The intention of DJ Tara, a resident of New York, is too “amplify artists and uplift the crowds,” she says—through a collage of soulful sounds. She came into music through her childhood, learning from her father, and in particular she fell in love with hip-hop. But through party promoting she decided she wanted to try her hand at DJing. Today, you can hear her spinning records on The Lot Radio on Sunday morning and on Soho Radio, where she steps up the gears by blending dance music that is both new and old, familiar and unknown, across eras, genres, and continents. When she’s not doing that, Tara is a college professor and works in urban planning where she advocates for nightlife as a vital cultural and community building tool for cities. As a member of Rare Form, she helped originate Donuts are Forever, an annual fundraiser and tribute to hip-hop producer J. Dilla. For this week’s XLR8R podcast, DJ Tara has spun a mix of feel-good, vocal laden house—that’ll warm you up as the festive season begins.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I became a college professor this year so right now I’m working on finishing up this semester! I love teaching but on top of DJing, my regular nine-to-five, and just plain old life, this was a lot! I look forward to teaching again but next semester I’m cutting back so I can dedicate more time back to music.

02. What have you been listening to?
It’s Fall, so a whole lot of new music! The latest Danny Brown album is really good and the latest Sampha has me in my feels.

03. When and where did you record this mix?
I recorded this mix late last week in my apartment in Brooklyn.

04. What setup did you use?
I used my controller and a laptop! I have a Pioneer DDJ-SB3 that I connect to my Pioneer DJM850 mixer to record. I’ve made so many mixes using my turntables, CDJs, Ableton, etc., but it has been an exhausting time so it was fun making this mix on my couch.

05. How did you go about choosing the tracks you’ve included?
I DJed one of my favorite parties, Back to Life, recently. I love it because it’s a party where it is guaranteed I won’t know half the songs because it’s rooted in UK music, but I will love them all and dance my ass off. I love hearing new music and the creator and resident, Khalil, is such a dope DJ. It really made me happy preparing my set and I knew I wanted this mix to be an extension of that joy. I started to think about some happy points this year because it’s been a tough year. I thought about my experience playing my first overseas festival over the summer (We Out Here) and the music I heard over that weekend and the tunes I played in my own set at the festival. I had a particularly joyous moment earlier this year dancing to DJ Shannon’s set at Dweller Festival at Nowadays at 6am and a song from that set found a way into mine and there are some tracks in the mix that I’ve just loved for years and always put me in a good mood that I wanted to share.

06. How does it compare to what we might hear you play out live?
This mix is a more UK-focused than my typical mix but I always stick to playing music I love and want to share. My live sets will always be a mix of new and old tunes, across genres and continents, just like this mix.

07. What’s next on your horizon?
Planning and resetting for 2024! I have two radio shows—one on The Lot Radio which is chill and eclectic on Sunday mornings. My Soho Radio show, UpBeat, is more dance-music focused so I’m working on growing that into my own regular party. I did one earlier this year with SEVYN from Salon Recordings out of Los Angeles and it was a great time! I want to get back to throwing parties more regularly and working with other DJs and bringing them to New York to play. I’d also like to create some experiences where folks can just come listen to music by lesser-known artists in a setting outside of the club. I’ll also be working on getting myself booked to play parties in New York and abroad. I played London a few times and I also played Lisbon this year. I hope to return to those cities and hopefully a few more in 2024!

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Shaun Escoffery “Let It Go” (Jazzanova Mix) (Oyster Music)
02. Rochelle Jordan & Keys N Krates “What You Done” (Late Nite Extended Mix)(The Remedy Project)
03. Christian Rich “Compromise” feat. Sinead Harnett, Goldlink & Secaina Hudson (Lucky Number Music)
04. p-rallel “Brakes” feat. Finn Foxell & KiLLOWEN (Different Recordings)
05. GAYANCE “Moon Rising (10 Years)” feat. Judith Little D (Rhythm Section)
06. Brucka Khan “I Know You! (Dr SIBI Brukt Jawn)” (Unknown)
07. Zaki Ibrahim, Kid Fonque & DJ Whisky “Be” (Atjazz & Jullian Gomes Remix) (Atjazz Record Company)
08. Cleo Sol “Why Don’t You” (Murder He Wrote Refix) (Unknown)
09. ELIZA “Abandon the Rule” (Ahadadream Remix)(Nehza Records)
10. Cloonee “Sun Goes Down” (Big Beat Records)
11. DJ Fudge & Hallex M “Simpatico” feat. Omar (Yoruba)
12. Critical Point “Messages” feat. Vikter Duplaix (MAW Records)
13. Ben Westbeech “Hang Around” (Karizma Deepah 1ne Remix) (Brownswood Recordings)
14. Daz-I-Kue “Pedigree” feat. Hadiya George (Foliage Records)
15. FCL “It’s You” (mousse T.’s Teef Vocal Mix) (Defected)
16. SMTHNG SMTIME “Morning Love” (Jonny Faith Bruk Beats Mix) (Feedasoul Records)
17. FWE “Can’t Hide Brukt 2” (Unknown)