Midland is a British DJ, producer and record label owner based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, UK. Real name Harry Agius, he founded his label Graded in 2013 as an output for his own productions.

Biography

Real name Harry Agius, Midland grew up in Tanzania and Greece and attended University in

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

. In 2003, Agius heard a

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

mix tape of

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

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 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 ...

music releasing music from the likes of

Gerd Janson Gerd or GERD may refer to: * Gerd (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname * Gerd (moon), a moon of Saturn * Gerd Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica * Gastroesophageal reflux disease, a chronic symptom of mucosal damage ...

, Shan, Hubie Davison and himself. His first release as Midland was a collaboration with Pearson Sound (then Ramadanman) back in 2010, 'Your Words Matter' on Fink and

Will Saul Will Saul (born 28 December 1978 in Glastonbury, England) is a British DJ, music producer, and the founder of Simple Records and Aus Music. Career Will Saul started his first record label, Simple Records in 2003, after having worked at Sony I ...

'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 Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

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 Nightclub, 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'' ...

'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 current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

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 Disc jockey, DJs and m ...

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, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

'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 m ...

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 in Berlin, 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 in Berlin, 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), The Warehouse Project (Manchester), 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 ...

(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, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonb ...

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 Besti ...

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was orga ...

(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 ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

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

Notable Discography

Notable Mixes & Features

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midland DJs from London Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English gay musicians LGBT DJs