Bare Bones Waxcast 008 – Bowes
For Waxcast number 8 we welcome Manchester’s Animal Crossing resident, Bowes. Bowes or Luke as he’s known by to his friends has been making waves of late with his deep house and minimal sets. We caught up with him to ask him about the mix and what else he’s been up to.
What have you been up to recently?
Loads going on which is great! I’ve been enjoying my music recently and liking some of the stuff I’m producing a lot. It’s been a steep learning curve after only really taking it seriously at the beginning of lockdown in 2020 but I feel like I’m in a place now to start putting some stuff out there. I’ve got a release lined up in early 2022 with more info on that soon.
And then there’s also Animal Crossing. It’s been amazing having things open again and welcoming people back to the parties. The Halloween collab with fellow Manchester brand You&Me was as big as expected with 1000+ ravers having it large on the day and it was a pleasure to warm things up for that one.
The AC crew and I also flew over to Venice to play at After Caposile in October after we welcomed them to The Loft. The venue they have there is truly special and it’s safe to say they know how to party! So that was a memorable one for sure.
I couldn’t answer this question without also mentioning that I have a baby girl on the way, due pretty much any day now. So, life is about to change in a big way but for the better!
You, mentioned you are part of the Animal Crossing crew making waves in Manchester. How did that all come about?
Yep. It’s a story that spans over more than a decade really. Olli and Danny (Faiz) I’ve known for a long time, basically since school. Joey, Ryan I became close with a little later but we all share the same love for the music and enjoying it together.
I joined Animal Crossing just before the first party and played my first gig at the after party at Dale House (if you know you know). The rest as they say is history!
You now even have your own club called “The Loft” and a very successful festival. The lineup’s so far have been really impressive, so what are the plans for the future?
Yeah, it’s a pleasure to be a resident and part of the team at The Loft. I remember the first time we went to go and view the space after finding it online and the transition from then to now is mental. The future is very bright for that place.
December at The Loft is looking big with an extended set from the master Raresh on the 4th and a 16-hour NYD marathon. You can head over to the @theloftmcr Instagram for more info on this month’s shows!
As for the Summer of Love, the dates are set for round 2 (27th and 28th August) with a lineup we are sure will blow the first edition out of the water. SOL 2021 really had that great festival vibe so it’s going to be amazing recreating that and more for round 2.
Eyes peeled for some more information to be released soon! @summeroflove_festival
Sounds great! Who would be the dream booking if you could book any DJ or act?
Well, it was RPR but that one’s been ticked off. Next up would have to be Ricardo. You never quite know what you’re going to get and I think that’s part of the excitement.
Moving on to your Waxcast mix which is wicked. Where and how the mix was recorded?
At home in the room where I’m currently keeping all my records and decks (soon to be baby’s nursery so need to work something out there haha). 2 x technics sl1210s and a Xone 92 – simple but effective.
Can you tell us the idea behind the mix and the vibe you wanted to go for?
I wanted to start off quite deep and there is no better man than Delano Smith to do that. Delano is one of my favourite producers and I’ve got a lot of his records.
Then I moved in to some more up-tempo records that I’ve recently bought. I feel like the records I enjoy playing now have changed a lot over the last year. I’m really liking some of the more up-tempo tracks with almost electro-like sounds. Whereas say 1-2 years ago it was almost exclusively the Romanian style.
I also really enjoy digging around for older tunes from the 90s/early 2000s with that same vibe as there’s so much timeless stuff out there. So, planning to do plenty more of that.
Finally, what are your plans for 2022?
Well, I can’t reveal too much about AC and The Loft at this stage but rest assured there are big plans in the pipeline. Essentially, we want to keep building on that momentum and keep taking things to the next level.
And for me personally, I’ve got some pretty big goals in mind for 2022. All achievable though I think providing I keep at it 🙂