In the Booth with Bill Brewster

Besides writing the book on DJ history, Bill Brewster is also an incomparable DJ that has the respect of his peers as much as his audience. His vast and extraordinary musical knowledge stems from his love of the music, and everything he does, from writing to compiling music for the likes of “Late Night Tales”, it all has its roots in collecting records. “(A)t the centre of what I do is collecting records” explains Bill in an interview on our blog from last week, and from House to Disco and Balearic to Acid, Bill Brewster’s record collection teems with the history of Dance music.

He brought a significant slice of this history to our booth on Saturday where he played for Hubba Klubb, bringing a lot of colour, depth and energy to our basement through his selections on Saturday. Incredibly adept at two decks and mixer, Bill did so much more than put two records together applying some of that narrative-ability he achieves so eloquently on paper in the auditory realm too through the music of others. Very few stones were left unturned in this mix, with everything from dub to acid and Jazz accounted for, and with a heavy vocal and melodic presence throughout, Bill adds a human dimension that is often missed in the more functional approach to the dance floor.

What’s more is Bill Brewster does this without missing a beat, and his mix is a sinuous thread from one point to the other, never leaving for a dull sonic moment, even when he stops dead in his tracks to go into Markus Marr’s funky synth driven “The Music”. It’s a pleasure to make this available again to listen back to, and if you are eager to find out more about Bill and his own history, read our interview with him here.