Glowing Palms: The Wednesday Alternative Mix

Music

Roll up, roll up, this one is worth some attention.

Martyn Lester is a man of mystery, a throwback character with a penchant for retro synths and the energy of youth. Drawing upon inspiration from the days of Italo and the early days of Ibiza he has hand crafted a sound which is far beyond his own assumption. Appearances on Ruf Kutz, Blip Discs and in the coming weeks Ransom Note Records play testament to his taste and style in the form of a remix of Ivan Smagghe and Rupert Cross aka Smagghe and Cross's Talking To Katz EP. I mean, why else would we sign him?

As a disc jockey Glowing Palms is diverse and entertaining, as much about the Saturday night soundtrack as the vintage mixtape. A true selector in the most humble of senses. Listen and find out why below…

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

Ey uppp I'm Glowing Palms and I'm sitting on a roof terrace in the sunshine drinking a fabulous carrot, beetroot and celery juice. It's a delight of a beverage let me tell you.

I'm a Deejay, collector of VG+ records and I try really hard to produce music that people like.

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)?

Tropical Disco Tribal House Music made with a Kaleidoscope and a smirk on my face.

How have your musical tastes evolved across the years?

Genre wise things have followed the familiar flow for a gentleman of my age – starting off with Now Dance complications, Ibiza Trance and such and on to House and Techno finally settling on Disco, Chicago house, Italo and whatever's cool.

Seeing Chic live at Sonar totally changed my life – all these beautiful people dancing facing each other under a giant Disco ball. That was the precise moment when I understood disco and what was lacking (sometimes) in the more druggy house music in the other rooms. Dancing to Danielle Baldelli in the back room of Electric Chair Manchester. The room was curtained off but it was so full the curtains were bulging with people. That's when I heard all sorts of afro tunes alongside Italo hits and slow motion music. Going to Wet Play and Top Nice where one minute you're listening to Odyssey back to my roots and the next you're listening to the Gherkin Jerks.

Are you balearic?

I don't think so – I'm not a massive fan of the term anyway. It's kind of become synonymous with a certain slow house sound but I think I liked it better when it referred to the balearic parties in Ibiza where it was all about Alfredo playing pop music b-sides next to 909 house and acid.

You feature on the forthcoming RSN release, how does that make you feel?

It feels most pleasurable tbh – It's been great getting to know Ivan Smagghe a bit over the old interwebs. The original is wicked and I love David's vocals so it was fun to play around with the parts and come up with my GP lazerdome versions.

Where was the mix recorded?

Glorious sunshine pouring in through the windows of my flat and sweating my tits off doing my odd little dance on my Turkish rug. Neck bobbing in and out of time.

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

I think it's a good one to bob on when you've got your mates round and you're making little rum cocktails and you can feel the warmth of the night drawing you outside.

What should we be wearing?

I think there's two ways you can go about it. On the one hand, it's kinda hard to beat the club scene in Liquid Sky for colour and exuberance. On the other hand you gotta be able to move and sweat. Don't wear your best sneakers – don't be worrying about someone stepping on your toes – be loose and wavy – everything will be ok. I guess any party where you can spend 8 hours getting ready or 3 mins getting ready and it doesn't matter is the place to be.

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

I like to mix at my gaff as that's where all my records are. It's kinda cool when there's people in the room so long as they don't make any noise like any noise at all. I love making mixtapes – growing up I didn't have any aspirations to be a producer so my whole being was about recording mixes to be played in the car. My mate Dom used to drive around a lot at lunchtime and he'd always have older kids or hot girls in the car so i'd literally put all my energy into making a mixtape good enough that he'd play in his car. That was success.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

Loose Joints – Pop Your Funk . I just love how it sounds like a basement jam – it's the sort of groove that could go on together – the little baseline and organ groove rolling in and out makes me feel a joy and a sadness – it's life affirming stuff.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

I really love Eclair Fifi's first mixtape for LuckyMe – I can't find a link to it online but it just knocked my socks off. It's mixed with pure confidence and it makes you forget about things like genre and tempo while maintaining this flow and energy about it. It showcases how broad a music taste she has in the way she spins demos from her mates next to Drexciya records you never knew existed.

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

Look any of these big DJ's from the past i'd probably just feel really intimidated and i'd spend more time trying to impress them than actually do a good job. The best B2B i've ever had was Gottwood which was basically all the Ruf Kutz DJs with elbows out ready to kick you off at any moment – it was fierce and competitive but it was pure love and we fucking killed it.

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

Coffee I wanna be with you is flipping hard – it slows down about 5 BPM from in the first 30 seconds and from there on it's all over the place. I gave it a good crack though and it made it onto this mix.

Upcoming in the world of…

I've got this remix for Smagghe and Cross coming out soon which is sweet. I'm megga excited for my solo EP on Blip Discs Kiki/Asteroidz which drops This week. We made a computer game for it which is super awesome and there's flipping prizes for a high score and everything.