Contributing WriterBirmingham’s Pete Graham is a serial collaborator who has cooked up standout, fresh house sounds with the likes of Bruno Furlan, Chris Lorenzo and Marc Spence. After releasing records on labels such as Four40, Pete joins forces with LoudTech for their upcoming single, ‘Nerds’, on What To Do.
Hey Pete! Thanks for sitting down with Music Is 4 Lovers. How’ve you been spending the first couple months of 2024?
Bonjour! You know what, It’s been a crazy first few months. I just started a new job with an incredible company called BDP and I get to be so creative in the role and work on some incredible projects! Music will always be such a passion and I even get to be involved with some music stuff through the job too!
Over the last few years, you’ve worked with some respected names including Chris Lorenzo and Marc Spence. How important is collaboration in dance music and how has it allowed you to grow as an artist?
Ah man! So working with Chris & Marc has and will always be one of the greatest privileges. The raw talent they both have is absolutely insane. I think some people were just born with it, and the two of them are fine examples. They definitely helped me grow as an artist, because I learnt so much from the both of them. I have had the pleasure of working with some incredible artists over the years and gladly have made some life long friends.
Your latest release, ‘Nerds’, drops this month on Justin Martin’s What To Do label! We’d love to know more about this release and how you went about crafting the sound.
Haha this is a tough one as it was actually made quite a while ago now, but i do remember having recently purchased soundtoys crystalliser and using it on some of the vocals and leads and my sub 37 too. The thing I’m most excited about is actually being on the label. Justin has been a literal hero of mine since the beginning of my journey and it was such a full circle moment for me when he reached out and asked for it!
Why did you decide to partner with LoudTech on this release?
That’s an easy one. For me I care more about the music than the name associated with it. Loudtech (leo) started sending me music for feedback and then he sent me a track with a simple beat and a nice groove and I remember getting excited and just saying, “this is sick, can I have a play?”. I had no idea who he was at the time, but didn’t care because it was cool! After this, he sent me the stems, we worked together on it since and he seems to be doing really well out in Brazil; yay!
What would you say is the key to being a great DJ?
Play music you love, savour each moment and just have fun man! Life’s too short and being cool is far too boring, just enjoy it!
As an artist based in the Birmingham area, how does the West-Midland’s dance music scene compare to the South?
I think the Midlands have always favoured a slightly more bass heavy sound no matter the genre or sub genre, but generally speaking I don’t see a huge difference.
Do you have any projects planned for the rest of 2024 that you can share with us?
Yesss! I made a track with Will Clarke and Cuff have asked for it to be released on their label which is sick and I recently made an edit of disclosures “white noise” which made a big stir thanks to Hannah Wants dropping it at Defected’s WHP. Since then, I’ve been double dared to dabble with some 140 so might give it a whirl. I do have some ideas for some more beats so I just gotta get my ass back in the studio and get to work!
Follow Pete Graham: Instagram – Soundcloud – Spotify
Follow LoudTech: Instagram – Soundcloud – Spotify
