The literal translation of his Arabic name, Handsome Tiger is the moniker of Vancouver-based producer and DJ Hussein Elnamer. Hussein got his start in metal bands, found dubstep and is currently fusing the genres big low-end and 140 tempos with global club and bass rhythms in an effort to “decolozine the dancfloor.” Hussein talks about growing up mixed-race in Canada – his father is from Libya and his mother is Anishinaabe Métis – and how he’s fusing indigenous sounds of pow-wow drums, chants and more into underground bass. We also talk about his artist journey, the Canadian festival circuit, the importance of dance and ritual rhythms and how connecting with his ethnic background has shaped his sound. Taped live at Bass Coast Festival in Merritt BC!

We head to Perth, Western Australia to catch up with Paul Harding aka El Hornet, one-third of drum 'n' bass group Pendulum, who met in the metal and punk scene and have since reached huge heights with their hard-driving neurofunk bangers. Paul is a hilarious storyteller and we talk about CB radio, surfing with sharks, trading beer for mixtapes, losing a dead person at a Pendulum show, happy hardcore, his Hornet’s Nest label, being broke in DJ Fresh's London flat making Pendulum's first album and keeping drum 'n' bass punk af.

In the last 44 years, Moshe Kasher has been a flyering bear, a sober ecstasy dealer, a sign language interpreter, and a gate monitor at Burning Man. He is now a stand-up comedian living in Los Angeles, and he has a new book out called Subculture Vulture, about the six subcultures that have defined his life. Moshe joins on Rave to the Grave for a funny conversation about Bay Area raves of the '90s, Bonny Doon, PLUR, pacifiers, the Thunderdome, what Katamari Damacy has in common with trauma, and finding himself through raves and comedy.

Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin have spent the last 20 years helping shape NYC nightlife, but these days, they're best known as the owners of Nowadays in Ridgewood, Queens – which is, in many people's estimation, the best club in New York right now. Justin and Eamon are also DJs and are the hosts and residents of long-running parties Mister Saturday Night (also a record label), Mister Sunday, and an ambient chill-out affair called Planetarium. In part one of this two-parter, we talk to the duo about Mister Saturday Night's 15-year anniversary, the dos and don'ts of fog, wild times at Motherfucker, DIY spaces and dance rock, deep house, DJing, the twists and turns of nightlife in post-9/11 NYC and the parties, locations and music that have shaped all their endeavors. 

Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin have spent the last 20 years helping shape NYC nightlife, but these days, they're best known as the owners of Nowadays in Ridgewood, Queens – which is, in many people's estimation, the best club in New York right now. Justin and Eamon are also DJs and are the hosts and residents of long-running parties Mister Saturday Night (also a record label), Mister Sunday, and an ambient chill-out affair called Planetarium. In part one of this two-parter, we talk to the duo about Mister Saturday Night's 15-year anniversary, the dos and don'ts of fog, wild times at Motherfucker, DIY spaces and dance rock, deep house, DJing, the twists and turns of nightlife in post-9/11 NYC and the parties, locations and music that have shaped all their endeavors. 

Over the last 20+ years, Shawn Reynaldo has been a DJ, record label owner, radio station manager, journalist and the editor-in-chief of XLR8R magazine. He's a one-time staple of the San Francisco indie rock scene, a former promoter of tropical bass and UK funky parties, and also one of the pre-eminent critics writing about house and techno for Pitchfork, Spin, NPR and beyond. Velocity Press just released Shawn's first book, First Floor Volume 1, which collects the spiciest thinkpieces and hot takes on electronic music and culture that he's penned over the last couple years in his popular First Floor weekly newsletter. To celebrate the kick-off of his North American book tour, we talk about how DJ culture has changed over the last two decades, his view on music writing, his spicy takes on the best and worst sonic trends, the current club scene in Barcelona (where he's based), sober raving, and the time he saw Claire Danes eat shit at Berghain.

When 1980s electro and freestyle music from Miami, New York, and Los Angeles touched down in Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian cities, it ignited a wildfire in the minds of DJs, soundsystem operators, and dancers. In this episode of Rave to the Grave podcast, we go back to the roots of baile funk with Priscilla “House of Pris” Cavalcante. Priscilla grew up in Fortaleza in Northeast Brazil, where as a pre-teen she became hooked on first-wave baile funk. Priscilla now lives in Miami, Florida, where she throws a party called Proibidae and is in the process of collecting and reissuing the lost anthems of 1990s and early 2000s baile funk. We talk about tamborzao, furaçao, pancadao, and hear some of the samples and records that formed the sound.

Kevin Carpet, one of two Human Carpets in NYC, talks to Rave to the Grave podcast about stepping out at legendary '80s nightspots like Danceteria and the Peppermint Lounge, the ins and outs of his profession/obsession, fashion, fabrics, and his wildest and most famous encounters. It's everything you wanted to know about being a human carpet but were afraid to ask!

McKenzie Wark is an Australian born writer, critical theory professor, and 61-year-old trans-femme techno raver currently living in NYC. Her latest book, Raving, thinks deeply about dancing, dissociation, drugs, bodies, and identity as McKenzie, recently transitioned, navigates the queer techno spaces of Bushwick, Brooklyn. On the line from Berlin, we talk about experimenting with language and writing, bodies and the beat, smart vs. stupid drugs, cultural theory, rave utopias, and McKenzie's extraordinary journey from growing up in an Australian mining town to dancing on the bleeding edge of the NYC underground.