OF all the live streams from DJs during the pandemic, one of the most memorable came back in January when UK Garage icon DJ EZ streamed live, non-stop for 24 hours raising a whopping £89,855, at the time of writing, for mental health charity MIND.
Teaming up with Defected Records and long-time friend and manager Paul Marini, the stream reached millions of people around the world and offered some much-needed relief during these testing times. You can still donate to the Defected fundraiser for MIND HERE and watch the whole set again on youtube. Check the first 8 hours below.
No stranger to charitable offerings both publicly and behind the scenes, the marathon in January was his third and followed on from last year’s 24-hour endeavour via Boiler Room in order to promote kindness during the first Covid lockdown in the UK.
EZ has also been busy with his new record label NUVOLVE which he launched late last year with a slew of releases including music from Todd Edwards, Sweet Female Attitude and Proper Tings among others.
We caught up with the turntable wizard and asked him to talk us through a playlist of ten memorable tracks featured in his 24-hour set.
MPH – Time
“Exceptional 4×4 Garage with so many ingredients I like in a track. Skippy beats, rolling bass line, simple effective vocal sample and beautiful key changing pads and strings.”
MJ Cole – Sincere
“Undoubtedly one of the biggest tracks of the UK Garage genre from the legend and maestro, MJ Cole!”
Proper Tings x Sweet Female Attitude featuring Eddie Craig – Sunlight
“What I love about this track is that it captures the noughties 2 step summer UK Garage vibe while still bringing a fresh feel to it. It’s so catchy that you hear it once and it stays in your head for hours!”
Artful Dodger & Robbie Craig featuring Craig David – Woman Trouble
“A huge fan favourite which features four key figures of the Garage scene: Artful Dodger consisting of the legends Mark Hill and Pete Devereux, and not forgetting of course the equally legendary Craig David and Robbie Craig.”
WZA – The Secret
“One of my current favourite tracks at the moment as it’s simple but so effective!”
HardDrive – Deep Inside
“A cross genre classic known in all corners of the globe which has been sampled on many tracks and has many remixes. However, the original has stood the test of time and remains the best version”
Soulecta – Told You Once
“One of the standout producers from the new generation of UK Garage music. He has churned out so many strong tracks and this is just one of many gems from his catalogue.”
Smokin’ Beats – Dreams (Club Mix)
“A personal favourite from the late 90’s which still sounds just as good in 2021..”
Pete Tong & The Heritage Orchestra – Sing It Back (Todd Edwards Vocal Mix)
“A great rework of this house classic from the super talented US remixer, producer and certified legend, Todd Edwards”
