RA Exchange

"You go through this feeling to then be in freedom." The notorious photographer and bouncer talks about the ethos behind selecting the world's hardest door, early life in East Berlin and Berghain's 20th anniversary. Today's Exchange guest is Berghain's infamous figurehead and doorman Sven Marquardt, who was born and raised in German Democratic Republic (GDR)-era East Berlin. He lived a rebellious life as a queer punk in Prenzlauer Berg, which banned him from entering Berlin's central districts because of how he looked. It was during these years that he congregated with fellow East Berlin new wave kids and began documenting their relationships and his own life through photography. When the wall fell, electronic music and the exciting scene that arose in the DDR's vacuum became Marquardt's focus. He started partying at gay fetish parties and bouncing doors at new clubs alongside his brother. In this interview, he talks to RA Exchange producer Chloe Lula about how Berlin has evolved from his adolescence in the post-war years and his thoughts on the changes erasing institutions in the city's clubbing landscape today. He also reflects on the contemporary nightlife industry and how Berghain's policies have shifted with the times, initially catering to an almost exclusively gay male crowd but now welcoming a demographic more representative of the diversity of people who make up club culture. While German politics and the rise of the right wing have deeply affected him, he says, he recognizes the opportunities it enables for his community to use art and culture as a reactionary, countercultural force. Listen to the episode in full. Photo by Torsten Ingvaldsen. Audio overdubs by Marios Gavrilis.

The beloved DJ unpacks his most influential records in our flagship live series, Playing Favourites, recorded at Dekmantel in August. Palms Trax, the beloved British DJ and producer considered a "veteran" of the scene at only 33 years old, hit it big with a career breakout back in 2015. Since then, he's become known for his long-running radio show and record label, Cooking With Palms Trax, where he releases new music, reissues and more. His style is soulful, gravitating towards low-BPM house, disco, zouk and everything in between. Recorded at Dekmantel in August, this RA Exchange is the latest edition of our flagship live series, Playing Favourites, where we invite artists to curate and dissect some of the records that shaped their approach to music. Palms Trax speaks to RA editor Gabriel Szatan about the song that acted as a gateway to his musical education; the track that turned him onto the idea of making music; and the band that he considers to be the "coolest of all time," as well as forthcoming music on his own label. What unites these releases, Palms Trax says, is a powerful, ageless and immediately accessible sensibility. They aren't about technical mastery but about feeling. As music-making has become easier with the advent of perfectly engineered online samples, there's more and more appeal in music with humanity and character. Listen to the episode in full.

The trio behind our party of the year discuss creating space for the FLINTA community, their most outrageous live performances and more. Resident Advisor is wrapping up the year, and alongside our best-of-2024 records and tracks lists comes our favourite party: Barcelona-based platform MARICAS. The self-described "loving and pervy LGBTQIA+ techno collective" started in 2018 when ISAbella, Eloisa Blitzer and graphic designer Gina Guasch decided it was time to create a fun space for queer women and nonbinary people in their city. Since then, MARICAS has become a celebrated international series, revealing in its ascent how much of the techno scene—even in its queerest corners—continues to cater to men. In this RA Exchange, the trio talk about their humble origins as well as the ongoing obstacles they face in promoting the party in the face of discrimination. Performance plays an important role in their events, and they take an entertaining trip down memory lane, discussing some of the most outlandish theatrics and installations that have made it onto their dance floors: a Catholic confessional booth where the priest gave kisses, a livestreamed toilet stall where people undressed in front of the camera and a make-out session from figures covered in paint. Underneath the showmanship, however, is an unwritten code of respect and acceptance that extends far beyond the rave—their mission is to transform the social taboo surrounding difference into a positive force in our world. Listen to the episode in full.

"I put all of my energy into what I do." The Italian DJ and producer talks about his undying passion for music, his take on "business techno" and how the scene has changed over the course of his long career. Naples native Joseph Capriati has received criticism for being the "CEO of business techno." But the longtime artist is a genuine lover of all kinds of electronic music, from the incredibly niche to the more commercial strains he plays in Ibiza, intimate clubs and major festivals. In this RA Exchange, Capriati talks about how he climbed to success in the electronic world, getting his start at the age of 11 (he's now 37) before being booked on the international circuit with breakout releases on CLR and Adam Beyer's Drumcode. While Capriati has consistently ranked high in year-end polls and music roundups, no outside plaudits have impacted the choices he's made in his career. He's doggedly followed a lifelong passion for the underground and the community surrounding it. He opens up about the changes he's made in his personal life to facilitate his rise to the top, his struggle with his mental health, his turn towards sobriety and more. Listen to the episode in full.

"I was surrounded by all walks of life." Live from Dekmantel, the New York native talks about how the Bronx shaped her taste in music, her long-time love of radio and blowing up on the international DJ circuit. Gabrielle Kwarteng is a product of her diverse musical environment. The Berlin-based New Yorker has a unique sound that's dynamic and house-heavy, incorporating elements of acid, techno and everything in between. In this interview recorded live at Dekmantel, she discussed her upbringing in a Ghanaian household in the Bronx, and how that environment (and the neighborhood itself) moulded her taste in music. The community she grew up in was culturally rich, filled with the sounds of reggaeton, bachata, merengue and freestyle from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and beyond. As both of her parents moved from West Africa, she was introduced to a diet of highlife music and jazz from a young age. Kwarteng's taste began to expand when she began exploring New York's record stores. Fast forward to university, and the aspiring DJ became deeply involved in her school radio station, which she describes as a turning point and a revelation. She speaks movingly about the abiding power that radio has had in her life—she continues to be involved with stations like Refuge Worldwide and The Lot, and soon NTS Radio, where she'll hold a residency beginning in 2025. She also talks about what it's like to be a female minority in the music industry, the experience of having her career take off at such rapid speed upon relocating to Europe and the importance of summoning optimism no matter the circumstances. Listen to the episode in full.

"We're getting better at what we do." The Australian dance music trio discuss their longtime creative collaboration and their new album, Inhale / Exhale. Australian electronic dance trio Rüfüs Du Sol—composed of the artists Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George and James Hunt—is synonymous with catchy, vocal-led bangers. They've received a huge amount of success in more commercial and underground scenes in the more than 10 years that they've been active. In fact, they hit it big from their very first release, Atlas, which peaked at #1 in the Australian charts when it came out in 2013. In the years that have elapsed since, they have won a Grammy Award (and multiple nominations) and sold out stadium shows around the world. In this Exchange, they talk to RA editor Gabriel Szatan in a closed door interview recorded at San Francisco's Portola Festival. The trio took a break from music-making for a period and even moved to different cities. Since they've reconvened, they've undertaken a number of measures to refine their inter-group communication, which has included wellness exercises, group therapy and breath work. They talk about this in some detail, as well as the realities of touring as they've gotten older and started having families. The time required to "fill their bucket" in between tours, as they say, is more critical than ever. As an outfit that's worked together for a long time, they also reveal the intricacies of their now well established creative process, such as how they create internal momentum in songwriting, and their newest album, Inhale / Exhale, which they will tour throughout 2025. Listen to the episode in full.

"I do activism as much as I can." The Peruvian DJ and producer talks about the human rights issues close to her heart, fighting for human rights and the incredible story behind her LP for Ninja Tune. Sofia Kourtesis is a Peruvian DJ and producer based in Berlin known for her buoyant, upbeat music that channels and transmutes sociopolitical activism and personal hardship. While she's put out a number of solo works, her EP Fresia Magdalena and her debut LP, Madres—both of which came out on Ninja Tune—have been received with exceptional critical acclaim and put her on the map as a headlining touring artist. Both speak to some of the discrimination Sofia has felt as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community in South America, as well as how she's confronted difficult topics like family caregiving, illness and death.  In this RA Exchange recorded live at C2C Festival in Turin, she opened up about her mother's recent battle with cancer and the neurosurgeon who provided life-saving surgery (as a thank you, Kourtesis took him and his surgery team out to one of her shows in Berlin). She also discusses her commitment to human rights at length. For Kourtesis, music is a form of activism and healing; she uses it to talk about her Latin American community and the movements that are happening, to show the diverse range of demonstrations for equality, for the queer community and for abortion rights. In a touching final moment of our talk, she opens up about the homophobia that ultimately caused her to leave her school in Lima and then to depart from Peru to Europe altogether. She's been based in Germany since she was 17. Listen to the episode in full.

In a very special Exchange from 2010, we caught up with a true legend of music. Here's what we said at the time: Revered composer, producer and bandleader Quincy Jones may not have much to do with dance music in a literal context, but his fingerprints are all over it. The impact that his work has had on countless DJs and producers over the years hardly needs explaining. So when we were offered the chance to chat with Jones around a promotional tour for his brand new line of AKG headphones, we couldn't resist. In a brief conversation, RA Todd L. Burns took the opportunity to ignore the elephants in the room, and focused his sights on a broader view of the man's career, uncovering some interesting insights as to how Jones views his work as painting with sound and how his classical training helped him make conservatory musicians play funk. In this RA Exchange, the American music legend talks some of the parts of his career that simply don't get covered elsewhere.

"We need to give more people a seat at the table." The Australian DJ and producer talks about exclusivity in the music industry, neurodivergence and London's thriving lesbian scene. The London-based Australian artist Teneil Throssell (AKA HAAi) doesn't have a typical DJ story. She moved to London in the early 2010s as part of a now defunct psych rock band, and once it broke up, she thought her stint in the music industry was over. Unsure what to do with herself, she started mixing dance music records at the bar where she was working at the time, Ridley Road Market. The right person happened to "discover" her, offering her a spot supporting Jacques Greene at the London club Phonox. She went on to hold a residency there for two years, and the rest, as they say, is history. Throssell's career blew up almost immediately. For the last eight years that she's been DJing, she's toured internationally on a massive scale, sometimes going to six different countries in one week. She's also released a number of EPs and one LP on Mute Records, remixed Kylie Minogue and started two labels of her own: Coconut Beats and Radical New Theory, which she runs with her partner. Her style is eclectic, but fans of hers will know her for her upbeat, techno- and acid-inflected sound. In this RA Exchange, Throssell dives into some emotional and complex topics, like the criticism she received from RA for her early EP Systems Up, Windows Down; London's lesbian scene; her ADHD diagnosis; and climate activism in the electronic music industry. Listen to the episode in full.

"A system that's equal doesn't benefit the people that have the power." The Rhythm Section International founder talks about creating opportunities for Black artists and entrepreneurs, Caribbean conviviality and his abiding love for Peckham. Bradley Zero, the DJ and founder of the label Rhythm Section International, is known for his commitment to his community. Zero grew up in a rich Caribbean culture in Leeds, where he and his family gathered in friends' living rooms to listen to music and eat home-cooked food. In opening Jumbi—the bar and listening space in London's Southeast neighborhood, Peckham—Zero has attempted to recreate this lively Caribbean conviviality. The venue is filled with his own personal record collection and one turntable. His style (as reflected in his imprint) celebrates house, soul, disco, funk and various shades of music from the afro-Caribbean diaspora. In this RA Exchange, he talks about how the neighborhood has changed in the time he's been based there, how and when his career exploded from local pool hall gigs to an active global touring schedule and why he decided to study for an MBA. October is British Black History Month in the UK, and in this interview, Zero also discusses ways that he hopes to empower the Black British community to start their own businesses and assert power from the top echelons of the music industry. Rhythm Section International has started a touring series of free masterclasses called Future Proof, in which Zero and his team invite guests to teach hard skills on business and label management, how to cultivate a brand and much more. Listen to the episode in full.

"There are so many different takes on reggaeton." The Latine supergroup discusses dembow, Afro-Caribbean music and more in this Playing Favourites live from C2C Festival. This week's RA Exchange revisits one of Resident Advisor's flagship live formats, Playing Favourites, where we bring guests onto the pod to walk through their musical influences and play us some tracks that have been formative in their personal and creative development. This week, we're honouring El Dia de la Raza—which happened on October 12th—an occasion that remembers the colonisation of Latin America and pays tribute to its heritage and cultural diversity. Our guest is Sangre Nueva, a trio made up of the artists DJ Python, Florentino and Kelman Duran. They all come from different backgrounds: Kelman is a Dominican multidisciplinary artist, Florentino is a musician of Colombian heritage signed to XL Recordings and DJ Python is Ecuadorian-Argentinian, releasing prolifically under a number of aliases in the worlds of ambient and club-adjacent music. Together, their style explores pan-Caribbean musical styles, especially dembow, which is experiencing a parallel renaissance in the underground and commercial dance music spheres. In this conversation, they talk to journalist Christine Kakaire from last year's C2C Festival about what it means to approach Latin music from an experimental perspective to bring an amalgamation of Caribbean and Spanish-speaking musical cultures into their work. They also reflect on the stigma that was attached to reggaeton for a long time and the songs that represent its reclamation in the world of contemporary club music culture. Listen to the episode in full.

The smartbar affiliate talks to the Fool's Gold Records founder about climbing the ranks, DJ discourse and how to exist in commercial and underground scenes simultaneously. This week's RA Exchange takes us to Chicago, where two big names—The Blessed Madonna and A-Trak—have a chat ahead of their back-to-back set at underground institution smartbar last month. These are two DJs who have been around the block. The Blessed Madonna (FKA The Black Madonna) is originally from Kentucky, but made her name in Chicago. She started out as an intern at smartbar and working at the local label Dust Trax, later becoming lead A&R and an established DJ in her own right. A-Trak is a Canadian artist who cut his teeth as head honcho of Fool's Gold Records. He's known for having developed the careers of artists like Kid Cudi and Danny Brown, and he also formed Duck Sauce with Armand Van Helden, a project synonymous with the bloghouse era. The two have a long history with Chicago, and they engage in a discussion about how they think the city looks from the outside. As one of the most segregated cities in the US, they say, what the rest of the world sees as one cohesive and unified hub for house music is instead divided by genre and area code. They also debate the complexities of existing in commercial and underground music worlds simultaneously, our collective over-fetishisation of the past, the stupidity of DJ discourse and Europe's tendency to impose its view of America—and American dance music—on the Midwest. Listen to the episode in full.

"Our collaboration is greater than the sum of its parts." Kai Campos and Dominic Maker discuss their new album on Warp and what it felt like to work together again after years apart. British outfit Mount Kimbie first made their mark with their 2010 release Crooks and Lovers, inspired by contemporaries like James Blake and King Krule. The group's two primary members, Kai Campos and Dominic Maker, met at London South Bank University, where they simultaneously became enamoured with the '00s dubstep scene and the intersection it paved between commercial stardom and the underground, illuminating an alternative path for artists, producers and selectors on a global scale. Together, they became synonymous with hazy electronics and lo-fi indie pop throughout the mid-'10s. Over the last few years, Maker and Campos have pursued different paths: Maker moved to Los Angeles, where he's produced for hip-hop giants like Travis Scott and Jay-Z, while Campos explored the world of DJing and electronic music, releasing a number of mixes geared towards the club. But they reunited for the first time in years on their newest album, The Sunset Violent, which came out on Warp Records in April. In this RA Exchange, the duo talk about the recording process and what it felt like to work together again after spending so much time on independent projects. They also unpack the power of making art for art's sake and how their respective experiences in art and in life have taught them to be better creative partners. Listen to the episode in full.

House music pioneer Vince Lawrence and law professor Dr. Olufunmilayo Arewa unpack how record companies have undermined Black musicians—and what we can do to enact change. This past week, Resident Advisor screened and distributed a new, award-winning documentary called Taking Back the Groove. It tells the story of Bronx-born disco legend Richie Weeks, whose song "Rock Your World" with Weeks & Co. climbed to #1 on the dance charts in the 1980s. Like many Black artists throughout American recording history, his talent was strip-mined to enrich corporate record labels. In the movie, Weeks and Still Music label owner Jerome Derradji narrate the story of how they clawed back the rights to Weeks' tracks, as well as the ongoing battle he's had to wage to restore his legacy and ownership over his creative work. This story is, sadly, perennial, especially for artists of colour and otherwise marginalised musicians who continue to be sidelined by major players in the music industry. In this RA Exchange, Vince Lawrence—a Chicago-based house music producer and original founder of Trax Records—speaks with Washington DC-based guest Dr. Funmi Arewa, a graduate of Harvard Law School and UC Berkeley, and a current professor at George Mason University, where she teaches business law in the creative industries. The two engage in a fascinating discussion about the history of the recording industry and the exploitation of marginalised artists that runs through its fabric. How do we make it easier for artists to claim things that are rightfully theirs? What if we could create incentives to create fairness at the core of how record labels function? Listen to their thoughts on these questions in the full episode.

"I fell in love with the piano again." The DJ and composer discusses the vulnerability of the creative process, returning to acoustic instruments and touring her latest album. Laurel Halo has been circling around the club music world for a number of years, but she's only recently entered the echelons of jazz and contemporary classical. Originally from Michigan, she went to music school in Ann Arbor before moving to Berlin, and now Los Angeles, where she composed her album, Atlas—a release that's been met with widespread critical acclaim. She also played alongside Moritz von Oswald in his jazz outfit the Moritz von Oswald Trio, and released a number of eclectic, UK-tinged dance floor records on underground giants like Hyperdub and Livity Sound. In this RA Exchange, Laurel Halo discusses the new direction of her music and what it's been like to tour it live with cellist Leila Bordreuil. She also talks about her creative inspiration (namely, the Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul and books by surrealist writers like Ursula K. Le Guin and Italo Calvino), the practice of aesthetic minimalism more generally and the methods she uses to create subtle variations in pieces that are slow to evolve. Listen to the episode in full.

"They were wild and crazy years." The Spanish techno icon discusses his early years in Madrid, running record labels and staying true to his sound for more than 30 years. Spanish DJ and producer Oscar Mulero is a legend of underground techno. Since starting to play parties and make music more than 30 years ago, he's earned a reputation as an anti-conformist tastemaker who's adamantly stuck to his guns. While his trajectory began with Madrid's goth and punk clubs in the '90s, he eventually found techno in the early '00s and started two labels, PoleGroup and Warm Up, as homes for the hypnotic, spaced-out sound that's become his signature. In this RA Exchange, Mulero reflects on the early days of the Spanish techno scene and how it's evolved, as well as his own roots and influences. Today, the artist is as active as he's ever been, he discusses how he's maintained longevity as an artist in the face of changing trend, as well as his best practices for making music at home and on the road. Listen to the episode in full.

"I'm a noodler." The vaunted experimental producer and DJ discusses his playful approach to engaging with philosophy and making art live at Atonal's OPENLESS in Berlin. British artist Lee Gamble has long been captivating listeners with high concept dance music. A loyal affiliate of Kode9's Hyperdub label, Gamble—whose work sits somewhere at the intersection of philosophy, computer music and sound art—has been building weird and wonderful musical worlds that have shot him to experimental stardom since the early 2010s. In this RA Exchange recorded live from Hard Wax (at the one-off weekender Atonal OPENLESS), Gamble meditates on his penchant for eschewing conventions, beginning with growing up in the countercultural, working class hub of Birmingham. Gamble reflects on the first time he experienced what's called "future shock", a reference to a book by the same name written by sci-fi author Alvin Toffler. It set him on the pursuit of finding and making music that had a similarly bizarre quality. Gamble isn't just a producer but an avid admirer and connoisseur of critical theory, and he also discusses the thinkers who have informed his production (and even his approach to DJing), as well as his recent interest in the ethics and applications of AI and deep fakes, which he explores in a touching full-length, Models. Listen to the episode in full.

"I always find inspiration from my city." The DJ and producer talks about her love of Naples, moving from the underground to the mainstream and her new audiovisual show. If you've ever gone to big room techno hubs like Time Warp, DC-10, Awakenings or Rotterdam Rave, then Anfisa Letyago's name should be familiar to you. But Letyago actually comes from underground roots; before she played to thousands of people from the beaches of Ibiza, she was releasing on legacy labels like Hotflush, Kompakt, Nervous Records and Rekids, and collaborating with old guard artists like DJ Pierre. In this RA Exchange, the Naples-based DJ and producer talks about the strategy she employed to make it to the top. Having become enamoured with Carl Cox during her first days of raving in Naples as a university student, she flew to one of his gigs and stood outside his hotel with her tracks on a USB. She was delighted when he took them and played them in his set that night. Shortly thereafter, Cox booked Letyago to play his curated stage at Ultra Music Festival and has since acted as a close mentor, teacher and friend. Today, Letyago is preparing a live audiovisual show, Partenope, which straddles the boundary of techno and vocal-led pop. She also started her own label, NSDA—an homage to a volcanic island near Naples—and is preparing her first full-length album to be released on a sub-label of Sony Music. She also reveals some facts that fans may not know about her despite the intimate moments from her life she shares online. Listen to the episode in full.

The annual Caribbean street parade Notting Hill Carnival has taken place in London since 1966 to celebrate the influx of immigrants brought to the UK during Windrush. Carnival is a celebration of the rich and multifaceted artistic heritage that came with them, especially in the form of Afro-Caribbean music, dance and sound system culture. The South London-born poet, producer and NTS Radio host James Massiah is one of a generation of musicians who has been influenced by the city's Afro-Caribbean cultural legacy. In this interview, he talks to Errol Anderson of the South London-based curatorial platform Touching Bass about his connection to London's sound systems and his own artistic evolution. His output centres around hedonism and what he calls "joyful living"—a reaction to the church community he grew up in. Many of the lyrics on his most recent EPs, like True Romance, paint a picture of drugs, partying, sex, addiction and heartbreak (he's even gone on to name his recurring poetry night Adult Entertainment). Music, he reflects, has provided a powerful and cathartic means to express himself and open up. In his youth, Massiah wasn't just shaped by his church, he says, but by the Afro-Caribbean genres circulating through his neighborhood: '80s funk, raga, garage, grime and a form of Jamaican dancehall called Yardie. Later, as he was exposed to popular rock and house music, he took the sensibilities he heard in pop acts like Fleetwood Mac and applied them to a Caribbean musical framework. His sound palette is an uncanny amalgamation of Stevie Nicks' ethereal voice with the stylings of soca—a sub-genre that fuses calypso, reggae and Caribbean zouk. Listen to the episode in full.

"Dancing has always been visceral to me." The DJ and producer talks about bringing movement into her music practice and the role mythology and meditation plays in art and life. The Italian-French DJ, producer and dancer Giulia Fournier-Mercadante—AKA GiGi FM—has had a varied, multidisciplinary career. Originally a dancer, Fournier-Mercadante received a scholarship for the New York City Ballet and the contemporary dance outfit Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a teenager. Finding the dancing world difficult to navigate, especially in its approach to body image, she graduated and moved to London to focus on music. It was there that she discovered techno and its capacity to heal. She started hosting a regular show on NTS, getting booked locally and then touring around the world. Today, Fournier-Mercadante has integrated dance into her productions, which use motion sensors to transform physical movement into MIDI. Her use of her body as her basic instrument has led to a unique, kinetic sound palette that defines all of her tracks. In this Exchange, she unpacks how she's worked with this technique and rediscovered her love of dancing, as well as how spirituality, dream states and astrology inform her life and work. Listen to the episode in full.