Madam X's dark, bass-loaded UK rhythms are making an Impact

You played at Manana Festival in Cuba just after it was announced the US embargo would be ending soon. How was that experience and what did you gain from it?

It was the best week of my life. I didn't give a shit about the outside world. There's no internet there. You realise that’s what life is supposed to be like. No one has their phones and everyone's just really chilled. If someone's a musician there, they're insanely talented. I can't really put into words how surreal it was. I had no stress from the outside world and was in the moment of what was going on.

You're playing on a line-up with Dusky and Josey Rebelle soon, both being house and techno-orientated. Will you adapt your style to fit into that?

No, because I always think a promoter has booked me for what I'm doing with my music. It wouldn't make sense for me to turn up and hammer out house and techno. I'm quite confident that people can watch my DJ sets and get down to it. It's dance music at the end of the day. I stick to what I do.

How's your DJ style developed in the last year or so?

Hanging out with Loefah and watching Paleman, I now concentrate on working the EQs more. Before, if it was beat-matched, I'd just whack it in. Now I'm really picky. I'm a lot better at making it a smooth transition. With grime, it's quickfire. Coming from that to playing darker, dubstep/techno crossover/130bpm stuff, I have to find a happy medium of keeping it moving, but also making sure it doesn't sound disjointed or weird. I'm really inspired by the people I surround myself with.

Tell us about your Impact mix.

It's very Kaizen, very heavy. It starts off quite light and gets a bit darker. There's a lot of unreleased Kaizen stuff in there and a new one from Hodge that no one's heard yet. It starts around 127 to 130bpm and it ends on around 136 to 140bpm, on a more aggressive, instrumental tip.

Walton’s ‘Taiko’ EP is out on Kaizen on February 17