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Audio: Anna Wall shows her London roots

This isn’t the first time we’ve featured Anna Wall on the blog, but with her Saturday night debut coming up this weekend we felt it was the perfect chance to introduce her properly. Born and currently based in the capital, Wall’s been a familiar face to us for several years, regularly DJing at small parties in East London and its surrounding areas. Musically her style takes in dubby house, sharp techno and vintage garage depending on where exactly you catch her, but as she shows in her mix for us, she’ll always show her strong ties to the capital by rinsing a London classic from the likes of Swag or Housey Doingz. Alongside her mix for us, she got us prepped for her Room One appearance this weekend by talking more about hosting radio, plans for her label The Bricks, and how much London has influenced her playing style. Download: Anna Wall fabric x Collisions Promo Mix What have you been up to recently? We listened to your latest Rinse FM show… Thanks so much for listening. I’ve been keeping busy! Working a lot on my label The Bricks; 005 came out on vinyl in September and I’ve already signed the next two releases. I’ve just come back from playing The Warehouse Project in Manchester and I’m getting excited for this weekend… Do you feel the way you play on radio differs from your DJ sets? Definitely. Radio is a great opportunity to play weird and wonderful selections that you might not be able to play in the clubs, and I love supporting unreleased music on air. For my KMAH Radio show I’ve put together two ambient specials and working on a mix of rare and obscure UK hardcore records from the early 90s with my friend Corbi. How did you programme the mix compared to one of your shows? Was it carefully constructed or more spontaneous? Initially it was a carefully constructed mix… I had an idea of what I wanted to play but actually just ended up freestyling it in the end! It’s a mixture of old and new; some of them I’ve been playing consistently over the years, and some artists that have influenced me along the way. Is there a theme to it? For me it’s a bit of a trip down memory lane – there’s a lot of old stuff in there, some hard-to-find records, music that I’ve made with friends, and upfront bits from my favourite labels too. I hope you like it. Where did you source the records from? Some of the records I picked have some lovely memories attached to them. Nick Höppner’s Peck And A Pawn was the first Ostgut Ton vinyl I ever owned, which I bought over the counter at the end of a Berghain marathon stint. I usually walk out without a euro to my name so it was a miracle. Len Lewis’ Edge Of Life is a rare one from Swag that was one of the last remaining copies on Discogs. A few I bought during my time living in Berlin, and some I’ve collected on my travels. Are there any particular record shops you frequent in London? Yes, I believe it’s so important to support our local record stores. I love Kristina Records – the owner Jason has an amazing selection. I’m always discovering new independent labels that he’s stocking, and he knows my taste so well. Phonica is a favourite too; Nick and Luther always hook me up with so many decent recommendations. That’s usually where all my earnings go! Ransom Note Records have a lovely little spot in Forest Gate, and the Lobster Theremin store in London Fields is a vibe. You play in the capital on a regular basis – do you feel like it’s a place that provides good opportunities as a DJ? I grew up here and I love playing in my hometown. That’s something I feel passionate about. I think it was around 2011 or 2012 that I started playing out quite a bit here, and became fully addicted to DJing. I’ve watched the local scene change a lot over the years, we’ve lost some of our beloved clubs or they’ve come under fire in some way. But I feel like there’s a resurgence right now; people are fighting back, starting new things and there are definitely new opportunities. This is your Saturday night debut with us, but would you say you’re quite familiar with the night already? fabric had such an influence on me when I was growing up. It’s one of the first nightclubs I ever went to, and it opened my eyes to what a real clubbing experience could be. The Saturday line-ups are definitely part of the reason I got so caught up in the music I’m into now. I remember after parties where we’d be blasting Craig Richards’ fabric 01 mix, and I have fun memories of Sundays with him and Ricardo [Villalobos]. Is there anything you’ve learned from coming to the club that you think will help you prepare for playing here? In Room One it’s incredible to hear so much depth and definition in tracks that you’ve sometimes never heard before. It makes you listen to productions in a different way. It’s a real quality control test and the really deep records come to life; I’ll keep that in mind with my selections. You recently put out a record from Sunrom on your label The Bricks – how did you first connect? I stumbled across some of his early work and it was just so beautiful! We started talking and I soon found out he had a serious amount of unreleased music that I thought needed to be heard. He’s from Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France and I took a trip over to Paris to meet him – we talked about life and took some 35mm film photos for the artwork. He’s such an interesting character and I’m sure we’ll work together again. Do you have any upcoming plans to use the label as an outlet for your own music? Definitely, when I stop being so shy! I have lots of unfinished and unreleased music. My friend has just helped me with a studio set-up in my bedroom so I’ll be investing a lot more time into my own productions now too. Do you have any more exciting plans looking into 2019? I’m aiming to release The Bricks 005 early next year. It’s by a super talented producer called Module One from Russia, who now resides in Berlin. Tyree Cooper has done a remix and it was such an honour to work with him. Thoma Bulwer and I are finishing another EP that follows our collaboration on his label Parasol Culture. I’ve been working on a project called 22 alongside my friend Josie, it’s more ambient and experimental, and we’re excited for it to see the light of day. I have an EP with Corbi to come, and music I’ve been working on with my singer/songwriter friend Binky. I’m also looking into throwing a few label showcases outside of London next year. Tracklist: New Day (Dub) – Round Two No. 10001 A – Wax Igneous (Just Another Beat) – Sven Weisemann Mind Dance – Oracy Lounge Lizard – Huerta Insouciant – Thoma Bulwer & Anna Wall Morning Dub – Module One Peck And A Pawn – Nick Höppner Forecast Says… – Thoma Bulwer & Pops Beranger (Original Mix) – Traumer B2 – 2 Bit Crew Edge Of Life – Len Lewis My Base – Eddie Wolf Poet – Housey Doingz Mind To Mind – Second Phase SEA (The Time Gate) – Stenny & Andrea Floating – Andrea Photo: Netti Hurley
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