London DJ and Phonica Records staff member Tia Radkiewicz brings a deep-rooted love of house and techno to her Friends & Family mix, drawing on the German and Dutch minimal scenes of the mid-to-late 2000s. Alongside her work at the shop, Tia has also stepped behind the decks for Phonica’s Rinse FM shows, with a taste shaped by years of record digging and an appreciation for music that moves between styles. For this mix, she delves into the deeper, heavier corners of her collection, opening with early Ostgut Ton cuts from Steffi, Ryan Elliott and Len Faki before moving through hypnotic minimal, hand-clap house and driving techno. A personal journey through records that continue to inspire her, it captures the sounds and influences that have shaped her approach to the dancefloor.
Hey Tia, thanks for joining us. Can you tell us about your mix and what the idea behind it was?
This mix is a little different to my usual. My taste often changes and takes me through various subgenres and sounds every couple of weeks, and I happened to be in my 2000s – 2010s+ house and techno phase when making this mix. I gathered together a bunch of records that are particularly special to me, a few that reveal the deeper, heavier side of my collection which I haven’t really shared before, and went from there. From that, the mix ended up becoming a European-esque amalgam of floaty, hypnotic minimal, hand-clap house and driving, pow pow techno. I say European-esque as a lot of the records are in fact either German or Dutch, two countries whose music scenes I’m hugely inspired by, specifically the mid to late 2000s minimal techno era. I speak as if I was alive then, but in another life I’d imagine consuming something similar to the first half of this mix amongst hipsters in flannel shirts and Bieber haircuts on the dancefloor of Panorama Bar circa 2010, before moving downstairs to Berghain for the latter, heavier half of the mix. The influence of this institution is apparent in the very beginning of the mix, the first three records being early Ostgut Ton releases from residents Steffi, Ryan Elliott and Len Faki. I haven’t yet been to Berghain or Panorama, but I can only imagine! Putting this together also reconnected me with my love for the great Steve Rachmad, aka Sterac, when I found my repress of ‘Virton Upgraded’ that came through the shop earlier this year. It was such a pleasure to make and I hope you enjoy it!
What are your preferred methods for finding new music – do you still enjoy digging around in dusty crates, or do you prefer to buy online?
I seem to have developed a method that works every time I’m either stuck in a rut, need some inspiration or just fancy listening to some new music. Sifting through the millions and zillions of songs on the web (Bandcamp, Spotify, YouTube etc) can often be quite overwhelming and so I usually start off in person, when I’m at home, usually in Palace (Brixton) or Lirica (Hackney Wick). Shoutout to my Palace fam, I feel so warm and welcomed every time I go to spend the afternoon, and am lucky to have met one of my best pals from my first ever dig there! The second half of this mix is in fact largely built from their techno bins under the window, so thank you guys! But once I’ve got a few new records, I’ll go through the label catalogues they were released on and dig back into the artist’s catalogue who released it, either on Discogs or Bandcamp and fall down even more rabbit holes from there. I’ve found and continue to find a whole font of new music this way. I think Discogs is also a great way to access sellers who live outside the UK. Oh and there’s also an art to YouTube digging, you can somehow hack the algorithm by clicking lots and lots of times and end up in a goldmine of old releases you never would’ve found otherwise. So a bit of both I guess!
What are five records you couldn’t live without?
The impossible question! I spoke with lots of friends about this and to help my decision, I was asked if my house went up in flames, which records am I taking with me? I said all of them each time. So in order to answer this question I decided to think of it as 5 records I always come back to, instead of choosing favourites, so none of them feel left out.
0x7f – Memories EP (2015 on 31337 Records)
Bought this for the B side, ‘to Nadja’, 14:11 of meditative, floaty, looping minimal techno. And I listen to the whole thing every time. I suppose if I was stuck on a desert island for the rest of my life with only this B side, I’d be content. I will simply never ever get bored of it.
Ada Kaleh – Contopoire / Melanj (2016 on UVAR)
Amongst my bi-weekly taste changes or inspiration ruts, I’ll most often find my way back to the Romanians. The A Side, ‘Contopoire’, is another dreamy, swingy, twinkly minimal techno track that I could listen to on a loop for a very, very long time.
John Tejada – Parabolas (2011 on Kompakt)
This album is one of my absolute favourites of all time. It’s a full 12 tracker, but ‘Unstable Condition’ is one I always come back to. Someone somewhere described the album as a ‘genre-defying set of instrumentals, somewhere at the intersection of house, techno and downtempo’; I’d say that’s pretty bang on.
Laurent Garnier – Flashback (1997 on Garnier’s and Eric Morand’s label F Communications)
Always dreamt of opening a peak time set with the B2 side ‘Original Mix’, an acidic bit of old school driving techno and closing the same set with the A side ‘Laboratoire Mix’, a more emotional ‘tell your friends you love them’ kind of track.
Medway – The Elements EP (1999 on Hooj Choons)
A few summers back I decided to dig through all 150 (ish) releases and amongst the plethora of old skool E-Head progressive house and trance found the track ‘Resurrection ‘99’ off this EP. Amongst many Hooj faves, I often come back to this wobbly sunrise soundtrack every couple of months – hits the same each time I listen. It was only correct to end the list with a Hooj, a label of great significance to me, so much so I got a tattoo of the logo!
What would be your dream location and scenario to play?
Oh there’s so many! I have to base it off the spaces I’ve had the most magical experiences in and would therefore love to be at the helm of. Top of the list would probably be Tillatec in Amsterdam, formerly known as De School. This is by far the most unusual place I’ve danced in; being a renovated school from the late 1960s with rows of lockers, a maze of different ‘classrooms’ and a kitchen! That quasi kitchen space would be my chosen room to play in, a fairly intimate black and white chequered dancefloor, softly lit, hazed with smoke and an air of a roll through.
What do you have up your sleeve for 2026/2027?
I haven’t played out for a while, so this club season I’d like to start getting back out there! Shoutout to my girls at dusktone, the agency I just joined, who are supporting and helping me along the journey.
Thanks Tia 🙂
