Angela Rose

Angela Rose has won many fans and supporters in the house scene especially since she became one of Defected’s Unsung Heroes in 2022. Known for spinning a melodic fusion of progressive, deep and afro house Angela is also a resident DJ for Secret Brunch and Secret Experience, a day party that takes people on a journey to celebrate life  and elevate their consciousness through art and music.

“I can only give you what connects with me”  ~ Angela Rose

 

Hi Angela nice to meet you and you’re creating quite a stir on London’s house scene this summer and can you tell us about some of your highlights so far and what makes them special?

Lovely to meet you too, Nicky. This year, I’ve had the pleasure of learning more about myself musically. At the start of the year I played at Secret Brunch and the theme was around ‘Sahara’ which meant playing my sound with a fusion of sounds from the Middle East. This unlocked something within me as I really connected with the music I found. This summer, I’ve played for Secret Brunch, Secret Experience and Defected Croatia and each set has had elements of the sounds I played during the start of the year – so I guess, the highlight for me has been evolving with something new and sharing this with the people.

Known for your house n afro house fusion sets, how would you describe what you play?

My selection is a mixture of afro, tech, deep, melodic, progressive with a dash of my favourite classics.The selection can vary – depending on where and who I’m playing for. I love to play in the moment, feel the space, the crowd and the vibe. I play, bi-weekly on EXT radio and always say ‘today, whatever flows through me is what we’re going to get’ so I guess, that describes what I play perfectly – whatever flows through me in that moment!

Playing at the Soul Session Closes The Summer Daytime party on Sunday September 10th, how do you feel about playing at Ministry Of Sound and is it your debut at this iconic club?

Super excited to play at Soul Session closing party – it’s my first time playing at Ministry so will be a special moment for sure. Not to mention, the last Soul Session event I played at was such a great vibe – my friends and I stayed right until the end 🙂

Soul Session always feature a solid cast of women DJs on their line up and as a female DJ do you feel that the clubbing environment is changing for the better and opening up more opportunities to women?

When I started there weren’t many female DJs in London so it is great seeing so many new talented beautiful faces. It’s definitely changing for the better, opportunities are opening far and wide for us all.

You first broke out winning the Defected Unsung Winners DJ showcase in May 2022, and how important has this been for your career? You also joined them for their week long Defected Festival in Croatia, and again how thrilling and game changing has all this been?

Winning the competition has been amazing for me, I honestly applied not expecting to win so it has been extremely overwhelming. I don’t think I mentally prepared to win so when I did it was a massive WOW moment and game changer on a mental, physical and spiritual level. It has definitely boosted my confidence and given me the chance to see DJ-ing from another perspective. Croatia was my first festival aboard and it was amazing…I learnt so much and met loads of great people.

Which DJs and Producers are currently inspiring your sound and why?

There are so many people inspiring me. T Williams is at the top of the list – a great DJ/Producer with years of knowledge and experience…super grateful for the love and support he’s shown over the years and for always getting me in check. DJ-ing isn’t always as glam as it looks so it is super cool to have a realist around for those inspiring, open and honest conversations. Sef Kombo is also most definitely up there too – an amazing DJ and promoter!! From early on he has always done just enough to get me to the next step in my career. I’m super grateful for Mr Til Two!!! I’m highly inspired by Caiiro and he makes amazing music that just effortlessly connects with the dancefloor. I’m also inspired by Dorisburg, Sebastian Mullaert, Zemog, Buruntuma, Lilocox… there’s a load of great artist, I could go on forever – each artist has something in them that I see in myself.

As well as DJ-ing I understand you’re also going to make the move into producing tunes and how close are we to hearing an Angela Rose tune.

Currently, I’m just a living room producer lol… 🙂 I really enjoy making music in my spare time. However, I haven’t made anything I want to share with the world just yet. Although, I really enjoy production and being creative with it so who knows what the future may bring!

Before you leave us can you tell us about your any forthcoming plans?

Saturday  9th September, you can catch my set at Defected Croatia during the Ballentine’s Takeover on Defected’ s Broadcasting House.

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