Alex Figueira
Like many subjects in the Dust & Grooves universe, Alex Figueira is also linked to Joel Stones, the Brazilian New York transplant who famously helmed the East Village record mecca Tropicália in Furs (R.I.P.). Alex’s love of Brazilian psychedelic music, among many other styles, led to him inviting Mr. Stones to record with him and some friends in Amsterdam for a project called Fumaça Preta (Black Smoke), including a couple of singles and one album released on Soundway Records in 2014.
Coco Maria
Coco Maria, real name Ana Lucia, was born and raised in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, and got her start DJing “in sweaty basements” in London and Berlin in 2014. Two years later, she became more active and focused as a small club DJ, getting into radio around that time as well. Later on, she started doing her weekly radio show on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM, and currently running her successful Breakfast Show at NTS, where she has a large international following and focuses on playing glo
Grace of Spades
Grace of Spades is unmissable: She has a shock of short, platinum hair, extremities covered in tattoos, and the confident, comfortable attitude of a native New Yorker in that takes-one-to-know-one way. Crucially, Grace is often found with a bag of big, big tunes. "At the end of the day, I'm here because I enjoy myself. I like seeing people enjoy themselves," Grace says of DJing while sipping a beer inside the Roxy Hotel on a torrentially rainy Friday evening. "Obviously, as a Virgo, controlling
Lefto
Belgian DJ Stephane Lallemand is phoenix-like, rebirthing himself and shedding his given name in flames to become Lefto Early Bird. With the keen sight of a hawk, he hones in on sounds, always the first to get the worm. As he says in our interview, “I was the guy who had everything before everyone, being the early bird, even before I was “(Lefto) Early Bird.” Finally, like a few exquisite birds, he has the majesty to fly the world over, nesting in his global family’s dance floors.
Deb Grant
As an erstwhile mod, and atheist Irish Jew who grew up in Dublin before being wooed by the bright lights of London, Deb Grant isn’t your average record collector or your average DJ. Her star has risen rapidly over the past few years as the club DJ and vocalist formerly known as Anne Frankenstein (she dropped the moniker post-pandemic when radio became her main artistic outlet) moved from London indie radio station Resonance FM, to be picked up by Jazz FM, and then taken on by BBC 6 Music to ho
A-Trak
Smooth transitions are paramount in DJing, and few DJs have transitioned through the phases of their career as gracefully as A-Trak. He first rose to prominence as a turntablist wunderkind at the DMC World DJ Championship in 1997 at fifteen-years-old, founded his first record label Audio Research when he was still in his teens, and then became a tour DJ to the stars, such as Kanye West and John Legend, before diving headfirst into the world of house music and founding the influential label Fool�
Kevin Lewandowski
A friend of mine recently referred to Discogs.com–the user-generated online discography (and marketplace) for records, CDs, tapes and all forms of musical media–as a national, no universal, treasure of information. Many liken it to Wikipedia (which it predates) but for audio media, with the goal to protect and celebrate all music, from the ultra obscure to chart toppers.
Mafalda
Mafalda claims the sun is her place of origin, and it’s very easy to believe her. When we spoke, it was the end of summer and Mafalda was visiting a warm and lovely Lisbon—native territories both in location and season, giving our conversation an instant sense of home. At some points, it was difficult to remember I was interviewing Mafalda because of how easy she is to talk to, and to get lost in stories with. Her warmth is a symptom of how deep her passion is for records, and her reflex to
Thes One
As far as record cities go, Los Angeles can feel like an enigma. The size and diversity of its population, in addition to long-standing music and movie industries, means that many meaningful sides were both cut and distributed here, but the geographic size and population dispersion have long frustrated those trying to explore the region’s record riches. It takes time, patience, and a lot of footwork to get anywhere in that game, and if anyone has worn some soles, hunting for soul, it’s been
John Devore
One of John DeVore’s earliest memories finds him lying under his mother’s piano while she played Bach. “When you're underneath you hear some of the sort of creeks, and you hear the pedal actuators and there's more of a physical…it's sort of like being in a really small cabin that’s making music. Literally all around you, there are three giant legs pinning you in, the roof of the cabin is the soundboard, you know the pedals are on one side going up and down, and you're feeling the fo
