Ahadadream - DJ/Producer
‘DJ AHADADREAM’ - the soundbyte becoming synonymous with dance floors around the globe.
As we learnt from linking up, Ahadadream is a very busy man. We met the More Time Records boss at Dialled In and caught his set at the after party, before he headed back to his birthplace of Pakistan to play shows and lead workshops, ahead of the release of his hotly anticipated new EP, appropriately titled ‘Homecoming’.
Videography by Hedley Marks. Photography By David Wren and Yushy.
What is your background and a brief summary of your life story so far?
I was born in Pakistan, I moved here when I was thirteen. I’ve lived in a lot of different parts of London. I went to school in Bedfordshire. I went to the University of Surrey, I went to Bath for a bit. I feel like I’ve had a lot of different homes, even within the UK. Out of everywhere I’ve lived in London, the places I’ve lived most are Tooting and Streatham and the place where I would consider home is Tooting, where I live right now.
How did you get into music?
I think I’ve just always been really into music. Even when I was a baby my parents said I was dancing in the cot and stuff like that. And then growing up we would have weddings where we would all do dances together. And then I started discovering my own music I used to listen to a lot of pop and rock and when I moved over to the UK I went to my first under-age raves when I was like 14 in Stevenage and heard all these UK heritage genres like garage, jungle and grime and I loved all that stuff. I was also into indie and played guitar in a band when I was about 17.
Then when I got to uni I got fully into electronic music. We would listen to Radio One on a Friday night before going to the club and it was when dubstep was really big as well and then from there I just thought ye, I’d like to learn how to DJ and produce.
What influence has London had on your life and on your music?
Musically, some of the first raves that I went to in London had a big influence on me. Butters, which is a grime label, would program their nights with UK funky, garage, grime, dubstep, all in the same night, so like all types of bass music, and the energy in there was insane.
There’s also things like Notting Hill Carnival, something that you just don’t get anywhere else in the world. Musically, there’s such a rich and diverse culture here in the UK, which I think is unmatched. Everyone in the world looks to it. So ye, that’s why I’m just gassed to be here. Sometimes there will be nights on in London and I’ll be looking at the listings and I’ll be like I want to go to three things and I’ll just end up going to three things!
What are your favourite places to party in London?
In terms of clubs I think Colour Factory has been really great. I’m doing a residency there and it’s just such a nice, really inclusive space, and really great music programming. Corsica Studios, just ‘cause the sound system is so good and then Venue MOT in Bermondsey.
Do you think your early raving days mad you want to start putting on your own events?
I think I always liked the idea of playing something I created for people, and seeing them enjoy it. The events side of things, kind of started at uni, where there was a bit of a gap musically from the kind of things I wanted to see so I just started my own thing.
The first thing I did was student radio, I’ve always loved community radio since then and I still do now. We’re very lucky to have so many great ones in London. There was a point before where I was doing three monthly radio slots, but I’ve had to reduce it down to one now, just because I don’t have the time!
After radio I started my own night ‘Ahadadream Presents’, where I just used my student loan to book people and then when I moved to London after uni I just carried it on.
Over the past few years there has been a big rise in the visibility of the south Asian community in the music/dance scene. No ID is seen as a bit of a catalyst and starting point and then Daytimers has really pushed it out to a wider audience. Do you feel like that is the case and does that give you a sense of pride?
So basically, I had this list of what I thought was South Asian DJs just in my notes and all of them were doing such different things, some were in the techno scene, or some were doing grime or whatever, and some of them I wasn’t sure if they ever were South Asian, but then when you start finding out about more and more of these people you get a bit excited, so I was like OK, I wonder if this would be a good idea - to just put a bunch of different DJs, no genre restrictions, you just play what you want, and just providing a platform and bring people together and let people know that there are others out there like them who might not fit in to what is ‘expected’ as South Asians.
The first night we did, the energy was crazy. It was really small, at Rye Wax, and it definitely was a catalyst. And so we did three nights in London, then did a festival take-over at Lost Village, over the whole weekend, all South Asian artists on our stage, which was something that I’d never seen before. Then all these things started happening and I got the opportunity to put together a program focussed on South Asian artists with Waltham Forest council, but I couldn’t do it on my own, so I reached out to everyone who was asking me to do things and was like let’s just all do this together, and then it had such big results, and that’s the whole point, not trying to do this for anyone’s personal gain, but as a collective.
It doesn’t matter if it was me or who it was, the end result happened and now shit’s happening!
And what are your highlights of the past few years?
Hitting 12 o’clock on the first Dialled In. I played the first set and there was like no one there, but that was something I wanted to do because I felt it was the beginning of something amazing. And then people started coming and everyone came really early, so by about 2pm it was like wow, there’s really people here and it’s pretty fucking sick and everyone looks really happy, so ye I guess that would be a highlight.
How do you see Dialled In developing from here?
Right now we’re still just trying to figure everything out, like what we are. I love what' it’s like now, it’s quite DIY. I’ve loved both venues but we don’t want to be tied down to anything. I think we are going to grow and outgrow even venues like EarTH, so let’s just see what happens. I would love to do something abroad, or actually at Butlins!
How did you feel the one we attended went?
In the day time it was just amazing to see people’s reactions, because what would happen is they’d see the kitchen space, and it was already a vibe, and then you walk in to the amphitheatre and it kind of hits you in the face straight away. Watching Anoushka Shankar there was mesmerising. And then it’s like what’s in that door over there? And you’d go through and it’s like wow I’m in fucking Berlin or something!
I just enjoyed the day because you put so much work into these things that sometimes it’s hard to step away and be like I’m just gonna enjoy myself and take it in. And that’s testament to the team that produced it, I could just run around, do a bit of hosting and enjoy myself, and it was great!
Have you preferred either?
I can’t really compare them. I feel like they are two completely different things and I think we can continue to look at them look like that. If I had to choose, first one or second one, probably the second one just because I was a bit more relaxed and able to take in what was happening.
At the after party you debuted your new EP, tell us a bit about that?
I’ve been working on this EP for a while now. It’s hard to juggle everything that I am doing at the minute, so I just want to make sure I can keep releasing music consistently, because that’s what I want to do, but there’s a lot of other shit to do as well!
It’s called ‘Homecoming’ ‘cause it’s around the same time I get to go back to Pakistan after about ten years, but I think there’s other meanings to it as well - clubs reopening after the pandemic, almost felt like coming home for a lot of people and also finding a new community in London with Dialled In, Daytimers, No ID and everyone, kind of felt like coming home. Sometimes you try and think of a name and you just go round and round in circles, but this just felt right.
And how did it go down?
By that time, you’ve had a whole 12 hours running around and being out and about and you’re kind of at the end of your energy levels, but still the crowd was like super gassed and responsive and I didn’t even know what I was gonna play. So like you said, I played my EP - I wanted to that and share something that I’d been working on for so long.
And then it was just really special to hand over to Four Tet. As soon as he played his first tune you saw the whole crowd lifted. I think in that setting my role was to set the vibe to Four Tet and that’s how I kind of saw it, but ye I had a really good time!
Who would be your dream line up?
It’s just crazy because we’ve had the opportunity to put on artists like Four Tet, Skrillex and Sbtrkt and they’ve just come and done it. If we’re talking about Dialled In it would be amazing to have Jai Paul come and perform, or M.I.A. We haven’t tried to get them yet. Jai Paul was on the guest list this time but I didn’t see him around!
