M&A #19: Coach

By Josh Dawson

When Milk & Alcohol began looking for new DJs to feature this year, at first we didn’t know where to turn. A lot of the regulars graduated, and finding talent among the new cohort felt like finding a few very fine needles in a large sandstone haystack. Little did we know there was a fully-fledged DJ, promoter and all-round legend right under our noses. 

Coach was recommended by a couple of the other featured DJs and at the time he didn’t seem to have appeared much on the Cambridge scene. However, a little research quickly revealed he’s been active at home in Cyprus, practically since he was tall enough to stand behind the decks. Now you can find him coordinating Brandy Sour, one of Cyprus’s most exciting music platforms putting on events, populating festival line ups and soon to be launching Brandy Sour Radio in 2020. We’re lucky he’s been bringing his technicolour dance and international disco flavours to dancefloors further from the Mediterranean too, at OOX’s freshers’ party and Clare Ents most recently. We’re DELIGHTED he’s opening up for us Lait at Night, adding a cool head and even cooler taste to our big ol’ B2B line up. Here, he plates up a smorgasbord of disco and electronic tunes, showing off the versatility and innate musicality that’s got him this far. 

How did you record the mix?

Pioneer XDJ-RX with rekordbox USBs 

What were you trying to do with it?

The idea was that I’d include as much of the stuff that I like to listen to at parties as a taster of what I like to play on different nights. Initially I planned on having the 1st half with some softer disco-influenced sounds and then transition into heavier electronic tracks. It’s not exactly 50/50 but did get a good balance in the end.

I always struggle, maybe more for this 1 hour, getting in as much variety as I can in my sets but even though the tracklist ended up a bit random I find the whole thing flows quite nicely! 

You’ve only recently become active in the Cambridge scene, but have been involved in stuff back home before. Could you give us some background as to how you started out and what kinda stuff you’ve been involved with at home?

I’ve been playing for some time now and I started playing pretty much whenever and wherever I could: house parties, club nights, school proms and I remember doing birthday parties for kids at one point (pay was good). All this was when I liked DJing more than I liked the music.

Eventually, I grew tired of playing what I didn’t enjoy listening to. I got with a friend who also found himself in the same place as me and thought we should start throwing our own nights, thinking this way we could play whatever we like. This eventually grew into our first big project called Loud & Clear which was an event series based in my home country Cyprus. We had a good run for 2 years and then sort of had to stop as we found ourselves limited by the brand once again.

Nowadays, apart from the occasional gigs, Brandy Sour is where I dedicate most of my time DJing and trying to create memorable dance experiences. Brandy Sour is a radio and pop-up event series we launched in 2018 where we invite local DJs to showcase their sound for a live audience. We record both the audio and video footage which is then made available online on our Facebook page and other networks. 

The mix features tracks from all over the place, likewise your sets in Cambridge so far. What would you say defines the kind of stuff you look to add to your collection, play out, or otherwise get down to?

I can’t think of a definition or style that I like most. Listening-wise I’d say I appreciate anything that has a nice groove to it and is well-made? Not sure if that makes much sense but I’ll enjoy listening to the ‘best of’ of most types of music. The same would apply for the music I play out as I like to play stuff I also listen to at home but usually I’m more limited on the types I can choose from.

When it comes to records, I am always excited to find something that evaded someone’s else turntable and is an absolute gem or was lost with time and now resurfaced as a reissue or part of a compilation; check out ‘Onda De Amor: Synthesized Brazilian Hits That Never Were (1984-94)’ compiled by Millos Kaiser for the perfect example

How do you find new music? And how do you categorise the new stuff you buy? Genre, mood, energy?

Youtube, Soundcloud, Bandcamp and certain record shop websites (mostly Soundway, Mr. Bongo, Rush Hour) in no particular preference.

I tried everything and re-organized my library many times but I’ve now settled with genre.  

Have you noticed any differences in how audiences react to your music between here and at home? Would you say there are significant differences between the scenes?

I can’t really say whether there’s any significant difference yet as I only played a few times and they were all really enjoyable experiences.

I find students here are easier to please and the dancefloor is usually always boogieing it out since everyone is out to have a good time and the party stems more from the social occasion rather than attention to the music and the DJ. 

What’s your musical guilty pleasure?

Franki Valli – Grease

What’s the last song you listened to?

Fabrizio Fattori - Black Babe 

Who is your favourite producer/performer at the moment?

Obsession with Moodymann comes and goes and now it’s back.

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

 Elaine & Ellen – Fill Me Up

What was the best party you’ve played?

OOX during freshers week was really fun

What’s coming up for you in the future?

Launching Brandy Sour Radio which I’m really excited about. And hopefully will get to play a few more dates in Cambridge.

Come see Coach on 11 November at Milk & Alcohol: Lait at Night! Tickets are already on 3rd release, so don’t wait around! 

   

Coach’s Track List

Paul Atreides – Arrakis Walk

Anatolian Weapons – Rahim

Sade – Make Some Room

Lola – Wax The Van (Jon’s Dub)

Diva – La Nuit

Outra – Break É Emoção

Daiquiri – Mi Tumbao

Sharon Redd – Never Give You Up (Tribute Mix)

Novidade – Voaria (I Will Fly Away)

Chicco – I Need Some Money (Perdu Edit)

Angelique Kidjo – Batonga

River Yarra – Respiration Alternee (avec Elen Huynh)

Damon Jee – Cuir Rouge (II Est Vilaine Cur Reinterpretation)

Theus Mago – Bum Bum Bum

Hugo Massien – Twist & Turn

Dayme Arocena – Como (Esa’s Havana Synth Mix)