Return of the Mac: Annie Mac is back in the mix

Dublin-born Annie MacManus, better known by her DJ moniker Annie Mac, is arguably one of the most well-known selectors to emerge from BBC Radio 1’s late night roster over the last decade. A leading ambassador of the station’s new music programming and a mainstay of the evening schedules for many years, the 36-year-old has increasingly worked energetic club sets into her repertoire and has gained much acclaim for the breadth of her musical interests and her party-focused mixing style.

With the release of the latest volume of her Annie Mac Presents mix this November, and with one eye on her trip to the Scottish capital for Nightvision on the 22nd, Annie kindly took some time out of her hectic schedule to let us pick her brains.

The Skinny: Your new Annie Mac Presents mix lands this month. What can you tell us about the overall vibe this year?

Annie Mac: The vibe is good! It’s the best musical moments of 2014 in my opinion, from Ten Walls to FKA Twigs to Duke Dumont to Caribou – a massive range of styles but all good quality music. It’s two CDs – one more high energy for the party and one more mellow for the afterparty.

With such a wealth of music to pick from, do you find it difficult to whittle your track selections down?

The process happens over time. I see what records hang about in my DJ sets over the summer and CD1 is very loosely modeled on my festival sets of 2014. The second CD is more reflective of my Sunday radio show – less based on the ‘mix’ element and more just on the vibe.

Moving on from the mix, you have the tour coming up in the next few months. How do you find DJing live in comparison to doing studio mixes? In which setting are you most comfortable?

I DJ live on my radio show every week now. The last hour is me live in the mix, so my two worlds have collided and I like it a lot. I’m comfortable in both settings but I would say more in the radio studio, just because I get shy standing in front of so many people staring at me!

You’ll be playing for Nightvision in Edinburgh as part of the tour. What are your memories of playing there in the past and your experiences of Scotland in general?

I have memories of playing in that great big shopping centre in Leith. Bringing Felix Da Housecat and Simian Mobile Disco to a food hall in a shopping centre is something you don’t forget! I have had some pretty unforgettable gigs at Cabaret Voltaire as well. The crowds are always, without exception, brilliant.

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"Bringing Felix Da Housecat and Simian Mobile Disco to a food hall in a shopping centre is something you don’t forget!" – Annie Mac

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What can you tell us about the guests you will be bringing along with you?

There is Monki who is our resident. She is a brilliant DJ and knows how to start the party every time. Then Lxury, whose productions I love. Then there’s Tourist who is an excellent DJ and producer of very soulful and moody house and is debuting his live show on this tour. Then Hannah Wants who is on fire right now – she works hard, has collected a big following and makes some brilliant club music with Chris Lorenzo, notably Rhymes, which we are putting out as part of the AMP2014 compilation.

You’ve said in the past that one of the reasons you favour the Annie Mac Presents format is that you don’t like feeling lonely on tour. Is it safe to assume that, as well as musical bonds, there’s good camaraderie between yourself and the other acts? 

There is by the end of the tour, yes! Last year we all started out quite polite with each other and then by the end of the tour we were all crowdsurfing and hugging each other.

You’ve obviously had a successful career in radio and were able to progress from working on smaller stations to becoming a producer at the BBC, through to having your own show on Radio 1. How important do you think radio is as a medium for promoting new music, and how do you see its role changing (if at all) with the rise of other platforms?

Radio is still crucial in my opinion, especially night-time on Radio 1, where you are investing in a person and their tastes over a chart position or a playlist.

Sticking with that, you clearly have fairly broad tastes and always have a varied collection to dip into. Do you ever feel pressure, as a relatively big name DJ, to develop your own tastes in a particular direction based on the flavour of the month, or have you remained fairly personal in your approach?  

It’s crucial that I stick to my own tastes. Trends come and go in music and I’ve got to where I am by being true to myself. I think it’s important as a listener to believe in what the presenter is saying and you achieve that by only playing what you truly love.