starting... Where are some of your favorite places to play?
Some of my favorite places to play…I really love Marble Bar, I love playing on the patio so much.
New speakers (inside)... have you been on those yet?
I haven’t been on the new speakers yet. I do– I can’t say too much but I do have a gig coming up. It hasn’t been announced yet but I will be inside on those new speakers.
Very exciting. That was a half-promotion. Anything else you are working on?
I have a few things in the pipeline right now. I just sent a handful of demos and dubs over to a few different figures. I have a track coming out on a very well known UK bass artist label sometime, I think, in September. It hasn’t been announced yet as well so I can’t say too much. I can say this because the secret’s kind of out already. Nick Boyd who runs Sorry Records in New York, him and I have been in talks about putting out an EP for a track that I have called “Looney Tune” which kinda made the rounds through Dekmantel and other festivals that have been going on… Thank you so much!
