Lights Down Low: Erol Alkan

Event Details

Erol Alkan has lived many different guises so far; DJ, remixer, label founder, club promoter, radio host, and each with great success. Keen to keep moving forwards, what, one might wonder, allows Alkan to remain such a vital figure in contemporary music, both in the DJ booth, in the studio and beyond? “I am not afraid of change,” Alkan considers. “I have faith that if I’m playing great records that people will connect to them, and I try to stay true to that.” Playing records comes easy to Erol, having spent the past two decades at it wherever possible, from a beginning sneaking out of his bedroom to fend off brutish American rock purists while spinning British indie records in small West End nightclubs, to his current club sets that explore the bleeding edge of underground, off-kilter house, techno and disco, albeit to a somewhat more enthusiastic audience. For all of his love of collaboration and nurturing new talent, Alkan is still more than at home alone behind the decks in a club near you, professing to be as excited about DJing as ever before. Despite playing in the club for over a decade, it was only this year that saw the release of his ‘Fabriclive 77’ mix, designed specifically for the London club’s cavernous main room, and featuring doses of Phantasy (including new Alkan track 'Sub Conscious', made especially for the mix) among music from compatriot labels such as LIES, Running Back and Optimo Trax. Critically acclaimed, it was hailed by The Ransom Note for its effortless combination of both “the peak time, and the cerebral.”