Q&A with Optimistic Soul: "the next step for my career is to develop the afro house sound across Scotland"

African electronic music DJ and Producer, Optimistic Soul has great passion for pushing the underground afrohouse/afrotech sound. The Glasgow based DJ & producer has been making his music since 2015 and has since started deejaying in 2018.Resident DJ at Jaiva Glasgow, Radio Buena Vida and also part of the afrohouse record label Weareidyll (London). Optimistic Soul aspires to continue to spread the sound of African electronic music, just as how people who inspire him such as ‘Black Coffee’, ‘Culoe De Dong’ & ‘Osunlade’ have done.

Optimistic soul holds a strong feeling of wanting to let the world know of the music that has been among us for all these years and firmly believes that it needs a bigger platform to encourage diversity and also for the progression the underground sound as a whole.

We recently caught up with Optimistic Soul, check out the interview below:

Here at Resonate we wanna know more about where your music roots and inspirations mainly come from ?

My inspiration comes from dance music, mainly house, growing up I used to listen to a lot of Detroit house and Chicago house which made me fall in love with soulful & deep house from a young age.

What advice would you give to yourself 5 years ago if you could go back in time?

The advise I’d give to myself 5 years ago is to never ever stop doing what you love & to never ever stop learning.

What shows have you got coming up ?

So far I’m running a bi-monthly night at the Berkeley suite called Africa is now which is a Afro house/Afro tech, melodic & techno night. However, I have a few festivals and gigs lined up for the summer including Riverside Festival.

What’s the next step for your music career?

The next step for my music career is to try and develop the sound of Afro house/Afro tech in Scotland, however, soon after that the bigger picture will be to become an international Afro house artist.

Can you tell us anything about what you are working on just now? Have you got any releases coming out this year?

So far I’m working on an Ep soon to be released in July under my own imprint Optimistic music so I’m looking forward to that and basically trying to spend more time in the studio with music

I’m also in talks with a few popular club nights in Glasgow that I’d like to feature for Africa is now ,because my biggest picture was to always bridge the gap between both world of Music ,I believe we can all come out with something beautiful by working together

What is the meaning of life for you ?

The meaning of life to me is just to be a good person ,what you give us what you get so I believe in kindness and empathy ,to me that is my biggest calling.

Listen to Optimisic Soul on Spotify or Soundcloud

Q&A with Nightwave

Slovenia-born Glasgow based Maya Medvesek, better known as Nightwave is an internationally established DJ, producer, vocalist, club promoter & label boss. We had the pleasure of welcoming Maya to our inaugural Resonate conference back in 2017. We caught up with her after 5 years, check out the interview below.

Renowned for her energetic DJ sets, Nightwave has played major clubs and festivals around the globe such as Sonar Barcelona & Tokyo, Riverside, Pressure, Bestival, Movement, Bangface, Electric Picnic, Notting Hill Carnival, Outlook, Isle of Wight, Exit...has toured Asia and Australia and shared stages with some of the biggest names in electronic music. Her extensive mix archive can be found on her Soundcloud and features recordings for Resident Advisor, Crack, Mixmag, Ninja Tune, DJ Mag, The Fader, BBC, NTS, Beats1 etc. Back home in Glasgow she is a resident of La Cheetah Club and continues to run her club night Nightrave which has hosted the likes of Lone, DJ Bone, Laurel Halo and Nathan Fake and is now entering its 7th year.

How does it feel to be back at your residency in La Cheetah club after a long pandemic ?

It’s fantastic to be back in my favourite place doing what I love. It’s so nice to see some old faces but also the new, younger crowd - for some of them it will be the first time going to clubs which must be so exciting.

As your own manager you have to focus on the business & creative side, What advice would you give to DJs trying to break through in a similar way to yourself ? and how do you find the balance? Any other advise for Scottish DJs ?

The times and the music industry have changed so much and realistically any artist is expected to seriously multitask these days. Simply creating is sadly not enough - we are expected to create “content” (hate that word), do the promo, run nights, radio and events, do the artwork…this all takes a lot of energy and can be very draining (most of it means working for free). Having a manager is not necessarily a good thing - I do believe educating yourself and working hard is best, as well as finding a supportive network and community! I’ve been DJing for over 20 years and I still feel like I’m going through that growing and build up process. You have to keep learning and moving. Don’t compare yourself to others and follow your passion without expecting the outcome. Focus on your art before all the promo and socials. That would be my advice.

Where can we next see you play and how is your release schedule for this year?

You can catch me at the infamous Slam tent, La Cheetah & I Love Acid residencies, Riverside etc. There’s lots of music in the works but I won’t give out any release dates until I know for sure - these things are so fickle I’ve now learned to wait until it’s all properly submitted! Late spring I hope :)

In the last 10 years she has released a number of records, continually reinventing her sound and exploring a vast array of influences grounded in Detroit techno, electro, acid, Chicago house and old rave nostalgia. Her releases on labels like Hotflush, Unknown To The Unknown, DABJ, Fool's Gold, Balkan Vinyl, Fabric etc received wide-spread support. She is no stranger to working with singers and rappers (Rye Rye, Ashnikko, TT  the Artist, Chippy Nonstop...) and is a vocalist herself with features on various imprints, most notably Rustie's seminal album 'Glass Swords' on Warp Records, which they also performed live at one of BBC's legendary Maida Vale sessions. A prolific remixer, she lent her unique sound to Franz Ferdinand, Django Django, Wayward, D Double E and many more. In 2019 Nightwave also earned her first feature film soundtrack credit for Rachel Maclean's 'Make Me Up.'

On Nightwave’s own tastemaker label Heka Trax (est. 2013) she showcases her passion for versatile and forward-thinking sounds by releasing fresh music from artists around the globe, including 3 EPs by the label-boss herself and one featuring Chicago legend DJ Deeon.

Maya is also a passionate advocate for gender equality in the music industry, regularly hosting production and DJ skill classes for girls as young as eight. She also co-runs Producergirls, a free UK workshop for women and has lectured at the EU initiative in Brussels as well as India as a part of British Council’s Women In Electronic Music project. She has participated on many music industry panels (WIRE, St Andrews University, CAMP, Resonate, Movement etc).

Check out these personal favourite tracks by ‘Nightwave’ and keep in touch on her socials for upcoming news on releases.

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