When Leo Pol decided to dedicate his life to music, he did so knowing it would cause problems with his family. Though his parents were both music lovers, his father was adamant that his son should commit to formal education. At first Leo attempted to study law, but left the course after three weeks. Then he tried his hand at art, before moving to Berlin to study there. In the end, though, music was what he really wanted to do, and he took himself out of the education system.

In a sea of carbon-copy producers, The Funk Hunters have cultivated their signature sound by creating forward-thinking electronic music that is influenced by old school funk, soul and hip-hop.

One minute into "Descendant," the lead track from Alex Dickson's new release for Whities, I realized two things. One, that the tune—staggered techno with breakbeats flashing like friction sparks—is absolutely massive. The other realization was that I had been missing out on a catalogue of stellar dubstep, techno and drum & bass fusions from a young Melbourne-based artist who speaks those musical languages with ease. Luckily, this 12-inch makes for a fantastic introduction.

“Do these look level to you?” Moxie asks Mixmag as she hurriedly ties two transparent helium balloons to either side of the booth. Time is not on her side as she puts the finishing touches to this edition of her nomadic On Loop party, but pressure is something she’s all too familiar with.

Orlagh Dooley is not one for putting on a big show. Even here, at the opening night of The Warehouse Project, Or:la is far more concerned by working out her next move than playing up to the crowd. “There’s definitely more of that than a big performance,” she says of her technique. “I’m always planning tracks ahead of what I’m playing, to judge where I want to take the room – that’s maybe why I always look so stern.”

For a taste of the tracks that will move dance floors this year, you could do far worse than listening to a radio set from Ben UFO. As always, the Hessle Audio cofounder spotlights new music via flawless, artful mixing. 

The French artist blew us away late last year which his set we captured at Electronic Subculture x W Paris, and he’s continued to rise in our estimations through 2019 to stand as one of the most exciting live acts in dance music. Denis Sulta agrees, calling the former Concrete resident “the next big thing in European dance music” ahead of the Sulta Selects show they play together at Printworks London this weekend.

Justin Martin, widely known as one of the nicer guys in the dance music scene, turned 40 on April 20. It's hard to believe for someone who led a lively group jog at 7 am after a long night of partying at October's Dirtybird Campout, the bicoastal music festival put on by Martin's Dirtybird Records.

Barclay Crenshaw, known to the world as Claude VonStroke, is an ultimate multihyphenate in the world of dance music. Not only does this illustrious house and tech house artist tour and DJ under the VonStroke name, he also tours with fellow artist Green Velvet under the alias Get Real. In fact, the two are on tour this December.

First Wave artists Ben UFO and SHERELLE both made it into Resident Advisor's Best Mixes of 2019 list. In this golden age of online mixes, have we arrived at the optimal format for the DJ? Free to make, free to release, free to consume, no rules or suggestions about what to play, just you and your ideas and a blank digital canvas. 

Footwork is one of this decade’s dance music success stories. Born in Chicago, this fast, propulsive genre evolved out of the city’s ghetto house and juke scenes and, running at a swift 160bpm, was originally designed to soundtrack spectacular dance battles and uplifting community street parties.