S.K.T.'s Guide To The World Of The DJ
Stephen O'Brien
DJ S.K.T
The enigmatic and prosperous S.K.T gives us the inside details on what his favourite tracks are currently. We accompany him on the trials and tribulations of his being a producer/DJ, while not forgetting about his plans for his label and the dazzling future that lies before this gifted character.
DJ S.K.T, the London producer/DJ and record label manager is a firm favourite and leading producer in DJ’s sets, up and down the U.K and Ireland. Renowned for his deep house grooves, entering into fame in BBC Radio 1’s under 18’s search for a DJ, finishing 6th. S.K.T endeavours to bring an energetic, feel good dance music that is primarily bass driven, with the escalated melodic deep house groves. This has led to recognition from acts such as Miguel, for his remix of "Adorn."
His recent collaboration with Rachel Collier, "Strictly Rhythm," is set to hit nightclub floors up and down the country. Enchanting synth lines and a scintillating dancing bass line matched with the groovy vocal line supplied by Rachel Collier, sets an impressive marker for any deep house track this year. With the premiering of "Strictly Rhythm" on such a notable radio channel, such as BBC Radio 1, it is no wonder that S.K.T is receiving accolades from MTV as one of the producers that is set to take this year by storm.
At 13, S.K.T’s was given £300 to spend on re-decorating his bedroom, allowing his artistic side to flourish, but luckily for deep house fans, S.K.T decided to spend this money on his first set of decks (Sound Lab Belt Drives), which signalled the beginning of his Dj’ing and producing career. Playing piano from a young age became more a priority once he had them, which led to his first remix on vinyl at 16. This saw him entering competitions such as "Technics DMC Under 18s Battle" and "BBC Radio One’s Search For A DJ," finishing 4th and 6th respectively.
S.K.T’s musical youth was highly influenced by a variety of genres, such as dance, pop, RnB, hip-hop, jungle, reggae, house and garage. This has led to his composition undertaking a serious concoction of his influences. Although he is attempting to not get too influenced by any one genre or artist, as he highlighted, this would impact on his own inimitability.
S.K.T is not a "newbie" to the music scene. Previously in 2009, his single "Everything You Do" was signed to AATW/Universal, which led to plenty of work from numerous major labels. He will play in Miami this March, while Ibiza will occupy most of his summer with many more festival dates to be announced, showing the stark change and improvement that this DJ/producer has undertook.
When asked what inspired him to make music? He cited that it was “the fact that music has no rules…..you can do what the f**k you want, whenever you choose to. I was always a rebel, so to have that platform to express myself creatively was something I was really drawn to!” The parties, people and experiences are just some of the attractive highlights that accompany the DJ lifestyle, which he enjoys along with meeting artists who he grew up listening to.
S.K.T offered an accurate insight into how he looks at the work, predominantly taking 80% of his time, with the other 20% reserved for partying, although he adds the more work, the bigger the party! The lifestyle is an amazing one but also has its negatives, which most people forget about, such as the 10 hour studio sessions, 7 hour trips for gigs and the amount of work that you put into advertising your own music. While not forgetting the amount of traveling that DJs do undertake can lead to loneliness and a lack of structure in life.
Shining light on how S.K.T feels about DJs transformation of music, he stated passionately “it’s about creating a journey, an experience with a start, middle and end. You can always tell the difference between a DJ who just throws a few records together and a DJ who creates a memory or experience.” S.K.T’s budding career began with signing to a major record label. This was just the beginning rather than the making however. Success is no longer due to being independent or with a small label, as you can reach popularity without signing with a big label these days.
On the subject of the clubbing experience, S.K.T felt that; “I guess there has been a split in the whole 'clubbing' experience over the last 5 years. When you think about it, these days, there are clubs in London that aren't about the music at all, the DJ is a male model or a Z list celebrity who has only just started DJ’ing and can't mix. The 'club' doesn't even have a dance floor! There’s no point even playing music because the people are too 'cool' to dance anyways!”
Although he did add that “A lot of clubs have gone that way unfortunately partially down to the economic climate, as it was the only way they could have survived. But definitely over the last 2 years with the whole house revival, a lot more clubs are starting to take note of the more credible DJs rather than booking celebrities who think they can DJ”.
S.K.T has been managing Up-Tempo Records since 2012 along with his own career. Outlining how he juggles the management of a record label, hand-in-hand with his own production: “It’s been very time consuming and a lot of building up, along with establishing the label, it has been my main focus since 2010. It’s got to the point now where it’s a lot easier to manage, we have a very good core database of DJs, blogs and radio stations that regularly support our new releases and that trust the label and what we put out. I think once you get to that point, things naturally grow without having to keep forcing growth”.
With an already rising fan base and causing great tides in deep house, S.K.T summarises his aspirations for the next year: “I am currently working on my next EP which is almost complete, while also doing a lot of remix work for different artists. I am also working on a new single for this year and in talks with a lot of labels too. I don't think you can ever plan too much, I just plan to put a lot of good stuff out and hope to get a lot of good stuff back from it!”. With a thousand likes on Facebook and 3,000 followers on Twitter, a solid string of EPs that are continually scintillating makes it seem that the future looks optimistic.