Huxley (@huxleymusic) made his return to Rekids back on April 10 with the Pinball Skizzard EP, his second release for Radio Slave’s label following last year’s MIND G%MES. That earlier project introduced him to the imprint and picked up support from names including Enzo Siragusa, Jennifer Loveless, Carista, and Laurent Garnier, and this new four-tracker builds on that placement with a set of cuts that fit neatly into the label’s long-running house lineage.
For an artist who has been active for well over two decades, runs Dumb Safari, and helped build the R Trybe community alongside Ramin Rezaie and BAKKIS, the release reads like another clear entry in a catalog that has always balanced club function with personal taste.
Across the EP, Huxley keeps the focus on groove and pacing. “Pinball” opens things with a thick house pulse, low-end pressure, old-school vocal touches, and sax phrases that lift the track without overcrowding it. “Heaven” follows with chords, melodic detail, and a deeper bass foundation aimed directly at the floor, while “Deep Down” leans into a looser late-night feel with atmosphere and soulful vocal fragments.
Closing cut “Felix” strips things back into a tighter percussive roller, using vocal snippets and tribal detail to give the release a clean final turn. Taken together, the record feels built for DJs who want movement, shape, and enough character in each track to keep a set from flattening out.
That same mindset comes through in how Huxley talks about finding music. He came up through record shops, spent his early years digging in places like Freedom Records, Blackmarket, and Uptown, and he still treats discovery as an active process rather than something handed over by playlists or surface-level recommendation tools. He speaks about going past top tens and promos, using record store sites the way he once used physical bins, and staying in constant search mode because the thrill still comes from finding something new to him and passing it on to a crowd.
That perspective fits Pinball Skizzard well, because the EP feels like the work of someone who still values selection, patience, and personal instinct at every stage of the process.
Interview With Huxley
What did crate digging look like for you before streaming platforms became a big part of musical discovery?
Well, I started long before they existed, so there really was only one way to dig, record shops! I spent a lot of my youth and money going to record shops from about the age of 13. My regular one was Freedom Records in Watford, but also I use to love going to Blackmarket and Uptown in London too!
But, whenever we saw, and still see, a record shop I have to have a bit of a dig, although I have to say I don’t buy anywhere near as much vinyl as I should!
How has convenience reshaped the way you find music, and what have you gained from that shift?
Well, I don’t have to leave the house, which is great, especially in English weather, but realistically the main thing is, it just doesn’t stop. I normally have a YouTube or some download or record shop open on my browser and when I get a second I go through and normally find myself in some kind of hole somewhere.
To be honest, I love finding music I’ve missed through the years, more than getting sent new music these days.
In your mind, what defines actual crate digging in the current era?
Going beyond top tens, or promos.
Promos are obviously very important, but someone who loves to crate dig, aren’t seeing a viral video or going through a top ten list to find what they play, they are discovering new music, on their own terms. Because it’s not vinyl, that doesn’t mean it’s not crate-digging, but also I still find a lot of music on record shops, and then normally buy them on Bandcamp, if I can.
How do you build intention into your discovery process when access feels almost unlimited?
It’s hard, but also the fact it’s never-ending is the fun bit, right? Most of us got into this because we love to discover new, to us, music and then to push that music to a new crowd. The excitement of showing someone new music that I think they’ll love is something I still get a rush from. So, basically, I never stop looking.
Is there a record you found through physical digging that still makes it into your sets today?
Probably one of the Cabin Fever Trax releases. I really love vol 11 or vol. 26. I still play both of those!!
Are there elements of offline discovery you try to recreate in your current workflow?
Again, using record store, Hardwax, Phonica etc, websites like I would being in a store.
When you compare algorithmic recommendations with hands-on searching, what feels creatively different to you?
Normally algorithmic searches over-simplify for me. They normally don’t actually scratch the particular itch that the song it learns off does. Especially with dance music it always feels too obvious.
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.
