As a DJ, Jayson Wynters, based in Birmingham, England, has a knack for delivering sounds that others don’t—the overlooked B-side gems that only those who look carefully enough will find them in the dusty corners of far-flung record stores. He credits his ear for good music and diverse palette to his father, who introduced him to the finest jazz, funk, hip-hop, dub, reggae, and soul he could find. In the ’90s, Wynters made his start as a garage MC, before moving into grime then house music through Chris Phillips’ radio show on Choice FM. “I had heard bits of house music before but this particular style of house, which was deep and soulful, really piqued my interest,” Wynters tells XLR8R. “From there I went down the rabbit hole of various styles of dance and electronic music.”

As Wynters spent the ’00s DJing across Birmingham and London, his record collection grew alongside his reputation. By 2015, he was DJing regularly across Europe—which prompted his first released on Mr G’s Phoenix G label, titled Unfamiliar Territories. It was only the second time Phoenix G had released a record that isn’t from the label founder himself, and it remains one of only a handful of productions that Wynters has shared with the world. “My own productions are under lock and key until I decide to let them go to a suitable label,” he told Attack, “so you won’t find my own music on any clouds until such time they’re released.”

When he’s not on the road, Wynters can normally be found at Café Artum, a record shop and café that acts as a hub for the local community of musicians and a space for them to practice. As the co-founder, he’s responsible for the contents and he’s taken this opportunity to present his favorite finds from the past few months in this XLR8R podcast. You can expect to hear raw, melodic, and hypnotic sounds from a collection of artists and labels currently flowing through Wynters’ bag.

01. What have you been up to recently?

Just the usual: co-running Café Artum, training, doing a few music bits.

02. What have you been listening to during lockdown?

A bit of everything, and rediscovering some older stuff.

03. How was your 2021?

It’s been good. I can’t really complain. We have been busy with moving Café Artum, which is a multi-concept space I co-run, into a new home in Birmingham, so most of my time has been toward getting it off the ground.

04. What drives you to make electronic music?

I can’t pinpoint anything specifically but I enjoy the exploration of sound and being creative.

05. When and where did you record this mix?

I recorded it on Tuesday, December 21 at Café Artum.

06. How did you go about choosing the tracks you’ve included?

There was a pile of new stuff I wanted to showcase that all had a similar tone.

07. What can the listener expect?

Raw, melodic, and hypnotic sounds.

08. What’s on your horizon for 2022?

Hopefully, there’ll be some more creative projects materializing, and living as best as I can!

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to hear the podcast offline you will need to subscribe to our Select channel to listen offline, or subscribe to XLR8R+ to download the file. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Full XLR8R+ Members can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R+ member, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Bees “Cricket Stars of Siq” (A Visiting Link)
02. Valentino Mora “Hydrosphere” (Edo Germany)
03. Huron “Hollowell” (Detuned)
04. Wamdue Kids “Memory and Forgetting” (Sounds)
05. Tim Jackiw “Wisteria” (7th Sign)
06. Variable Frequency Technician “Cross Section” (Certain Music)
07. Stasis “Occasions and Adventures” (Fence Piece)
08. Adam Beyer “Redemption” (Soma)
09. Ismistik “Feel the Drum Box” (Djax Up Beats)
10. Dominic Duverger “Dusk” (Kalvanic Languages)
11. Autre “2 strings in the universe” (Pirimide)
12. Forehard “Intercourse” (Inceptum Records)