Berlin Mixtapes: Steve Kelley In The House

Next up we welcome the amazing Steve Kelley. A passionate, dedicated and energetic talent, Steve began almost 20 years ago as a DJ having played for some of the largest and respected brands in dance music. Steve’s sound is very much about the groove and melody, accompanied with a deep, chunky house vibe.

The next natural step has been production and it hasn’t taken too long for Steve’s studio skills to be recognised with his tracks being picked up by the likes of Steve Bug (Poker Flat Recordings), Lost Desert (Souksonic), Nick Warren (The Sound Garden) and also Native Instruments as part of the Traktor Pro update. With a developing profile Steve decided to step into the forum of promoting his own events back in his

hometown. For the past 10 years Steve created the formidable monthly terrace party Tantalise presents Palava. The parties attracted roadblocks of people, with an atmosphere and reputation that have seen clubbers travel the length and breadth of the country to savor its unique vibe. As a result of the Tantalise’s notoriety Steve has seen himself travel the world to replicate his DJ performances internationally with gigs in the US, Germany, Ibiza, Sweden and holding a residency in Italy.

Steve as well as being an exceptional DJ talent, it is certainly true to say that he is one of the next generation of club land pioneers.

Hi Steve, how are you and what have you been up to this week?

Hi guys! Yes, not bad at all, nothing too exciting, just relaxing and finishing off

some productions.

Any plans for the weekend?

I would love to go to the Brighton Music Conference, however I'm off to Morocco.

Your bio states that you used to play for one of club land's biggest

institutions - Godskitchen. Tell us more about that.

Godskitchen opened in Birmingham around 1996 at the Sanctuary and my brother

noticed in the local newspaper that they were asking for mixtapes in order to apply

to DJ. I sent a tape over to them and a few weeks after I played at the opening

night at the Sanctuary.

What are some of your best memories from Godskitchen?

I had many great memories there, from playing at their Birthday Ball through to

their New Year's Eve Party over a few years.

You used to run a monthly terrace party called Tantalise presents Palava.

Tell us more.

A friend of mine Jon Whelan from my local town Solihull reached out to me about

putting on an outdoor event. Jon had put a handful of parties on there called

Tantalise. At the time I was doing parties under the brand Palava which was about

the visuals, acts and performers, and by combining the two brands we believed it

would be something strong and special for the town. We held monthly parties

there from May through to October and it went on for around 6-7 years which was

an amazing success where each month was packed out. We felt we brought the

Ibiza vibe to our town with the quality of music, fire eaters, percussionists,

beatboxers and dancers.

You have released tracks on some of our favourite labels. Are there any releases that are your stand-out favourites or that have special memories or resonance with you?

My stand out has to be my first release on Steve Bug’s Sublease Music. This was

pretty special although at the time we thought it would flop as the month it was

released the world went into lockdown due to Covid. We felt the timing wasn’t

great as clubs were closed etc so no one would be playing the tracks, however

amazingly it was a huge success. With everyone at home many top DJs had

picked up the release supporting/playing the tracks especially ‘Bruneck’. This

appeared on DJ live streams from the likes of Nick Warren, John Digweed, Hernan

Catteneo and Anthony Pappa. Nick Warren reached out to me during lockdown as he absolutely loved the release and wanted to pass this onto Sasha which was

amazing too. Following that I had a release on Nick’s label The Soundgarden.

What else can you tell us about future releases, anything exciting in the pipeline? I’m super excited as I have a release out in June on Deepalma Records for their

10th Anniversary Ibiza compilation alongside Moby, CamelPhat, Kölsch, Maya Jane

Coles, Carl Cox & Fatboy Slim, Claptone, Purple Disco Machine and others. It’s on

all major streaming platforms and released physically too.

You run a record label Celestial Recordings, which will be 13 this year.

How have you found running a label and has it changed much from when

you started?

I’ve loved it. When it first started we had such an influx of demos and we were

releasing every week, along with quarterly compilations and touring too. A few

tracks were also signed to Roger Sanchez’s Release Yourself compilation back in

2010. Today things have definitely changed from when it first started as there are

a lot more labels and even more music out there now, however doing promos is a

little tough I find but it's all going really well still.

When producing music, do you have any favourite tools, programmes or

instruments that you just love to use?

I use Ableton to produce which I love as it’s great for my workflow which I feel is

pretty fast. I love to get sounds and ideas down quickly. Tools wise I love

Fabfilter, Sound Toys decapitator, The Push 2 and still love Ableton’s stock plugins

and enjoy sampling sounds from other records too.

Back To The Old School - Steve Kelley - Now out on Sublease Music

Where was your first gig?

My first gig was in Solihull at Rileys American Pool Bar. My cousin at the time was

manager there and he knew I’d just started to DJ. He asked me to do a Student

Night on Tuesdays there in the bar area and I used to bring my turntables to play.

It was amazing and the perfect experience to start playing in front of people. After

a few weeks the support was amazing and I built a following up.

Have you ever visited Brighton?

Yes, I went to the Brighton Music Conference a few years or so ago which was

great. I met a lot of like minded people there.

Which other DJs or producers are you liking right now?

Mihai Popivicui, Steve Bug, Audiojack, Pornbugs and Gareth Cole to name a few.

What are your go-to labels?

8bit, Deepalma, Sublease Music, Poker Flat, Bondage, Knee Deep in Sound, Still

Hot, oh and Celestial Recordings, the list goes on :)

You have compiled our latest Berlin Mixtapes Series Episode 045 - Tell us more about your mix.

The mix itself has some of my favourite tracks to date along with some older tracks

that are always in my recordbox. There’s also a track of mine that's unreleased at

the moment on there, along with my two new tracks which are out now on

Sublease Music.

What else can we expect from you soon? What's next on the horizon for DJ gigs or productions? Where can people see you next?

Gig wise I'm in Bedford Saturday June 24th at a venue called RY, Friday July 28th

I’m in Worthing playing for an event called Eivissa which is 30mins away from

Brighton funnily enough, so not far away from you guys. After that the Italian Alps and Birmingham in August, at a festival called Together based in Bedfordshire in September and then London in October at the Tileyard.

Thanks for spending some time with us, is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers?

Thanks for having me guys and also just a quick thank you to anyone that’s been supporting my music and has also been listening to my weekly Radio show on Ibiza Global Radio. All my shows can be listened back to via the usual streaming platforms.

Exciting stuff! It's been an absolute pleasure talking with you Steve. Next up here's the Quickfire Round:

Genre: Deep Tech House

Favourite Colour: Purple

What do you put on your chips? Salt and vinegar

First record ever bought: Todd Terry “Something Goin On”

Apple or Android: Apple for computer, Android for Phone

Ableton or Logic: Ableton

Can you juggle?: No

Weirdest/Coolest item of clothing: Celestial T-Shirt :)

Do you collect anything? Only Music

Best club: So many to choose but love Amnesia Terrace and for UK it has to be

Fabric

Best Beer: Neck Oil, Beavertown

Favourite place to eat: Five Guys

Favourite sausage: Cumberland

Weirdest food you have eaten? Horse and Crocodile

How do you like your eggs? Scrambled

Coffee or Tea: Coffee

Spring, summer, autumn or winter? Summer

Favourite Footy Team: Tottenham

Favourite Track right now: Pornbugs “Artica”

Favourite phrase: Told You So

3 words to describe your mix: Uplifting Chunky House.

Listen to Berlin Mixtapes - Steve Kelley - 045 - Here

Tracklist:

01. Millok, Zigelli - Feel Me - NM2

02. Nuyorica - Unfulfilled Dreams - Starlight Unlimited

03. Dennis Cruz - Una Rumbita - CRZ

04. Jiggler - Calima - Still Hot

05. Cesar Del Rio, Tatsu - Ghosts in the Night (Zetbee Remix) - Cyanide

06. Nick Curly - Silom (Mihai Popoviciu Remix) - 8bit

07. Huxley - Box Clever - 20/20 Vision

08. Because of Art, Antony Szmierek - Circle of Light (feat. Antony Szmierek) - Stress Records

09. Steve Kelley - Picture In My Mind - Unreleased

10. Audiojack - Liberation - 8bit

11. Audiojack - Cosmonaut - 8bit

12. Steve Kelley - House Music - Sublease Music

13. Steve Kelley - Back To The Old School - Sublease Music

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