Deep house with heaps of soul to guide spring into summer.

"House music to me is about emotion… it's about how it moves you," says Suze Phaff, better known as Suze Ijó. Emerging from a thriving Dutch scene, Ijó belongs to a generation of DJs reshaping dance culture from the ground up, restoring soul and musicality to the centre of house music. It's a conversation happening not just in her home town of Rotterdam, but globally, among kindred spirits like MUSCLECARS and Dee Diggs in New York, Errol and Alex Rita of Touching Bass in London, and OMOLOKO in Belo Horizonte.

You could call Ijó a deep house DJ, but it's much deeper than that. Her sets embody house music in its most musical sense, rich in nimble percussion, woodwinds, calypso drums, gospel vocals, and romantic string sections. They channel the jazz-inflected heartbeat of the East Coast, the breeze of Balearic shores, and the light-footed rhythms of the Caribbean.

As Ijó explains in her Q&A, her RA Podcast "hopefully feels like a loving embrace." Opening with Key Trunks Ensemble's "Calypso of House (Paradise Mix)," she sets a buoyant, life-affirming tone that carries through the next 90 minutes. As the mix unfolds, her affinity for timelessness is clear, with selections that hark back to the golden age of house, from Lonesome Echo Production's "Sweet Dream (Shrine Sweet Mix)" to the euphoric swell of Blaze's "Klubtrance."

Listening to RA.986, it's no surprise that The Loft—David Mancuso's legendary, much-missed New York party—serves as a key influence for Ijó. "He wasn't confined to just one genre but would just play 'good music' in the right context," she explains. "He allowed the music to breathe."

If ambient music is defined by its ability to breathe in and reflect its surroundings, then Ijó's RA Podcast is ambient in the truest, most human sense: a deep, enveloping soundscape that feels like sunrise, like community, like home—wherever you may choose to listen.

@suze_ijo

Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/986

RA.986 Suze Ijó

For the 134th entry in the Honcho Podcast Series we welcome Pittsburgh's @jckmrn! Jack M, one of the minds behind Hot Mass’s Humanaut parties, is a purveyor of swinging drums, large basslines, and tripped-out rhythms. With a primary interest in house and garage music, his realm of taste is really better encompassed by the descriptor “party music”. With a keen ear for blending deep cuts and strangely familiar gems, his sets offer something for every kind of music lover—and this recording is no exception 


Honcho Podcast Series 134: Jack M

A rare club mix from the ever-evolving artist, with 90 minutes of shadowy, atmospheric pressure.

Music's therapeutic value is often linked to relaxation—gongs, singing bowls and the like. Dense passages of foggy droning and eerie static aren't traditionally considered restorative, but Laurel Halo makes a pretty good case for it.

The Detroit-born, Los Angeles-based musician's abstract, often improvised productions are heavy on sound design and emotional climax. Driven by atmosphere rather than rhythm, they push listeners to grapple with their innermost insecurities, fears and dreams. "I'm lucky my music has helped people through crises," Halo once told Discwoman. It's easy to see why.

Since her 2010 debut King Felix, Halo has built a stunningly diverse catalogue of classically-informed records. A multi-instrumentalist—piano, violin, guitar, keys—her sharpest instrument is arrangement. Inspired by the surrealism of Italo Calvino and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, her releases, from Atlas to Behind The Green Door, unfold with slow-burning narrative and dense emotional weight. Her soundworlds are layered and labyrinthine—an architectonic space where self-reflection happens almost by force.

Even in the club, the sought-after composer excels in immersion. Her sets extend the expressionist palette of her records, trading traditional rhythm for tension, space and surprise. It’s no wonder she takes a genre-agnostic approach to the dance floor—her deep roots in freeform radio began at WCBN-FM in Michigan, followed by Berlin Community Radio, Rinse FM, and now a regular show on NTS.

RA.992 stitches foggy ambient loops, propulsive techno, mutant percussion and heady left turns with care. Tracks from DJ Rush, Octave One and Eddie Fowlkes nod to her Midwestern heritage, balanced out by deeper, psychedelic fare from the likes of Polygonia and Cousin. It's the mark of an artist revealing both deep curiosity and a precise hand as a selector. Rare, indeed.

@laurelhalo

Find the full interview at ra.co/podcast/992

RA.992 Laurel Halo

@djwillautomagic

"Will Automagic aka William Lynn moved to New York in 1992 from Austin, TX and was already DJing there by the mid 90s before he was legally old enough to be in the clubs. Over the years he has played all over including past NYC residencies at Vandam and as part of the roving warehouse party SPANK, and has produced records as part of Automagic, The Carry Nation, and Majorettes. On the roster of The Bunker, he now plays solo and as part of The Carry Nation at their Good Room, Basement & Battle Hymn residencies in NYC, and all over the world. His latest project is co-founding the record label Major Records NYC. Will is a child of The Loft & The Sound Factory and his sound is as varied and unified as the influences that create the magic that is New York."






Episode 73 w/ Will Automagic

A queer icon steps up for RA.998's B-side.

The RA Podcast began with RA.001 in 2006. Since then, it's spotlighted the best and brightest in dance music every week, without fail. As we approach our 1,000th episode next month, we're switching things up, pairing artists whose sounds complement one another and, in doing so, zeroing in on the forces shaping the past, present and future of electronic culture.

This week, we shift lanes to Roza Terenzi and Kim Ann Foxman, two artists who strike a rare balance between reverence and reinvention. Both are key figures in queer clubbing circles, deeply informed by the halcyon days of '90s and early '00s club music yet fully committed to pushing it forward.

Each artist has carved out a distinct path. Roza Terenzi started out in Perth, Australia, before making a home in Berlin in 2020, while the Hawaii-born Foxman made her name in New York by way of San Francisco in the early '00s. For RA.998, they've contributed separate mixes, to be enjoyed together as two parts of the same whole.

Foxman takes the B-side and makes her RA Podcast debut. As a vocalist for Hercules & Love Affair and a sought-after producer in her own right, the New York-based artist blends club heft and melodic flourish with a distinct pop sensibility shaped by '90s dance music. (She got her first job making smoothies at an all-ages club in Hawaii while Deee-Lite performed live behind her.)

Like Roza Terenzi, Foxman draws from across eras. Her contribution to RA.998 is warm, expressive and emotionally tuned, unfurling a palette of house, breaks and trance laden with bright pads, bold hooks and an ear for atmosphere. Listen out for the Whitney Houston sample and you'll know what we mean. 

While Foxman and Roza Terenzi embrace a fun, vibrant musical style, their work is grounded in intentionality. They're invested in honouring the cultural and political roots of dance music: Foxman has long advocated for a more inclusive, community-driven club scene, while Roza Terenzi was among the first artists to begin pulling shows this summer as a matter of political principle.

Both sides of RA.998 show how the sounds of past eras can be reimagined to move seamlessly with the present. Hopefully you'll even feel a jolt of inspiration to get yourself to the nearest dance floor, ASAP.

@kimannfoxman
Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/1003

RA.998 Kim Ann Foxman

05.24.25 Ashton Swinton movement detroit stage

This is not a story about a broken heart.
'Cause I can see the light - leading through the Dark.

Franziskus Bries - No Broken Heart (Free DL)

“Can You Feel It” blends the essence of Tech House, Melodic Techno, and Techno into a hypnotic journey.
Deep basslines, sharp percussion, and a progressive groove that builds pure dancefloor energy.

Lucho Suárez - Can You Feel It

For the final podcast of 2015, we have a special treat for you. Chris Cruse,    the mastermind behind the infamous Spotlight party in LA, has delivered a worthy farewell to 2015, a year that has been extraordinary for Honcho. 2016 is shaping up to be our biggest year yet and we're excited to see what it brings. Enjoy!

Honcho Podcast Series 13 - Chris Cruse

Here we find the elusive Mike Servito in his natural habitat, closing No
Way Back in Detroit 2018, always one of the highlights of 313: Return to
the Source. It has become a sort of annual tradition to have him close
the party, as he balances the light with the dark in such an effortless
way. As he played “The Climax” I remember the feeling in the crowd, it
was magic. This set is directly after Derek Plaslaiko had finished playing
and an impromptu tag team ensued. This set presented here is Mike
Servito solo, killing it as he always does.

IT.podcast.s07e04: Mike Servito at No Way Back 2018

ithqdetroit