Harry Agius (born 1986), known professionally as Midland, is a British DJ, producer and record label owner who began his career in Leeds and is now based in London. He founded his label Graded in 2013 as an output for his own productions.

Biography

Real name Harry Agius, Midland grew up in Tanzania, where his father worked as an engineer, and Greece. He boarded at

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

from the age of 13 in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and later went to university in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. In 2003, Agius heard a

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

mix tape of

Andy C Andrew Michael Clarke (born 7 April 1976) is an English DJ, record producer and co-founder of RAM Records, a label in the drum and bass genre. Music career Early years Andy C was a DJ in his own right but gained a strong reputation and more ...

at Slammin' Vinyl, inspiring him to learn the craft of DJing. An avid

fan, he purchased his first set of Technics turntables and upon moving to Leeds was offered a graveyard slot on the

' local Pirate radio station 'Radio Frequency' under his first moniker, Apt Pupil. He went on to play a nights such as Momentum, Metropolis and Subdub, playing on the Valve Soundsystem warming up for DJs such as Grooverider, Andy C and Dillinja. Living in Leeds after University, he met likeminded producers and DJs like Pearson Sound, Ben UFO and Pangaea and attended nights such as Exodus, Subdub, Louche, and Back to Basics - which shifted his interest toward slower tempos. This ultimately paved the way for the emergence of the Midland alias. Since then he has become recognised for his ability to shift genres within his mixes, weaving together left field house, techno, rare disco, distinctive sounds from the UK and as a result can be found on lineups with a diverse range of artists every weekend. In 2013 he founded his label Graded in 2013 as an output for his own productions. In 2015 founded the sub-label Regraded, the sister imprint focusing on sample led

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

music releasing music from the likes of Gerd Janson, Shan, Hubie Davison and himself. His first release as Midland was a collaboration with

Pearson Sound David Kennedy (born 1988), professionally known as Pearson Sound, is an electronic dance music producer, mix engineer and DJ based in London. His style is a combination of house, dubstep, UK funky, UK garage and jungle. In October 2024, a review ...

(then Ramadanman) back in 2010, 'Your Words Matter' on Fink and Will Saul's label Aus Music. He went on to release his 'Play The Game' EP on Phonica Records in the same year, 'Bring Joy' on More Music in 2011, an untitled

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

EP with Pariah on Work The Long Nights in 2012. His track 'Trace' on Aus Music became somewhat of a breakthrough in 2013. Tracks such as Archive 01, Realtime and Drumtrak all followed on his Graded imprint. He has remixed artists such as Mano Le Tough, Darkstar, Lone and Julio Bashmore - and has been remixed by Grain, Leon Vynehall and Motor City Drum Ensemble. In 2018, he founded another sub-label entitled Intergraded, with a focus on emerging artists. His 2016 track 'Final Credits' became

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

's 2016 'Song Of the Year' /sup>, and in 2016 he was awarded

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Essential Mix The ''Essential Mix'' is a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 1 currently broadcast between 0:00 and 2:00 a.m. UK time on Saturday morning. Originally broadcast on 30 October 1993, the ''Essential Mix'' features contemporary DJs and music pr ...

of the Year /sup> /sup> for his 2-hour 2016 mix entry /sup>. He has recorded mixes for Fact Magazine, Beats In Space, XLR8R and Resident Advisor amongst others. In 2017 he was announced as the creator of

Fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

's 94th instalment of their

Fabriclive From November 2001 to November 2018, the London nightclub fabric ran a monthly mix compilation series. Mixed by a variety of emerging and established DJs, the two series were entitled ''fabric'' and ''FABRICLIVE'' respectively. The compilation ...

mix CD series (

94) 0/sup> 1/sup> 2/sup> 3/sup> 4/sup>, with a launch party in September 2017 5/sup> 6/sup>. The mix CD received positive reviews (8.0) from music editorials like Pitchfork 8/sup>, DJ Mag (9/10), XLR8R (8/10) 9/sup>and Mixmag (8/10). In 2018, Midland featured in Resident Advisor's 'Between The Beats' film series, which follows DJs on tour to explore life on the road. As a touring DJ he's played at some of the most celebrated venues and parties around the world, including

(London),

Berghain Berghain () is a nightclub in Berlin, Germany. It is named after its location near the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain and is a short walk from Berlin Ostbahnhof main line railway station.

Panorama Bar Berghain () is a nightclub in Berlin, Germany. It is named after its location near the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain and is a short walk from Berlin Ostbahnhof main line railway station.

(Berlin), Macarena Club (Barcelona), Concrete (Paris), Electric Pickle (Miami), Jaeger (Oslo), De School (Amsterdam), Le Sucre (Lyon), DC10 (Ibiza) and

Pikes Hotel Pikes Hotel, now known as Pikes Ibiza, is a luxury hotel in Ibiza, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. It is located in the countryside, to the northeast of the town of Sant Antoni de Portmany, and to the northwest of Ibiza Town. A 15th-century s ...

(Ibiza). He's played at a number of festivals including

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

and Field Day (UK), Dekmantel and Lowlands (Netherlands), Let Them Eat Cake (Australia), Love International (Croatia), Montreaux Jazz Festival (Switzerland) and

Rob Da Bank Robert John Gorham (born 24 June 1973 in Portsmouth, Hampshire), known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is an English DJ and co-founder of music festivals Bestival, originally on the Isle of Wight and now moved to Lulworth, Dorset and Camp Bes ...

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. The name Bestival is a portmanteau of the words best and festival. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festi ...

(UK). In January 2019, Midland was announced as the cover star of Mixmag magazine's February issue.

Personal life

Midland is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and uses his social media presence to raise awareness of issues affecting

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

people. He lives with his husband, Mike, in South London.

Notable Discography

Notable Mixes & Features

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midland Living people 1980 births English gay musicians LGBTQ DJs People educated at Downside School