James Organ emerges from UK festivals as one to watch [Q&A + Exclusive Mix]

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It's officially summer and many of us will be lucky enough to grab wellies and glitter for a music festival between now and September. The perfect chance to get in the festival mood with this mix from Liverpudlian DJ and producer James Organ. Brimming with lively cuts fresh from Steve Lawler, Ronnie Spiteri and Made By Pete. 

2017 is heating up to be Organ's biggest summer yet and he's set to come out of it this autumn as a definite one to watch. Attracting the attention of bookers for Creamfields, Reading and Leeds and We Are FSTVL, James has a string of festival dates across the UK and beyond. In the last month, James has gone from hitting Parklife in Manchester to appearing on the shores of Croatia for five-day event Hideout. 

A dedication for music and solid releases on Saved, Decay and Brobot has brought him here. Starting out within the thriving nightlife of his hometown Liverpool, including for Yousef's Circus imprint. "A lot of people these days fall in love with the club itself and the whole VIP culture, but for me, it has and always will be about the music." Press play on the mix and find out more about James in our Q&A with him below.

EARMILK: Firstly, please tell us about this mix you have crafted?

James Organ: Hey guys, what’s happening? This mix I have recorded especially for Earmilk is a festival-style mix curated using some of my favourite tracks at the moment.

E: Which tracks in the mix are you expecting to be big ones for summer 2017?

JO: Out of the tracks from the mix, I’d say the Harry Romero track ‘Chromium’ on Circus Recordings is going to be popular amongst a lot of DJs this summer. I’ve already heard this getting played out quite a lot. It’s really weird and trippy, and sounds ridiculous on a big club system – I play this one often. One of the tracks from my forthcoming EP on Junior Sanchez’s label Brobot seems to be doing the damage too. It’s called ‘The Underground’ and is due to drop at some point in the next few months, keep an eye out for it.

E: What have been your highlights of the summer so far?

JO: I am still at the early stages in my career so at the moment everything feels like a highlight. Musically, I would say my set at Parklife in Manchester was a good one for me. I’d seen pictures of the ‘HANGAR’ tent beforehand, and it looked pretty big, but I didn’t actually realise how big it was until I got there. It's always a pleasure to play first, but with that comes pressure, though sure enough, almost straight away the tent was full. Manchester is always a great place to play but Parklife, in particular, is fantastic. The crowd seem really musically educated, which allows me to get away with playing quite cool music making the gig even more enjoyable.

E: You fly out to Hideout Festival this week, how does Croatia compare to the UK?

JO: The obvious factor for overseas festivals is the sun and beaches etc.   seem to be in ‘holiday mode’ at these types of festivals and tend to get a little excited and let loose a bit more.

E: How do you prepare for a set abroad?

JO: As with lots of gigs, it generally depends on the crowd on the day. I’ll always go in with a range of different playlists and with the mentality that you can never be too prepared. Sometimes you can bank on a certain set of tunes and it will go completely the other way.

E: How many years have you been DJing?

JO: I've been playing around with music since I was a kid, but really got involved a couple of years back and things are starting to really shape up.

E: What was your first festival gig and how did it go?

JO: My first real festival gig was for Parklife a couple of years ago. I was booked to play in something called ‘The Smallest Club in the World’, which was basically a Wendy house that took me about two hours to find. When I got there, I realised that there were CD decks only and I turned up with USBs. The DJ on before me, who was armed with a mountain of CD’s, smiled and said that this happened to someone else before me too. We eventually got it sorted out, and the gig turned out to be not only the one of the smallest but one of the best gigs I had done at that point.

E: Can you take us through your ideal setup?

JO: At the moment, I am keeping things pretty standard. 3 CDJs, the new DJM-900 NXS2 mixer and if I’m feeling tricky a Pioneer RMX-1000. I played on some crazy monitors recently that had been installed for Eric Prydz, these were seriously weighty and it felt like I was in the middle of the club myself. I’d like to use these more often.

E: Who would you love to warm up for?

JO: I’m very lucky in that I’ve had the opportunity to warm up for or play on the same bill as a lot of the DJs I’ve followed over the years. From a logical point of view, I’d probably choose somebody who plays similar style music to me, so I can just do my thing and not have to worry about finishing up respectfully to the artist after. Off the top of my head, I’d say artists such as Steve Lawler or Davide Squillace.

E: How do you stay fresh during a festival?

JO: Tom Ford Noir, Supra High top always, a shower and some deodorant. Making sure you get a golf buggy everywhere you go to ensure that your shoes always stay clean is a good shout too.

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