RA.810 SHERELLE

RA Exchange.

Welcome to Resident Advisors Exchange.

I'm the Exchange's senior producer, Chloe Lula.

It's already been more than seven years since British high-speed dance music champion Sherelle broke through, quickly becoming a leading figure for a young generation of junglists.

She's since hosted a weekly show on BBC Radio 6, won a Central Mix of the Year, and has put out a number of albums and EPs to critical acclaim.

She's one of this series' most frequent guests, but today she arrives in a different register than the one you might expect from a DJ who's just opened for Skrillex on back-to-back weekends.

This time she's quieter and more deliberate, openly rethinking what a career and life are actually for.

In this RA exchange, Sherelle sits down with RA editor Gabe Zaten to talk about how and why she's gone through this transformation.

The past 12 months brought two significant losses in her family, her grandmother in her late 90s and her niece in her early 20s.

That juxtaposition sits at the center of much of what follows in this interview, including her new party series, Rest and Restoration, which is built around one main tenet.

You will die, so slow down.

That's changed how she picks her sets, how she runs her label Hoover Sound, and why she now flies home early from tours to be with friends rather than pushing through for other bookings.

She also touches on some perennial topics, racial and class asymmetries in the UK bass scene, pay discrepancy, and the quiet cost of making music that's shaped by the algorithm before it's shaped by the artist.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

Next up, Sherelle.