Lewis Lowe | Soundcloud | Instagram | Resident Advisor
From the deep landscapes of the Scottish Highlands to the thriving bustling centre of Glasgow’s electronic music scene, Lewis Lowe’s journey in music has been one of reconnection. As co-founder behind Redstone Press, the label he co-founded with lifelong friend Ethan Harfield (aka Pseudopolis) in 2017, Lowe has steadily been carving out a space for Scottish talent within the broader spectrum of UK dance music. First bonding in primary school, the pair lost touch for several years only to reconnect as teenagers whilst partying at some free parties in the Highlands. This rekindled friendship evolved into what is Redstone Press today, with the pair launching the label as a platform to release Ethan’s music and to champion other homegrown artists. Over the past six years, Redstone Press has continued to grow into a respected imprint, releasing a mix of muscular broken-beat techno and industrial steppers to more longform reflective club excursions. With recent releases from the likes of Tammo Hesselink, Gesture, and Tano the label has taken its forward-thinking ethos of blending intricate rhythms with raw, emotive energy to the next level.
In 2022, Redstone Press hit a significant milestone with its 10th release—a standout V/A compilation titled Feeling Everything, All At Once showcasing a huge pool of emerging Scottish talent that marked a powerful statement of intent as they looked to the next five years. All profits from the compilation were donated to the Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH), a gesture that showed Lowe and Harfield’s commitment in amplifying their community both on and off the dance floor. Beyond the label, Lowe has become a regular name in Glasgow’s club circuit, holding a residency at The Flying Duck where he’s shared the decks with names like Bitter Babe, Cardopusher, Elena Colombi, and Josh Caffe. His sets—rooted in the same adventurous spirit as Redstone Press—have also landed him key festival slots at Field Maneuvers, Love Saves the Day, and Riverside Festival. With all this in mind, we’re thrilled to welcome Lewis Lowe to the Truancy Sessions mix series to kick off 2025. For this mix, he’s crafted something truly evocative of his Glasgow winter experience: moody, immersive, and laced with an edge of unpredictability, it’s a journey through the psyche of an artist deeply attuned to his environment and its seasonal shifts.
Can you take us back to your first experiences with electronic music? What was it like growing up in Scotland/Glasgow and what were some of your formative experiences with both music and dance-music? “My first memory of electronic music was probably hearing Public Domain – Operation Blade when I was like 11/12. The scene when the vampires are clubbing and then it rains blood haha, that memory is firmly rooted as my first experience of electronic music. I then got my parents to buy me the CD single and I remember listening to it on repeat on an 8hr car journey to London. Scottish artist too no less!
Most formative musical experience was getting the bus to and from Aberdeen each week to visit my mum. My older brother would send me mix CDs he’d made, these were rinsed to death on a battered CD Walkman that would skip every time the bus hit a bump. Bands like Gorillaz, Le Tigre, Faithless, Deep Dish etc. I still have those CDs somewhere… Spending 8hrs a week on a bus alone at 13 and listening to tunes definitely set the ball rolling.
Then being on a holiday in Magaluf aged 18 (lol) with friends after finishing school and stepping into a proper nightclub for the first time, closest we had in my hometown was the town hall. I can’t remember who was playing but the sound, lighting and energy of the space rewired my brain and set off that urge to be in similar spaces from then on.”
Can you tell us a little bit about the parties you first started attending when you first got into dancing music? Who were some of the DJs you were going to see? “First real PARTY party I went to was Rockness, a festival originally started by Fatboy Slim on the banks of Loch Ness. I went along to my first one with a university friend Andrew Rossi and his pals from home. I remember hearing Clouds, Slam, DJ Medhi & Busy P, pills costing £2 and telling my dad about it all on the phone whilst enjoying the effects of them! I was also travelling through to Glasgow and getting the first train back to Stirling most weeks whilst studying to go to Sub Club and The Arches religiously for parties like Death Disco, Pressure, Subculture & Optimo. Then it was the free party scene in the highlands after graduating, getting my first taste of listening to big sound systems and partying in the most spectacular spots with loads of friends from home I reconnected with. Some of the best djs I’ve ever heard are the folks who only play at these parties, it is something really special to be a part of.”
When did you start DJing, and how has your approach evolved? What’s your process for discovering new music and curating your sets? “I started about fifteen years ago whilst studying, that same university friend mentioned earlier was playing for a clubnight in Stirling called Filth. He used to take his desktop computer, keyboard, mouse and a little numark mixer to the club to play on virtual dj and I thought that was the coolest shit ever hahaha. I’d help him carry this massive computer tower into the club which meant I got in free. Once the club was finished I’d carry it back to his and then would try mixing at the afters on this ridiculous setup. At some point that graduated to turntables and cdjs.
Funnily enough when thinking about how my approach has changed, I still use virtual dj on my laptop now! Just for messing around with blends, EQing things on vdj when prepping for gigs. I’ve started making music now too which is definitely having an impact on how I approach playing, I’m a lot more detail oriented than I’ve ever been.
I listen to music all the time. Mostly mixes/radio/live sets which almost always have something in them that piques my interest and then I go dive into that to find more. It never ends up as a dedicated dig of one artist/label because each time I find something new that opens up another path to follow so it’s quite sprawling. In the last 7.5 years of running Redstone Press we’ve been working closely with so many Scottish artists and nowadays I’d say a solid 30% of what I play that excites me is Scottish.
Curating sets depends a lot on the mood I’m in at the time and the folks/context I’m playing for/in. I get bored really quickly, so I usually try to change up every set with a few tried and tested favourite bits that never leave the playlist/record bag. Recently I’ve been really enjoying playing all my house music records so probably going to keep on that tip for a wee while until I get distracted by something else!”
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. “The first Gorillaz album was the first time I heard electronic music shaped in that way and on one of those bus journeys to see my mum I fell asleep listening to it and then by chance stumbled on the secret Ed Case M1A1 remix. That remix stuck with me for years and then I heard Oneman play it in Melbourne 15 years later and it sparked a crazy memory!
Midway album would 100% be Djrum – Portraint In Firewood. For me it’s the perfect long form electronic piece of music. Immaculately balanced between melancholy & euphoria and it flows through lots of different musical elements that I love personally. It sparked a change in what I wanted to play myself.
My favourite release of this year is Fergus Jones – Ephemera. There has been a lot of incredible music but this album really sits atop it all. I was speaking to Callum from Numbers recently and he was explaining the process behind the release. The time and consideration taken by everyone involved really shows, the sounds are so rich and have crazy depth and the story of the overall album feels really coherent. AOTY for sure. Another Scot to boot too!”
If you had one day to take a fellow artist on an adventure around your city, where would you go and why? Are there any specific cities you’ve always admired or wanted to experience? “I actually have to do this semi regularly as club programmer for The Flying Duck in Glasgow! First port of call is breakfast & coffee at Radio Buena Vida, maybe jump on and do a wee radio show, RBV is a brilliant community radio station/cafe/bar run by two of the best people in the city, Speedy & Suze. They have done so much for folks in the Glasgow and no matter how many people they meet they remember everyone’s name! Then head to Pollok Park to see the highland cows and get a dose of Scottish history at the Burrell Collection, got to have some traditional culture right? Then a dig for records in Rubadub or Palais De Danse for something to play at the gig followed by food – Mosob, Ranjits Kitchen or Gloriosa, all three spots are totally different but equally delicious, so something for everyone. Then a palette cleanser at Ryan’s bar or the Laurieston, arguably two of the best pubs the city has to offer.”
What can you tell us about Redstone Press? When did you start it, what made you want to start the label, and what has the journey of the label been like since its inception? “Redstone Press is an independent record label run by myself and Ethan Harfield Aka Pseudopolis. We’ve been friends for around 30 years, grew up together and found ourselves working together for a construction company up north around 8 years ago. He’d been making loads of music along with his younger brother Paul Aka Pelk and I loved all of it. We decided to just do it ourselves as I wanted a way to find more gigs/do something creative and Ethan had always wanted his own imprint and to avoid having to cold email labels with his music. The label started in 2017 when we cut some dubplates and sent them out to folks we were mega fans of – Joy O, Optimo & Pangaea (I spoke recently with him and found out the dubplate had ended up getting recycled during a chaotic house move 🥲). We moved to Glasgow to run the label after sorting a distribution deal through Richard at Rubadub. That paired with the draw of the “big city” and dance music community was enough to make the move. The journey started quite gradually, as we were doing it record by record, needing to recoup costs before starting the next one so output was slow the first 5 years. Once the pandemic hit and delays/costs increased we decided to temporarily pause physical stock in favour of actually releasing a load more music we’d been sitting on. Since then we’ve massively increased the roster of artists from 5 to over 20 on the label and the label itself has grown too. We’re now headed towards 10 years doing it and although it’s only a number it also has some importance, so we’re trying to figure out what that might look like.”
Could you describe the process of creating this mix? Was there a specific message or feeling you wanted to convey? “I have done a couple clubby mixes this year so wanted to do something a bit different for this. I have a load of dubs from friends and some forthcoming bits on the label so I started compiling it into something kind of cohesive, I then started hounding more folks for stuff they’d been working on. The specific message is that I want everyone to hear how fucking good Scottish producers are, the mix is made up entirely of Scottish producers/labels and honorary Scots who contribute a lot to the Scottish music scene. That and to pair it loosely with how I feel my winters go in Glasgow, but in a mix…? I spent a long time working on it in the lead up but when I recorded it came out a bit different. It still conveys what I wanted it to though and I think showcases a wide spread of Scottish electronic music from folks really pushing the overall sound forward.”
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? “My girlfriend and my cat being a weirdo have definitely made me smile a lot recently. Last proper dance I was Jurango at Exit in Glasgow. I’ve had some great times since but that one was truly special. The club wasn’t packed so there was space to dance and he was absolutely schooling us. Special mention to him for playing Modeselektors remix of Headhunter – Prototype, I’d completely forgotten about that tune!”
Lewis Lowe: Soundcloud, Instagram, Resident Advisor
Redstone Press: Bandcamp, Soundcloud
You can download Truancy Sessions S02 E05 Lewis Lowe in 320 kbps 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, tracklists, and discounts off future merchandise. If money is tight however and you’re desperately after any ID, please leave us a comment over on the Soundcloud link and either us or Lewis Lower will get back to you :)
