“… hard to know at what depth these echoes will reverberate and die away.”

A newsletter reader recently sent me an email in which they acknowledged “the writer’s curse/blessing”, where “the reader gets to partake, but the writer has little idea as to if and how their (personal) writings do touch others”. I typically have little idea, indeed, which of the missives i’m sending out there resonate, if at all.

A few months prior, a friend had pointed out that some of their favorite newsletters had been those where I discussed the smaller underground raves that i had danced or played at. They liked that those documented “a type of gathering that might otherwise be less visible”.

(We were driving. It was Autumn Equinox. Suddenly, Stone Henge appeared on the right hand side of the car. There was a perfect synchronicity to that day.)

Until my friend brought these particular essays up no one had mentioned them and I often wondered if they were essentially an inefficient way of sharing something that could be more neatly packaged and more widely spread on social media: a short video, a track ID, a straight to the point text and everyone is tagged with gratitude. As someone who only opens the app once a month to share a few flyers and links and every season at best with a recap in my feed, it felt like all the norms of what/how/when to post exponentially exploded this year: what was required to cut through the noise and the algorithm a few weeks ago seems like a sober account to the level of participatory surveillance on display a few weeks later. Where does it stop? (Or another question that I often ask myself, a phone in one hand and my front head held by the other: what could Josey Rebelle or DJ Marcelle be doing right now?)

In their book, Writing on Raving, Zoë Beery and Geoffrey Mak reflect on how they felt like “there should be a space outside the party to share some writing, to talk about it, where we wouldn’t have to shout over the thump and womp, where maybe we wouldn’t be so drug-fucked.” This reminded me that the way we interpret a message—whether it is a sound, an image, or an idea—doesn’t rely only on the information it carries but also on the space through which it travels. Echo, delay, and reverberation are all part of its reception.

I’m currently reading Jacqueline Crooks Fire Rush which makes abundant use of audio effects as allegories and literary devices. I picked the novel up after Melissa, the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, caused catastrophic damage in Jamaica towards the end of October. The love story starts amid the Jamaica diaspora in the UK towards the end of the seventies with plenty of acquainted descriptions of its relationship to dub. At some point in the novel, science and poetry philosopher Gaston Bachelard is quoted:

“It is hard to know at what depth

these echoes will reverberate and die away.”

I don’t know what space and noise these emails travel through. Maybe that is exactly the point? Maybe the beauty resides precisely in cultivating practices without expecting a reaction, a reassurance, a result, an instant reward? Maybe, sometimes, the message deserves that freedom, and maybe, sometimes, the receiver and the sender do too? And so, perhaps Chris was right in calling the writer’s endeavour a curse and a blessing.

January: Worstival, UK

Last month, I wrote a few words about Worstival, a 100 cap weekender which happened in the UK. It was the first time I played this dubstep edit of Cutty Ranks’ dancehall classic—perhaps one of the tracks I’ve played the most this year? It’s so fun and versatile. I’ve used it out of a rolling sections to start a dubstep one or from breaks to broken stuff or from deeper to sillier selections. I’ve even played it alongside a faster zouk edit of Limb by Limb, using different sections of both tracks in parallel.

Limb by Limb Dub, by Juni, Dokku

from the album Booty Box 001

Psykedmacca4747

July: Layer05, Canada

I wrote extensively about my gigs in North America but don’t think Tim or I had had our films developed when that newsletter came out. I think I played Isabelle Adjani either in the woods in Montréal or in Toronto. She sings “j’suis dans un état proche de l’Ohio, j’ai le moral à zéro”. For better or for worse, whatever I’m currently processing often comes out in my sets and I was pretty heartbroken at that point. Adjani not only laments in the song (and does so in French, which suited the Québec environment) but also lists several American states, which felt fitting as I sang my goodbyes to a land I sensed myself falling in love with.

August: Murmurations, Slovenia

A busy August awaited me back in Europe, and I have a particularly fond memory of the gig I played in Dusan’s garden—a tree-framed mountain slope about a 30-minute drive from Ljubljana. My friend, his Mexican partner, and his mother-in-law had prepared a giant table of tacos, which were included in the night’s offering, all of it entirely donation-based.

A sweet summer night as Animal Collective sings. I had caught glimpse of a copy of Merriweather Post Pavilion at Jack, Isa and Bida’s place over Spring. I used to be obsessed with the album when it came out in 2009 and found that it aged ok when i re-listened to it over the summer. That particular song works really well in between techno adjacent tracks. I played it a few times since at not-just-techno festivals. You can identify where the millennials are standing in the crowd by locating their sing-a-longs.

September: Spanners and Free Movements, London

I heard this in Nic’s car in Portland and somehow played it at each of the gigs I played in London four months later. I made my Spanners debut and adored meeting Lali who hosted the party. We talked passionately about her experience in organising free parties in abandoned Primarks or why we even put ourselves through so much stress to create special moments. I sometimes feel like I have deeper mystical music conversations with party promoters than with fellow musicians (maybe because musicians actually channel their spirituality in their performances?).

The same weekend I played beloved Ormside for Free Movements and The Narrator made a small intervention before my set which got me thinking about intention, embodiment and crowd attitude in club spaces. I’m looking forward to exploring more of these threads during our meditation retreat next week!

Nadia In Dub, by Manutension

from the album Strictly For Sound System Dub [Dub Attacks The Tech Vol.1]

Vicious Circle Recordsjahtone62

October: Amigo, Ghent

One of the things I’ll miss from Berlin: hearing Deutsch Rap when I’m cycling around the city. This one’s a fave. It’s loud, it’s funky and i like his flow. For some reason though, it hasn’t landed so well whenever I’ve played it in Germany before.

It finally got the response I was hoping for when I played it in Ghent in October and, omg, wtf?! This club is so SO cool!! I’ve already written about how much I love the Ghent crew when I played for them a year ago. But it was the first time they invited me in Amigo and this was one of my favorite European gigs of the year. No phones or convos on the dance floor and the dancers knew their moooves!

November: Subglow, Berlin

I played my last club set as a Berlin resident a few weeks ago at beloved Subglow on a dreamy line-up. Beatrice M MC-ed through the night and Succubass and CCL joined us for a b2b2b2b at the end in front of a room 3/4 full of people I’d met at one point or another in the last 11 years. Thank you for dancing along 🙂

I played the last record — one I just can’t seem to sell, despite my best efforts to lighten up my ridiculously large collection (and make some cash!).

And the good news is:

• That I played at many more amazing smaller parties this year than I could fit in here today!! We exist, we resist.
• That there is, too, a million more fantastic songs I wish I could include. A few other Nono obsessions of the year include the jazz footwork connection (which I mentioned here and which Ben Sleia consequently explored there) and making my own edits of drum band tracks. Also, Smerz.

Some more links:

• The advocacy project “small is better” argues that “supporting small venues is a political choice”.
• The project is led by Better Live, for whom I also wrote a MOOC (online course) in which I gave tips on how to build a green tour.
• I was recently invited by Courts Circuits to talk about my practice as a grounded artist on Refuge Worldwide Radio alongside DJs4CA, Vibelab and Technopol.
• Chal Ravens asked me some questions about sailing across the Atlantic and my love for the NA underground scene for No Tags: Conversations on underground music culture, Vol. 2.

Commoning our retreat (16 til 21st of December):

A few people had to cancel their attendance to our retreat at the last minute. We would be open to offering a supported “spot”. If you were thinking of joining but money was an issue, please fill the form and apply for a reduced ticket.

Despite all the challenges we’ve encountered it’s been super fun and insightful to organise this with friends! I can’t wait to experience the fruit that will come out of it. It’s unlikely we would be able to do another one but I deeply believe in this format and am entirely open to sharing all the resources we have gathered and built (spreadsheets, budget, menu, orders, contracts, schedules, roles, timelines, forms) if anyone wanted to carry on the torch!!

How 2026 is shaping:

• I should be in and out of Berlin in the next weeks before moving out early February.
• I will be based in Marseille in February and March.
• I am hoping to come to the UK some time around March, April and/or May.
• I should be visiting Germany in May.
• I will be in Europe/Morocco in June, July, August.
• I am currently not taking any UK / Europe gigs between September 2026 and August 2027.

xx

nono