RA Podcast

The London artist talks about self-doubt, overcoming creative blocks and her forthcoming album on Hyperdub.

Today's guest has spent the last decade proving that electronic music is an insufficient label for what she does. Since her landmark Hyperdub debut, For You and I, in 2019, Loraine James has moved through the world of IDM, glitch and ambient with a rare kind of emotional transparency. Whether producing club music under her own name or making ambient soundscapes under her experimental alias, Whatever The Weather, her work often feels like a diary—not just of her life, but of her creative evolution.

But as any artist will tell you, the path from one album to the next is rarely a straight line. Following the success and personal pride of 2023's Gentle Confrontation, James found herself at a crossroads. In this Exchange, she sits down with RA's multimedia editor, Bella Aquilina, to discuss the difficult second act of her career—a process marked by self-doubt, creative blocks and the surprising freedom found in the word "pop."

James talks about the "11-degree" sound; why the grey, undecided London weather shapes her sonic palette; how she navigated imposter syndrome after a popular record; her "failed" stint as a DJ; her love for Venue MOT and Corsica Studios; and why she's finally ready to leave the bedroom and return to the dance floor. Her forthcoming album on Hyperdub, Detached From The Rest of You, is out on May 8th. Listen to the episode in full.

The ATW Records boss and honorary prince of UK Garage steps up with a mix that might surprise you.

From the post-lockdown school of UK garage producers, Adam Emil Schierbeck, AKA Main Phase, is a rare international graduate. The Copenhagen producer has closely studied the British sound, shaping an international garage revival in his wake.

Schierback stands as one of UK Garage's premiere tastemakers. Ordained as the king of the speed garage shuffler, a Main Phase track is easy to spot: infectious swing and rippling melodies, underpinned by a sensual, determined mood. With Interplanetary Criminal, he now co-runs ATW Records, invigorating what was once a exploratory imprint into one of the scene's most crucial nurturers of new talent.

Some listeners might press play expecting the corybantic ragga edits of "100%," but patience is required: what you may expect from a Main Phase set only pokes its head out briefly (there's exactly one speed garage drop, two hours in).

Instead, treat RA.1030 as Main Phase 101. Opening with a dub-techno soundbath, the mix traces the roots and outer edges of his sound, and lands like an artistic statement he has been building towards since he was an awestruck teenager, racing home to catch Rinse FM.

Read more at ra.co/podcast/1049

@mainphase001
@atwrec

The vinyl purist discusses his late-career ascent, the discipline of the marathon set and the shifting class dynamics threatening the underground.

In an era where the word "techno" is often used as a broad marketing catch-all, Alessio Armeni, AKA Freddy K, stands as one of the sound's most uncompromising activists.

The Berlin-based DJ and Key Vinyl label head has spent over three decades operating in every corner of the industry. From his early days on Rome's Virus Radio in the '90s to his legendary 16-hour vinyl marathons at Berlin's now-defunct party Homopatik, he has seen the culture from the perspective of a record store clerk, a distributor, a label boss and now a global headliner.

But as his own star has risen, Armeni has become increasingly vocal about the cracks forming in the foundation of the scene he loves. In this RA Exchange, he discusses the renewed normalisation of all-male lineups, the rising upper-class barrier to entry in DJ culture and the complex economics of vinyl—a medium he champions as the industry's lifeblood, even as it becomes a luxury good.

Armeni also reflects on his own trajectory; at 40, believing his dream of being a successful DJ had passed, he moved to Berlin to dedicate himself to a life behind the scenes. A change in tide swept him into the global spotlight, and more than ten years later, he contemplates the power of perseverance. Listen to the episode in full.

The singular percussionist turns inward for a rare solo excursion.

Valentina Magaletti at the drums is a picture of freedom: laughing, loose-limbed, entirely absorbed. For RA.1029, the London-based percussionist channels that instinct into a rare solo outing—a personal excursion through her musical archive. The atmosphere moves as freely as she plays, shifting from ominous and claustrophobic passages to contemplative field recordings.

Collaboration is one of the central ways she continually reinvents herself, whether it be spiritual dub excursions with Shackleton and Holy Tongue, or post-punk melancholia with Moin. As she told The Guardian in 2024, "dialogue is more interesting than monologue." Take her work with Princípe associate Nídia, in which she used Angolan kuduro as a springboard for new acoustic visions of dance music.

But Magaletti is also a solo artist in her own right, and RA.1029 is the sound of her own monologue. The 90-minute mix sees her roving through her personal archive, from wild drum excursions and Midwestern industrial to frenetic free jazz, eerie gqom and Ukrainian electro. It captures, she says, her current inner state, a feeling of being "suspended between introspection and anticipation." Fitting, then, for a groundbreaking artist who thrives in the spaces in between.

Find the tracklist and Q&A at ra.co/podcast/1048
@magadrum

The contemporary face of garage talks about obsession, overnight success and his turn towards a more mature image and sound.

Over the last few years, Zac Bruce—better known as Interplanetary Criminal—has become the definitive face of a global garage resurgence. He seemingly appeared overnight with his 2022 chart-topping anthem, Baddest Of Them All, made with singer Eliza Rose. But his story extends far beyond this career-defining moment. His journey is one of deep-rooted obsession: from the quiet stillness of producing lo-fi and jungle in his bedroom in Leeds, to co-founding the ATW (All Thru the Night) imprint, a label that has become a lighthouse for a new generation of garage heads.

This last year was a whirlwind for Bruce. He headlined a show at Brixton Academy and played at major festival stages around the world. But as you’ll hear in this conversation with RA editor Gabe Szatan, Bruce isn’t interested in the shallow shine of accolades. He’s a selector in the truest sense—someone who spends as much time digging for obscure white labels as he does A&Ring the next wave of talent.

He and Szatan also touch on the epidemic of “edit culture;” the cost of maintaining artistic integrity; his transition from the "silliness" of his early viral moments to a more mature sound; and the community of peers that make his ATW universe feel less like a brand and more like a family. This one has been a long time coming. Listen to the episode in full.