Community building is something we advocate at Mixcloud, and DJ Cable is a shining example of this idea. For over 20 years, the Essex-born DJ, producer and turntablist has lived and breathed music, translating his passion into a successful career spinning everything from Hip-Hop and Dancehall to UKG and House. Along the way, he has picked up multiple accolades including the 2008 & 2009 DMC UK Team title, a two year run of mixes on BBC Radio 1Xtra and performing around the world. He’s been active on Mixcloud since our launch in 2009 and lent his expert skills to the platform while finding his fellow DJs and establishing an impressive network.

In this article, we speak to DJ Cable about his entry into DJing, music production and how to effectively build a community on Mixcloud.

“Some guy booked me and Rampage for his 40th birthday and he had a festival set up in his back garden in Oxfordshire!”

How did you get started as a DJ?

I’m showing my age a bit here but I started DJing in 1999/2000 in high school. I always loved music and tried a lot of different things like playing guitar and all kinds of instruments. At that point, I saw a lot of Hip-Hop scratching videos, the DMC videos and Shortee Blitz’s mixes. One night I watched Gang Starr on Tonight With Jools Holland. DJ Premier was cutting it up and I was wowed. It sounded like an alien language. That’s what I wanted to do. I saved money and was able to get a basic Numark setup, but the crossfader kept breaking! All of my allowance and work money was going towards buying records. DJing was something that just clicked for me and thankfully I’ve been able to do it for the last 25 years.

When did you start to notice you were getting a buzz?

Probably the early 2000s. I think doing the DMC competitions, local battles and making mixtapes helped get my name out there. When social media came into the mix, I could just upload my mixes online that would then get fed into the blog world.

So by 2006, my name was more out there thanks to the fact I was able to put so many mixes up. I wasn’t thinking about building my brand or anything, I was just doing what I loved. Now, with platforms like Mixcloud, I can upload mixes and not have to worry about them getting taken down. Because that whole blog era was wild! A lot of blogs that I idolized at the time, like Nah Right, Two Dope Boyz and Fake Shore Drive, would be hounded by record labels for uploading tunes that were copyrighted. I had a few of those instances myself. It was a wild time.

When did you start producing and how has it impacted your creativity?

I picked up Ableton in 2008/9. I was doing a lot of touring and didn’t have my decks with me and learned you could make mixes within Ableton, which I thought was a cool way to make edits. Production was a slow process but a natural progression. I got kind of bored of playing other people’s records and thought about how I could flip it. A couple of years later, I invested in a production course at Point Blank, which really helped. After that, I could start making sort of ok beats and become more confident in putting my music out.

Being a DJ first, you instinctively know how to structure a song when you’re making it. You have the intro, drop, chorus or a mixture depending on the genre. You know how to build a tune when you transition into production. My process would probably be different if I was a DJ first; I’d be a better producer but I probably wouldn’t know much about how to read a crowd or operate as a DJ can in that environment.

You’re an award-winning DJ with years of experience, how have you developed your DJ style over time?

I started out just being a Hip-Hop DJ, which opens you up to other genres quite quickly because of the element of sampling. You’re listening to Disco and Reggae samples which often lend themselves to House records as well. Once I started branching out to open-format DJing and playing everything, albeit centered around Black music, and things like Serato and other technologies came around, I was able to develop my style more by being able to play a lot more unreleased and exclusive music. Growing up in Essex, I was a little cut off from a lot of music. There was no pirate radio and it wasn’t as culturally diverse in the 1980s and 1990s as it is now. But I’ve always been so inquisitive about music, reading credits on records, finding samples  and educating myself that way.

I think just having a little more preparation has helped my style too. Going into a set, most of the time I’ll have a rough structure for it but that will change depending on the crowd. Whether they’re ready to go or need a bit of time to get going. I’ll always have a contingency plan and some segway records that can transition to Afrobeats for example. Especially with the way Serato is set up with stems, it’s amazing how easily you can throw on an R&B acapella over a Dancehall instrumental and really change the sound and dynamics of your set. I’ve become quite good at being able to adapt my rough plan for a set if I need to. Sometimes, there’s an element of being spontaneous but I try to keep it as organized as possible.

What are some of your favorite tracks to play at a set?

I’m playing and producing a lot more House these days, which I’m probably going to release under an alias so as to not confuse what I’ve done as Cable. But I love Cloonee and everything he’s doing with Hell Bent Records. Mason Collective are doing great things, Chris Lake is an amazing Tech House producer. Latte has been really consistent lately too. I love Asake on the Afrobeats side of things. I’ve been listening to a lot of Potter Payper; that doesn’t leave my record collection. I’m playing anything Giggs puts out. On the Dancehall side of things, Squash and Massacre are killing it. Vybz Kartel is out of prison, so it’ll be interesting to see what he comes out with.

How has your Mixcloud experience impacted your DJ career?

It’s been amazing. I’ve been on Mixcloud since about 2009/2010 so I’ve seen it from early on as a platform where I can upload my mixes and labels won’t take it down. I found that there was potential to build a community and get to know other DJs. It was a very early form of online radio. Listening on-demand was a bit of a rarity back then but now it’s completely shifted in that direction. I’ve been able to post regular content, be active in the comments, message other DJs and send them tunes.

I was a Hip-Hop ambassador for Mixcloud back then, along with DJ Vadim and that helped me become a tastemaker of sorts, favoriting shows that I liked and recommending shows get boosted. It gave me a sense of authority which led to more plays on my stuff. And the fact that everyone is compensated fairly all helps. Mixcloud has been very user friendly in comparison to other platforms too. The Stats portal has been really informative in terms of figuring out where most of your fanbase comes from. For me, it’s mainly UK, USA and Europe, but I know that DJ Blighty has had loads of plays in China, India and the Far East. There are no rules and DJs aren’t targeting these areas, so it’s interesting what audiences our content finds naturally.

What are some of the most interesting things you’ve discovered from your Stats?

One of the most random things was when I put a UK Garage mix out seven or eight years ago. It did reasonably well – I think it’s on about 100k plays now – but I didn’t put too much promo behind it, I think DJ City posted it. Then last year, some guy reached out to me saying he used to listen to that mix back in the day and he booked me for his 40th birthday. He hired me, Rampage and some other DJs and had this festival set up in his backyard in the middle of Oxfordshire! It’s funny that from that one mix I was able to play at some guy’s private festival! 

I think my advice to other DJs would be to post something, because you never know what’s going to happen two weeks or even two years down the line.

How have you been able to build your community on Mixcloud?

Just by being active. If you just post a mix then ghost for six months without engaging with people then you’re not working consistently to build your brand. Stuff like uploading on a regular basis, sharing mixes to your social networks, collecting a mailing list which I’ve done over the years, sharing my content with other DJs and industry folk. You can get lucky on Mixcloud where you put something up and it goes clear, because there are no rules to it. But you also have to shout about your stuff once it’s up there for them to listen to. And share it as much as you can.

“If you post a mix then ghost for six months without engaging with people, you’re not working consistently to build your brand.”

What are some of the proudest moments of your career so far?

Being on BBC Radio 1Xtra for a time. That was a bucket list moment for me. Initially my contract was for six months with a 60-minute segment  and that lasted for two and a half years and it was great to be in that building. I DJ’d for Nas one time and, man, what other artist can you DJ for?!

Being fortunate enough to travel around the world to play music. Like, I went to Slovenia once to DJ! I could never have imagined that when I first started. I’ve been able to make friends with DJs from these countries so now if I’m ever in town, I know who to call and check out and hang with. I was content just playing at my local club and maybe a few clubs in London when I was 19/20, so to look back all these years later and have done so much more than that, is a blessing.

What are your plans for your Mixcloud channel and beyond?

Definitely to upload more content. I’d love to try Mixcloud Live again. I feel like I left that behind during the pandemic but at the time I wanted to keep match fit and that was the way to do it. But I want to record more live sets and put them out. I might do a few themed mixtapes here and there but I want to document my journey as a DJ now.

I’m trying to get this House alias off the ground and see how that goes in comparison to Cable. I’ve been slowing down content as Cable recently, mostly because I’ve reached a new stage in my life. I’m working with a really good DJ agency now, doing creative consultancy on the side and my role in music has developed. I’ll always enjoy playing in clubs and making Grime and Boom Bap tunes but the way my direction and taste in music has changed, I want to reflect that in my content.