Tag: dj

The in & outbound train DJ mixes

The Future Is Europe 6 floor Mural in Brussels. Belgium. Maalbeek metro station
Seems Europe is a good excuse to do some DJ mixing too

Recently on a conference trip to Amsterdam for the excellent PublicSpaces conference, I took the Eurostar and it was a interesting experience with the whole outbound ride taking 11hours (its a long story but glad I over spent on food at London as it things get real when the food runs out in the eurostar’s onboard shops. Don’t get me wrong a journey which should have taken 6 hours maximum gets tiresome once you get to 11hours! But power and wireless did help, even if fresh water started getting a bit low.

However this gave me plenty of time to play with the Drift DJ Zero (upcoming post). It also gave me time to do a mix and redefine it a bit on the way back.

These 2 mixes are a bit of cheat, as one was done on the way to Amsterdam (outbound) and home to Manchester (inbound). However I redid the outbound one, with some new tunes Dirty SI recommended. It doesn’t exactly tally but its stuck now. You will notice the first 3 tunes are the same but mixed slightly differently.

Anyway here the mixes are now live on my own peertube site (which has a problem, every-time I upgrade) and on rankett webmixgarden.

Enjoy the mixes and look out for me if you are lucky enough to get a super rare EMFcamp ticket.

Leaving Centraal : the outbound mix

00:00 The storm – Interitus Dei
05:47 Tell nobody – Basil O’Glue
08:49 Earth mover – Cosmic gate
12:44 Running up the hill (jerome isma-ae bootleg) – Placebo
17:18 For your mind (extended mix) – Ferry Corsten
21:54 Remember the future – Ferry Tayle & TonKs pres. Mirage
27:15 Stresstest (John Askew Remix) – John O’callaghan
33:49 Blah blah blah – Armin Van Buuren
38:11 Bring Back The Techno (Extended Mix) – Orjan Nilsen, Mark Sixma, nilsix
41:09 Erase – Brooks Aleksander
44:40 Leave a message – Will Atkinson
48:46 Extortion (Extended Mix) – EverLight
53:06 Outlaw (Extended Mix) – Fatum

Home to Manchester: The Inbound mix

00:00:00 The storm – Interitus Dei
00:04:25 Tell nobody – Basil O’Glue
00:07:56 Earth mover – Cosmic gate
00:11:24 Fiction (Extended mix) – Jerome Isma-Ae
00:15:35 For your mind (extended mix) – Ferry Corsten
00:19:55 Remember The Future (Extended Mix) – Ferry Tayle & TonKs pres. Mirage
00:24:35 Never (H3rtz Bootleg Rework) – The Roc Project Feat. Tina Arena
00:29:33 Seven cities (V-one’s living cities mix) – Solar Stone
00:35:30 Ecstasy – Eddie Makabi fest Einat
00:39:53 Back 2 Again (Extended Mix) – Apaches
00:45:06 Grotesque – RAM & Alex M.O.R.P.H
00:51:00 Blah Blah Blah (extedned mix) Armin Van Buuren

 

Under a solar republica sky mix

An AI altered view of Berlin's spa (liquiddrome) With 2 people sitting on a bench looking at the unique sky

I spent a good amount of time in Berlin, Germany recently for the fantastic Republica conference.

This was recorded on a Ryanair flight (I luckily booked my flights over 3 months ago) using a number of even newer tunes. I had to do quite a bit of editing from the different times when my arm was knocked but it turned out pretty well.

I tried to recreate it on the way back but honestly, the first one was better although I did prefer some of the second mix tunes but it didn’t flow as much. I especially love the mix from Remember the future – Ripsaw!

All recorded on my ageing Pacemaker device, but the drift DJ alpha testing is getting better everyday. So look out, a whole mix might be coming soon.

The Drift DJ Zero sat on a Ryan Air seat rest

The cover art comes from a shot I took of Liquidrome, near the hotel I was at. There was a football game happening and so I used Gemini to remove the football match then touched up the colours, etc myself. It was hot in Berlin all week and it was great to have the long bright nights.

The playlist is…

00:00:00 Voices In My Head x Insomnia (Stephani B Mashup) – Faithless
00:01:34 Mandy (extended mix) – 2nd Phase
00:04:38 Dare me – Hayley Parsons
00:08:54 Extortion (Extended mix) – Everlight
00:15:07 Remember The Future (Extended Mix) – Ferry Tayle & TonKs pres. Mirage
00:19:17 Never (H3rtz Bootleg Rework) – The Roc Project Feat. Tina Arena
00:24:02 Seven cities (V-one’s living cities mix) – Solar Stone
00:30:11 Ripsaw – Everlight
00:34:09 La Verità (Extended Mix) – Alex Merk & U-Mount
00:38:14 Catch Me (Aumak Extended Remix) – Ormus
00:42:57 Rise Again (Extended Mix) – Adam Lumina
00:46:02 Stresstest (John Askew Remix) – John O’callaghan
00:52:34 Adagio In G Minor (Extended Mix) – DIM3NSION

Anyway enjoy the mix on peertube either on my own mixgarden or on rankett at a lower quality.

Drift DJ alpha testing and mixing

I finally found sometime after working with the Drift Zero team, to install the latest alpha build. Things have been hectic for a while but one night I got some time to play.

It was great, although I didn’t really know all the buttons, so I was just working it out by pressing and playing. Its only today I seen the video explaining it all (although I should have spent more time on the discord group)

Drift DJ quick shot

Anyway with me feeling around, I was able to create a few mixes but found a problem where some of my tunes were cooked/garbled but I had no idea why. This is obviously the bug and should be fixed pretty soon.

Honestly the device is excellent and I’m looking forward to more time with it, especially now I know what the buttons should do and I can use the recorder. I have a flight to Berlin for Republica 2026 and a series of long trains to Amsterdam for PublicSpaces, so plenty of time to really play.

Being optimistic, I also entered a session into EMFCamp 2026 to potentially DJ live using the Zero or Pacemaker Device as a backup. Considered a DJ hackday at EMFCamp but decided maybe next time.

The shadow of concrete ruins mix

Its been a while since I created a mix on the Pacemaker device, but a recent trip to Budapest gave me some time to try out a few new tunes in a mix.

This mix is a real banger, with a lot of really great tunes alongside some classic ones to anchor the mix. Weirdly enough, the mp3 recorder ran out of battery just near the end and I had to recreate the last 3 tunes. Sadly the Pacemaker’s digital recorder isn’t reliable enough on the newer firmware’s so I use the recorder just in-case.

Hopefully soon I’ll be using the Drift DJ zero… Especially since I can now access the internal linux terminal.

Remember to turn it up loud, and I’ll upload the full quality version soon, the rankett peertube is always available.

00:00:00 – The Wolf (Extended Mix) – Fatum
00:04:24 – Turn it up (Extended mix) – Armin van Buuren
00:09:47 – Extortion (Extended Mix) – EverLight
00:14:32 – Panic room – David Forbes
00:18:00 – Energy Crash (Extended Mix) – Maarten de Jong
00:22:25 – Ripsaw – EverLight
00:26:27 – Killer instinct – Sneijder & Bryan Kearney
00:30:10 – Silver Bath (Glyn Waters Remake) – Plastic Boy
00:34:47 – Back 2 Again (Extended Mix) – Apaches
00:39:56 – Fragments – Nano Mechanic
00:43:24 – Sweet Little Girl (Voolgarizm Remix) – Mario Piu
00:47:26 – Exposed – MIKE pres Plastic Boy
00:51:52 – Bring back the techno (extended mix) – Orjan Nilsen, Mark Sixma, Nilsix
00:54:04 – Inferno – Carl Cox
59:13:10 – Leave a message – Will Atkinson

My new years resolutions for 2026

Me and Alison sat at a bar looking at the camers

Following my review of last year… here’s my New Years Resolutions for 2026 which follows on from 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 ones.

  1. Work smarter with the business
    With the new business, I’m getting to grips with the general running of it. However there is a load of things to learn including some of the possibilities had not considered before like the benefits of being a digital nomad.
  2. Finish my dating book
    Another throw back to 2025, As described in my review; Hannah is having one last review before it heads out to the list of agents and publishers I have found. I’ll give a bit of time but afterwards I’ll be self publishing it myself by the end of 2025. Alongside this, myself and Jess have started a currently unreleased but very related podcast. I would be foolish to not mention the online datingmanifesto.cc.
    Some of the pages from my own written book
  3. Do more with the scooter
    I recently MOT’ed my currently scooter but considering I should keep it or sell it? I have been looking around at buying another scooter. I recently spotted a Yamaha TMAX 650 in Barcelona which looks so great and a better choice than the Honda Forza 750, which has poor storage. The dreams of a electric maxi-scooter have all but gone however.
  4. Listen to 28 Audiobooks in a year
    Its surprising how many books I’m going through but this year I’m going to push a bit more. Next year is 30 which will be a leap but a good stretch goal, encouraging me to listen when I tend to just play some of my mixes.
  5. Create a DJ hackday
    It’s time for a DJ hackday, I just got a early alpha of the Drift DJ one and I just can’t help but think its time for change.in the DJ market. Especially reading this post about the Pacemaker device, which spurred me to look back through my old presentations about how ground breaking it is/was.
    Pacemaker DJ device sat next to a Drift DJ one on a table
  6. Spend more time with family
    My parents are getting older and I am quite far away from them. My dad has a degenerative disease and its weighed heavy on my actions and mind. Spending more time with them and the rest of my extended family is something I can do better in 2026. I still have a lot of time for friends and want to get a bit more serious about them, rather than leaving it to the last minute. Of course Alison is someone I think about a lot; now being engaged, I’m thinking a lot more about our future together and how to make this the best it can be together.
  7. Personal knowledge management and task re-managed
    I’m a little torn. Vikunja is good, so is Anytype.but the hard part is the initial capture. Something I started doing is using the notes to yourself in Signal to do the start of something I guess I should be using Anytype but I feel like I need to do the categorisation at the same time. I also wonder if I actually trust anytype? With Joplin, its all local and I can understand the model, anytype I find more tricky.
    Vikunja’s dependence on the UI does bug me, as one of the big selling points was the CALDav integration. Then I find the login a pain every single time, i reboot I’m going to try self hosting it again and find a way to do a 3 way sync if possible?
  8. Go to a new Rollercoaster park or ride a new ride
    A regular resolution but a good one with a twist. I recently went back to Helsinki and seriously enjoyed Taiga at Linnanmäki. Certainly in my top 10. I still haven’t been on Hyperia either, although waiting in the queue for a long time. 2026 has to be the year!

    Taiga rollercoaster inverted in action
    Copyright by Justin Garvanovic – https://rcdb.com/7722.htm
  9. Learn when to self-host and when to not
    Related to the one above, I am getting the message about self-hosting. I think its great but there are times when I need to be more thoughtful. With this, its likely a good idea to either considering owning a VPS (which I have done in the past) or shell out money for hosted solutions. To be fair my  Vikunja is exactly that and so is my Wallabag and even this blog. Both I could self-host but have decided to just pay the money and use the export to satisfy ownership needs.
  10. Get more experimental with my Sourdough bread
    I have quite enjoyed baking bread thanks to my friend Paul sharing his starter. I’m not planning to get super serious about it but listening to the chapter titled Air in Cooked, I feel I experiment a bit more. Its ben fun and playing with Spelt and other flours is just the start.
  11. Go to a new country
    As always this a good one and I’m looking at you Switzerland, Czechia and Austria again. Although I am also thinking South Korea after needing to cancel in the pandemic and part of me wants to head to Taiwan but maybe I’m going to be too late?
  12. Learn to drive a car
    I’m keeping this one alive, especially since seeing some of my god/page children driving now. I know its been in my new resolutions for ages but maybe 2026 is the year finally?

The past and the future of portable DJing in one shot

A Pacemaker device and the Drift Zero one sat next to each other on a table top. Both are turned on
The past and the future of portable DJing in one shot.

A post was recently share on the Drift DJ discord.
The pacemaker when djing went pocket sized and the world wasnt ready

Its a really good piece about the massive leap the Pacemaker device provided way back in 2008. In short the device was up against smartphones like the iphone. Smartphones turned everything down to software.

…the idea of carrying a dedicated device for DJing felt quaint when your phone could theoretically do the same thing via an app

Theres mentions of Tonium’s attempts with the Blackberry playbook, something I used and absolutely hated after my bad experience. Then the change to software, on the iOS platform with the first to have Spotify integration. But I do like the nod to the community and people like myself who modified their Pacemaker devices with a SSD, new battery and replacing the firmware with unofficial builds. I actually use one of the unofficial ones on one device and the last official one on another for live mixing and stability.

But best of all is the ambition of the Pacemaker device. Its what got me to buy my very first one back in 2007.

Looking back at the Pacemaker now, it feels like a glimpse of a future that never quite materialised. The device represented a genuine attempt to rethink DJing for a mobile-first world, to distil the essence of club culture into something genuinely portable without compromising on functionality. It had vision, ambition, and genuine innovation behind it. The execution was largely solid, the feature set comprehensive, and the user experience thoughtfully designed. In many ways, it was exactly what it promised to be: the world’s first truly portable professional DJ system.

For those who owned one, used one, or simply appreciated what it tried to do, the Pacemaker remains a fascinating piece of music technology history. It’s a reminder that sometimes the most interesting innovations aren’t the ones that achieve mainstream success but rather the ones that push boundaries, challenge assumptions, and show what’s possible when you’re willing to think differently about established conventions.

In the picture, I put the Pacemaker device next to the Drift DJ zero and suggest this could be everything the Pacemaker promised and very almost delivered on. Its clear portable DJ systems are incredible and provide all types of possibilities not realised. Maybe its time for a #DJhackday?

Drift Zero DJ, alpha testing

The Drift DJ Zero on top of a box with Ian written on it

I have been using the Pacemaker device for I believe 17 years now but I have been looking around for the next generation of DJ tools. It was Si who first sent me the Drift DJ zero and I was sold pretty much straight away.

Under a year later, I have have signed up as a alpha tester and today it came in the post from Chicago.

Its quite an incredible device, with the level of quality I expect will last even the most crazy DJ performances. Its small (its just a bit bigger a profile than my Pixel 9 pro, likely same size as the XL one) and its lighter than I expected, not pacemaker device light but easy to carry or host on a tray table on a train or plane. (Can’t wait to see the faces of KLM staff in the near future). All the buttons and nobs are solid and tactile in a way only another DJ would understand. The weighting and feedback is just right, while the screen is just delightful to see. Navigation is pretty intuitive as I haven’t looked at any documentation at all to date.

Drift DJ in the dark on a desk

As this is the alpha, its not got a lot of the features like DJing or library control but the testers have access to a git repo to upload updates via USB. Not played enough yet but I have been told I can SSH into the device for extreme levels of control. When the official build becomes available, I will also receive one for the testing my feedback; which I feel is a fantastic deal.

One thing is for clear, I really need to sort out my music library, because the Pacemaker editor was prehistoric and I never managed it.

Expect updates and who knows a mix or two in the near future…

Recursive rhythms: the bring back techno ciento climb mix

Close up photo of the Pacemaker DJ device while sitting on a flight
Pacemaking on British Airlines

Conference season is pretty much over and my last event was the excellent Mozilla Festival, this time in Barcelona. I took a KLM flight via Amsterdam on the way and created the base of a interesting mix. On the way back I flew via Heathrow on BA (a reminder how much I don’t like Heathrow, and use to fly from Gatwick when I could).

On my BA flight, I re-did the mix with a few tweaks and the resulting mix was created. Created using the very ageing Pacemaker device on KLM and remix/raised on BA? as such?

Its a strange one because there is a bit of reusing of the same tunes, which isn’t a thing you do when DJing, but it kind of worked. Also maybe the early mornings, 4 hours of sleep and climbing what felt like 100 steps to the festival, had gotten to me?

What ever it is, I have been enjoying this longer mix, as it includes new tunes, especially Bring back the techno which I also heard DJ B Jones playing on the Saturday night party.

Enough typing… You can listen to the mix in full quality on my mixgarden or at reasonable quality here too.

  1. 00:00:00 – Vibration (extended mix) – Redub
  2. 00:03:16 – Intruder – Armin vs M.I.K.E
  3. 00:06:31 – My beat (jan Driver mix) – Blaze
  4. 00:11:18 – Rerflection (extended mix)  – Ferry Corsten
  5. 00:14:46 – Emotions Of Colour (Extended Mix) – Cosmic Gate & Gid Sedgwick
  6. 00:19:48 – Ecstasy – Eddie Makabi feat Einat
  7. 00:24:12 – Bring back the techno (extended mix) – Orjan neilson, Mark sixma, nilsix
  8. 00:27:41 – Eclipse – Neo
  9. 00:31:15 – Inferno – Carl Cox
  10. 00:35:43 – Mass Noise 2015 – fred baker & Seb B
  11. 00:39:35 – Whites of her eyes – Simon Patterson
  12. 00:43:59 – You (extended mix) – Cosmic gate
  13. 00:46:48 – Emotions Of Colour (Extended Mix) – Cosmic Gate & Gid Sedgwick
  14. 00:52:13 – Silver bath (Adam El-Sayed 2015 rework – Plastic boy
  15. 00:56:48 – Outlaw (extended mix) – Fatum
  16. 01:00:57 – Bring back the techno ((Extended Mix) – Orjan Nilsen, Mark Sixma (Nilsix)
  17. 01:02:40 – Anasthasia (Extended Mix) – Mark Sixma vs T99

Helsinki familiar stranger mix

Two strangers watch a cocktail being made in a dim lit bar with a bartender facing them.

About a month ago I was in Helsinki for the Mydata conference, one of the things I like to do is find new places. A guy I knew from Manchester suggested a really amazing speakeasy place to me, while I complained about the sugar-horrific gin & lemon in a can  one night.

So I checked it out and thought it was a fantastic bar, although having your phone locked away when you needed to know the last train is quite something. However I met a stranger at the bar and we talked for a while and even walked back to the train station. Then on a second night after going to the theme park in Helsinki, he was there again. Although not a familiar stranger, it was some inspiration for this mix.

Recorded on the flights back to Manchester and a bit of tweaking, I present the Helsinki familiar stranger mix at 192k on peertube and now finally on my own peetube mixgarden in full quality.

  1. 00:00:00 – Industry – Green Martian
  2. 00:05:49 – Bloodmoon (Extended mix) – Jarome Isma & Tone Depth
  3. 00:10:59 – Intruder – Armnin vs M.I.K.E
  4. 00:16:39 – Erase – Brooks Aleksander
  5. 00:20:14 – Inferno – Carl Cox
  6. 00:24:39 – Eclipse – Neo
  7. 00:28:08 – Shnokel (Thank you city remix) – Ido Ophir, Miki Litvak
  8. 00:30:56 – Open up (full vocal mix) – Leftfield
  9. 00:33:56 – Circles – Robert Nickson
  10. 00:39:02 – Seven Cities (V-one’s living cities mix) – Solar Stone
  11. 00:45:03 – Home (Cosmic gate remix – Paul Van Dyk Feat Johnny Mcdaid
  12. 00:50:50– Indigo – 4×4

Terminal velocity unhindered by dark clouds mix

Flying high into dark stormy clouds with KLM

I flew to Amsterdam and travelled around the Netherlands via trains recently. As usual I started a new mix slowly building on it with new tunes as I went around the Netherlands. There are quite a few new tunes added but the final mix was done on a KLM flight back to Manchester.

During that flight, a flight assistant asked me about the Pacemaker device. Its not the first and won’t be the last, as I have had not only flight assistants but even fellow passengers ask about it. I still remember when a KLM flight assistant mistaken the Pacemaker device for a walkie talkie? Honestly our conversation was really good, and who knows maybe she will read this and have a smile on her face.

Also reminds me I need to have cards just for Digital Italic and my mixes (Moo cards I got a order for you!)

Anyway about the mix… This long worded mix is longer than usual but keeps the pace of about 140bpm. This mix is a real back and forth with some vocal trance alongside tech trance. I have been listening to this mix quite a lot since coming back and still find it great.

Finally I’m finding a bit more time to fix parts of my setup, but for now my mixes exists on Peertube only.

Enjoy this mix and play it loud!

00:00:00 – Witness – Baced! vs Aces delight

00:04:16 – Lost in you (Extended mix) – Scorz feat Adriana Stone
00:08:50 – Sequence (Extended mix) – Estiva
00:13:53 – Marama (Moon & Stars) – Ferry Corsten presents Gouryella feat Saskia Lie Atjam
00:18:41 – Tell nobody – Basil O’Glue
00:26:41 – Decade (extended) – Chris Element
00:31:02 – Arist of your life (Extended mix) – London & Niko
00:36:37 – Brute (Extended mix) – Ferry Corsten and Armin Van Buuren
00:42:38 – Massive motion – M.I.K.E
00:47:27 – Mission – Basil O’Glue & Nomas
00:50:42 – Dark side of the moon (RYDEX extended remix) – Susana
00:54:21 – Energy crash (Extended mix) – Maarten De Jong