M&A #08: Hen

Hen Page is one of the most pioneering members of the Cambridge dance community. They set up XD with fellow hard dance fanatic Tom Andersson, as well as being involved in Plant!,a 3 year old experimental and hard dance night in London. XD has taken Cambridge by storm, filling spaces from Cindies main room to Pembroke Old Cellars with sweaty students, high on life and gabber (read more about it in Hen & Tom's Varsity Interview). This mix is unique in every selection, every creation and every transition. The blend of the super-fast and super slow, from Blink 182 to LOFT and more beyond is not one to miss.

How did you record the mix?

On Djay Pro with a controller, but then went back over the end in Ableton!

What were you trying to do with it?

I just so wanted a chance to do a mix of stuff that I’ve been listening to loads and a lot of stuff that I wasn’t sure I could play out? Also jumping really fast between very very fast and very very slow tracks and a mix of ambient and club. especially pop edits and super heavy percussive tracks!!

You have helped introduce Gabber, Donk and Hard Dance to the Cambridge club scene, genres that haven’t been in the mainstream of electronic music since the 90/00s. How did you come across it, what was your route in?

I’d been super into PC Music for a while and artists in that group started putting on nights with super fast super fun dance music—like Harlecore—that me and Tom [Andersson, XD co-organiser] went to. As well as a huge intersection with amazing queer nights like Tremors. Also, there’s so much cool new music on Soundcloud drawing from that, especially very hard + very fast edits, it’s super exciting!

You were part of setting up XD, which has been renowned as the most original, least self-conscious and most all-round feel-good night that’s been on all year. Was that vibe something you were aiming for and what about XD do you think help achieved that?

That’s so lovely thank you!! Yes, so much, that’s so my dream night! I feel like, because XD is so against self-consciousness and has so much music that isn’t taken as seriously in a club, it becomes a really special space for genuine enjoyment. It feels so much more about sincerity than irony, which creates such a good atmosphere for people to have fun! Also dancing really hard is always perfect for feeling good. Everyone who comes and plays and dances makes XD such an incredible night, I always feel euphoric for So Long after!

What were some of the highlights of those nights? Pembroke Cellars must’ve been a mad one.

The Pembroke cellars nights were so much fun!! I think the wholesome gabber rave was so so beautiful, especially having such a small space, and with the earlier finish it felt like it reached such a high intensity so fast! The floor was wet with sweat at the end !! also how huge a variety of genres and tracks get played, because different DJs bring such a big range of music. Putting it on in Cindies main room was also very huge.

Like a couple of the artists featured so far, you’ve put in a song you have personally hand crafted. How do you make music? Do you mostly do remixes or originals, and how do you go about starting (and trying to finish) a project?

This was so 100% just because I wanted to put some blink 182 in, but also thought it went so well with the harpsichord track. but I definitely don’t take credit for it I just stretched it like a bunch of the beautiful loft remixes (the femmebot one especially: https://ellohefftea.bandcamp.com/track/femmebot-sickening-aching-stretch) because I wanted to make the guitar super ambient. I feel like I never finish any of them! But they’re mostly remixes.

What is your musical guilty pleasure?

I’ve been getting so back into blink 182 and ‘00s pop punk, they’re so amazing!!

What is the last song you listened to?

Such a beautiful ‘love at first sight’ remix in the baby blue tank mix (https://soundcloud.com/tank-magazine/tank-mix-baby-blue)! I’ve been listening to it on repeat I love it so much.

Who is your favourite producer/performer at the moment?

maybe LOFT ?? or SOPHIE ?? or HDMIRROR ?? idk so much I love at the moment!  

What is your go to tune to bring a party up/banger?

‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ 100% is always perfect, but also ‘Heaven’ by DJ Sammy (chaos 2007 remix) and ‘trance is good, actually’ by mitomoro are my number 1 euphoric tracks in the world.

What was the best party you’ve played?

Playtime!!! Just has such an amazing atmosphere and is such an incredible space for women + non binary people and DJs!! and XD is always perfect, the gabber rave was my fave!!

What have you got planned for the future?

We’re planning something big at the start of May week, also we’re putting on another plant! night in London in September!!

Hen’s Track list

blink 182 - all the small things (hen other passacaglia euphoRya edit)

exploited body - dysphoria

hmurd - shepard’s delight

bftt - my mind like explosions

blastto - OTM (epic mix)

heaven 313 - unlock it (ambient)

hdmirror - the climb

toxe - xic (louis me ammonia edit)

john object - UV

kuthi jinani - hard disk

tim hecker - stigmata i & ii (netflex edit)

jade fawn - twin moths v heal sacral net

scim - autopoiesis

gooooose - plasma sunrise

le dom - 13 layers of stone

tropical interface - reborn (a)

loft - that hyde trakk

amnesia scanner - as too wrong (nahshi 160 edit)

lil mystic - final stage (lighght’s second health bar edit)

silkersoft - tetsuo

benelux energy - vrije val

ecce emo - buried

fakethias - torn/enhanced

baby blue - city + chastic mess + push (ruff) blend

ziúr - isn’t no place and all places the same place

galen tipton - queer flesh

space candy - DreaM Stimuli ˙ ¸˙

medulasa - medulasa

dj sammy - heaven (rkss remix)

dj sammy - heaven (chaos 2007 remix)