RA Podcast

The Dutch producer on flow state, communal music-making and his new album, Music for Existing.

Martijn Deijkers, AKA Martyn, has spent close to three decades resisting labels. He grew up in a small Dutch village as a vinyl obsessive, buying his first 7-inch from a store that doubled as a sweet shop, before travelling to London in the mid-'90s to chase jungle and drum & bass. He later became one of the first artists from outside the UK to shape the capital's dubstep scene, fusing it with the Detroit techno and hip-hop of his youth. Since then, he has held a residency at Panorama Bar, started a successful label, 3024, and hosted a long-running monthly jazz show on NTS, Darkest Light.

In this Exchange with RA's Performance Content Lead, Tom Gledhill, Deijkers talks about dubplate culture in '90s London, the mentoring programme that's shaped his approach to creativity and his new album, Music for Existing, a collection of jazz-inflected electronics that explores the powerful, communal act of making music together. The LP is out now on 3024. Listen to the episode in full.

90 minutes of scintillating house and techno, primed for the heart of summer.

There's something delightfully paradoxical about Jennifer Loveless. Her productions skew hedonistic yet minimal; her DJing feels both spacey and oceanic. Hell, even her artist bio underlines her taste for opposites: "Jennifer Loveless is contrary to her name, all heart."

This yin and yang runs through RA.1046. Built around swung percussion, the 97-minute mix wanders across genre and time with an aquatic sensibility. She mixes her own tunes with early '00s tech house to craft a seaside mise en scène where new-school heroes like Pancratio and Ladymonix share fruity cocktails with certified legends (K-HAND, Jay Tripwire). Strap in for deep cuts that sound simultaneously galactic and like they floated up from the ocean floor.

Read the Q&A at ra.co/podcast/1066

The UK pirate radio crew and cult TV stars discuss their rebirth and forthcoming EP, Grindah's Decided We're Doing Music Again.

Many UK natives will be familiar with the show People Just Do Nothing, a mid-2010s comedy about pirate radio crew Kurupt FM, who ride the UK garage wave, broadcasting from the outer boroughs of London.

Kurupt FM's core members—MC Grindah, DJ Beats, DJ Steves and DJ Decoy—went quiet for more than a decade after the last episode aired in 2014. After a stretch of solo ventures—books, stand-up, Grindah's domestic upheaval following his split with long-time partner Miche, as depicted in People Just Do Nothing—the crew has reconvened for a new EP, Grindah's Decided We're Doing Music Again.

In this RA Exchange, Grindah, Beats and Steves meet for a rare interview to talk about their rebirth and what's happened in the years that have elapsed since the world last heard from them. They also reflect on Grindah's early run-in with Skepta, their case for the ongoing power of pirate radio in the age of AI and the current UKG revival. They engage in a familiar argument about who owns the lineage of the genre, and for Kurupt FM, the answer isn't complicated: if you weren't there the first time around, you just don't get it. Their new EP will be out on August 21st. Listen to the episode in full.

Two sublime hours of house and techno from the Berlin-based DJ and producer, making his long-awaited RA Mix debut.

Before clubs shut down in 2020, Christian AB was one of the underground's best-kept secrets. The London-born DJ built a cult following through sets that fused deep house, techno and impossibly rare records, earning a reputation as an IYKYK selector with encyclopaedic taste. Now based in Berlin, Christian Browne has stepped into the spotlight, releasing on Francesco Del Garda's Timeless and Ryan Elliott's Faith Beat, while touring alongside Jeff Mills in support of Live at Liquid Room.

Browne describes his sound as "dark elegance," and RA.1045 captures it perfectly. Across two hours, driving grooves, acid lines, hazy chords and moments of tension unfold with remarkable patience.

The first half-hour drifts through IDM and ambient house before the mix gradually tightens its grip, but every apparent peak is met with an unexpected left turn. It's a masterclass in pacing that rewards repeat listens. Forget the track IDs—just press play.

Read the Q&A at ra.co/podcast/1065

@christian_ab

The masked duo go on the record to address criticisms, identity and their forthcoming album, Infinite Now.

Anonymous DJ-and-producer duo Two Shell are both loved and reviled. They've spent the last few years making the question of their identity inseparable from their music, earning an enormous fanbase with their original, up-tempo productions, and then alienating much of it through relentless pranks. Some of their most illustrious capers have included selling albums embedded in rocks, sending decoys to give fake interviews and booking stand-ins to perform in their place at major gigs and festivals.

But after their headline set on Glastonbury's IICON stage last summer—a proper, career-spanning 90 minutes that they actually turned up for—fans flooded their inbox with the same comment: "we know it wasn't you up there! classic!!" Their response was an Instagram post that broke the script. "Anonymity sometimes feels like a mistake," they wrote. And now, on the eve of a new album called Infinite Now, they've agreed to sit down for their first-ever video interview.

In this RA Exchange, Two Shell directly address the criticisms that have been levelled against them over the years; discuss what they owe their fans; and unpack their creative process, embrace of AI and more. Listen to the episode in full.