Jamie Rio

Name: Jamie Rio

Show: Lofi Hifi

When are you on?
second and forth Wednesday of every month, from 4pm to 6pm. Should it be a five week month then I’ll be in on that slot too, same time, same place.

What type of music can we expect to hear on your show?
Electronica, indie-dance, new disco, a touch of dub-step and I’ll also be championing the remix in all it’s forms, giving you some rarely heard gems and popular dance floor fillers. I also play quite a few up and coming guitar bands as well as some old familiars.

How did you get into this type of music?
I’ve always had a love of guitar bands but it was at Lofi Hifi itself, before my friends and I started running it, and I heard Windowlicker by Aphex Twin and the Erol Alkan remix of Franz Ferdinand’s Do you want to? Bands like Block Party and The Futureheads were starting to break through and making really interesting indie tunes that you could dance to. It was an exciting time to be into guitar bands because you had the indie-electro crossover and it made dance music cool again.

How long have you been DJing?
I’ve been playing tracks since 2006.

How did you start DJing?
Our friends who ran Lofi left for bigger and better things and we took over the running of the night in September 2006.

Can we find you DJing anywhere other than on Phonic FM
You’ll find me and the rest of the Lofi Hifi crew down at the Cavern every other Wednesday. We usually have a band to play the first part of the night and have had the pleasure of sharing a stage with Johnny Foreigner, Los Campesenos, You Say Party! We say die! The Sunshine Underground, So So Modern, GoodBooks, Pete and the Pirates and the Death Set. As well as local heroes and all round toures du force, Four Cylinder Witch Hunt and Young Sensation.

The night itsself can be a crazy mix from Stax and Motown, through to The Buzzcocks, Bauhaus, X-Ray Spex, Duran Duran and usually ending in a mess of indie and electro from today and tomorrow. Check out our myspace, it’s got a comprehensive list of what we are as well as some lovely little mini mixes so you can hone your ear to our sound. www.myspace.com/lofihificlub.

What has been your most embarrassing DJing moment?
Too many to mention! Probably stopping the song that I’ve just brought in instead of the one I’ve just mixed out of leaving the whole club in silence. That was fun.

What has been your best DJing moment?
The Lofi Hifi vs FYC night at the Cavern. We’d built up this faux rivalry on Facebook and when we were flyering to get people in the spirit of the competition and this made me really nervous. Anyway, the night was a success, the Cavern was at capacity and it was my turn to play. I didn’t really have a great start to the set, taking a long time to mix out of a track because I was so nervous. The crowd started to thin out and I didn’t really look up at them until after I played Windowlicker followed by Idioteque by Radiohead. I swear I’ve never seen so many people get so excited! Let alone for those two songs! I finished on Heartbeats by The Knife and that absolutely KILLED IT! It was amazing! The dance floor was packed, everyone was having a good time and all my nerves had disappeared.

Who is your favourite artist?
Erol Alkan, Soulwax and Daft Punk for just being consistently at the top of their game and continually out doing themselves and putting everyone else to shame.

What is your all time favourite album?
Of all time? Mozart. Anything by Mozart. He was a don wasn’t he?

But of recent years, Silent Alarm by Bloc Party, one of the most energetic and uncompromisingly beautiful albums released in my memory. But then you’ve got Transformer by Lou Reed, Goo by Sonic Youth, Entertainment! by Gang of Four, Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division. The list can go on and on, it’s an impossible question to answer definitively.

Where do you shop for music?
Martian because they do a really good selection of music for good prices. HMV for more recent releases and Rooster to get my vinyl and if it’s open, I’ll also go to Illusive to get vinyl.