M&A #17: Milo West

New year, new mix - Milk and Alcohol is back! 

By David Swarbrick

Milo West has flown to the top of the Cambs DJ scene from humble beginnings at the open decks at Queue the Music only last year(!). Now a Grandma Groove resident, he regularly brings his deep selections to dancefloors across the city and beyond. In his mix for M&A he spins his signature brand of sweltering disco cuts, providing the heat we all need as we begin the chilly descent into winter. Get lost in all the best the 1980s had to offer, and watch out for his sets later this week at Grandma Groove in Cambridge and Durham!

How did you record the mix?

I recorded the mix using Serato and my Pioneer DDJ-SX. I’ve had it for about five years now and it’s such a solid bit of kit, surviving spilled drinks and some messy house parties.

What were you trying to do with it?

One aspect of my mixing I’ve recently been trying to improve is general flow. It’s all well and good dropping solid tracks, but being able to create and sustain an atmosphere is for me what separates my mediocre mixes from the better ones--every track should add something and make the mix stronger than the sum of its parts. It should feel effortless and natural. 

Ben UFO’s Boiler Room set from Dekmantel (https://youtu.be/phClx3879HM) is a masterclass in this. There are no real standout moments or tracks, but everything just works perfectly, almost as if it’s one constant track.

Flow, then, is what I was largely trying to achieve, starting out with some early 80s-style boogie before delving into some skippier disco and italo-disco, and ending with some heavier bassy numbers. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s rusty and far from perfect, and I did re-record it as I wasn’t happy with the first version, but it’s a lot better than the mixes I used to haphazardly throw together.

How do you find new music? Do you have a specific process?

While there’s no specific process, the way I discover new music involves trawling through Youtube playlists and channels. If I find a song that I like, I’ll go onto the channel of the person who uploaded it and go through their entire upload history listening out for similar tracks. It’s incredibly time-consuming and probably not the most efficient method, but it’s a great way to discover obscure disco bangers that slipped through the net, as well as world music too, like this hot Czechoslovakian number https://youtu.be/aVQsJRTBv5w.

This mix is such a disco odyssey, all of these tracks seem so familiar yet I don’t think I’ve heard a single one before, is that something you look for in tracks you play out? 

Huge compliment coming from you, Swarbs! Obscurity is definitely something I look for in the tracks I play out, but not at the expense of losing a crowd or ruining an atmosphere. Of course, it’s important to carve out your own sound, especially when you’re looking for bookings and wanting to be memorable. Equally, however, you don’t want to be so obscure that you alienate crowds and risk fading into obscurity yourself. That’s why I think Grandma Groove is consistently such a great night as it strikes the perfect balance between being able to play out the classic disco crowd-pleasers, as well as the obscure disco heaters you’ve spent eight hours digging for on some randomer’s Youtube channel. I remember during one of your sets you said to me “one for them, one for me” and I think that sums it up better than I could. Trust the crowd, and they’ll trust you back.

From the tracklist it’s also apparent that you’ve selected exclusively tracks within a couple years of each other (1979-1986), was that a conscious decision? Or is it more reflective of your usual DJ sets? 

I think it’s increasingly reflective of my DJ sets nowadays. I’ve gone slightly off playing out modern disco edits which draw heavily from samples of old disco tracks. Don’t get me wrong, some are great (COEO’s stuff, for example) but 90% of the time they’re overproduced and unimaginative. Yes, they’re easier to mix due to consistent beatgrids and standardised phrasing, but they miss something. One of the biggest draws of disco is that it’s soulful, and it’s undeniable that some that comes down to the fact that its produced through real instruments and by live drummers. Offbeat drums are fun and soulful and provide an edginess that’s lost on many of the quantised disco edits being produced today. Again, that’s certainly not to say that “new music = bad” and “old music = good”. There’s plenty of soulless and terrible disco out there too!

Some DJs organise tracks by genre, mood, decade and/or energy, how do you categorise tracks within your collection? 

Categorisation is a big part of DJing for me and one of the parts I find most enjoyable. Every track is put into a “Sorting” playlist on iTunes before it goes into my main library. In that playlist, I’ll tag the track with specific genre, make sure the artwork and track information is correct, and write the energy level out of five in the comments section. I generally mix based on elements, so I’ll then add that track to a playlist based on its overarching elements. For example, a bassy 80s-style boogie track could be filed under “Bassy Boogie Funk”, or an early 00s/late 90s disco house track could be placed under “French Groovers”. For my larger playlists, I’ll make smaller sub-playlists too, particularly when I’ve got a specific set in mind. Using iTunes for my playlists means that I can easily transfer my tracks into Serato or Rekordbox without needing to go over everything again, depending on whether I’m playing on my DDJ-SX or CDJs. It’d be a chore having to sort tracks identically in both bits of software. One of my long-term goals is to actually have my library as intuitively organised as Avalon Emerson’s, explained in her Art of DJing interview with RA (https://youtu.be/LzuSQl26aS0). 

Your mixing throughout is seamless, I noticed some really well looped sections but I know I’ve struggled with off-grid tracks from the 80s before, do you perform any edits to your tracks? 

Thanks! It still sometimes seems daunting trying to seamlessly mix two off-grid, unquantised tracks, particularly when you’re playing out and the stakes are a bit higher. I generally prepare my tracks in both Serato and Rekordbox by looking for on-grid drum phrases at the beginning and end, or during breakdowns, and save these as loops onto the track’s memory, like you would with a cue point. From there, I can easily recall these loops in the track’s memory when I’m playing out and feel more confident mixing them than I otherwise would. That’s not to say that being able to beatmatch two unquantised tracks isn’t an important skill, but by making the technicalities of DJing easier, you’re able to devote more focus to track selection which in my opinion is by far its most important and widely-recognisable component. At the end of the day, the only people in the room who are going to feel passionately about a slightly offbeat transition are probably those with trained ears or other DJs. Track selection is key.

How much time does preparing for a set take you? And what does it involve?

Although there’s so much good music out there, I feel like it’s important to be selective, partly because it helps me to prepare for sets. I actually keep quite a small library, only 200-300 tracks, which means I’m able to know each track quite well and memorise what works with what. Prep is normally just a case of dragging and dropping from playlists which are already organised by elements, as well as taking note of the energy rating I gave the track during categorisation, depending on whether I’m opening or closing.

What’s your musical guilty pleasure?

Kylie Minogue - Love At First Sight.

What’s the last song you listened to?

Annette - Dream 17. Shamelessly Shazamed from Tech Support’s huge set at Turf last week.

Who is your favourite producer/performer at the moment?

Current favourite is Palms Trax as he comes out with some real obscure and groovy stuff. I also recently saw Hunee b2b Antal at Printworks which was insane. Honey Dijon, Folamour, Dan Shake, and Peach are definitely up there too.

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

Paradise - Sizzlin’ Hot.

What was the best party you’ve played?

Nothing yet tops playing upstairs at the Turf All-Nighter b2b with Evelina.

What’s coming up for you in the future?

I’m super excited for what this year holds, and stoked to be playing at Grandma Groove next week in both Cambridge and Durham.

Milo’s track list:

[00:00-04:20] Diane Marie - I’ve Waited Much Too Long (Vocal) (Prelude Records, 1982)

[04:20-10:20] Shirley Lites - Heat You Up (Melt You Down) (West End Records, 1983)

[10:20-14:30] Miami Sound Machine - Dr. Beat (Long Version) (Epic, 1984)

[14:30-18:15] Scratch - Keep On Searching For Love (Master Funk Records, 1984)

[18:15-22:00] Elaine & Ellen - Fill Me Up (Ovation Records, 1980) 

[22:00-25:10] JKD Machine - Dream Machine (Satril, 1979) 

[25:10-29:30] Azoto - San Salvador (Vedette Records, 1979) 

[29:30-34:10] Frisky - You’ve Got Me Dancing In My Sleep (Vanguard, 1979)

[34:10-38:00] Sheryl Lee Ralph - In The Evening (Special Extended Dance Mix) (TELDEC, 1984) 

[38:00-41:40] Los Angeles - Videomania (Five, 1985) 

[41:40-45:30] Serge Fontaine - Troubadour (Instrumental) (Jonathan, 1986)

[45:30-48:40] Cerrone - Vaudou Aux Caraïbes (Malligator, 1980) 

[48:40-52:50] Bamboo - Travelling Through Space And Time (WEA, 1979)

[52:50-59:00] Jeree Palmer - Late Night Surrender (Reflection Records, 1979)