Forty Five day started towards the end of 2019 as a way to celebrate the humble 7 inch single. The outcome of that was 45 individual submissions from DJ's that are enthusiastic about playing the format which went live on the 4th May 2020 which you can still check out here.
For the upcoming 2021 celebration (along with an all day twitch live stream) more than 100 mixes have been submitted. Musically encompassing a broad range like 80’s soul, afrobeat, big band, boogie, boom bap, brass band, Brazilian/bossa nova, breakbeats, cinematic, covers, dance, downtempo, dub, electro, funk, hip hop, house, Irish, italo disco, jazz, jump blues, latin, mod, nu wave, punk rock, rare groove, rave, re-edits, reggae, rock and roll, samba, soul and much more.
I decided to reach out to Criztoz from the Original 45ers who is behind the event concept. I like the idea because the format lends itself to quick mixing and having to be very selective about which tracks to include in your set.
Especially when you only have 45 minutes to showcase your musical tastes and style. This makes DJing with 45s so much fun and this definitely comes across in all of the mixes. You can read more about his thoughts behind the 45 day concept in the interview below.
Just thought I'd also mention that I also have a appreciation for the 45 it's not something that I play out too often but have been collecting them for some time too so I also submitted a mix for 45 day with a new alias DR.Ox or (Doctor Ox) which you can check out via mixcloud.
For the upcoming 2021 celebration (along with an all day twitch live stream) more than 100 mixes have been submitted. Musically encompassing a broad range like 80’s soul, afrobeat, big band, boogie, boom bap, brass band, Brazilian/bossa nova, breakbeats, cinematic, covers, dance, downtempo, dub, electro, funk, hip hop, house, Irish, italo disco, jazz, jump blues, latin, mod, nu wave, punk rock, rare groove, rave, re-edits, reggae, rock and roll, samba, soul and much more.
I decided to reach out to Criztoz from the Original 45ers who is behind the event concept. I like the idea because the format lends itself to quick mixing and having to be very selective about which tracks to include in your set.
Especially when you only have 45 minutes to showcase your musical tastes and style. This makes DJing with 45s so much fun and this definitely comes across in all of the mixes. You can read more about his thoughts behind the 45 day concept in the interview below.
Just thought I'd also mention that I also have a appreciation for the 45 it's not something that I play out too often but have been collecting them for some time too so I also submitted a mix for 45 day with a new alias DR.Ox or (Doctor Ox) which you can check out via mixcloud.
What sparked your interest in the 7 inch single? and the idea behind celebrating 45 day.
I have bought and collected music for many years on all formats and became a DJ quite a few years ago starting with Vinyl and CDs and then moving onto digital DJing using Traktor DVS with the Jellyfunk Allstars. My Co-DJ Adrian (Big404) suggested a few years ago that we do a night playing just 45s. We had so much fun packing a bag of 45s and only playing what we had with us instead of scrolling through digital crates.
Soon after we became the Original 45ers playing just 45s at bars, cafes, galleries and festivals including Glastonbury 2019. Since then I got involved with the Forty Five Kings group and met up with lots of other 45s DJ's.
I have been involved in taking part and DJ'ing at some Record Store Day events and I came up with the idea in late 2019 that it would be fun to dedicate a day to the humble 7 inch vinyl. No one else seemed to be doing it so i decided to go for it and settled for the date 04 May as it would read 4.5.2020/2021 etc. It was originally intended to be a few live events around the world happening on the day itself but Covid stepped in and stopped those plans so it went online and I asked DJ's to put together a 45 minute audio mix using just 45s.
It started small and has already grown and is now in its second year. Last year was just about the audio mixes. This time around I am also running an all day twitch live stream with DJ's from around the world playing just 45s. Hopefully next year when we are able to there will also be live events happening on the day itself around the world.
What are you listening to right now?
I am currently going through and listening to all of the mixes submitted for 45 day. At the time of writing I am up to 59 mixes submitted and i have listened to about half of them so far. In addition I'm listening to 45s from my collection preparing for my live streams on my twitch channel and also on the Forty Five Kings channel.
Who or what is inspiring you musically and otherwise?
All of the DJ's who have submitted mixes for 45 Day and also all of the DJ's i watch on Twitch live streams. I have been introduced to so much amazing new music and styles as a result of 45 Day and Twitch that it has been truly inspiring and has impacted on the music I play during my sets.
For example I did not previously know what Freakbeat, Ye-Ye, or French Canadian music styles were. I do now due to listening to DJ sets. They are great and I will be adding 45s from these styles to my collection soon. Listening to all these mixes and streams constantly also inspires me to dig deeper for 45s. I am also inspired by how much love DJ's have for the 7" vinyl and this pushes me to do as much as i can to promote the format further.
Anything else you would like to share?
Thank you for inviting me to do this interview and for submitting a great mix yourself. I just wanted to add a couple of things. Firstly I have been really impressed with the community that has grown around 45s.
Everyone is super friendly, happy to help others out with tips, advice and details on the 45s they are playing. In addition everyone wants others to succeed in this new world we find ourselves in. Secondly I also want to mention my talk show called "Part of my Journey". Each episode I speak to 2 guests about mental health, disability, hidden disabilities, DJ'ing, streaming, online communities and more. All of my guests have been amazingly open in talking about their lives and experiences. I feel these are very important topics as we have all been through so much over the last year or so and mental health is as important as physical health.
If you would like to find out more about 45 Day you can check out the website www.fortyfiveday.com and follow us on the socials:
twitch.tv/fortyfiveday
instagram.com/fortyfiveday
mixcloud.com/45day
facebook.com/fortyfiveday
I have bought and collected music for many years on all formats and became a DJ quite a few years ago starting with Vinyl and CDs and then moving onto digital DJing using Traktor DVS with the Jellyfunk Allstars. My Co-DJ Adrian (Big404) suggested a few years ago that we do a night playing just 45s. We had so much fun packing a bag of 45s and only playing what we had with us instead of scrolling through digital crates.
Soon after we became the Original 45ers playing just 45s at bars, cafes, galleries and festivals including Glastonbury 2019. Since then I got involved with the Forty Five Kings group and met up with lots of other 45s DJ's.
I have been involved in taking part and DJ'ing at some Record Store Day events and I came up with the idea in late 2019 that it would be fun to dedicate a day to the humble 7 inch vinyl. No one else seemed to be doing it so i decided to go for it and settled for the date 04 May as it would read 4.5.2020/2021 etc. It was originally intended to be a few live events around the world happening on the day itself but Covid stepped in and stopped those plans so it went online and I asked DJ's to put together a 45 minute audio mix using just 45s.
It started small and has already grown and is now in its second year. Last year was just about the audio mixes. This time around I am also running an all day twitch live stream with DJ's from around the world playing just 45s. Hopefully next year when we are able to there will also be live events happening on the day itself around the world.
What are you listening to right now?
I am currently going through and listening to all of the mixes submitted for 45 day. At the time of writing I am up to 59 mixes submitted and i have listened to about half of them so far. In addition I'm listening to 45s from my collection preparing for my live streams on my twitch channel and also on the Forty Five Kings channel.
Who or what is inspiring you musically and otherwise?
All of the DJ's who have submitted mixes for 45 Day and also all of the DJ's i watch on Twitch live streams. I have been introduced to so much amazing new music and styles as a result of 45 Day and Twitch that it has been truly inspiring and has impacted on the music I play during my sets.
For example I did not previously know what Freakbeat, Ye-Ye, or French Canadian music styles were. I do now due to listening to DJ sets. They are great and I will be adding 45s from these styles to my collection soon. Listening to all these mixes and streams constantly also inspires me to dig deeper for 45s. I am also inspired by how much love DJ's have for the 7" vinyl and this pushes me to do as much as i can to promote the format further.
Anything else you would like to share?
Thank you for inviting me to do this interview and for submitting a great mix yourself. I just wanted to add a couple of things. Firstly I have been really impressed with the community that has grown around 45s.
Everyone is super friendly, happy to help others out with tips, advice and details on the 45s they are playing. In addition everyone wants others to succeed in this new world we find ourselves in. Secondly I also want to mention my talk show called "Part of my Journey". Each episode I speak to 2 guests about mental health, disability, hidden disabilities, DJ'ing, streaming, online communities and more. All of my guests have been amazingly open in talking about their lives and experiences. I feel these are very important topics as we have all been through so much over the last year or so and mental health is as important as physical health.
If you would like to find out more about 45 Day you can check out the website www.fortyfiveday.com and follow us on the socials:
twitch.tv/fortyfiveday
instagram.com/fortyfiveday
mixcloud.com/45day
facebook.com/fortyfiveday
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