Sweetpea Switch Up!

The Loop Queen looks back over her remarkable year and celebrates with… A tech house mix!?!

Our MIXMAS missions continue today with none other than London longtimer – Sweetpea.

DJ-wise she’s the perfect selector for this seasonal series which celebrates the DJ artform in its rawest, purest and most inspiring forms.

Highly respected as versatile selector who can cover all bass bases, Natasha Sweetpea can slay a Rupture dancefloor just as quickly as she can nice up a Hospitality dance and can whip up any vibe in between…  Including techno and even tech house as we’re about to find out!

But before we get tied up in a hypey four-to-the-floor mess of exclusiveness, it’s vital to acknowledge just how sick 2024 has been for Natasha as a producer. Honing her studio chops for years behind the scenes, her release output has been gradually increasing every year for some time… But this year she’s gone loco with no less than eight releases this year on some of the most highly respected imprints in town.

V Recordings, AKO Beatz, Hardcore Energy, Sofa Sound, Dispatch and TReS 2b have all served up Sweetpea sonics this year, representing a full spectrum of sounds from her that range from unapologetic rave energy to uncompromised jungle via underground D&B. We called her up to find out more and ask for a mix. By the end of the interview you’ll see how the mix ended up becoming a very special Sweetpea tech house mix!

The perfect selector for this seasonal series and a perfect advocate for proper creative DJing and how the best DJs respond to the moment with just the right music for the occasion. That’s a true selector. Get up to speed…

 

 

It’s been a wicked year for you release-wise. A real varied showcase of lots of different sides to your sound!

Ah thanks. I kinda realized the same thing lately. I was reflecting a little and it really has been a great year in that way. I’ve had eight releases on the likes on AKO and V Recordings which I thought would never happen. It’s been really good.

Massive!

I’ve been slowly chugging away at production, you know? Every now and again I’ve been feeling things picking up a bit sonically so at the start of this year I made a promise to myself to put myself out there a bit more and get in touch with people and tell them ‘I dig you, let’s get on a collab’ or getting in touch with labels more. Take Ant TC1, I hadn’t spoken to him for a few years, I love Dispatch, why not give him a shout and see if I can send him some tunes?

Innit!

I guess I’m just taking my own advice a bit more and putting myself out there and going for it. And it is paying off. The second half of the year especially has been incredible. Release after release.

 

 

Yeah! There’s a lot to be said for reaching out. I always think, ‘Ah they’ll be too busy’. Or, ‘They won’t wanna know.’ But the reaction is 99% of the time more favourable than you anticipate isn’t it?

Totally. And the worst thing anyone will say is, ‘No.’ They’re not gonna be like, ‘You’re shit, you’re this, you’re that.’ They might be too busy. Or it’s not their sound or what they want to do. That’s it. But I’ve been really happy making these great connections with guys like Crystal Clear and Minor Forms. I’m making regular music with and become good friends with. So these new connections have blossomed from this more proactive energy.

Wicked. The Crystal Clear collabs got my attention earlier this year. Good to have him back! How did you meet?

Agreed! Andy is great and it is awesome to see him back after a decade away. He’s like a workhorse and he’s forging his own sound. That old jump-up vibe from his old stuff but those newer techniques from the more contemporary D&B sound. More power to him, he’s doing well.  I can’t remember specifically how we met, you know. I think Codebreaker linked us. They’re good mates. Probably at Planet Wax a few times and then eventually got on the tunes.

Were they done together in the studio or passing over stems?

Back in the day I always wanted to be in the studio and couldn’t do the stem sending but now I prefer to work that way. Basically where I am with production now is that I have a lot of ideas but find it hard to finish a track. I’ve a lot of loops. I call myself the Loop Queen.

 

 

Haha

It’s cool, I can send them over for collabs and see what people want to work on. That was how Richness Is Life came about. The original loop was more like the Sweetpea Bubbler Mix vibe but Andy switched up the drums and a bit of the bass on it.

The same went for Dreamstate, too. I think I had the intro and drop and he switched up a few bits. I do love this about collabs… You have an idea for a track and send it to your collaborator and they do one of two things – they either totally boost up your idea, which is amazing. Or they hear it in a different way and they flip it, which is also really interesting. I love the way collabs go like that. We’ve got more on the way and signed already.

Sick. How did the 90s Baby / Hardcore Energy EP come about?

So after the AKO Beatz release at the beginning of the year…

 

 

Actually yeah. Let’s pause on that for a second. What a sick way to start a year of releases!

Ha! Yeah. That was really cool. I’d made Silly Girls in a very quick time. And usually those are the tunes do best for me. The loop came together and I sent Stretch a clip because I knew he’d be into it. At the time these were the vibes that were coming out of me. Jungle and steppers. I couldn’t make anything rolling for some reason.

Anyway, with I’d been speaking to Origin8a and Propa from Hardcore Energy. They’d been sending me music and after the AKO release they said they’d be interested in a release from me. So I sent them my loop folder and told them to let me know what they’re feeling. I work a lot better with a little direction and other perspectives. It’s a bit like collaborating in that way. I’m so happy with that release. The feedback was great. I didn’t think people would dig it as much as they did

It’s that timeless rave energy. It brings a lot of styles together. D&B felt like a bit of an island for a while with a lot less connections with other genres. But rave brings in a lot other elements. You’ve always pushed the multi-genre angle haven’t you?

Yeah it’s been nice to see the branch out. It was like ‘I just love D&B’ or ‘I just love garage’ for a bit wasn’t it. Everyone stuck to their genre. But DJs like Sherelle, Josi Mitsu, Tailor Jae really smashed the boundaries on that. A lot of their sets start at 120/130 and play all the way up through the BPMs. It makes for such a great experience and a journey. Outside of our little bubble people do multi-genre sets and eclectic mixes quite often so it’s nice to see that happening in D&B a lot more as well.

 

 

You’ve always been a very broad selector who can complement any situation too…

I think that’s actually been to my detriment if I’m honest. It’s kept me at a certain level. People like consistency and knowing what they’re getting. If you’re booking Skeptical, for example, you’re getting a Skeptical set, you know what I mean?

I think being too varied might have hindered me a bit but I have immense proudness to have played for all the corners of the scene; Renegade Hardware, Virus, Overview, Flexout, Hospital, Rupture, AKO. Such an eclectic mix. I like all types of music and I’m going to play that.

Yes! So this interview and mix is part of our MIXMAS project which is a celebration of the artform of DJing. I feel like DJing is getting a bit of a bashing from certain corners and it’s overlooking the fact it’s still an artform no matter how much people think new DJs are faking it or cutting corners.

This is it. Let’s face it, if sync came out back in the day, everyone would have used it. Whatever is on offer to any fresh faced new DJ they’re going to utilize it. DJing is a reflection of the times we’re in. It’s very visual. There are positives and negatives to it. There is something to be said for mixing on vinyl – the tactile nature, the analogue sound and that whole side of it but that’s not the technology we’re using. And the more people DJing, using the music, getting into it in this way can’t be a bad thing can it?

 

 

Definitely!

For me the artform isn’t about just stepping up and playing some tunes, it’s about being able to look at the room and read the crowd or doing a good warm up set or having the ability to play freely and not have to stick to a set plan they have rehearsed.

I know a lot of newer DJs who turn up and play a set they’ve already organized but what happens when that’s not working? You need to be able to troubleshoot and get around it.

I love the term troubleshooting. You’re right. What’s been the hardest troubleshooting you’ve had to do?

Fusion Fest in Berlin this year. It’s a non-announced line-up which is predominantly techno but they’re introducing elements of drum & bass, but I thought I’d prepare for all scenarios. Anyway the DJ before me was playing quite techy D&B so I followed on from that, but it didn’t work… Half the dancefloor left!

Uh-oh!

I thought, ‘Okay let’s have a merry-go-round and see what you want’. I played some jungle, that went okay but only for a track or two. Then I dropped the tempo a little, got on the hardcore with lots more 4×4 elements and the fists started pumping so I thought, ‘Okay I’m on to something here’. I lowered the tempo a little more and got into a proper techno set and by the end of it the whole place was pumping. People were going for it and the stage filled up. It’s the biggest crowd I’ve played to outside of the UK and it was a techno set.

Wow. That’s really cool. First techno set and it was in Berlin!

I know, right? I’m proud of how that went. I worked hard for that one.

Innit! So what would another dream gig be like that?

I’d love to play dubstep in a club. I’ve done some dubstep mixes and I played at N-Type’s birthday in a bar in Croydon a while back so I got to roll out some dubstep there. But I would love to play a proper dubstep set in a club or on a stage somewhere, that would be really good fun. I also really love house music and had a residency with Lightbox this year. I played a few tech house sets which has been fun. Tech house is a bit of a guilty pleasure. So yeah playing a tech house set in Ibiza.

 

Put it out to the universe! Hey… What would you say to doing a cheeky tech house mix for us?

You know what… Yeah why not?

Sick! I think it would be really cool to hear that side of you!

Okay I will. I got a bunch of tunes I haven’t had a chance to play yet. It’s always more fun to do something different so yeah let’s see what happens.

Sick! What can people look forward to from you in 2025?

I’m kick starting the year with a remix on Phase Records, Gifta’s label. It’s a massive compilation and I love what Gifta is doing with Phase Recordings. I’m gassed to be asked to be involved in that project. I’m also working with MC SAS and his label Sleep Less Records. I’m doing a remix for him. I’ve got a track with Settle Down and I’m working on an EP for Flexout too which I’m really happy about. I was their resident around 10 years ago so that’s a nice full circle moment. Some new stuff with Crystal Clear and hopefully something coming quite soon on Sofa Sound.

Sick!

Yeah. Hopefully it’ll be as busy as it has been this year. See you soon!

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