In The Company of Inxec...

The Nottingham born Inxec cut his teeth on the sound system at the local but legendary venue, Stealth, when he was beginning to produce his own beats and in making a stunning debut on Jay Haze’s esteemed Contexterrior label it seemed he was off to a flying start. A close friend of Matt Tolfrey, the two work together with their friendship blossoming into a production partnership that furthered both of their label credentials, seeing release on imprints like Cocoon. The duo are also the two people to thank for the formation of the Leftroom record label, a outlet who’s 5th anniversary we’re celebrating a week on Saturday here in Farringdon. We’ve got a few Leftroom related nuggets lined up for this very occasion, beginning Wednesday just gone with a mix from their headliner Ryan Elliott - a cool foray into the down tempo, dark tones of four four. Then next week Matt Tolfrey will be talking us through his most momentous releases over the 5 years of Leftroom but riffing along to that theme today, Inxec has given us his 'top 5 of of 5' sharing his favourite tracks, parties, DJs, clubs and gear to mark this happy event. Top 5 Parties 1. My first gig at Drop the Bomb (Nottingham) - It was an amazing moment for me to be stood on the other side of the DJ booth playing the music I love and seeing the reactions it was getting. A really great feeling! 2. fabric (live PA with Matt Tolfrey) - The first and only time we have played live together on Matt’s brithday in Room Two at Fabric. It was an outstanding experience, I’m not really sure why we haven’t done it more, I suppose it’s hard to top that. 3. Safe @ The Electric Pickle (Miami) - I recently played Live and DJ'd directly after. The room was jam packed from start to finish and the place is so intimate, I love how close you are to the punters. Needless to say it went off! 4. Culprit sessions 019 @ The Standard (downtown LA) - Again a recent gig on my last US tour, I wouldn’t be surprised if this party pops up in a bunch of people top fives. I think the backdrop alone is enough to have a good time here, it’s incredible. 5. Bar Americas (Guadalajara mexico) - Love this joint! I got to play there for an extended set which worked really well, again the crowd is right up in your face so you get a connection, it sounds like a cliche but it’s true. Top 5 tracks 1. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit - who doesnt love this record!? one of the greatest losses to the world of music was the untimely death of Kurt Cobain. 2. Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll - My Dad used to play this over and over and over again. im sure again its a song a lot of people are familiar with. Ian dury was crippled by polio as a kid so it goes to show you can still strive and do things no matter what walk of life you come from. 3. Pearl jam - Better Man - A beautiful record. I was fortunate to see Pearl Jam play live a few years back at Donnington Park. This track Live is just as powerful as it is in the studio. 4. Stranglers - Golden Brown - Another Dad favourite with an interesting time signature and crazy post production. Love it. 5. Focus - Hocus Pocus - instrumental madness from the early 70's!! and bizzarley their only real hit, which I think got used again in the run up to the World cup... Top 5 Bits of Kit 1. Macbook Pro - I might as well be joined at the hip to this thing. My life revolves around it. 2. APC 40 - An Ableton designed controller, I love the intergration it has with Live and they are reasonbley priced to boot! Every Ableton producer should own one! 3. LIVID CODE - This particular company costum build controllers to order. You can get x amount of faders, nobs etc specified to exactly what is right for you. They also are working on this crazy all in one keyboard/controller thing with a built in sound card and docking station for your mac or PC. 4. Jupiter 8 - I dont have one but have had the pleasure of hiring one in LA for the upcoming release I am doing with Droog. Once you have spent a few hours tinkering with this bad boy you can get some incredible sounds out of it. 5. Motu Ultralite MK3 - Outstanding sound interface, plenty of outs and just as many inputs, perfect for a travel LIVE artist. It’s also pretty robust which is good for a clumsy idiot like me. Top 5 clubs 1. fabric - This club has done so much for the music scene in London over the last decade, always bringing in the most prolific acts whilst also finding the gems of the future. And a sound system throughout the club that is second to none. 2. The Electric Pickle - Incredible little venue little venue which is the place to be at WMC, but they still strive to bring in quality performers for the rest of the year. 3. Club Vertigo - This diamond in the rough is awesome! based in San Jose in Costa Rica, it has a incredible Gay Stuart sound system throughout and it also caters for big acts or for the smaller acts as a second room. brilliant venue, and the people who work there are pure gold. 4. Bar Americas - The only place to bother with in Guadalajara, this place as got bigger and bigger over the last few years and i always have a great time when i go there. 5. The Bomb (RIP) - Where else in Nottingham or anywhere in the UK for that matter could you get Derrick Carter and Andrew Weatherall on the same night!!?? Also where Tyrant would be with Craig, Lee and Sasha wow!! Shame the last owners got greedy and ruined it. Top 5 DJs 1. Craig Richards - I was recently talking to my friend Ramon about craig's DJ style and we came to the conclusion he doesnt have one he is one. If you listen to the first ever fabric CD and compare it to the just released new one you'll see similar veins but with the progression of time and the man never fails to deliver. Also one of the first DJ's i ever saw at Tyrant back in Nottingham. 2. Ryan Elliott - Great Techno DJ and not too shabby at bending his skills towards a more housey vibe too. 3. Mike Shannon - (massively underated) I've played with Mike a couple of times and he is always on fire, very modest dude as well. Splendid. 4. Derrick L Carter - AMAZING!! 3 DECK AWESOMENESS!! 5. Sasha - He gets a lot of flack these days but back in the 90's all the way up into the millenium this guy was untouchable.