Scottish-American producer, DJ and composer Hudson Mohawke is best known for his wonky electronic arrangements on Warp Records and for his work producing for a number of hip-hop artists, including Drake, A$AP Rocky and Lil Wayne. (Randomly, he also happens to be partnering with Wimbledon to create a bespoke soundtrack for the 2023 tournament.) Here the Glasgow musician tells us about how a low-ceilinged nightclub on Jamaica Street shaped his musical tastes.
‘Sub Club is right next to the central train station in Glasgow. From the street, it just looks like an inconspicuous doorway: if you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t know it was there. You go downstairs into this venue underneath the street, which has a really low ceiling and a capacity of about 550 people.
‘It’s very dark, and is the sort of antithesis of Instagram-era clubbing – if you try to take a video or photo, it’s probably not going to come out great. Instead, Sub Club is very much about the experience of being physically present in that venue. I started working there aged 18, in the cloakroom, on the door and as a glass collector. It was my first exposure to a lot of different genres of electronic music that I wouldn’t necessarily have given the time of day, and massively opened up my music tastes. I had no idea about some of the things going on there, previously.
They would be playing techno, then Aretha Franklin, then random, crazy noise, then Kylie Minogue
‘Something that meant a lot to me in particular was a club night at Sub Club on Sundays called Optimo, run by two guys. It’s actually still going, but less regularly these days. At the time, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. In the best way possible, the night was a real free for all. They would be playing techno, then Aretha Franklin, then random, crazy noise, then Kylie Minogue. It would whip people into an absolute frenzy. The crowd was a real mix and it never had a snobby edge to it.
‘I also saw artists at Sub Club way before they went on to become household names: LCD Soundsystem, members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Hot Chip. It made me realise that a scene doesn’t need to be restricted to one genre of music or look. Instead, you can weave in and out of all sorts of influences from all over the world: like going from a random record you found in India, to the number-one pop song that week. I just find that hugely inspirational, and I’ve taken that reluctance to be pigeonholed into my music and career.’
Wimbledon’s Always Like Never Before campaign, soundtracked by Hudson Mohawke, will be shown across Wimbledon’s digital and social media channels and via global broadcast partners. Watch it here.
ICYMI: Here are the 25 most banging club nights in the UK.
Plus: The 17 best music venues in the UK – by acts who’ve played (almost) all of them.