Audio: Fold Presents the Sound of the UK

There are few artists with closer ties to the UK – or London, for that matter – than Rob Glassett. Under his alias Fold he’s spent the last few years playing as a resident DJ on the London hub of NTS, a station that’s established itself as a home for a diverse and impressive range of the best talent coming up right now in this country. His records so far have had an unmistakably UK edge, with Will Saul’s Aus Music the main outlet helping to push his strand of deep house. Then there’s his own label Well Street Records, whose excellent debut has been getting rinsed in sets by Benji B and Ben UFO over the last few months. As a close peer to the Hessle camp and artists like Joy Orbison, Glassett is part of a small circle of UK DJs currently helping to shape and evolve the current dance music fraternity. Judging from the 90-minute mix he’s recorded for us, too, his main direction seems to be part of the ongoing trend for broken house and techno. With his EC1 debut just around the corner on 5th May, we caught up with Glassett via email to hear more about the mix, his current plans, and NTS Radio. Download: Fold x fabric Presents Promo Mix How and where did you record the mix? The mix was planned and practised at home then recorded at the NTS studio after my show. Where did you source most of the featured tracks? The tracks are from an array of talented producers and labels putting out interesting broken beat techno styles over the last ten years, including the first release from the label that I co-run: Well Street Records. You’ve got very close links to London’s NTS Radio – what role do you see radio stations like this playing on the electronic music scene 10 years from now? There’s no question that NTS has had a hugely positive effect on London’s electronic music culture. For me personally it has blended the lines of electronic and contemporary music and massively broadened my musical tastes. It's such a great platform for niche music and lesser known DJs, subsequently more people are hearing music from all eras, backgrounds and styles. I think the freedom NTS allows its hosts will filter down to collectors and listeners, who will then dig deeper for music and be more open to things that they wouldn’t normally be in to. This in turn leads to more educated audiences in clubs. Where do you spend most of your time looking for new music? I do spend a lot of time digging. Not always physically in record stores – I also spend a lot of time going through the back catalogues of old and obscure labels on Discogs. I also find between Juno, Hard Wax, Honest Jons, Kristina and Phonica there are very few new releases I miss. And of course there’s NTS Radio! What is your relationship to Joy Orbison? Pete is a close friend from school days – he’s also a fellow cheese and pickle sandwich advocate. Finally what have you got coming up this summer? I've just completed a new EP for Shall Not Fade that features a Frits Wentink remix. I'll be working on some more tracks for Aus Music too, plus I’ll be starting a new alias that allows me to explore a different set of sound aesthetics. Other than that, I’ll be sorting out the next few releases for my label.