For the past few years, the UK sound has been taking over, from DnB to UKG, Grime, 140, and beyond. Manchester-based trio Lokal have been blending the UK signatures with their own distinct style for a slew of impressive releases. Their most recent offerings ‘Threatened’ and ‘Spine’ explore jungle and 140 dubstep respectively, while their standout Illicit Trade EP throws their influences into a sonic blender for delectable results. We’re predicting big things from Lokal in 2025, so what better time than now to showcase their talent and get familiar with them further through a guest mix + interview?
The mix is an hour-long expedition that’s packed with original cuts from the trio including unreleased dubs, and some heaters from FUXWITHIT favourites. And if that wasn’t enough, they recorded a visual version to go along with it to really see the magic. As for the interview, we discuss the benefits of being a trio, their workflow, how they got together, their favorite VSTs, advice for new artists, and more!
Tell us a little about the mix. Where are we headed when we press play?
We decided to take you all on a journey with this one, focusing on the genres and tracks we not only love to DJ but also that we love to produce. The mix begins with a mixture of Breakbeat and Garage, before delving into the vast world of Dubstep, leading on from that we went into some Halftime (which is probably our favourite combined genre), before finishing up on some Jungle to coincide with our latest single drop.
What made you want to record a visual version of the mix? What does it add compared to just audio?
We always like to record a visual version of our mixes and sets where we can, in a day and age where visual content is such a huge part of the music scene it makes sense in our eyes, plus nobody wants to see a clip of a SoundCloud screen recording to show sections of the mix! Also by having both it gives the people who are interested chance to see an inside to what they might not normally see in an event/rave situation where the DJ is usually away from the crowd.
How did you guys link up? What made you want to work together?
The story of how we all met is a long one but we’ll try to keep it short and sweet, Harrison and Andy met when they were 4/5 years old but fell out of touch during school before meeting again and becoming close friends from the age of 16, fast forward 3 years and Andy taught Harrison how to DJ as they began living together in Manchester while Andy was doing a Music Production course at University, and the duo ‘High Demand’ was born, a year after that Harrison decided to do that same course and on his first day met Kieran, who went on to call himself ‘Enigma’, after 3 years of University, Harrison and Kieran started a record label known as ‘Off-License Records’, and with countless collaborations under their two alias, it only made sense to start a trio, and that’s how Lokal was born.
you have 3 sets of ideas, and 3 sets of separate experiences, which means a ridiculous amount of hours and practice put into the craft which is never a bad thing.
What are the benefits of being a production trio? What’s your workflow like? Does everyone do everything or do you have specific areas of expertise?
There are so many benefits we’ve found while working as a trio, starting off you have 3 sets of ideas, and 3 sets of separate experiences, which means a ridiculous amount of hours and practice put into the craft which is never a bad thing. It also helps that when someone is having a long day, week, etc in their own life or with work that the production doesn’t grind to a halt, there’s always another 2 people there to carry on and keep the wheels in motion. Our workflow and areas of expertise definitely coincide, Kieran is hands down the strongest producer of the 3 of us, where as Harrison is the man behind the social media, Andy is the most experienced DJ of the 3 of us as well, but we all get stuck in on all areas, we all produce, we all DJ, and slowly but surely Harrison is managing to convince Kieran and Andy to get involved in the social media side of things.
Are there any challenges with operating as a group?
We haven’t particularly come across any challenges working between the 3 of us, we’re all pretty easy going, and we all understand how the other ones work, which so far has worked out in our favour, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon!
What drew you to Patreon? For those unfamiliar, what do you offer through the platform? What impact has it had on your career?
We first decided to join Patreon when we noticed that our music was starting to get a bit of traction and we thought people might want to see behind the curtain at how we go about doing things, as every artist has a different workflow and different methods which a lot of people, ourselves included, find interesting to watch. We offer a number of benefits for our Patreons, ranging from monthly sample packs and production tutorials, to early access to our music, bi-monthly patreon exclusive music, vlog outtakes, and more. At the present moment, Patreon hasn’t had a huge financial impact on our careers, however, the money that we earn from there has gone to upgrade our equipment/studio, and is currently being put towards saving for US visas (which are surprisingly expensive when there’s 3 of you!)
What have you been listening to on the regular?
Ooooo that’s a hard question to answer, we all listen to such a variety of music day in, day out, whether that be checking our own music to see what we want to change, find music to go in our sets, or just any other genre you could possibly think of really, we find inspiration from everywhere. We also started a playlist on Spotify a hot minute ago called ‘COPPED’, which is a good example of the music we like and play in our sets.
Never be afraid to try something new, and don’t get stuck in the cycle of only ever working on a singular project, not every idea has to come into fruition, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go back to it later down the line.
What advice would you give new producers just starting their journey?
Never be afraid to try something new, and don’t get stuck in the cycle of only ever working on a singular project, not every idea has to come into fruition, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go back to it later down the line. Just keep producing, keep putting in the hours, and make sure to brand yourself correctly, don’t be afraid of social media, it’s a vital tool in today’s day and age and if you don’t use it to its full advantage then, unfortunately, the most likely thing is that you’ll get left in the dirt, it’s a sad truth but one that we don’t think enough producers realise at the moment.
What’s one plugin/VST you couldn’t live without? What makes it so useful?
Serum, Serum, Serum, honestly one of our most used plugins without a doubt, it’s extremely versatile, easily accessible through a monthly payment plan from Splice and the sounds you can get out of it work extremely well in the genres and styles we like to produce – also we reckon Kieran could probably use it with his eyes closed, he’s a wizard with it!
We’ve got a couple of the biggest releases of our music careers to date locked in on some ridiculous labels so far, as well as some collaborations with artists we thought we’d only ever dream of working with, add to that the plenty of other music we’re yet to finish off and it looks like 2025 might just be the one :’)
What should we expect from you musically this year?
It’s the producers kryptonite to say ‘expect big things’ or ‘big things coming soon’ but honestly when we say it we genuinely mean it, we’ve got a couple of the biggest releases of our music careers to date locked in on some ridiculous labels so far, as well as some collaborations with artists we thought we’d only ever dream of working with, add to that the plenty of other music we’re yet to finish off and it looks like 2025 might just be the one :’)
Anything else you’d like fans to know?
There isn’t too much left for us to say, except we really hope you enjoy the mix, it was an absolute pleasure putting it together and we hope you lot vibe with it in the same way we do, also big big love to FUXWITHIT for getting us involved <3
Lokal FUXWITHIT Tracklist
- Lokal – Here 2 Tell U (Original Mix) [DUB]
- Diemantle – Way I Feel (Original Mix)
- Charli Brix – Touch Me (Original Mix)
- Cesco – Big Fi Dem feat. Sparkz (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Steppa Artois (Original Mix)
- Peekaboo – I’ve Been Thinking (borne Remix)
- MOREOFUS – Scandals (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Conclave (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Hittem (Original Mix) [DUB]
- Lokal – Bun It (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Nah Man (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Bottom Shelf (Original Mix)
- Peekaboo & Zeds Dead – Scared (Jon Casey Remix)
- Lokal – Homegrown (Original Mix)
- The Prodigy – No Good (Start To Dance) (Visages Remix)
- Qwirk – K.O (Lokal Remix)
- Lokal – Take Off (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Flatline (Original Mix)
- Asian – MUTTER (Original Mix)
- Doctor P – Sweet Shop (Hamdi Remix)
- Pauline Herr – Let You Go (Lizdek Remix)
- Digital Ethos – FLIP THE TRACK (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Stop Running (Original Mix)
- HEYZ – Coming Up (Like That) (Original Mix)
- Eater – Destruction (Original Mix)
- Charli XCX – Von Dutch (Skream and Benga Remix)
- Lokal – Spine (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Blackout (Original Mix)
- Skrillex, Hamdi, TAICHU & OFFAIAH – Push (Original Mix)
- Little Simz – Fever (Bad Friends Flip)
- MAAD WEST & BAARIC – Throw It (Original Mix)
- 2Spade – Killers in the Jungle (Original Mix)
- Big Sean – Dance (A$$) feat. Nicki Minaj (Levity x Justin Jay Remix)
- Shades – Sub Noctem (Original Mix)
- Lokal x Fake Two Piece – Lullaby (Original Mix)
- Ranz – Honey Time (Original Mix)
- Mr. Carmack – Kick It Up (Original Mix)
- Napes – North Road (Original Mix)
- 20Syl – Voices feat. Rita J (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Talk! (to u) (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Au Revoir (Original Mix)
- Biome & Metrodome – ID (Original Mix) [DUB]
- Richie Brains – Voyage (Original Mix)
- Cartridge – Bite Back (Original Mix)
- Metrodome & Biome – ID (Original Mix) [DUB]
- Samurai Breaks x Napes – Violent Violin’s (Original Mix)
- Richie Brains – Buss It (Original Mix)
- Lokal – Threatened (Original Mix)
