Get to know: Hoj

Captivating the dance floor with a blend of his own mischief and deep, dubby grooves, the L.A based Hoj is a true alchemist of transporting his audience to another blissful realm of sonic pleasure. Crafting a sound that’s taken him to Panorama Bar, Do Not Sit On The Furniture, Space Miami and lots more, Hoj continues to follow his musical endeavours with fellow All Day I Dream resident and co-founder, Lee Burridge, as well as a residency with Listed Productions.

As one of the founding members of Burning Man’s ‘Opulent Temple', his recent sets atop the Robot Heart Bus have become legendary in their own right. With a collection of uplifting, melodic house selects, the artist remains adventurous in his sets, throwing in the odd ‘dirty sample’ to keep us entranced from the beginning - all the more reason we’re excited to host him at the club for the first time coming February 24th.

We caught up with Hoj before the show to get to know the man behind the dreamy label and collective…

You’re known create mischief throughout your sets and your own name ‘Hoj’ is unusual and mischievous in itself. Where does the ‘Hoj’ alias come from?

It’s actually my real name. Well, it’s an abbreviated version which I’ve gone by since I can remember.

How do you blend your sense of mischief into your DJ Sets?

For me it’s all about embracing the unexpected. I want to find my flow in a set, but once I’m in the flow I want to shake things up a bit. I love surprising people with a gnarly baseline or some dirty sample or something. Something that gives you that “oh sheeeeit” face. I like that.

How did All Day I Dream start and what’s the ethos behind the label and events series? I was kind of over the minimal thing - it was pretty big a few years ago and boring me to the point where I was considering hanging up the DJ thing.  But there was all this really beautiful music that I was collecting and playing at home mostly. Lee (Burridge) had done a mix called All Day I Dream of Her, and he played a lot of beautiful music at an afterparty in Mexico, which really inspired me. Later in New York, he told me he wanted to make the afterparty the party. He wanted a platform for us to play that kind of music to more people. And that’s what happened. For me, the music and the events are about beauty. 

As a regular artist atop the ‘Robot Heart’ bus at Burning Man, how would you describe the Burning Man experience for those who haven’t yet attended the iconic festival? 

That's a tricky one to answer. I won't even begin to do it justice here, but imagine a city of 50,000+ where everyone is making something, whether it's pancakes, sculpture, music, or art cars. Where everybody is there to have a good time and to be creative in some way. Now move that city onto a desert landscape that's not terribly conducive to human life. Then add some fire and dust and pirate ships and lasers and some of the best outdoor sound systems in the world. 

What’s on the horizon for you in 2018? 

Lots of great events on the horizon this year. Also, we have some exciting new music coming out on Tale and Tone in 2018. It’s a label I started with Lee to showcase more of our nighttime sound, and we’ll be following up the Storybook EP in a few months. I’ll also be working on some of my own production - hoping for lots of studio time. And a side project I’m pretty excited about that will hopefully make it’s way into the world this year as well!

What would you consider as the ‘dreamiest’ record from your collection? 

I think it still has to be Fur De Liebe by Lee Burridge and Matthew Dekay. That one set the tone for me.