As you are all aware by now, Frequent Players is our music division within Footpatrol. Our way of exploring the world of music and bringing the community closer to those emerging within the scene.
For our latest Frequent Players feature, we’ve teamed up with Sons of Craft, a design lab who claim ‘craft is their religion’. They too have started to explore the world of music with thanks to their record label Sounds of Craft. This felt like the perfect opportunity to explore our two worlds and explore their world and their artists.
Next up, we speak with Lolade to learn more about her venturing into the world of music, smashing her first set and Glastonbury and of course, dropping Frequent Players our latest guest mix.
Footpatrol: Thank you so much for spending the time with us Lolade. We always like to kick things off with the nice easy question of, how are you?
Lolade: I’m doing great, thank you! The weather is lovely, autumn is my favourite season. I’ve been really busy lately which I quite like, but I’m looking forward to winding down at the end of the year.
FP: For our community members that haven’t had the pleasure of listening to your mixes. Could you give us an overview on how things started for you?
Lolade: Well, depends on how far back you want to go! When I was 10, I was abruptly sent to boarding school in Nigeria. I felt completely out of place there and when I moved back to London three years later, I felt even more out of place, like I didn’t quite fit in anywhere. As a result I spent a lot of my teens at home, immersed in mid 00s internet culture, mainly on MySpace where I was exposed to all sorts of music. Most of it was quite different from what I typically listen to now, but that period helped me form a very broad taste in music.
In my later teens I was listening to a lot of edm, not in nightclubs (at the time the only clubbing I knew of was trekking to Mayfair in high heels and tight dresses – decidedly not for me) but while doing cardio. I used to do body fitness competitions so I was constantly in the gym.
I somehow hadn’t crossed paths with more niche electronic subgenres until I made a friend in my early 20s who was obsessed with psy trance. Completely obsessed. He played Infected Mushroom all the time and I took a liking to it. Over time I started exploring more electronic music on my own, came across an amazing dj set on YouTube and completely fell in love. It felt like I had entered a new world and I was hooked. I was constantly listening to mixes and searching for music. I started going to local events, usually on my own at first as I didn’t know anyone else at the time who enjoyed this music. Eventually I made a lot of friends, some of whom were DJs who taught me the basics.
Fast forward a number of years – During the first lockdown in 2020 I started making public Spotify playlists, one of which gained a fair number of followers. Around summer 2021, I decided to finally start mixing all my favourite tracks together and bought myself a controller. I started sharing mixes on Soundcloud that winter and here we are now!
FP: Now we know you are big into hard house, trance and electronic. Where does the fascination stem from?
Lolade: I’ve always liked music that feels quite otherworldly. Even prior to getting really into electronic music, I’ve always been into musc like that. I love techno for this exact feel. Particularly deep, hypnotic techno.
There’s something deeply meditative and healing about dancing to good techno with a good crowd. A friend of mine compares it to the rituals of indigenous tribes dancing to the beat of a ceremonial drum, putting everyone in a trance-like state. I’m Nigerian (Yoruba) so in a more modern context this immediately reminds me of the live Fuji music the aunties and uncles would go wild for at the later hours of weddings and hall parties. My uncle is actually a Fuji artist, so perhaps my love for strong percussive kicks is in the blood!
That said, I don’t typically stick to one genre. Playing different genres that don’t throw off the energy or rhythm too much adds a fresh shot of colour and energy. I love the spacey vibe of trance and the tooly, old school sound of hard house.
FP: There are some insane venues all over the world that come to mind when I think of those genres. Has there ever been a place you’ve always wanted to do a set in?
Lolade: Corsica studios was one of the first clubs I went to for techno music. I remember the night perfectly – I had just moved to a new area, just gotten out of a relationship and was in a deep rut. One night, on a spur of the moment, I bought myself a ticket for a Discwoman event happening at Corsica Studios and went alone that night. I had such an incredible time and made lifelong friends that night. Playing there would feel like coming full circle!
FP: So we have come to meet at Hidden Sounds Record Store. What makes this your favorite spot above the rest?
Lolade: I spent a lot of time at Hidden Sounds when I first moved to the area and was looking around for places to spend my lazy weekend afternoons. It’s a gorgeous space and everyone there is super friendly. Their record selection is great too. Be sure to grab a coffee from Ursula!
FP: Congratulations on playing your first Glastonbury set this summer, could you tell us a little about that?
Lolade: Glastonbury was incredible! It was actually my first time going to Glastonbury and never in a million years did I expect to be playing there. I was watching Megan Thee Stallion perform and ran off halfway to do my set. It was quite far away from all the main action but it was a super fun set where I went for darker and heavier music than I would usually play. Everyone was super energetic and I loved that I had the freedom to play whatever I wanted. A really fun night!
FP: Lola:de, it has been such a pleasure to meet you. Before we let you go, we like to give all our interviewees the chance to sign off the interview with anything they’d like to share or a message of positivity. So by all means take it away!
Lola:De: Don’t be afraid of doing things alone 🙂
