SEMPA (@sempauk) continues his run through the UK underground with You’re Mine, a new three-track release through Southpoint.
The Newport artist has been moving fast since starting production in 2022, and you can hear why on this project: grime pressure, dubstep low-end, 140-focused rhythm, and club-focused production choices that feel built for late systems rather than background listening.
The release follows growing support from Kettama, Oppidan, Mike Skinner, Sicaria, and Notion, with performances at GemFest, Boomtown, and a UK headline tour helping push SEMPA’s name further into modern DJ culture.
Across “You’re Mine,” “Monde,” and “Payment,” the sound is dark, direct, and built around tension, with sharp percussion and heavy low-end doing most of the talking. It is a useful reminder that the culture around DJing still depends on records that can change a room quickly, especially in grime, dubstep, and 140 spaces where sound system pressure is part of the language.
In the conversation below, SEMPA talks about the role PullUp has played in his development, how creative relationships can help an artist grow without locking them into one lane, and why collaboration only works when there is a shared vision behind it.
His answers also get to a point that matters for producers at any stage: the people around your music can shape how it is understood, so choosing collaborators is part of shaping the project itself.
Interview With SEMPA
Was there a connection or collaboration that meaningfully expanded your path?
I would say my work with PullUp over the years is something I am really thankful for and owe a lot to. These guys have really put me in the spotlight, and we have grown together across genres and different pockets of the underground electronic scene. That has landed me where I am today, and I do think that will be the case for the duration of my career.
What qualities matter most to you when choosing collaborators or creative partners?
There has to be a vision and an eagerness to create that vision in its rawest form behind whatever we are doing creatively. I find that is when things fall into place much easier across the project and gives your audience art with an actual story and meaning behind it.
How do you recognize when a circle still aligns with who you are becoming?
It is quite simple for me. If that circle is still making an effort to create your visions and bending theirs to fit your growth, even if it strays slightly from their sound or art, then it still aligns.
There is obviously a line that gets crossed where this no longer works sonically for the circle, and as long as there is compromise and direction behind it all, that is enough for me to feel we are aligned.
In what ways have your creative relationships shaped how others perceive your work?
I think a lot of my collaborations with other producers have opened up my audience to actual core fans who interact with all of my releases and posts, which is ultimately part of what got me to where I am now.
Because of this, I have learned to be much more careful with collaborations, so I do not compromise my current audience and confuse them. I like to make a lot of different genres, and I am in the middle of really refining my sound currently, so if it makes sense sonically, then I am happy and believe my audience will be too.
How do you maintain independence while staying connected to community?
I have always searched and struggled with finding community in music, from my first time touching the decks in 2021 and then starting production in 2022. I found PullUp in 2023 and never needed to look anywhere else.
When you are tied or affiliated with a brand or group of creatives, there is always that worry that you will be perceived as only being part of that group and not having your independence. My path with PullUp has rarely felt like this because of the community it holds and the calculated decisions they have made around growing me as an artist.
In my experience, you should not have to think about maintaining your independence as an artist when working with a group or brand, as they should already have that interest in mind for you and should not want it to look like you are tied down, as this can prevent growth. If it looks like you are, then it is possible it might not be the right group creatively for you.
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.
