RA Podcast

Supersized techno, from the Vault Sessions darling.

If you're part of the post-2020 cohort of techno heads, odds are you've heard of Grace Dahl. The Amsterdam native has become ubiquitous the past few years, via her DJing, productions and her label, Serial Disc Touchers. Her techno is energetic, embracing and big without sacrificing complexity or detail. In 2024, her Boiler Room set went viral, leading to bookings at Awakenings and Berghain. This wasn't overnight, though: born in Hungary to seasoned ravers, Dahl started playing out at 18 and landed a residency at Vault Sessions soon after. Serial Disc Touchers, Vol. 1, a collaborative EP with Alec Dienarr, moves from ropey tech house to peaktime anthems and after hours acid, held together by her balance of floor functionality and emotional finesse.

Dahl brings the same MO to her RA Mix. Starting with a melancholic selection of dubbed-out techno, she waits until the 20-minute mark to get things funky. From there, RA.1055 is all party: bleep techno ready for a carnival, outrageous 303 work and a hint of vintage UK rave, with a tracklist spanning VNTM and Villa to Luke Slater, Underworld and Ian Axide. Big-room techno done right—careful and considerate in selection but ready to blast your boots off.

Find the tracklist and Q&A at ra.co/podcast/1074
@gracedahl
@vault-sessions-collective

A decade on from her breakthrough, Jorja Smith reflects on growing up in the public eye, staying independent and turning towards the dance floor.

Jorja Smith's career took off in 2016, when "Blue Lights" introduced her voice to a global audience. In the 10 years since that single went stratospheric, the Walsall-born artist has released three albums, collaborated with Drake, Burna Boy, Wizkid and Ezra Collective, and built an international career without ever signing to a major label.

Her third album, What Are The Odds, marks a new chapter, as she turns towards the dance floor. Made entirely with producer P2J, the record draws from a broad palette of sounds, including UK garage, funky and Afro house—extending a run of summer-dominating, club-smashing collaborations with the likes of Nia Archives ("Little Things (Remix)") and Preditah ("On My Mind.")

Smith has described it as music to make people move, and she'll take the tracks to London's O2 Arena next summer for the first headline show at the venue of her career.

In this Exchange, Smith talks to RA's Content Product Lead Antonia Odunlami about growing up in the public eye, moving back to Walsall after London became too much and protecting the parts of herself she wants to keep private. She also discusses remaining independent, learning to set goals and how she curated her recent All Points East set.

Listen to the episode in full.

@jorjasmith

90 minutes of trip-hop and electronica, as the elusive SUED founder walks down memory lane.

Everything is cyclical. Stick around long enough and what was new and thrilling, then gauche, comes back around, rediscovered by a generation seeing it with fresh eyes. The trip-hop revival of the 2020s is a neat example. But what does it sound like coming from someone who was there the first time?

SW., AKA Stefan Wust, has an answer. The producer co-founded SUED in 2011 with SVN, a label whose hypnotic, stripped-back records arrived untitled and unannounced, and disappeared from Hard Wax just as quietly. For his RA Mix, he reaches back to those formative years, digging through trip-hop, breakbeat and electronica. Famously elusive, he explains in a rare Q&A below that the mix isn't a historical reconstruction but "an attempt to bring that memory back to life through my perspective today."

Built from loops, delay and hard cuts, RA.1054 reassembles the music of his youth rather than filing it away. His Reminder series did the same for Detroit and Chicago; this goes somewhere he never has, to the trip-hop and downtempo end of the same decade. An excerpt of Rachmaninov's Liturgy of St John Chrysostom sets church-like choral vocals against decaying electronics from Twine and Gridlock, and of course it wouldn't be trip-hop without Tricky.

Find the tracklist and Q&A at ra.co/podcast/1073

The British jungle star reflects on grief, artistic integrity, bass communities and why slowing down has become central to the next phase of her career.

In 2019, SHERELLE's life changed when a viral Boiler Room set introduced her high-speed blend of jungle, footwork and hardcore to a global audience. This much we know. So what comes after the storm?

In the 2020s, the Londoner has become one of the most recognisable figures in UK dance music: major festival stages, a BBC Radio 6 Music show and even a MOBO award. Yet after putting herself through over 100 shows a year, and turning 30, she began to question the pace of life as a touring DJ. The deaths of two close family members over the past 12 months brought those questions into focus, reshaping how she thinks about DJing, friendship, club culture and what she wants to leave behind.

In this Exchange, SHERELLE speaks with RA Editor Gabe Szatan about learning to take pride in her achievements, resisting the pressure to turn music into social media content and giving UK bass artists their flowers while they're still here.

She also discusses Hooversound—the label she runs with NAINA—racial and class hierarchies that shape dance music, and Rest & Restoration, her new party built around longer sets, affordable tickets and a simple philosophy to slow down, and make time for the people you love.

Listen to the episode in full.

@iamsherelle

A New York summertime block party in all of its glory.

New York City has had an epic few months. From clinching a milestone NBA Championship title, to Mayor Mamdani rolling out affordable housing and fixing potholes, to World Cup fever, the summer of 2026 has (for the most part) been a rush of elation for residents.

Soundtracking it all is Public Service. A free, monthly party run by DJs Toribio and Mickey Perez, this all-ages affair hit record crowds in recent editions ever since launching five years ago.

Even if there's no special occasion, the atmosphere is always electric. Multiple dance cyphers form; musicians bring instruments to jam; free pizza is distributed; informal marketplaces emerge in the back. Public Service is a living tapestry of block party culture, serving as a reminder that church-like communal joy doesn't need four walls or a roof.

Taking place in Brooklyn parks during the summer and clubs during cold weather, the party has also held editions in Detroit, Miami and Montréal. Sound is powered by hot pink speaker stacks, decorated with flower garlands, courtesy of Karlala Soundsystem whose founder Karl Scholz regularly provides rentals for free or at a sliding scale to cultural organisers.

Toribio and Perez man the decks each time, dishing out heaters across Afro house, dembow, cumbia, electro, hip-hop and techno. It might be the city's only DIY party where you can hear Jackmaster, Kendrick Lamar and Willie Colón in a single hour or see kids, aunties and grandfathers in the crowd. RA.1053 is a recording of this year's season opener in May—its vibrant blends and carnival-like mood will likely have more than a few listeners planning trips to experience the magic.

Find the tracklist and Q&A at ra.co/podcast/1072

@publicservicenyc
@mickeyperez
@toribiomusic