BARE BONES WAXCAST 007 – Craig Hamilton

For Waxcast number 7 we welcome the Glasgow DJ / Producer Craig Hamilton. Craig heads up the brand Flatpack Traxx, and label The Outer Circle. Having played all over the world, his music represents deep underground house sounds, but he continues to pull influence from disco, funk, techno, jazz and soul. We caught up with Craig to see what he’s been up to and ask about the guest mix.

What have you been up to recently?

I’ve been running the record shop online pretty much full time as well as working away on some new material in the studio. Over the last month or so I have been back playing gigs alongside Gourlay after the pandemic put everything on hold, playing to an intimate crowd at the Platform 18 hidden stage as well as Johnny Johnny at Dockers sound series.

Where and how the mix was recorded?

The mix was recorded in my flat using the Omnitronic TRM 202 rotary mixer with a lot of new vinyl that I had picked up and hadn’t had the chance to play, including some promotional white labels that had been sent me over the past year.

Can you tell us the idea behind the mix and the vibe you wanted to go for?

The main idea behind the mix was to play some vinyl that I hadn’t really had a chance to play yet with the vibe of the mix being deep and minimal house.

Are there any plans to release new music on FPT?

At the moment I plan to keep Flatpack Traxx as my online record shop. I feel that the brand works better in that format. I have a new label The Outer Circle, we did our first release in 2019 which was well received and championed by the likes of Traumer, Rossi and Chris Stussy. The second release dropped earlier on this year which comprised of tracks written in the studio during lockdown. Throughout the lockdown we did several digital only releases through our Bandcamp page. The Outer Circle started life as an all day party to bring together the minimal house scene within Scotland and beyond, so I felt that it was the right way to go in terms of putting out releases.

Do you have any upcoming gigs or music releases?

I have a track on a compilation ‘Beat It Cancer’ that has been put together by Deeplomatic in aid of Breast Cancer UK and Children With Cancer UK that has just been released. In addition to this I have been working on a lot of new material in the studio, so I am hoping to get some of this out on vinyl in the future for The Outer Circle. In terms of gigs, I’m supporting Kepler for Dbt here in Glasgow alongside Gourlay and the Dbt residents. I’m also working on a future Outer Circle event but nothing is set in stone yet.

How are the vinyl sales at the moment?

It’s up and down all the time, new legislation has certainly made it more difficult to import and export. Plus, with pressing plants at capacity with up to 9 month waiting times at some plants it’s hard to say really. I think that there will always be purists who will buy the format so I don’t see it dying off anytime soon.

What are your plans for 2022?

Just to focus on building momentum after a long period where we couldn’t really do much, release some new material as well as continue with the label and studio.