Hailing from Blackpool in the Northwest of England, Mia Lily is without question one of the most exciting up-and-coming selectors in the UK electronic music scene today. The now London-based DJ has already performed at renowned festivals such as Field Day and Blackpool Rocks and has played alongside DJing royalty, including the likes of Heidi, Danny Howard, and Fatboy Slim, just to name a few.

The 28-year-old is also a member of the Sisu community, which provides a platform to educate, inspire and showcase aspiring women and non-binary DJs and producers, and has radio shows on revered stations such as Balamii, Threads and Foundation FM.

For her Troubleshoot mix, Mia brings the breaks with an hour of absolutely ruthless club rhythms from across the UK electronic music spectrum, which reflect where her musical interests truly lie. The mix is paired with an interview in which she shares how she first got into DJing, her favourite gig to date and her plans to produce music in the future.

This mix comes with a health warning, so make sure you strap in and enjoy…

Interview

Words: Jake Stock
23/02/22

What's your earliest musical memory? 

Ooh, that’s a tricky one, I have lots as I come from a very musical family. I started learning to play piano when I was seven. I remember watching my mum play and begging her for lessons. Soon after that, I began to play at local festivals and concerts. You couldn’t get me off the piano when I was younger! Also, my dad is in a jazz band, so I spent a lot of time in his studio and at his gigs growing up. I have a lot of vivid memories of my older brother mixing and scratching vinyl to Hardcore and Jungle too. 

How did you first get into DJing? 

Growing up, my brother had a lot of vinyl and turntables at home, but it wasn’t until my late teens that I started hanging out at a studio, that my brother’s mate Ant used to run. It was basically a disused attic above a pub in central Blackpool. They ran a livestream called OTB show, where people would turn up to jump on the decks and have a go. It was mad there, you’d meet all sorts of characters – I guess that’s where I learned the basics. When I moved to London my flat mate had a controller, so we used to mess about on that and over the years I started jumping on at parties and mate’s houses. I decided to invest in a pair of CDJs when I was 26 and began covering mixes for friends and it just rolled from there. Honestly, I never imagined DJing outside of my bedroom at the time! 

How did you find recording the mix? Could you talk us through a couple of the standout moments from your set? 

I recorded the mix from my living room on my CDJs. If I’m honest, the decks are a bit old and wrecked, the cue button always gets stuck and there’s a bit of a trippy wire out the back that makes a horrible noise randomly from time to time. I should probably get that checked, haha. One of my favourite songs in the mix is the last one. I was wondering where I could fit it in as it’s 160 BPM and I was playing at 130+. But the track before the last had some similar elements in it, so I sped it up and dropped it at the end. It’s a hardcore track that was released in 1993 (the year I was born) called ‘Original Bad Boy’ by DJ Red Alert and Mike Slammer. Absolute classic!

What has been your favourite gig to date and why?

My homecoming gig in Blackpool on the pier with Fatboy Slim has got to be one of my favourites. It was such a surreal moment for me, as I grew up five minutes away from the venue and have so many early memories there. The day was just insane. I was playing alongside legends like Heidi and Danny Howard and at the same time bumping into people I went to school with and hadn’t seen in a decade. All of my friends and family were there – it was honestly such an amazing day. My set at Field Day Festival is also very much up there with one of my faves. The set was extended three times during the performance and by the end of it I was playing donk, it was mad. The energy from the crowd was unreal, it felt like having an extended group of mates. In fact, I’ve actually kept in touch with a couple of the people who were dancing front left of the speaker the whole set. 

What was the transition of moving down to London from the north like for you? And what do you miss the most about home?

I moved to London 10 years ago for uni and went to Central Saint Martins. Honestly, I found the move difficult, it felt like a totally different world compared to the north and I missed my best friends and family a lot. But luckily, I met some wicked people in halls, who were like-minded and had a similar taste in music to myself. It was expensive going to uni in London and I never bothered going to the student union bars…we hated the music. I used to save up all of my money to go to raves every weekend instead. It was the time when Joy Orbison, Swamp 81, Boddika, and Loefah etc were playing everywhere. Luckily, there was a £1 Megabus which would go from London to Manchester and Leeds which I would jump on to bounce between cities over the weekends. I don’t know if they still run! I hope they do, they sorted me out back then. I also spent a lot of time in Brighton when I first moved down. However, I still have a very tight group of mates based around the north who are basically an extension of my family. I wish I could see them more, but nothing ever changes when I do. I’ll always miss the beach and being close to family.

Do you have any plans to produce music in the future? And if so, what genre(s) of music would you be interested in making?

I do! So, I’m actually finishing up writing a track at the minute with Anti Traxx. He’s a good mate of mine and an incredible producer. It’s breakbeat, 141 BPM, and super atmospheric, with lots of pads, synths, and vocals over the top. It’s super inspired by Burial and just dub techno in general. We both work so well together – it’s always so fluid and I feel like we have very similar music taste, so naturally it just works. Honestly, I’m so excited to release it. Other than that, I’ve been working on some bits in the background and have lots of ideas and sketches at the moment. But actually, I’ve been planning to incorporate more of my piano playing into my sounds. I’m incredibly inspired by all sorts of music, from jazz and classical, to ambient, industrial techno, liquid DnB and Dub. So really, I hope to be creating fusions of different genres, taking different elements from all sorts of influences. I guess ultimately that’s how new genres are created? Not that I’m hoping to create the next best thing, haha. But I definitely don’t want to pigeonhole myself into just one category. Although, saying that…all my ideas are definitely falling into atmospheric breaks at the minute. 

What’s next for you? Have you got anything coming up that we can get excited about? 

I’ve got some really exciting gigs coming up and a few festivals booked for the summer which I’ll be releasing on Instagram (@mia.lily) soon, so stay tuned! 

Tracklist

Stones Taro - Again 

Stones Taro -  Come Over Me

Private Caller - Let Me Know

Samurai Breaks - Raph Riddim

Samurai Breaks - Hardcore Will Never Die

Daffy - Lost Again

Shedbug - Waouu

Shedbug - Ambroxitil

Naone & S.O.N.S - Pacific 

Benton - Brian

Sensa - Gold (Sam Deeley Remix)

L Major - Epimetheus

D-Force - Original Bad Boy (Red Alert & Mike Slammer)