Scottish born club night and burgeoning record label Optimo have come a long way, no doubt in part thanks to a dedication and passion for music that appears to come as naturally as breathing. But Keith McIvor - one half of Optimo and DJ under the moniker JD Twitch - has long been seen as an artist in his on right, releasing remixes, re-edits and constantly suprising those that attend his DJ sets. Never one to stand still and stagnate inside anyone genre, Keith may mix post punk and new wave one minute, the next a brash fusion of bass music and italo disco. A long-standing figure in dance music - who prides himself on supporting local Glasweigan talent - Pulse are proud to bring you JD Twitch's 'Pulse Loves' mix, highlighting some of his favourite tracks of the past 12 months. He also lets us in on some forthcoming plans, his feelings about modern music consumption and why roast dinners and decks never mix......
Pulse Loves... your name. Where did you get the idea for this from? Around 1990 I decided I wanted to use a pseudonym as a DJ name. I used to get incredibly nervous when i was playing and people often said I looked like I was twitching behind the decks so Twitch seemed an obvious choice, especially as one of my favourite albums was called "Twitch". Promoters used to always bill me as DJ Twitch, which I loathed, so in the late '90s I inverted DJ To JD and became JD Twitch. Only once since then have I been billed as DJ JD Twitch.
Pulse Loves... the contemporary dance scene. Who are your favourite newcomers and can you recommend anyone to the readers of Pulse? Too many to mention. I'm currently working on a mix CD of all Glaswegian electronic artists so I'll take this opportunity to big up some local upcoming starts such as Auntie Flo, HaHaHa, the High Sheen label, and Golden Teacher who are the most exciting live dance act to come out of Glasgow in many a moon.
Pulse Loves... the digital age. What are you thoughts on the changing face of music consumption? And do you still use good ol fashioned vinyl when playing out? I have no problem with the changing face of music consumption. There is room for both digital and vinyl and the argument over digital vs. vinyl djing bores me to tears. I'll always love vinyl first and foremost but when playing out use both as i love what i can do with digital file stat would be impossible with vinyl Combining the tow keeps it interesting for me.
Pulse Loves... the future. What does 2013 hold in store for you? The release of the Underground Sound Of Glasgow mix CD I mention earlier, a mix cd for Japan's Mule Musiq, hopefully completing my own album as well as a few 12"s, launching a new sub label - Optimo Trax, lots of remixes, lots of gigs, production assistance on Soft Metals' upcoming album and hopefully a bit more sleep than in 2012.
Pulse Loves... your mix. What's the special ingredient? Love.
Pulse Loves... funny stories. Tell us about the most recent anecdote that you'd share to our readers… We recently played Boiler Room in Berlin and had to fly straight from doing our own Boxing Night party to get there. My cohort, Jonnie neglected to bring a change of clothes so if you look closely at the footage you can see the remnants of his Christmas dinner dropping off his shirt onto the first few records he plays.