AK Sports has been heralded by many as one of the most exciting talents to come out of Australia. Renowned for her high NRG sets spanning breaks, percs and techno, 2020 saw the now London-based artist releasing her debut EP Polarize via Sydney label Gallery Recordings — dishing out eclectic breakbeats, cathartic drums and bass tones matched with with luscious chords and brooding synth work. Following releases have come swiftly on the likes of Dansu Discs, Raiders Records (Berlin), Toofelz Music and one of the hottest UK-based labels right now, CLUB GLOW. Up next, a shiny new record on the esteemed Higher Power due later this year. Ahead of release, we caught up with AKS to discuss her favourite Spotify bangers at the moment…
Blame the Mono – Spread The Unison
“Blame the Mono write slapping forward thinking techno with influences from more exciting places like metal and psytrance rather than just a Hip Hop vox over 4×4 kicks. I love many of their tracks but I’m picking this one because of the hypnotic vocal line that IMO serves as a synthline. IDK what he’s saying but I agree.”
RAVETRX – Tysons Fury [Hooversound Recordings]
“Some quality UK fast Breaks Tekkez released on Sherelle’s Houversound Recordings, this is a
super secret alias of a very established artist and I will not tell who ;)”
AK SPORTS – ORDORIMASHOU! [LOBSTER THEREMIN]
“This track title means let’s dance in Japanese! I like it for its hypnotic drums, Techno Sensibilities, breaks and the fact that the lead ends up being a vocal that drives the track home. There are some Japanese vos in here so it’s a nod to my love of Japan, and the bubbling new rave scene in Tokyo.”
Brutalismus 3000 – No Sex with Cops
“Political nu-gabber post techno from Berlin!!! Butalismus 3000 is anarchy. This particular collab is super punk and personally being an Aussie, especially from Sydney NSW we’ve had a lot of issues with police being corrupt so it’s a great excuse for some dance floor catharsis. Other fav tracks: Blade and Atmosphéra.”
Asquith – Bergamot Scent mix [Lobster Theremin]
“Jimmy Asquith and I have a special friendship and I always love playing his tracks out as we have a similar style in how we approach things somewhere elusive between slapping Techno, UK Breaks, Rave and admittedly Donk.”
Bianca Oblivion – Selecta
“When I’m in Los Angeles I throw warehouse raves with proud LA stalwart Bianca Oblivion and
another iconic DJ Star Eyes. We started doing this as we found a lack of space for underground for Breaks, UK and Global Vass music we love. She is a stellar producer as well and Selecta is clearly UK influenced and the catchy hook in this track is a nice way to keep mixes dynamic.”
Warp Brothers, Aquagen – Phatt Bass (Warp Brothers Bass Mix)
“This is a big tune I don’t always play it but when I do it gets a strong reaction as you can tell it’s not only a classic but it demands a lot of attention with dramatic, big breakdowns and an iconic acid line!”
SULLY – SWANDIVE
“Sully is G a and this is a mad Breaks track. Outside of the UK/EU crowds sometimes have
trouble dancing to breaks but I try to do my bit!”
Mincy – Biscuit Inception (Ak Sports remix) [Gallery Recs]
“I did a collab digi EP “RAVE AGAIN” with Sydney mate Mincy on Gallery Recs to celebrate the reopening of clubs in Australia and the world post covid. We put out a track each and remixed each other’s singles. I flipped Mincy’s track Biscuit Inception into a techno slapper, pretty happy with the outcome. Moody, heavy and dark.”
Denham Audio, Mani Festo – The psyche of a raver (Mani Festo Remix) [DANCE TRAX]
“My Club Glow homies! I’m lucky to be very welcomed into this crew of Mani Festo, Denham Audio, L Major and Borai. All incredible producers writing Breaks and Jungle but honestly when they come together to remix each other’s work there’s really something super special about it. I play a lot of unreleased bits by the crew and was very happy to have put out a tape with Kessler on the label. We have a few things in the works so keep your eyes on Club Glow.”
AK SPORTS – Cops In The Club [FANTASTIC VOYAGE]
“I wrote this track after I got detained by the LAPD and yelled at a rave so it’s a bit of a piss take on cops and how serious they were taking themselves that night. I sampled a LAPD helicopter and threw down some acid and my own vocals in a vague somewhat euro accent in an attempt to reflect a universal experience of police raids around the world.”
STÜM – Watch Ya Self
“This track really snuck through alot on my last tour. I played with STÜM in Geelong Australia and since then have been really impressed by his productions. It has really hyped the crowd up across all three continents that I have been lucky to play in his year. Important to rep the Aussies!”
Pagan – Like A Fool [1Ø pills mate]
“Pagan is a talented Irish Techno producer who like myself, loves to throw breaks on fat Techno kicks. I love low ends on this one are perfectly mixed, there’s also a dub version on this EP which is just as fat! Keep your eye on this space for a collab.”
Sara Landry – Peer Pressure [HEKATE]
“Sara Landry is an American writing female industrial techno and I’m here for it. This track is from a 2021 INCOMING EP on her own label HEKATE records and there’s a couple more gems in there I’ve played out.”
Amazingblaze – Inner Fire [KNTXT]
“Released on Charlotte De Wittes label KNTXT this heavy hitting trance techno track is feel good and heavy and works perfectly well to get some more driving tracks in the mix.”
AK SPORTS – Back In The Game
“This is from my Club Glow rave tape and is one of my fav tracks I’ve written. It’s about finding your inner bad boy / mojo.. I find it cathartic and uplifting and always makes me smile with the vox sample I found of a ‘Karen’ explaining I guess her experience with someone she deems a bad boy that messed her around a bit. Be your own bad boy Kazza!!”
Tommy Holohan – Costa Del Rush
“This track just fits perfectly into my sets as it sets the tone for what I’m doing which is phat techno kicks, catchy simple synths and big driving bass… deemed “The Irish man who brings Jungle to Techno” – and we thank you.”
Lobster B – Donkinator
“I had to throw a Donk track in here as I’ve been really enjoying finishing sets with Donk and Lobsta B is the go to! If I’m in Aus I have been playing Kylie Minogue edits or Britney edits for bigger crowds but this particular one isn’t too on the nose in terms of the pop music flip and has some good ravey synths, gabber super fast works really well in my NU RAVE sets where we get a bit turbo to put it lightly.”
DJ HEARTSTRING – Passionate Tears
“Seems like everyone has caught onto Berlin duo DJ Heartstring by now and I’m not mad about it. These super fast Eurodance happy tracks are the best way to bring a bit of joy and softness back to my sets towards the end. They do subtle and tasteful pop vocal samples over bubbling super catchy basslines and chord progressions right up there at 150BPM.”
