With the internet at our disposal and the thousands of exciting DJs across the world, for our UK contributors it’s sometimes easy to miss some of the local talent forming and contributing to their own scene right on our doorstep. Enter Adam Chapman, a DJ living on the south coast in Brighton, that makes up one of the residents behind the Central parties in London. Here in the capital, they’ve set up a regular slot at the Lion & Lamb, the restored East End boozer turned music venue which has become famous for hosting some of the best selectors and diggers from around the globe. At their own parties past guests have included the likes of Youandewan, Truly Madly, Cecilo, James Andrew, T. Jacques and Ethel, artists well versed in rocking a dancefloor with infectious groovers and golden era tech-house finds. In 2009, Resident Advisor did a feature on the ‘esoteric art of the opening DJ’ with Craig Richards delivering the line ‘The best openers are in many ways the people who are true music lovers, the ones who obsessively collect obscure and eclectic music for the simple joy of it’. Chapman falls into that bracket and his Truancy Volume is a testament to this, a superb set builder of a mix with his taste in selection right up there with the previously mentioned Central guests. He’s also come on leaps and bounds as a producer, building his discography of groove laiden UK- centric house music on a number of labels such as Minimo, Hand In Hand and Picnic Day Music. We caught up with Adam to chat about his beginnings as a DJ, meeting fellow Central member Checketts in Edingburgh, his mix inspirations and his progress as a producer.
Hey Adam! Thanks for answering some questions for us! So how have you been recently? What’s 2024 and your summer been like for you thus far? Any particular highlights? “Great thanks, it’s been a really busy year so far with both my own gigs and events we have been running with my night Central. I was booked to play out in Istanbul for Noh Radio with my friend Edo’s Hand in Hand Label, that was a real highlight of the year so far to get to take my music abroad. I will be fortunate enough to be playing with the rest of the Central team in Lisbon in September too, there’s plenty other events on the horizon too, including a very special collaboration with one of my favourite labels Mood Waves in September. So there’s also a lot to look forward to.”
So as it’s your first time getting interviewed on the site, I thought we’d go back and just ask about how you got into electronic music in the first place. What was the first dance music record that really stuck with you that you feel kind of set things in motion for you as a DJ? “I think university was the real awakening for me in terms of musical discovery, you are surrounding by so many people from different backgrounds, who in turn have their own musical tastes and influences. It took me a some time to find my feet as to what truly ticked the boxes for me. Going to university in Scotland the sound up there was quite heavy and fast paced and it wasn’t until a friend of mine at the time showed me a Subb-An record I think is called Self Control. I guess to me, it really opened a door to me in terms of what can be done with dance music when you work with more of a less is more approach and focus more on maintaining groove and bounce over just banging out something with impact. Not long after that I found my way to some of the 90s tech house icons in the likes of Swag, Silverlining and Nathan Coles. I think some of those artists have driven me towards the general sound that I play now.”
Can you tell us about some of the parties that you were attending or maybe DJs you were going to see as all this new dance music buzz was happening? I know you’re currently based in Brighton but I’m not quite sure where you grew up and what the parties were like. “I grew up in Brighton but wasn’t really that exposed to the club scene until I got to uni. As I first got into electronic music and after that DJing at the time I was attending sets and doing some warm ups for the likes of Skream and Midland (who I still really rate now). I ended up getting to play the two main underground clubs in Aberdeen pretty regularly and was a really great community to be a part of. Some of the more minimal nights happening in Brighton and London at the time were really what were beginning to take my musical influences in a different direction entirely. I think some sets from Topper and another by Enzo Siragusa about 8 years ago I think was what really got me excited to move back down south and explore more of the London music scene. Brighton definitely has a lot of potential though, with lots of music heads down here. There’s no shortage of nights playing interesting music and plenty of record stores and discogs vendors worth checking out.”
Did you ever travel specifically to attend a music event during this period? Like an out of town pilgrimage sort of night? If so, can you tell us about it? “The Enzo Siragusa set I mentioned earlier I think fits that bill as I was still at uni but had come down for the summer and from there went to this Fuse show case and I guess it was one of the first few events id got to experience in person of this kind of music id been listening to so much at uni but wasn’t really hearing in any of the clubs there. I arrived at the venue pretty early with my sister and we ended up staying there for about 11 hours, so it was safe to say I enjoyed myself I think.”
You’re part of the Central crew up in London which have been throwing some killer parties with the likes of Youandewan, Truly Madly, Cecilo, James Andrew, T. Jacques, Ethel and more. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved with the night and what it’s been like being part of? “Yes! Central has been a great fun to be a part of and really keeps me inspired and motivated. It actually all started off meeting Nick Checketts in Edinburgh where we bonded over a mutual appreciation for music we felt wasn’t that heavily represented in Scotland where we were living at the time. Shortly after that Nick said that we were destined to run a night together, which I didn’t really think would happen at the time, I’ll admit. But it was about a year or so after I’d moved back to Brighton and I found myself being booked for the first ever Central show in Edinburgh at this big warehouse type club called the Biscuit Factory, the event sold out and Nick told me that he wanted to get me involved with the running of the night. From there we held a residency at Cabaret Voltaire for a while, before nick moved down to London. After that it began to grow legs a bit and we brought on some really talented selectors and diggers who are great characters and we managed to get our first night at The Lion & Lamb. We booked Anna Wall and sold out a Thursday and since then have held regular Friday slots.”
What have been some of your favourite Central moments be it as both a DJ playing and as a punter dancing? “Really hard to nail that down to just one but I think that one of my favourite parties we have done was a debut b2b with Matthew Neequaye and Tho, it was one of the busiest I have seen the pub and the atmosphere was electric. It was particularly satisfying to get two artists who have never played together before to do their first set as it felt as you were getting something a big unique and the guys definitely delivered.”
When digging for records, to what extent is your search predetermined? Do you set out with specific styles or artists in mind? Can you easily recall artists or labels while sifting through a stack? What attracts you to a record initially, and how quickly can you discern whether it resonates with you? “I think as my style has developed my taste or what I am looking for has refined slightly. But I try generally to keep an open mind when looking for music as sometimes you might find something that doesnt necessarily fall under the ‘style or genre’ you play but still resonates with you and still encapsulates elements or your taste in music. I have actually been getting into much more downtempo stuff recently which I wouldn’t have thought I’d be actively digging for a few years back and I think that’s just come about by listening to lots and lots of music whether I think I initially love it or not. In terms of what draws me to a record, I think I try to find something that breaks the mould a little bit but has that interesting spark that sets it apart, but most importantly it needs to have a natural sense of groove about it when selecting for the dancefloor. Tracks that can have you bobbing your head for hours on end are really what im looking for a lot of the time.”
What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time from another DJ and why? Does it take you back to any particular life memories? “Difficult to pin down to one mix, but one of my favourite mixes is Desyn’s Ghostcast mix, it’s just an incredible blend of sounds with some records I’m sure I might never find. Failing that it would be Hamish and Toby’s recording of their Houghton set, I think I stayed at Earthling stage the entire day of that festival and it was just pure joy the whole day. I have listened to it countless times since then and always brings back the memories.”
So tell us a little bit about your story as a producer too? When did you start experimenting with making music and what were your big influences at the time? “I actually began messing around with FL studio over twelve years ago trying to make some skream and benga-esque dub step and I just didn’t have the patience for it, a combination of not understanding the resources available and not dedicating enough time to it led me to dropping it fairly quickly. Since then, I have started again using Ableton and have taken a more patient approach which I hope is going to pay off in the long run.”
Now that you have a bit of practice under your belt making and releasing music, can you tell us a bit about how you approach a track in 2024? Groove is obviously such an important aspect to the way you make music right? One of my favourite tracks of yours is ‘Step Back’ just when that little pad comes in with the vocal. “I try not to keep the same approach to making music every track to be honest as I feel, for me anyway, it quite quickly leads to me running out of ideas and the dreaded creative block. Keeping things different leads to ideas emerging from different aspects which keeps things interesting I think for both me in terms of the process and the final result as a listener. Glad you like that one, I think that was one of the first few tracks I had made that DJs were actually playing out, so that was a nice little milestone for me. Lauren Lo sung was playing it out a lot and it got some air time in Europe too. I think that track is actually a good example of starting tracks with different sources of inspiration. I think many people just start with a kick, drums and then bass and so on, every time they make a track. Whereas I think I actually just started that track with the melody ideas and wrote the rest of the track around that idea. But all in all i feel I’m at the start of my production journey really and theres so much to learn still.”
You currently live in Brighton, how have you found yourself immersed with the scene down here? I noticed you had a track out on Brighton label Hand In Hand as well as two remixes on another Brighton label called Minimo. Is it safe to say there’s a bubble of great DJs forming down here? “Yes I got to remix Edo’s EP on Minimo, I couldn’t decide which I preferred in the end so ended up releasing both of them, but that led him to invite me to release on recent VA he put out on his own label Hand in Hand. But there are definitely some cool parties in the area, a few notable mentions are Alter-Hour, Sunny Side Up, Rainures and Minimo. Between parties at Tempest, The Arch, Occulist and Concorde 2 there’s a few venues to choose from as well. It is still a developing scene though and hopefully with some of these guys at the wheel can be built into something bigger.”
How do you evolve as a producer and DJ? What inspires you, and how crucial is it to challenge yourself? What does artistic challenge mean to you, and how do you sustain your love for music? “I have always had a passion for music be it electronic or otherwise so luckily I haven’t felt too much pressure to sustain that love for it and has happened quite naturally just by consuming lots of variety. If I am feeling a little uninspired Ill just change what I’m listening to entirely different sound or genre. That way when I return to whatever I was listening to after a period away my interest is much more reinvigorated. You can also pick up lots of influence from things you might not directly be wanting to play but enjoy listening to particularly with production.”
Can you tell us about three albums that a) define you getting into electronic music in general, b) maybe a midway album when you were fully invested in DJing and and c) a recent album that you’ve especially enjoyed? And what made these albums so special at the time. “I think these are going to end up being quite a diverse selection but here we go.
Chase and Status – More Than A Lot I think is an album I really associate with when I first started getting into electronic music. It was one I’ve listened to countless times, each track literally plays into the next as if it’s a big mix which I feel is not always done on albums anymore. It also coincided with my first gigs I attended. I remember seeing them with the Prodigy for Warriors Dance Festival in Milton Keynes and it just blew my head off at the time.
One that remains one of my all time favourite albums and is something I regularly still listen to is Tycho – Dive. When I first heard this album I was beginning to have an appreciation for more atmospheric music and music with feeling and I think feeling is really what this album encapsulates, the production quality is incredible and It’s a great one for home listening.
Lastly as one that is a bit more recent I’ll admit that, I haven’t found too many albums in the style that I’m currently playing that I listen to from start to finish, but I also feel that making whole albums in this style isn’t too common. But I am fortunate enough to have made a good friend in Mitch Wellings who has a really cool album on his label Space Tours called The Legacy of Phoenix of which I have a signed copy. The music is great and really takes you on a journey from start to finish and even has some cool interludes and narration. A lot of thought was put into the album and I think it’s a great piece of work with a really unique take on electronic and club fitting music.”
What sort of other hobbies or interests do you have outside of electronic music? Are there any books, films, shows or other things you’ve seen or been reading/watching that you might want to share? “Away from music I have found myself really getting into cooking, always good fun trying to make something new and putting your own twist on classic dishes. Particularly into Thai food at the moment.”
Could you describe the process of creating this mix? Was there a specific message or feeling you wanted to convey? “The thinking behind this was to really give a wide representation of what I tend to play out as DJ, many of my sets have been warming the floor for some of our headliners at Central so there is a definitive representation of that in there but starts off with a sprinkling of some of the slower music I’ve been digging recently. As a whole I wanted the mix to build into something relatively lively so I have included some more peak time tracks in there a I don’t always have the chance to play them out as much as I would like to.”
Last, usual question from us, what was the last thing to put a big smile on your face and when was the last time you had a proper dance? “I recently celebrated my Birthday so there were plenty of smiles to be had there and I am fortunate to have such caring people in my life. The last proper dance I had was in London not a couple months back seeing Dale Mussington at Star Lane followed by a big knees up at Corsica studios where Tristan da Cunha headlined under his Freakenstein alias.”
Adam Chapman: Soundcloud, Instagram, Resident Advisor, Central
You can download Truancy Volume 333: Adam Chapman in 320 kbps and view the full tracklist on Patreon here. Your support helps cover all our costs and allows Truants to continue running as a non-profit and ad-free platform. Members will receive exclusive access to mixes and tracklists. We urge you to support the future of independent music journalism — a little goes a long way. If you need any IDs though, please leave us a comment on the Soundcloud link and us or Adam Chapman will get back to you with the track :)
