Get to know: Gary Beck

There must be something in the water of Glasgow city. It’s the place called home for certain producers and selectors who are currently at the forefront of the global house, disco and techno realm. With the latter sound in mind, it’s fair to say Gary Back is the latest Scotsman to bring a slick library of straight-up, punchy techno productions to the club after the launch of his recent EP, Pneuma, on his own Bek Audio imprint. 

Beck has been on the scene for almost ten years now and with the energy of a typical Glaswegian who's last to leave the rave, the producer shows no signs of slowing down. Coming up to Familia’s August instalment, we caught up with Beck to see what he’s up to at the moment as well as looking back at the highlights of his continuously evolving career and lots more… 

Glasgow is a playground for electronic music and in addition to the amount of talented artists churned out from the city - Denis Sulta, Harvey McKay, Jackmaster to name a few - it’s renowned for a certain energy which Glaswegians have for music and raving. Why do you think a Glaswegian loves a good rave-up? 

I’m not sure if it’s down to the crap weather or the short club opening hours, but we really do like to give it our all. In my experience, Glasgow has always had a wonderful ‘fuck it lets go’ kind of attitude with so many things, not just music. 

I love the energy in Glasgow. There’s a real positivity about the place musically and I’m glad to be a part of that. We are very fortunate to have so many talented artists coming out of the city. We are also very lucky to have such amazing clubs like the Sub Club and SWG3.

 You’ve been on the global electronic scene for years now, touring the world and earning multiple accolades throughout your career (a Boiler Room and Essential Mix to name a few), what’s been one of the highlights so far? 

The Boiler room and Essential mix were definite highlights, however, having the chance to play out your musical creations to people week in week out is such a buzz. Nothing beats the feeling of seeing the reaction on the dance floor to a new track which was made a few days earlier. It’s the ultimate buzz for me. 

Some other highlights include visiting such magical cities such as Tokyo, Medellin and New York, and of course, meeting wonderful people along the way… 

You recently played at Techno for Humanity where all profits were donated to animal rights charities. If you could curate your own event for charity, where would you host it, who would you add to the billing and what charity would you choose? 

I would definitely choose a charity which benefited animals as much as possible. Location would most definitely be Glasgow and Mr. G would feature very high on the bill! 

Tell us what your production agenda is looking like this year? Any releases we should look out for? 

My next record came out on the 14th May which is a 4 track EP called ‘Pneuma’. Following that I will be releasing my 2nd album called ‘Dál Riata’ which is also going to be on BEK Audio. It’s my first album in 5 years, so I’m looking forward to sharing it with everyone. 

Leave us with a track that you’re itching to play here at Egg London in August? 

My new record ‘PNEUMA’…     

Catch him playing for Familia on Saturday, 11th August alongside Wehbba and Kevin de Vries...