Max HeyraudAhead of CUPRA and Beyond the Pale’s sold-out Club CuCú show tomorrow at Centre Point, marking DJ Seinfeld’s return to Dublin, we caught up with January Winters, CUPRA brand ambassador and one of Ireland’s standout selectors, who will be warming up the room for the night.
We chat to Winters about the art of the warm-up, the importance of human curation in radio, and why she believes Irish radio could be doing far more to champion homegrown artists.
January Winters has established herself as one of Ireland’s most important contemporary voices in club culture. Coming from a background immersed in the idea of introducing people, both on the dancefloor and tuning in on the radio, to new music, she brings the art of DJing back to its fundamentals. There’s something deeply honest and infectious about that. Winters radiates a genuine passion for music, and it’s that passion that has kept her here, many years on, with the same curiosity and desire to share music that first drew her into club culture.
In recent years, she has become a formidable selector across Ireland’s club and festival circuit, from The Button Factory, Index and Pygmalion to All Together Now, Forbidden Fruit and Beyond The Pale. She has shared the bill with some of the most acclaimed names in contemporary electronic music, including The Blessed Madonna, Jungle, Maribou State, Eliza Rose, TSHA, Jayda G and Barry Can’t Swim, while her reputation as a selector has taken her further afield to BBC Radio 1 and Radio 1 Dance, including performances at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in both Liverpool and Sunderland.
A lifelong music obsessive with roots in indie, R&B, hip-hop, soul and blues, Winters’ broad and eclectic knowledge of music continues to seep through her selections, whether she’s commanding a packed festival stage or tucked away in the studio speaking into her radio mic.
When did you first discover club culture, and what was it about it that drew you into its orbit?
I was always really into music growing up, but mainly indie, r&b, hip-hop, soul and blues kind of stuff. I hadn’t listened to much electronic music at the time. I went through a bad patch in college, and my mates dragged me to Ibiza (shout out Pattie and April!) I was honestly dreading it. After about 5 minutes of being there, I was totally obsessed. We saw Ricardo Villalobos, Sven Väth and loads of other people. I went back about 5 or 6 times in the space of a few years and discovered club nights in Dublin along the way and have been in it ever since.
What made you want to make the transition from being a dancer to becoming a DJ?
I was going to clubs and club nights every week: Hidden Agenda, Trainwreck, Hangar, Twisted Pepper, etc. Watching international acts, some of my friends were DJs too, and every night I’d watch all the DJ’s and I just really wanted to do it myself. Took me a while to build up the courage to buy some decks, but I got round to it eventually.
What initially drew you into the world of radio, and what keeps you coming back to it?
I’ve always liked sharing music, but in a selfish way, I guess I enjoy being the person who introduces someone to a new track. But I think the main reason, and the most important reason, is that I find it really fun. I get to dance for a few hours and have the chats, and not many things are better than that.
In a world where music discovery is increasingly shaped by algorithms, why do you think human curation from a DJ on radio remains so important?
Firstly, I think that definitely depends on the type of DJ, but I think when you tune into someone’s show, particularly on community radio stations, you’re getting a little slice of their taste and personality. They can introduce you to new sounds and give you something unexpected. It’s a platform that works really well for sharing music. That’s exactly the job of a DJ. No one’s ever got excited about an algorithm suggestion.
You’re known as a great warm-up DJ, having opened the dancefloor for some of the world’s most coveted artists, from The Blessed Madonna and Eliza Rose to Jungle, Maribou State and even The Sugababes. What advice would you give to DJs approaching those early-hour sets?
I always go in with the ethos that it’s not about me! The gig is all about the headliner, so I try to warm up the room, welcome the first few people in, get them settled in, get them comfortable, get them dancing and build the night from there so that when the headliner comes on, the room is ready to kick off. If I had to give advice: don’t play the bangers and don’t play their music.
The BBC and the UK more broadly have a strong infrastructure and long-standing culture around radio, with a history of supporting homegrown music and emerging artists. What do you think Ireland could learn from that model?
I think it comes down to not being too safe, musically. It’s not about playing the top 20 hits from massive artists all day. There’s an emphasis on music discovery, which supports new and emerging talent. Crucially, that music isn’t just confined to specialist shows after 6pm, it can be heard on daytime radio too, which gives way more exposure to the artist.
They also give homegrown and emerging talent across different genres plenty of airtime. I’d love to see a wider selection of music being played across Irish radio.
They’re also particularly good at supporting Irish artists early on in their careers, not because they’re Irish but because they’re good. I’d be far more likely to hear a KETTAMA tune or Kneecap at 2 O’clock in the day in the UK than in Ireland, and that says a lot.
Some of the biggest acts in the world right now across different genres are all Irish. I think giving artists more of a platform early in their careers, especially outside of specialist shows, could make a real difference.
You seem particularly inspired by DJs who introduce people to new music. Do you think that remains one of the most important roles of a DJ?
100%. I want to hear what a DJ has in their collection, what they’ve been listening to, what they’re into. That’s why extended sets are so good, get in early and hear all the weird stuff.
If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice when you were first learning to DJ, what would it be?
I would tell myself not to be so hard on myself and critical, but I’m still telling myself that now. I’ve had gigs where I’ve been so upset afterwards that I didn’t play well and been in tears over it. I sometimes get incredibly nervous too and then make stupid mistakes which I end up kicking myself for, and it’s a downward spiral. I’m getting better at not doing those things, but it’s a work in progress.
