Duke Boara’s signature sound is a culmination of many influences, sounds, and textures; it’s eclectic to put it lightly. And while many producers attempt such a sound in their music, few pull it off with as much cohesion and decisiveness as Duke.
And this individuality goes well beyond his productions.
His crate-digging and curation of his live sets match his approach in the studio, resulting in a highly recognizable sound from the producer wherever you’re experiencing him.
And to celebrate the release of his latest work, ‘11AM/11PM,’ we wanted to chat with the producers and figure out where he finds his most unique, off-kilter, and memorable records.
Curious about radio’s role in today’s music scene? Discover ‘Why Radio Airplay Still Matters: The Undervalued Significance of Radio Support in the Age of Digital Music’ – explore the impact here.
Stream Duke Boara’s ‘11AM/11PM’ Below
Duke Boara’s latest work is a masterclass in pulling an eclectic bundle of sounds and samples and turning them into a groovy, heartfelt work of art. While I am sure it took him years to accrue the sound palettes needed to pull off an album like this, the effects are instantaneous.
Each track has its signature flavor while remaining uniquely authentic to the artist’s sound. Duke continues to go above and beyond the hallmarks of what constitutes a modern maestro, and there is no better example of this than ‘11AM/11PM’,
Duke Boara ‘11AM/11PM Tapes’ is out now on LG105. Get ’11AM’ here, and ’11PM’ here.
“There are so many places you can find amazing music to play in sets. I normally like trying to dig a bit deeper than releases from big, commercial labels as it’s more interesting playing music that is less likely to have been heard by the audience. It’s a safe option to find a big mainstream label and play their music, but there’s so much music outside of these that’s incredible.
That’s not to say I don’t like dropping some well-known tunes, but I just prefer more underground music when DJing. Hearing a DJ play a tune and wishing you knew what it was, but also aware that you’ll probably never know is an aspect of the whole thing I love, and something I hope to be able to replicate when I play.” – Duke Boara
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is often my go-to when finding new music. Because of how the platform is designed, it’s so easy to delve into the music that other people are listening to, and you can often find some absolute gold by searching through various users’ collections.
It’s an almost endless catalog of exciting music and a great way to support artists directly as they will most likely receive most of the fee you pay for buying their stuff. Particularly with the smaller labels that you find on there, a lot of the music often won’t be on the big streaming platforms, which I think adds to the quality of your DJing as it won’t come up if you try and use Shazam or anything. Labels like Salt Mines, Frame of Mind, Bosconi, and Echocentric are examples of a few that I love.
Searching for music sources beyond Beatport for your DJ sets? Explore ‘Beatport Alternatives: 6 Other Places to Find and Download Music for Your DJ Sets’ – expand your library here.
Youtube
YouTube is another favorite of mine, and I’ve been finding music to play for the longest time. It’s all about trying to find channels that post great music, and this can sometimes be quite hard.
However, once you build up a good number of these, you have a constant stream of new music being uploaded by curators who you like, so it’s great. It’s also where I started building some momentum during the early days of my project so I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for a lot of these channels, especially Slav and Houseum.
Spotify
Spotify is another way I find music.
It’s particularly good for when I’m moving as it’s so easy to use on my phone. When you build a playlist of music you might want to play live, an algorithm also compiles a list of suggested tracks similar to what you’ve been adding, and I usually listen through these. There are many playlists made by users that have collated music played by a certain DJ or heard at a particular festival.
For example, I went to Gottwood a few years ago and someone made a playlist called ‘Played/heard at Gottwood’ with lots of amazing music. So if you go to a good festival, it’s always worth doing a similar search.
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DJs
Listening to sets of DJs you like is another great way to find fresh music.
Although it’s a bit of a cheat, I think most people do it, and you’re almost always guaranteed to find amazing music. I’ve been listening to DJs like Seth Troxler, Hunee, Four Tet, and Floating Points for a while now, and it’s cool hearing what kind of music they play and also how they mix.
I think you can learn a lot from listening to how great DJs mix and what kind of stuff they play.
Want to avoid common DJ pitfalls? Dive into ‘Time-Wasting Traps All DJs Eventually Learn to Avoid: Reconsidering Your Off-Deck Hours’ – learn valuable tips here.
Vinyl
When I have enough money, which is rare, I’ll also go vinyl shopping in London or on Discogs. Tome Records and Atlantis Records are both great spots in London which I would recommend checking out.
It’s time-consuming and expensive but probably the best way to find incredible music and a great way to support the music community.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
