An improvised and mostly unrehearsed three turntable Techno throw-down, performed live at the temporal point in space-time that is Freerotation Festival.

The last time I played an up-tempo Techno set like this at Freerotation was in 2011, and I’ve been pestering Steevio to let me bang it again ever since - this was the year it finally happened. 
Set times aren’t announced until the day, so it was as much of a surprise to me as anyone else to find out that I would be playing the closing set in that room.
After a night of excellent live & DJ sets from the highly talented women I had the honour of sharing the bill with, I had to be on top of my game to maintain the energy levels at the high bar they had set. 
My aim was to keep the tempos up around 137 BPM, make good use of all three turntables, improvise as much as possible in a spontaneous way by keeping the rehearsing to a minimum, and stay as present in the moment as much as I could possibly be.
I worked out the intro and the first couple of tracks, but then kept it mostly freestyle after that, which led to some unexpected twists, turns and inspired moments that kept me on my toes, and the crowd buzzing. 
This was one of those special nights where the amazing and supportive crowd gave so much energy, that it fed straight back into the music, which then began to feel like an energy flowing right through you, that pulled you even deeper into the moment. 
Presence!
I was ecstatic to  have been so well received by the large crowd that had gathered, it was an honour & a privilege to hold the space for 90 minutes, and a joy to have the opportunity close the room on such a high. 
Unfortunately some of the amps developed a fault, causing them to overheat & create a nasty burning smell, so the set had to be brought to an abrupt end to avoid causing a fire. 
An unmet demand for a final tune rampantly ensued, I loudly and regrettably responded “The Amps Are On Fire!!”, to which someone remarked “of course they are, you did a good job”, which I felt was a fitting end to a smoking night of Techno-music, that was pure heat from start to finish! :)

Recorded Live on Sunday 7th July 2019, 
4:30 - 6am, in Sammy String's (Room 3), 
at Freerotation Festival, Baskerville Hall, Hay on Wye, UK.

www.residentadvisor.net/dj/alexdowney
www.facebook.com/AlicksDowney/
www.instagram.com/alyxdowney/
Interview: www.untitled909.com/alex-downey/

Photograph by Calandra Balfour @Calandra
Audio mixdown by Charlie Tear @charlietear

Freerotation 2019

Alex Downey's 'The Amps Are On Fire Mix' Live at Freerotation 2019

Electronic 
Experimental 
Avantgarde
Music Producer from NorthernGermany.

Is that A Good ShortInfo?🫧

Underground selector making left-field sonic choices. Runs occasional club-night DotFlex. 

Next:
14/11 NSC pres. Ignez @ Loco Klub (Bristol)

2025
31/12 TBA
20/12 Brockout (The Refuge)
05/12 Techmeout (Frome)
14/11 NSC pres. Ignez @ Loco Klub (Bristol)
04/10 Filth w/ Ben Pest (Taunton)
13/09 Brockout w/ Time to Rush @ The Refuge
06/09 Private Party
05/09 - I Love Acid w/ DMX Krew (Bristol)
26/07 Brockout x NoNoM w/ Second Storey 
12/07 Filth w/ Trevor Rockcliffe @ Dare To Club (Bristol)
04/07 Immunity Festival
24/05 Orbital Gathering
20/04 Bassline Controlled w/ Posthuman
19/04 Brockout @ The Refuge 


2024
14/12 Don't Xmas Party w/ Ceephax Acid Crew @ MOT (London)
30/11 Realm @ The Underground (Plymouth)
16/11 NoNoM (The Triple Goddess) @ The Mermaid 
26/10 Cosmic Collective w/ Daisy Moon
07/09 Frendzy (St Buryan, Cornwall)
31/08 Get On Festival (Devon)
24/08 Cosmic Collective w/ Hodge 
03/08 Duvet Vous @ Greenworks (Bristol)
13/07 Does Something to my Brain @ Cosmic
29/06 Private Party
15/06 DotFlex 6 @ Cosmic (Plymouth)
24-27/05 Forbidden Garden Party (Devon)
20/04 DotFlex 5 @ Cosmic (Plymouth)
23/03 SOUP @ Cosmic (Plymouth)
08/03 DotFlex & U.F.O pres. EKATA @ Cosmic 
27/01 SOUP @ Cosmic (Plymouth)
20/01 JamtheChannel @ The Mermaid (Exeter)

2023
31/12/23 NYE @ Cosmic (Plymouth)
10/11/23 Galactic Growth Studio Launch Party
05/11/23 Private Party 
03/11/23 Dark Knights pres. Ben Sims (Exeter)
16/09/23  POSTPONED - Orbital Gathering 
26/08/23 Polyrhythm August Bank Holiday Techno Party @ The Attic (Torquay)
05/08/23 Gabriela & Friends @ Cosmic (Plymouth)
15/07/23 DotFlex 3 @ Cosmic (Plymouth)
30-02/07/23 Private Party
02-04/06/23 Forbidden Gardens Festival (Devon)
19-21/05/23 Into the Burrow (Devon)
08/04/23 B2B Ribbz (Liskaerd) 
11/03/23 DotFlex 2 @ Cosmic (Plymouth)
25/02/23 Alembic (Exeter)
24/02/23 Filth Infatuated w/ Mike Humphries (Western Super-Mare)
18/02/23 Dear Boss @ AAJA (London)

2022
31/12/22 Shine On New Years FreeStylers Party (Cornwall)
10/12/22 Alembic (Exeter)
05/11/22 The Masked Ball (Cornwall)
04/11/22 Dot Flex Launch Party @ Cosmic (Plymouth)
17/09/22 Private Party (Devon)
13/08/22 Pride After-Party (Plymouth)
07/08/22 Love Summer Festival (Plymouth)
17-19/06/22 Forbidden Gardens Festival (Devon)
14/05/22 JTC 16th Bishops Blaize (Exeter)

2021
12/11/21 Bizkids Images (Plymouth)
02/10/21 Private Party (Cornwall)
18/09/21 Blue Walnut (Torquay)
28/08/21 Exeter Street Arts Festival (Exeter)
07/08/21 Love Summer Festival (Plymouth)
03/07/21 Cosmic Sessions (Plymouth)

Alex Downey has been supporting the UK electronic underground movement as a DJ, record-shop manager and now radio presenter for nearly 20 years. Based in Brighton on the south coast of England, he is arguably the city's most prominent purveyor of all things Techno, where he is a regular fixture at the premier high profile events, alongside acts such as Underground Resistance and Derrick May.  
As the main driving force behind the counter at Brighton's highly respected and much-missed [covert] record store & web-site, he was instrumental in bringing quality Techno & House to the city - and beyond, developing along the way a boundless knowledge, vast record collection and infectious passion for the music that's unmatched by most. 
His musical taste & experience speaks for itself and his nocturnal activities behind the decks have earned him much respect and a great reputation amongst the global electronic community. He has been invited to perform at many key events such as ‘Free-rotation’ in Wales,'The Big Beat Boutique' & 'Stompa-phunk' in Brighton, 'Retro_vert' & 'Wiggle' in London, ‘Labyrinth’ festival & ‘Haus-Tek’ in Tokyo, and at many other far-flung destinations, hundreds of smaller parties and long-forgotten club nights that rocked hard, and kept the lifeblood of the scene pumping. He is currently resident DJ at 'Our Friends Electric' in Brighton as well as the 'Split' / 'B A L A N C E' parties in London where he has recently shared the stage with Red-shape, Dave Clarke, Robert Hood, Luke Slater and Carl Craig, to name a few. You can also hear him spin on the ‘Split Show’ - a globally syndicated online radio show with a large number of keen listeners worldwide that he co-presents alongside techno legend Ben Sims.
Alex’s energetic style and enthusiasm for all things deep & electronic are sure to bring some magic to the party and are matched only by his razor-sharp DJ skills. One of the UK’s treasures, solidly and confidently attending to business while other media-hyped storms have come and gone.

After numerous sprains and broken limbs, thankfully I realised my breakdancing career was going to be a short lived affair by the early 80s. 
When the house music and acid scene hit in the late 80s, I spent most of my spare time blagging lifts in strangers cars to anywhere on the M25 that had a strobe light and a P.A. 
By the early 90s I had secured a driving licence, some decks, a bit of skill and a whole lot of experience and begun to spin at parties that me and my collective had started organising. This continued for a few years along the familiar path of parties, clubs, late nights and memory loss. 
In 1998 myself and fellow misfit Ben Sims decided to form the seminal Theory imprint, giving us an output for their bedroom studio antics. A whole host of remixers jumped on board and then rest as they say is history. 
I left Theory and Ben to their own devices and decided to take some time out from the madness and do a bit of travelling. The travelling included a box of records and took in Europe and Australia and finally back to the UK where I currently reside. 
The past couple of years has seen me working on a few solo and collaboration projects, culminating in new releases on the fresh new Australian Label - Itinerant Records..

Thanks for dropping by!

TD
 

**2012 mixes on Mixcloud**

Now entering my 17th year on the decks, I gained my enthusiasm for DJing in the closing months of the 20th century. In the time since, my early passion for the more Progressive and Tribal end of House music embarked upon an increasingly breakbeat-laden journey, eventually settling on Drum and Bass for a great many years. Primary influences were Prog House pioneers like Sasha, John Digweed and Danny Howells; meanwhile, Bukem and the GLR crew were the first to catch my attention at 170 bpm. 

After initial club experience playing in and around the northwest UK, I moved back to London in 2006 and won a DJ competition run by Drum and Bass Arena, playing a set at London’s Ministry of Sound b2b with Metalheadz’ DJ Bailey. Soon after, I was chosen as one of the four finalists for BBC 1Xtra’s Breaking New Talent competition. I managed to progress and win the competition after two rounds of on-air mixing and public voting, venturing on tour with the BBC as a result. 

In the time since, I’ve been lucky enough to play for promoters in all four corners of the UK as well as overseas for events in Spain, Holland, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Morocco. In 2008 I joined the residential ranks at the DNB scene's biggest promoter, Innovation, and was signed to their Artist Management Agency. Soon after, I appeared in glossy Drum and Bass magazines Knowledge and ATM’s ‘Leaders of the Nu Skool’ and ‘Give ‘Em Props’ features. I've also been invited to play on DNBTV on two occasions.  

I’ve developed a real love for the airwaves too over the years; initially on the internet only for now-defunct stations Keen and Kunninmindz before graduating to the family of London’s finest pirate, Rude FM 88.2. I ran my show on Rude for five years; for a six month period, I also ran The Innovation Show for Ministry of Sound Radio. I have had guest mixes featured on Bassdrive, Dublin 104.6FM, Code South, Mix FM, Protokol, Witness The Sickness and London’s Life FM and Manic FM. 

Around 2011, the sad reality dawned ever stronger that new Drum and Bass just doesn’t push my buttons like it used to do. As a result I’ve spent a lot of time returning to my first loves House and Techno, together with some furtive experiments into mixed-genre DJing. I'm happy to say that this has injected a huge amount of welcome fresh air into my time on the turntables, so keep an eye out for more mixes along these lines from now on.

https://www.instagram.com/ruditservaleriana/