People: Interviews

Anthony McGinley

ABSOLUTE., DJ

Anthony McGinley (artist name ABSOLUTE.) was recently the recipient of Pete Tong’s much respected weekly Essential New Tune with his new track, String Theory. Hailed as a future star by Tiga and one to watch by Mixmag, this east Londoner is definitely on the rise. We caught up with him to find out about a few of his favourite things.

Details

For restaurants, I recently went to Bao in Borough Market for a birthday, everything is delicious right down to the yakult float and they have a karaoke room in the basement if you’re feeling lively. I also love Jim’s on Chatsworth Rd in Clapton, for a perfect local brunch, bloody marys and stand out coffee.

To celebrate, a house party with all your favourite people is hard to beat.

For my all-time favourite club, I know it’s super hyped, but rightly so, Panorama Bar/Berghian is always one of my favourite places to dance, closely followed by Glastobury’s NYC Downlow at Bloc 9.

For a dance in London… Harpies, a new trans and LGBTQ+ focused strip club at Metropolis has a great crowd – the soundtrack is techno and alternative bangers.

If I had to pick a favourite track… Divine – Native Love (Step By Step) still bangs when I play it. I’m always blown away that this was made in 1982 and how punk it is that Divine was the artist.

For headphones, I swear by the AiAiAi’s range of modular DJ headphones.

And for DJ kit, DJ wise Pioneer CD2000NXS2 and DJM950 is the set up. Studio wise I’m really enjoying the Moog Sub 37, I made the main lead to The Maze on it and have unearthed some more sonic treasures for the next Family Planning EP.

My favourite thing about my job is …that moment when you’re fully connected with the crowd and in it together through the music is nothing short of magical.

I’d tell my younger self to finish as much music as possible, even if it sounds bad, you need to get through the bad to get to the good stuff. Write music every day, even if it’s just for ten minutes.

As for news, I’ve started programming a new monthly LGBTQ+ focused party for Soho House and I’m working on putting together some large-scale club fundraisers for Extinction Rebellion. I’ll also be making my Ibiza debut this season.

Originally published on
18th January 2020

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