Experimental yet functional: this is how Midland tames dancefloors

You’re quite outspoken about social and political issues on social media. Do you think it’s important to use your position to speak out on these matters?

If I wasn't in the position that I'm in, I would still be discussing these issues, so I don't think it really changes anything. I don't personally feel like I have an obligation to say things because I have some followers on Facebook or Twitter, I think I just end up speaking about things that are important to me. I’m sure this loses me followers but then perhaps we didn't need to be connected in the first place?

Yeah you posted once about losing followers and a general shitstorm brewing after a “vaguely political” post. It seems a lot of dance music fans on Facebook and wherever aren’t receptive to progressive/liberal dialogues, which seems incongruous to the scene.

Yes and no, actually. Often some of the most discussed and widely shared things have actually been related to those sort of subjects more than the typical "my new record is out today" post. I think now more than ever we find ourselves in a really interesting and at times depressing situation with this constant dialogue taking place through social media. Some artists engage with it, some don't.

After playing the MMA club in Munich a few months back you noted the more progressive dance music policies of Germany and Holland. Are you worried about the UK nightlife scene?

I'm wouldn’t say that I’m worried about it, because there are still people throwing really great parties. I just feel like our government needs to actually engage with it as a valid art form in order for it to flourish. It's always been viewed as a slightly naughty cousin that the establishment tolerates but doesn't actually engage with. There needs to be dedicated people who can act as mediators between the nightlife industry and the government, a night mayor/minister, someone who can be in contact with clubs and owners and then report to back to the government and work out strategies to improve the situation.

Do you think parties on the continent are better than in Britain?

That's a very contentious question! Personally I like the chance to play longer and I like nights that run longer because that’s often when you hear the most interesting music. I would love to see what would happen in Sub Club if it went for 12 hours, but also I worry it could just be Armageddon [laughs]. It’s always funny speaking to British people after going to Berlin and hearing them comment on how much better Germans pace themselves in clubs, not having the 3/5am closing time to race against. I recently played in Cologne at Jack Who and the club owners said, "You've got a three hour set, but you can play for as long as you want." So I ended up playing for five hours, and that felt like the natural time to stop.

It’s a very different type of energy in the UK. In clubs like Subclub you experience these almost nuclear reactions to music because they have the three o’clock closing time looming over them, so really its in full swing from about midnight and then in clubs like Panorama Bar you can build up to a moment over a 30-minute path. Neither takes preference; both have given me some of my most cherished dancefloor moments.

I saw you post about that gig in Cologne and you were saying how perfect it was. What ingredients achieve the perfect party?

It's not really that complex. This is why I loved that party. The guys who ran the club took me out for dinner and told me a bit about the space and the ideas behind it. I soon learned that the club was a temporary space and that even though they only had it for a year and a half, they had decided to give it a go and had furnished and built the whole space with their friends. Everything from the sound to the décor to the DJ booth, was really lovingly thought out. The crowd was super mixed, everyone in there was themselves. There was all different shades of people, colours, sexualities, and it just felt really safe and welcoming. I felt instantly comfortable there. It's incredible in places like these that records you would consider really deep or understated suddenly become these huge moments. It's almost like people are willing the best reaction out of a song rather than waiting for a drop or something like that.