Ell Murphy Mix
Stepping up for Tapes #56 is South East London DJ & vocalist Ell Murphy. Behind the decks, Ell combines both disciplines to deliver a unique performance style.
You can catch her singing live over her high energy selections on the airwaves as a resident on Balamii radio and across the UK – with notable sets for FOLD, Hör Berlin, Fabric & Motion plus guest-mixes for Rinse, NTS & Reprezent. Ell’s studio output is just as exciting. 2021 saw the release of her debut solo EP on Shall Not Fade sub-label Time Is Now, featuring collaborations with DJ Crisps, Stones Taro & Highrise, receiving widespread acclaim & Radio 1 support. This year has also seen the growth of her collective Team Woibey, featuring rising selectors Mixtress, ohmydais & FAE and securing a monthly residency on Foundation FM & multiple festival bookings.
Tracklist
Shuv It – Chungo
Rolling Os – Rushmore
Indonedian Drums – Yoheva
Victor’s Vector – Farsight
Circuit Queen – Strict Face
Kaboom! (Dub mix) - Roska, MC GQ
Key Activation – Doctor Jeep
Saiu Da Tumba (Senta) – Amor Satyr
On the Tools – Flatpack & Dudeman
I Feel You – Giulia Tess ft Ell Murphy
Onsa Ossa – Mullholland
The Callers – WTCHCRFT
Space Ghetto – Skream
Memorex - Stef Mendesidis
Tune In, Turn On – Sha Sha Kimbo
Last Stop – Ignition Technician
Yes2 Bucket Hats – Paul & Shark
Deeper Love – Ell Murphy x LUXE
Big Tom – Arma
Aqua Sin Gas - Noire
Brasa Na Mapa - AKA AFK and TONCALi
Mescalito – Nightwave
Tangy Toms – An Avrin
Tru – Laurel Halo x Hodge
Hey Ell! How’s it going? Welcome aboard Tapes series, excited to have you on. Why don’t you start by introducing yourself for those that don’t know?
I’m Ell Murphy and I’m a DJ and vocalist/songwriter from South East London. I’ve been DJing for the last 4 years and started releasing dance music in 2019 with NITEWORK, my duo project with Medlar, and then this progressed into releasing solo tunes as Ell Murphy; some of my favourite collaborations to date are with producers including Giulia Tess, LUXE, Stones Taro, DJ Crisps & TSHA. I also started singing vocals live over my DJ sets just before lockdown and then developed this over the last few years, and it’s now become a staple part of my sets - I love combining my two passions of DJing & singing and adding another dynamic to my sets - both in singing my own tunes and experimenting more recently with live sampling and ad libbing on instrumentals and during transitions.
Tell us a bit about the mix - when and where did you record it? Set the scene!
I recorded this in my cosy little flat in Deptford on friday afternoon - I pulled together a bunch of tunes that I’ve really been loving recently - focusing particularly on high energy, big rhythmic drum tracks, Brazilian flavas, techno and really hard-hitting pounders. It’s a good representation of a typical club set for me at the moment.
Favourite track inside?
Ooh that’s a hard one - but probably a new tune I found last week when I had a mammoth digging session - called Indonesian Drums by Yoheva - when the huge rhythmic drums drop in, it just pops off and is so fun to dance to.
You’re doing loads of great stuff at the moment! How was playing at Risen Festival on Saturday?
Risen was absolutely incredible! Such a beautiful energy throughout the day and our set in the colour factory garden was absolutely rammed and such an amazing crowd! Big respect to kitty and the percolate team for putting together the first festival like this - was so great to see everyone’s sets popping off. Playing with the Team Woibey girls is always so much fun and I love how our different styles and flavas all blend together and compliment each other, so you really get a huge variety of tunes and genres in our sets. It really felt like a moment for us as Team Woibey, and has made me really excited for the potential of what we could do together as a collective over the next year.
Such a huge, gal-strong lineup!! Let’s talk about Team Woibey. Who’s a part of it and how did it come to be?
So Team Woibey is myself, Fae, Mixtress & ohmydais and it came about after we all met through daisy at a Late Night Shopper livestream at the end of 2020 and instantly became good friends. Then we started a Whatsapp chat and our friendship just grew and grew and with our shared love and passion for the music, it was just natural that we started playing together, firstly on radio, doing guest mixes for each other’s shows and then it started to become more of a serious thing when we got booked to play with Nikki Nair & Farsight last year in Bristol and then got our residency on Foundation FM. That’s when we started to see it as something we could actively pursue and grow - from just starting out as a bit of fun. The name came about after spellcheck on Fae’s phone, turned Vibes into Woibes and the name just seemed to fit cos we also bring big wobs and big woibes when we play.
It must be so nice to be able to travel around playing with your friends. You got anything coming up with this lot again soon?
Yeh it’s so lovely to be able to travel around and play with your friends as sometimes touring as a solo DJ can be quite lonely. Playing the Scuffed records night in Bristol last year was so amazing and our first experience of playing outside of London together. We’ve got a few exciting festival dates coming up including Outlook UK in July with the Foundation FM crew, and then another festival to be announced in Somerset in August. Also currently making big plans for a series of gigs later on in the year - so keep posted for Team Woibey on tour!
It seems like you’re all really supporting and pushing each other which is obviously super important when navigating the music scene. What would you recommend for DJs just starting out?
Yeh, it’s so important to have a strong network of women around you in this scene and having the girls support and champion me continuously has helped me to grow in strength and confidence as a DJ. For someone starting out DJing, I would just say, know your tunes, be selective about what gigs you play - get on the radio, reach out to people for guest mixes and connect and support other DJs in the scene.
Now, onto your productions. Love the recent piano house and breaks track you released with LUXE on the new Femme Culture compilation. For those that don’t know, go check it out! What’s next in the pipelines?
Yeh I loved working on that track with LUXE - the whole process with her just flowed so easily and it was great to be invited to be part of that release by Elkka, as she’s a huge inspiration to me as an artist.
I have my next EP coming out on 20th May on my own label Jucey Tunes - this one is a collaboration with Mani Festo, who’s the most incredible producer and I’m so excited to release those tunes! I also have a track on the new Locked On Records 20th anniversary comp and several other projects and features in the pipeline for release later on this year, including working on new tunes with LUXE. I’m also working on my own productions at the moment, so am hoping to release my first full production EP in 2023.
Quick fire round: Predicted Summer Anthem for 2022?
Ooh that’s a hard one as so many good tunes coming out at the moment, so I’m gonna be selfish and say my recent collab with Giulia Tess - I Feel You. It’s just such a euphoric hands in the air tune, and I can really imagine it popping off at festivals this summer, and giulia is incredible - have loved watching her grow over the last year.
Most exciting gig coming up?
That would have to be Waterworks festival in September - going b2b with ohmydais. This was definitely on my bucket list of festivals to play this year, so I was over the moon to get booked for this.
Dream lineup?
Dream line up would be Elkka, RE:NI, India Jordan, Anz, Riz La Teef, Angel D’Lite, Skee Mask, Batu, Saoirse and of course Team Woibey :)
Thanks for joining us Ell!
Interview by: Alicia Steanson