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Midland (DJ)

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Midland
Background information
Birth nameHarry Agius
Genres
Occupations
  • DJ
  • record producer
, record label owner
Years active2003–present
Websitewww.facebook.com/midlanduk
Midland at Dekmantel

Midland is a British DJ, producer and record label owner based in London, UK. Real name Harry Agius, he founded his label Graded in 2013 as an output for his own techno, house and early-UK dubstep tinged productions.[1]

Biography

Real name Harry Agius, Midland grew up in Tanzania and Greece and attended University in Leeds.[2]. In 2003, Agius heard a drum and bass mix tape of Andy C and Slammin' Vinyl, inspiring him to learn the craft of DJing.[3] An avid drum and bass fan, he purchased his first set of Technics turntables and upon moving to Leeds was offered a graveyard slot on the Leeds' local Pirate radio station 'Radio Frequency' under his first moniker, Apt Pupil.[4] He went on to play a nights such as Momentum, Metropolis and Subdub, playing on the Valve Soundsystem warming up for DJs such as Grooverider, Andy C and Dillinja.

Living in Leeds after University, he met likeminded producers and DJs like Pangaea, Ben UFO and Pariah and attended nights such as Exodus, Subdub, Louche, and Back to Basics - which shifted his interest toward slower tempos. This ultimately paved the way for the emergence of the Midland alias. Since then he has become recognised for his ability to shift genres within his mixes, weaving together left field house, heavy techno, rare disco, distinctive sounds from the UK as well as rich African influences, and as a result can be found on lineups with a diverse range of artists every weekend.[5]

In 2013 he founded his label Graded in 2013 as an output for his own techno, house and early-UK dubstep tinged productions.[1]

In 2015 founded the sub-label Regraded, the sister imprint focusing on sample led disco and house music releasing music from the likes of Gerd Janson, Shan, Hubie Davison and himself.[6] His first release as Midland was a collaboration with Pearson Sound (then Ramadanman) back in 2010, 'Your Words Matter' on Fink and Will Saul's label Aus Music. He went on to release his 'Play The Game' EP on Phonica Records in the same year, 'Bring Joy' on More Music in 2011, an untitled techno EP with Pariah on Work The Long Nights in 2012. His track 'Trace' on Aus Music became somewhat of a breakthrough in 2013.[7] Tracks such as Archive 01, Realtime and Drumtrak all followed on his Graded imprint. He has remixed artists such as Mano Le Tough, Darkstar, Lone and Julio Bashmore - and has been remixed by Grain, Leon Vynehall and Motor City Drum Ensemble. In 2018, he founded another sub-label entitled Intergraded,[8] with a focus on emerging artists.

His 2016 track 'Final Credits' became Mixmag's 2016 'Song Of the Year'[4], and in 2016 he was awarded BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix of the Year[5][6] for his 2-hour 2016 mix entry[7]. He has recorded mixes for Fact Magazine, Beats In Space, XLR8R and Resident Advisor amongst others and has also played live for Boiler Room at Dekmantel, Autonomous Africa in Glasgow and Ray-Ban's party in Milan[17].In 2017 he was announced as the creator of Fabric's 94th instalment of their Fabriclive mix CD series (Fabriclive 94)[10][11][12][13][14], with a launch party in September 2017[15][16]. The mix CD received positive reviews (8.0) from music editorials like Pitchfork[18], DJ Mag (9/10), XLR8R (8/10) [19]and Mixmag (8/10).

In 2018, Midland featured in Resident Advisor's 'Between The Beats' film series, which follows DJs on tour to explore life on the road. [9]

As a touring DJ he's played at some of the most celebrated venues and parties around the world, including Fabric (London), Berghain/Panorama Bar (Berlin), Macarena Club (Barcelona), Concrete (Paris), Electric Pickle (Miami), Jaeger (Oslo), De School (Amsterdam), Le Sucre (Lyon), The Warehouse Project (Manchester), DC10 (Ibiza) and Pikes Hotel (Ibiza). He's played at a number of festivals including Glastonbury and Field Day (UK), Dekmantel and Lowlands (Netherlands), Let Them Eat Cake (Australia), Love International (Croatia), Montreaux Jazz Festival (Switzerland) and Rob Da Bank's Bestival (UK).[10]

In January 2019, Midland was announced as the cover star of Mixmag magazine's February issue. [11]

Personal life

Midland is gay and uses his social media presence to raise awareness of issues affecting LGBT people.

He lives with his husband, Mike, in South London.


[12]

Notable Discography

Title Label Year
Ramadanman & Midland - Your Words Matter / More Than You Know Aus Music 2010
Midland - Play The Game EP Phonica Records 2010
Midland - Through Motion EP Aus Music 2011
Midland - Bring Joy EP More Music 2011
Midland - Placement EP Aus Music 2012
Midland (Placement Remixes ft. Lone & Motor City Drum Ensemble) Aus Music 2012
Midland & Breach - 101 / Somewhere EP Naked Naked 2012
Midland & Pariah - Untitled EP Work The Long Nights 2012
More Music Compilation Sampler (Midland Feature) More Music 2012
Midland - Archive 01 / Realtime EP Graded 2013
Trace EP Aus Music 2013
Drumtrak EP Graded 2013
Duster EP Aus Music 2014
Before We Leave EP Phonica White 2014
Trace / For (Yacht) Club Use Only (ft Leon Vynehall & Grain Remixes) Aus Music 2014
Bicep & Midland - D-Mil EP Feel My Bicep 2014
Double Feature EP Regraded 2015
Youandewan / Midland - Bring Joy (Youandewan's Warehouse Dub) Aus Music 2015
Blush EP Graded 2016
Final Credits Regraded 2016
Fabriclive94 CD Fabriclive Series 2017

Notable Mixes & Features

Name Source Year Accolades
FACT Mix 185[13] Fact Magazine[14] 2010
RA Podcast RA.396[15] Resident Advisor[16] 2013
RA: Mix of the Day: Midland[17] Resident Advisor 2016 RA Mix of The Day[18]
Dekmantel Podcast 022[19] Dekmantel 2015
BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix: Midland[20][21] BBC Radio 1[22][23] 2016 Won: BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix of the Year 2016[24][25]
Fabriclive94 CD[26][27] Fabric London 2017 8/10 DJ Mag Spain,[28] 8/10 XLR8R, 8.0 Pitchfork, 8/10 Mixmag. Mixmag Compilation Of The Year 2017[29]
RA: Midland: Between The Beats[30] Resident Advisor 2018
Mixmag Cover Mix[31] Mixmag 2019

References

  1. ^ a b "Graded - RA". Resident Advisor. 2013.
  2. ^ "Meet Midland - LWE Podcast". 2012.
  3. ^ "Midland: 20 Questions". XLR8R. 2017.
  4. ^ "20 Questions: Midland". XLR8R. 2017.
  5. ^ "Midland Discography". Discogs. 2010.
  6. ^ "Regraded - RA". Resident Advisor. 2015.
  7. ^ "Midland Discography - Discogs". Discogs. 2010.
  8. ^ "RA: Midland launches new label 'Intergraded'".
  9. ^ "RA - Midland: Between The Beats".
  10. ^ "Midland - RA Dates". Resident Advisor. 2010.
  11. ^ "Mixmag Cover: Midland". www.mixmag.net.
  12. ^ Pollock, David. "DEEP EXPLORATIONS: MIDLAND'S PATH TO DJ STARDOM". Mixmag. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  13. ^ Fact Magazine (2010). "Midland FACT Mix 185". Fact (UK magazine).
  14. ^ "Midland: Fact Magazine". 2010.
  15. ^ "RA Podcast 396. Midland". Resident Advisor. 2013.
  16. ^ "RA Podcast - Mixmag". www.residentadvisor.net. 2013.
  17. ^ "Resident Advisor's Mix of The Day:Midland". Resident Advisor. 2016.
  18. ^ "Resident Advisor's Mix of The Day". Resident Advisor. 2016.
  19. ^ "Dekmantel Podcast 022 - Midland". 2015.
  20. ^ "BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix: Midland". Soundcloud. 2016.
  21. ^ "BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix - Midland". BBC Radio 1. 2016.
  22. ^ "BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix: Midland". BBC Radio 1. 2016.
  23. ^ "BBC Radio 1 - Essential Mix". BBC Radio 1.
  24. ^ Bingham, Jaguar (2016). "Midland wins Essential Mix of The Year 2016".
  25. ^ McCallum, Rob (2016). "Midland Wins BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix of the Year 2016". DJ Mag.
  26. ^ Wicks, Amanda (2017). "The Pitchfork Guide to Upcoming Releases: 2017".
  27. ^ Alonso, Alberto (2017). "DJ Mag Spain - Fabriclive94 CD Review".
  28. ^ Alfonso, Alberto (2017). "Fabriclive94 Review - Dj Mag". DJ Mag.
  29. ^ "Mixmag 'Top 20 Compilations of 2017'".
  30. ^ "RA: Midland - Between The Beats".
  31. ^ Mixmag Magazine. "Mixmag Cover Mix". www.mixmag.net.

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