The Mix 095: Kyle Starkey

Hard house and other euphoric rave styles rooted in the '90s are firmly back in vogue for a fresh-faced generation of clubbers hungry for sounds that get them lifted at breakneck speeds. Riding the crest of this wave is 24-year-old Kyle Starkey. Since becoming enamoured with these genres in 2023 he’s been on a nonstop tear-up, landing releases on legendary labels, growing a global fanbase, and collaborating with fast-rising peers who also veer towards high-energy sonics. He’s part of a movement in the most literal sense — wherever Kyle Starkey goes, dancelfoors are sent into raptures. 

Hailing from Ellesmere Port in North West England, dance music was a fixture of his childhood. Kyle’s dad would blast piano house and rave tunes at home and on the way to school as a child, handing down Carl Cox and Dave Graham mixtapes as he’s grown older, while his mum and aunty were heavily into the house and Eurodance hits storming the charts. “There’s definitely a family video of me dancing to a Beyoncé Freemasons remix as a kid somewhere,” he shares. His uncle was also a major influence on fuelling a taste for classic electronic music and production techniques, introducing him to the likes of Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode and Jean-Michael Jarre, and recreating their melodies on synthesisers using the same patches. “I was infatuated with it,” he recalls.

While throwback rave sounds were introduced early in his life, like any right-minded young person who’s suspicious of anything their parents like, he had to find his own way there before it became an obsession. When old enough to go out, he was initially drawn to tech-house after catching inspiring sets from the likes of Jamie Jones and Patrick Topping at Parklife. This influence is audible on his earliest releases in 2022, which grooved and pulsated, arriving on labels such as Seb Zito’s Seven Dials and System Records. Around this time he also landed his first-ever residency with Nghtwrk which was bringing the likes of Mall Grab, Skream and KETTAMA to Chester. 

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Over time he found himself tiring of tech-house and struggling to finish tunes. The following year, he came across a mix recorded at legendary club night Trade — the UK’s first legal after-hours party that launched in 1990 — and found his calling. The rediscovery of his spark was instant. He fell into a wormhole of Trade, hard house and adjacent genres and soon emerged as a fanatic, counting the late Tony De Vit and Tidy Trax among his favourite DJs and labels. By late 2023 he’d landed a debut release with Tidy Trax, ‘Your Party’, marking a turning point in his career. Taking influence from the pioneers and being conscious of the music’s roots, while ensuring to bring forth new elements to keep things moving, his career started to snowball. His music attracted the attention of Dutch DJs such as Job Jobse, Benwal, Tjade and Rozie and the rave-hungry crowds in Australia, landing him high profile bookings in Europe and a debut tour Down Under at the close of 2024. 

Come 2026 he’s now a firm favourite at-home and abroad. He's released on labels such as Disorder, Agrio Tracks, Southern Fried and Bebé Recordings; is often found collaborating or playing back-to-back with the likes of Sam Aflred, Diffrent, DART, Faster Horses and Bella Claxton; and has a full gigging calendar across the year, including a stacked festival season that will take him to Tomorrowland, Pitch, Creamfields, Paradise City, Hideout, Terminal V and beyond, with plans for a debut US tour in the works.

For The Mix, Kyle Starkey serves up an era-spanning selection, including some unreleased exclusives, and speaks about the state of Liverpool’s club scene, the differences between solo and collaborative productions and sets, and why it’s important for young producers to keep things moving rather than go full revivalist. 

Your early releases started out with more of a rolling house sound, for example your contribution to the ‘Bassline Groovers’ releases on Seven Dials. But over time you’ve gravitated more towards this '90s-inspired hard house and trance style. What inspired you to make that shift?

Yeah, when I first started producing and putting out tunes I think you can still hear that tech-house influence, on ‘Lip Reader’ and ‘Get On Now’ for example. I was also pretty obsessed with speed garage at that time, it has been crazy to see that explode since. But I started struggling to finish tunes because I was getting bored or wasn’t that into them. I then stumbled upon the Eats Everything hard house mix at Trade and it opened up a can of worms. What is Trade? What is this genre? Where can I find more? Then the switch and the digging began and my sound changed with it which I think you first hear on ‘Your Party’.

Trade, as you mention, and UK hard house DJs like Tony De Vit have been an influence on you. How did you first discover them and did it click instantly? 

It sounds cliché but it really did click instantly after finding that Trade mix. I then geeked out for months on the whole landscape from that era and I haven’t really looked back. What’s mad is when I discovered it for myself and then started making it, it was seemingly having a bit of a resurgence at the same time in the Netherlands and those DJs were the first to start supporting my tracks pretty strongly and regularly. Job Jobse, Benwal, Tjade, Rozie to name a few.

Have you seen the Tony De Vit film Don't Ever Stop? What did you make of it?

I found it super interesting, especially with him being one of my main influences, seeing what he was also influenced by and the journey that has taken and how that continues still now with producers like me. Many would say Tony passed close to his peak; it’s tricky to talk about something you weren’t there for or somebody you never knew, but I’d like to think he would be so happy with the reemergence of the sound and how many people it has inspired.

You must have had some life-affirming trips to the Netherlands over the years too. Can you tell me about your relationship with that country and its music scene?

To say that I feel lucky would be an understatement. I never even expected to have a fanbase, never mind one in another country. The scene there is so healthy and so well looked after and open-minded which has given space for things like this to grow. I think this makes them ahead of the curve, you can always do something a bit different and it’ll be embraced too. Everything is so professional there, from the promoters to the venues, to the light and sound technicians, they just get it right. I would say I play there the most and I feel fully embedded and welcomed in.

Styles of fast, euphoric dance music rooted in the '90s are everywhere right now. Do you think there’s a timeless quality to those sounds that makes them connect across eras?

There’s definitely a timeless quality but it has to be done right. There has to be feeling behind whatever you are creating. You can’t just throw a '90s stab into a track and say this is nostalgic, it has to come from the heart and from genuine influences to give people that evocative feeling.

Read this next: An oral history of revolutionary LGBTQ+ party Trade

Landing a release with Tidy Trax in 2023 must have felt special. How did that come about and feel for you?

When I started digging around in all of the hard house back catalogues and was still learning about that world, I noticed so much of it was released on Tidy Trax. I went as far as looking into who ran the labels and then I noticed some were actually following me on Instagram. I wasn’t sure if they would be up for releasing newer stuff but I thought I’d give it a go and send some music over. It felt incredible to become a part of the label, even more special given it had been such a big influence on me and I’m actually doing more with them this year too. 

Some people would argue that it’s important for new generations of producers to update those sounds, rather than just do straight-up revivalism, to keep the music evolving rather than stagnating. What’s your view? Are there broader influences you fuse into your music?

I have been deep diving recently into how they made some of the sounds back then. There are actually so many VSTs out there that are a carbon copy of some of the keyboards and synthesisers they used in that era. I prefer to reverse engineer it, you learn so much more that way; from the structure, how they did it and what sounds they combined. I can then apply that to how I work and make something really fresh.

I seen an interview with Josh Baker recently and he spoke about this in his sphere and the importance of always moving it forwards and I agree. Everyone has their own way of producing and their own influences too but it’s important to have balance, use the influences but keep the genre moving and evolving. I think if you don’t do the latter then it can’t grow and you’ll never stand out.

It’s a bit harder to pinpoint broader influences but I am sure they seep in subconsciously. I listen to artists like Tame Impala or Depeche Mode like I mentioned earlier. I also really enjoy watching Nick Mira’s videos, he produces R&B and hip hop but I find how he starts tracks and his workflow really interesting.

You’ve collaborated with the likes of DART, Sam Alfred and Inafekt. How do you find the process of working with other artists?

I’m naturally quite an independent producer and so I used to hate it, but have come to really love it. It means learning from other people from how they write and think about tracks and quite often leads to progress on projects I couldn’t quite get finished or felt like I had taken something as far as I could and needed something a little extra. I have music with Entasia coming out this year and some more with DART and I sent some stuff over to Paige [Tomlinson], Diffrent and Benwal today actually too. It feels like a really collaborative space at the moment, that’s another thing I love about it.

You’ve also played plenty of b2b DJ sets with the likes of Faster Horses, Diffrent, Bella Claxton. How do find those impact the way you DJ?

It allows you to be quite free in a way, I think people understand they aren’t going to see you play your usual style or tracks and it’s more so going to be an amalgamation of the two. When I play with Diffrent, for example, it means I’ve been able to surprise people with that speed garage knowledge and I wouldn’t usually be able to do that.

Australia has embraced you early on in your career. How’s it feel to have your sound with audiences far from home?

It properly blows my mind and, again, I just feel so lucky to be a part of something that is growing so rapidly. It’s an overused term, but I do feel like there and the Netherlands feel like second homes. I can’t not mention Ireland too, it’s really happening there too. Me and DART just played two sold out midweek shows in Galway and Limerick. The reception and energy has really stuck with me.

Read this next: Australia's golden age of electronic music

How is the clubbing scene in your hometown of Liverpool at the moment? What are the positives or what are the issues impacting it?

I think it depends what angle you look at it from. If you’re into the big room, big names, it’s amazing, they are all there quite frequently. I would say it’s still quite tech-house dominated like a lot of the UK. My sound, the extended scene and other things that perhaps haven’t broken into the mainstream just yet aren’t quite as popular — or haven’t reached yet like they have in the Netherlands, Australia, Ireland, Scotland and, even closer to home, Manchester and London. However, you do have the likes of 24 Kitchen Street and Baltic Weekender booking a lot of cool stuff and really pushing alternative things forward too.

Mixmag exclusive though - I am technically Ellesmere Port (shout out Evian Christ and Lee from Steps), not Liverpool!

Are there any plans for 2026 you can tell us about? What are you looking forward to this year?

The calendar is looking full most weekends all year already so lots more time on the road. A lot of amazing festivals in there I am excited about: Tomorrowland, Pitch, Glitch, Creamfields, Paradise City, Mint, Hideout, Terminal V off the top of my head. Some places I didn’t have the chance to play yet too like Lebanon and Denmark. I also have my Australian tour starting this week and my first US tour later in the year. And of course lots more new music!

Can you tell us about your mix?

There’s a lot of my influences in there, both from the original hard house era but more recent times as well. Some really new unreleased, maybe even unheard collabs, edits and solo stuff in there too.

Kyle Starkey & Kara Okay ‘I Believe’ is out now via TNT, get it here

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Editor & Digital Director, follow him on X

Tracklist:
Kool World Productions - In-Vader (Tall Paul’s Lush Mix)
Inafekt - Ritmo Loka
US - Nite Trax Edit
LAMMER - Alive
Aphrochick – Dressing Up!
Andronicus - Make You Whole (Lisa Marie Experience Mix)
Kyle Starkey & Entasia - 234
DART & Kyle Starkey - Give Me Your Love
Kyle Starkey - Do You Love
99th Floor Elevators - Hooked (Kyle Starkey Remix)
Kyle Starkey & Kara Okay - I Believe
DART & Kyle Starkey - Set You Free