Live from the Dance Floor

Live at Battle Hymn (Brooklyn), Aug 2023

Live recording from Fandango on the Beach, Plötzensee, 6th June 2023

Next up on our live mix series is @jacob-meehan who played the perfect house loaded beachside set on one of our sunnier Tuesday’s this summer. Jacob is part of the organising team behind Whole Festival and Buttons - events that inspire us with their purpose, care, and attention to detail. It’s no surprise the same traits and dancefloor mileage shine in Jacob’s set.

LIVE AT FANDANGO - Jacob Meehan

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/love2jdtwitch

This is a mix that long ago lived on the internet, then ended up properly mastered as one of the cassettes in our 15th anniversary box set. We're releasing it again now to bring attention to our friend, Keith McIvor aka JD Twitch, who's been diagnosed with a brain tumor. The liner notes for the cassette, below, lay out how formative our experiences of Optimo (Espacio) were as we built our thing. Keith played the very first Mister Saturday Night, and we went on to develop a long friendship with both him and Jonnie. We are forever grateful to them and hope you will support Keith and his family now as they deal with one of the most difficult moments of life. Love live Keith McIvor. Long live Optimo. 

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/love2jdtwitch


*Original Liner Notes*

Optimo were huge inspirations when Justin and I threw our first Mister Saturday Night parties in 2009. Justin had seen them play at the Motherfucker party at Limelight sometime in 2004, while I spent time at the weekly Sunday night parties that JD Twitch (Keith McIvor) and Jonnie Wilkes’ threw in Glasgow during my college days. We were both taken by Keith and Jonnie’s ability to incorporate just about any music into their sets while still pleasing everyone in the room, record diggers and punters alike.

This particular set is from the summer of 2010, a party we hosted in a Bushwick back alley, and it encapsulates Optimo's knack for party-rocking in the most unconventional way. Classic house gives way to afrobeat, builds up into a high energy Italo track that drips to a halt, before revving into a sequence that includes an off-kilter Comeme record, “Pump Up The Jam,” ‘80s electro, lo-fi techno and Jesse Jackson’s “I Am Somebody” speech, before Liquid Liquid's Sal Principato grabs the mic and sings “Optimo,” the track for which Keith and Jonnie named their project. To hear is to believe.

— Eamon Harkin

MSN Tape 1510 - Optimo

Part 1. A Fundraiser for JD Twitch / Optimo, 2010 in NYC (featuring Sal P from Liquid Liquid)

JACOB MEEHAN

On EP 17 of the Here&There podcast, I am in conversation with Dee Diggs (House of Diggs, NYC).

Dee Diggs is a DJ and recording artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She is unapologetically black, queer, and a lifelong student of the tenets of House Music.

In her current iteration, she is a recording artist and a busy touring International DJ taking her sound around the world to clubs, festivals and events where the word has gotten out about how every single set by this connoisseur feels like a celebration – a celebration of club culture, of queerness, of community, of house and techno, and of house and techno’s Black American innovators.

Diggs’ sound cuts an arch through dance music’s past and present to convey an interesting melding of Dee’s signature sounds: lyrical storied tracks, sensual club edits, soulful realness, sneaky grooves, passionate thumpers, and nostalgic endings. The east coast darling bares her soul on these decks — when you hear her, you feel her, and there is no mistaking the beauty and grit of this sound and this feeling!

I am so excited to be hosting her in ATL on 3/15/25 and am even more excited to have gotten the chance to sit down with her prior to the event to hear her story!

Dee Diggs SC: @dee_diggs

Music in this episode includes:
F.U.N.K - ysheso___ & Ralo

EP 17 | Dee Diggs (House of Diggs, NYC)

Bonafide dance music royalty Kevin Saunderson graces the London studio, taking us back to the foundations of Detroit techno with an hour-long classics mix.  
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/kevin-saunderson-3rd-april-2025

Kevin Saunderson 030425

LIVE @ GABRIELA w/ Eli Escobar @ Romance - July 25 2024

GABRIELA MIX #31 ~ LIVE @ GAB w Eli Escobar

First three hours of my set at Solace in Melbourne. I have not included the slightly-more-unhinged final hour, I think you had to be there.

3hrs live at Solace, 23 May '25

Takaya Nagase invites Kei_Nakahara from my hometown in Japan 

https://www.instagram.com/Kei_nakahara 



Kei_Nakahara @ The Lot Radio 06-11-2025

Marcellus Pittman: 18th June '25

An Exploration of the Deeper, Darker side of Techno, House, Detroit, Acid, Jazz, Dub, D&B, Trip Hop, Downtempo, Electronica and whatever moves your soul.

https://www.instagram.com/analog_soul_



ANALOG SOUL @ The Lot Radio 07-02-2025

The first half of RA.996 is Ron Trent's take on luxurious house.

As part of our countdown to RA.1000, a milestone in the 24-year history of RA's weekly mix series, we're switching up the usual format. The next few editions will pair two acts who complement each other's strengths, offering a fresh take on a particular community, scene or style. 

This week, we're zeroing in on Ron Trent and Ash Lauryn, two names who fly the flag high for old-school US house—a foundational pillar of the electronic underground. 

Trent takes the A-side. Hailing from Chicago, the birthplace of house, the pioneer is a master of finding the sweet spot where machine music meets organic instrumentation.  Listen to any DJ set or record in his extensive back catalogue and you'll find a wealth of exquisitely expressive melodies and deep, spiritual frequencies, making him the ideal narrator for any survey on house. (If you've only got a moment, sink into "Morning Factory," nine minutes of perfection.) 

Trent's return to the RA Podcast, 19 years after his debut in 2006, represents his many decades of expertise in fusing funk with gorgeous musicianship under the umbrella of heart-stirring house. Some may call it a masterclass but to us, it's just Trent doing what he does best.

Listened to as a whole, RA.996 is a powerful snapshot of house's elegance, class and most importantly, understated yet innately euphoric joy.

Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/997

RA.996 Ron Trent

This was maybe my fourth time ever playing techno, and it felt incredible to be given the trust to close the main room at Zero Chill, NYC's hottest rave. After nearly 20 years of DJing—mostly known for house, sometimes ambient—it was a thrill to stretch into a harder, faster prime-time slot for a massive, raging warehouse crowd. Pride 2025 called for a disco-flavored last hour to honor our origins and ancestors.

I’ve never had so many people DM me after a set, and it’s got me inspired to keep exploring this direction in the techno landscape.

Special thanks to my dears Dirty Daddy Don and Physical Therapy for lacing me with some tracks for the night. It takes a village.

Zero Chill NYC - Main Room Closing - Pride 2025

Paranoid London - 28 July 2025

originally from rural Illinois, Jacob Meehan crystallized his deep relationship with music during his 15 year tenure in Chicago - spending time producing parties, he became a pivotal booster in America's burgeoning queer scene back in the early 2010’s 

his DJ style is an eclectic blend of machine and soul that transcends and captivates, and since moving to Berlin in 2016, he's become one of the driving forces as a curator behind two major events much beloved by the queer community: Buttons and WHOLE Festival

tune in for 90 minutes of Jacob's eclectic groove from Queen! at smartbar

Smartmix 85: Jacob Meehan

Chicago ---> Berlin
From Chicago, Jacob Meehan has made a name for himself over the last fifteen years as both a musical purveyor & vibe creator. Since moving to Berlin in 2016, he’s left his mark with two projects beloved by the queer community: @radio-buttons & @wholefestival . The last few years he’s delved into music production and leading ambient focused yoga nidra guided meditation sessions.

Past appearances include:
Adonis (London)
Basement (NYC)
Bunker (NYC)
Carry Nation (NYC)
Cocktail d'Amore (Berlin)
Club Toilet (Detroit)
Contact (Tokyo)
Equation Festival (Vietnam)
Honcho Campout (USA)
Honey Soundsystem (SF)
Horse Meat Disco (Berlin)
Listen Festival (Brussels)
Panorama Bar (Berlin)
Savage (Hanoi)
Signal (LA)
Smart Bar (Chicago)
Tresor (Berlin)
Unter (NYC)
Unknwn (Manila)
Wrecked (NYC)
Zero Chill (NYC)

::welcome home::
✺ the proof is on the dancefloor
✺ celebrating the underground for over 40 years

Smartmix 85: Jacob Meehan

smartbar

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