Frolic+Detour
Joy Ride Series

As a student in the early Naughties I became involved in Glasgow’s music scene, throwing my own parties and documenting the underground movement in publications such as the The List, Big Issue and the Glasgow University student newspaper (where I had a column and later becam e editor-in-chief).

After graduating in 2005 I joined the creative team at Sub Club where I was co-promoter of Subculture, the club’s flagship Saturday night, which remains one of the world’s most influential weekly parties.

As a DJ I have played in London, Berlin, Hamburg and Ibiza, including the back room of Bunker the same night as Ellen Allien.

While never entirely hanging up my dancing shoes, family and other projects meant that from 2013 until 2022 I rarely set foot in a club, and my vinyl went into storage.

A chance reunion with a close college friend led to The Night Trains project, which began as a raves-on-trains concept and has become a platform for sonic adventures of all kinds.

JOY RIDE is a mix series that tears through the past, present and future of club music, building narratives through sound. When I spin, I’m creating stories, making decisions on the fly, using everything I’ve learned about writing, as well as a lifetime of attentive listening. It is one of the most immersive and efficient forms of storytelling I have worked in to date, while also opening up intriguing opportunities for collaboration. Frankly, it’s my favourite kind of writing at the moment.

stef macbeth · JOY RIDE 063

Four to the Floor

As a stand-in brief when making DJ mixes I use a set of cards that were created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt in 1975.

I draw 4 cards at random, paying special attention to relationships, overlaps and polarities contained in the ‘instructions’, finding inspiration in these tensions just as I do with a commercial brief.