Music
Art Department bring the sunshine with a mix of soulful house
Art Department's Jonny White delves into his personal record collection to deliver an hour-long Choice Mix of smooth, soulful house touched by '60s pop and R'n'B.
It's been almost a decade since Art Department unveiled their debut two-track release in 2010, including the deep, tech-house groove of Without You – an inescapable club anthem during the closing months of that year.
Originally comprised of Canadians Jonny White and Kenny Glasgow, the duo immediately became a major force in electronic music, clocking up Ibiza residencies left, right and centre, gracing magazine covers and regularly featuring in the top-five of Best DJs In The World lists. Since 2015, though, Art Department has been left in the more-than-capable hands of White.
Listen to Art Department's Choice Mix below:
Both a raver and promoter since his teens, White has been hooked on house music since his very first taste of nightlife in Toronto and he quickly fell in with a tight-knit crew of promoters and DJs. He's released some of his finest solo work on his own No.19 Music label, home intermittently to electronic music heavyweights such as DJ Sneak, Jimmy Edgar and Maceo Plex. More recently, White also setup Music Against Animal Cruelty – a non-profit organisation working to support threatened wildlife.
It's as Art Department, though, where he's really found his production groove. Favouring deep basslines, techy percussion and breathy vocal samples, Art Department's music hits the sweet spot between rave energy and artful restraint. Records like last year's Shame EP, released on The Martinez Brothers’ Cuttin' Headz imprint, have become floor-slaying DJ weapons. He's just as skilled at remixing, too, with reworks of tracks by Chris Liebing and Mathew Johnson set to land later this year.
Art Department's attention is still very much focused on dimly-lit clubs, but sometimes White enjoys the freedom of playing the unexpected. The Choice Mix he’s put together here does just that, as White turns to his own record collection at home and the tunes he doesn't often get to play out. It's "an almost exclusively vinyl set", but one "with a nod to the ‘60s and R’n’B to set the mood around the house". Expect, too, everything from "upfront world premieres, to early '90s classics."
Hit play and slide into a golden hour of smooth, soulful house delivered with a smile: "I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did recording it," says White.
