Fancy yourself as a DJ? Somerset House ice rink are looking for budding muso’s to programme a hour long sound track for each of their 3 evening skate sessions (18.45; 20.00, 21.15) on Mon 16 January.
All you need to do is submit your 60 minute mix to jamie@run-riot.com by Wed 11 January. We will select 3 winners and let you know by Fri 13 January. What’s in it for you? The chance to have your mix played out over the ice at this prestigious venue and we’ll give each winner 2 pairs of tickets to come along, skate and hear you mix being played out.
 
Tips for creating a Skate session Mix
 
Pure As Driven Ice - no swearing / or anything that might cause offence.
 
Nothing Too Niche - without wishing to stifle the creative flow of your playlist masterpiece, consider your audience! Points will go to interesting song choices, but avoid more obscure genres, like Minimal Tech Donk and Bassline Gabba...
 
Listen to the Masters - preparing music to skate to is a fine art. Skate soundtracks have their roots in rollerskating discos from the 70s and 80s, where Disco tracks would be the DJ's choice.  As legendary New York DJ Danny Krivit says, "the slightly shuffled clap / snare on the 2 and 4 (as opposed to a steady 4 on the floor beat) is best suited to skaters, who push off on alternate legs to that rhythm. Vaughan Mason’s ‘Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll’ is an obvious example, as is Chic’s classic ‘Good Times’. So, basically, the best music to skate to... is funkier edged Disco"
 
Pace It - skaters tend to burst with energy at the start of a session, dip (or fall down!) in the middle, and then surge again towards the end of the hour. Your mix can either mirror this, or you can play with it so the music picks people up during the middle (not literally - that's what our ice marshalls are there for!)
 
Technical - all recording should be at least 320mp3s, and try and keep the overall level consistent between tracks.