Ariane V: The ‘Shine A Light On’ Mix

Thanks to her refined tastes, which you can hear on her monthly radio show on South London’s Balamii, individually she’s been picking up regular slots across London and the UK, with an upcoming debut overseas in Slovakia soon.

Best listened to as a little Friday night sonic pre-amble or to soundtrack your home cooking, Ariane’s Shine A Light offering is an hour and a half journey through laidback jams, cosmic chuggers, uplifting vocal house and driving progressive cuts, with a couple of tracks from her native Czech Republic thrown in the mix.

Please introduce yourself… Who are you, where are you and what are you

I’m Adriana, or Ariane V, I respond to either. My own mistake picking a DJ name that is so close to my actual name that it confuses people. Right now at this moment I am in bed at home in Brixton, London, with my cat Benji snuggled up next to me. I am a chronic procrastinator and I am Czech.

What does your music sound like? Can you draw what you think it sounds like for us (an image from the old internet is acceptable)? 

To be serious though, I will play absolutely anything I can fit into a house set without it sounding like monotonous doof doof.

Where was the mix recorded?

In my living room during a rare hour (and a half) when none of my housemates had any work calls.

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?

A Friday evening on the way back from work – take you from nodding along on the bus to bopping around the kitchen. People tend to say my mixes are good for cooking, so maybe just the kitchen actually.

What should we be wearing?

Slippers.

What would be your dream setting to record a mix: Location/system/format?

Anywhere with functioning monitors and cue buttons.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

Alex Neri – The Wizard (Club Mix). My housemate James and I are a bit obsessed with it, and the entire Ciao Italia compilation on Rebirth records generally. It just makes me really happy. I’m also glad I managed to fit in two Czech tracks, released on Czech labels too. They’re ‘To chce mit svuj system (Torr and Rich reinterpretation dub)’ released on Little Beat Different, and Karel Svoboda – Navstevnici Theme (Pavel Bidlo Re-edit) released on Vivacity. Both are amazing synthy chuggers.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

Either Nicolas Jaar’s XLR8R podcast or Midland’s Essential Mix. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to any other mixes as many times as these two. I listened to them religiously when I was learning how to DJ six years ago. I know them by heart at this point.

If you could go back to back with any DJ from throughout history, who would it be and why?

I am obsessed with Telephones. And Luca Lozano. And Alex Kassian. And Luke Una. And ALFOS. Oh and Soichi Terada, simply because I’ve never seen anyone as happy behind the decks as him. I got stuck on this question for too long thinking of all the legendary classic DJs from the 90s but I think I would find that so nerve racking I probably wouldn’t be able to keep up in the b2b. I’d rather pick DJs whose sound I’m really loving at the moment and steal all their track IDs.

What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?

A Technics 1200, a Technics 1210, and an Ecler NUO 2.0. I now replaced my mixer with a Pioneer XDJ-RX to be able to play digital too, plus it’s really handy when it comes to recording mixes.

What’s more important, the track you start on or the track you end on?

I often have a closing track in mind when playing a set but absolutely no idea what track I’ll start on, it’s too dependent on what the DJ playing before me ends on. So hopefully closing track, otherwise I’m probably approaching this entire DJing thing wrong.

What were the first and last records you bought?

The first record was one of several in a bulk order on Discogs which included DJ Sotofett – Drippin’ for a Tripp and Moodymann – I Can’t Kick This Feeling When It Hits. The last one was Elado Edits on Razor N’ Tape. I heard Nick the Record play Gulab Jamun from that EP at Houghton and it blew my mind.

If this mix was an edible thing, what would it taste like?

Fresh bread with salted butter and a few chilli flakes.

If it was an animal what would it be?

A duck.

One record in your collection that is impossible to mix into anything?

Everything’s possible to mix. It might just clang a bit.

Upcoming in the world of Ariane V

Same old I think. Things have started picking up this year with regular gigs and promoters trusting me with peak time slots – I’m really grateful for that and I hope it stays that way. I’m playing at Corsica later on in September at an Incienso showcase with Anthony Naples, run by my friends who run the Cabin Fever nights. I’m also playing in Newcastle in a month and in Slovakia later on too. Ever so slowly starting to branch out of London. I have my monthly Balamii show too. I’d also love to find some time to get back into organising DJ workshops again – I really love helping people get into DJing, it’s one of the most fulfilling things I do, so I’d love to get back into it.

Anything else we need to discuss?

I don’t think so, thank you so much for having me 🙂