Ewan McVicar on his first DJing gear – an ironing board and a £100 Hercules DJ controller
He also reveals his favourite piece of studio gear
Image: The Daily Record
Electronic music producer and DJ Ewan McVicar has caught up with MusicTech at Glastonbury and spoken about his early beginnings as an artist.
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The Scottish party-bringer laughs about his first-ever DJ setup, which comprised a Hercules DJ Control Steel mixer – which he lovingly calls an “absolute shanner.” For the uninitiated, ‘shanner’ is a Scottish slang word that generally refers to an incredibly tattered object.
Alongside that “shanner” of a DJ controller, McVicar says he also had an “HP Mini laptop I had for my uni studies that cut out every time I’d DJ, and a pair of PC speakers. I’d set the ironing board up and annoyed my mum for years after that.”
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Now remixing tracks by the likes of The Chemical Brothers and being hotly-tipped by dance music royalty Todd Edwards, McVicar’s come quite a long way from ironing board DJing setups. Still, his DJing setup is stripped-back for “cheapness and quickness,” comprising an Allen & Heath Xone:92 mixer and a pair of USB-only Pioneer decks.
Speaking on his favourite piece of studio gear, the producer cites a pair of HEDD Audio HEDDphones. McVicar says they’re “mad fucking spaceship headphones,” but provide an “unbelievable” mixing reference. Currently, a pair of HEDDphones will set you back £1,529, in case you’re intrigued.
This month, McVicar released a documentary, Back Tae Ayr, in collaboration with BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 1, following his journey in creating the first electronic music festival in Ayr, Scotland – his hometown. He told MusicTech that his favourite part about Scotland’s electronic music scene is the crowds. “We’re all just mad bastards, mate…If you don’t bring it, we’ll let you know.”
McVicar is playing back-to-back DJ sets over the Glastonbury weekend with Skream, Kettama, and has a solo set on the Glade stage. We’re yet to learn whether any of the stages will have an ironing board for his decks.
