Ahead of our Beyond 90 party with Nemiroff Vodka in Manchester next week, we speak to Mixtress, Dr Dubplate and Tomas Gittins about football’s relationship with music and culture, and their World Cup plans.

From its deep connections to music and fashion to its power to build community and bring people together, football is about far more than the 90 minutes played on the pitch. This World Cup, we’re celebrating everything that exists beyond the competition with Beyond 90 – a Manchester party hosted alongside Ukrainian vodka brand Nemiroff Vodka, featuring a line-up of some of our favourite DJs.

On Thursday, 25 June, Stage & Radio in the Northern Quarter will play host to London-based DJ and producer Mixtress, whose sets span jungle to hardcore to footwork, and everything in between. Then there’s ec2a label head Dr Dubplate, who (as his moniker suggests) is a renowned dubplate and edit specialist, and whose label merch drops frequently include specially-designed football shirts. “Football has a funny way of turning songs into memories,” he says. “A tune can be completely normal one minute, then suddenly it’s attached to a goal, a missed penalty, or 200 people throwing pints in the air.”

At the party, guests will be treated to bespoke Beyond 90 Nemiroff Vodka cocktails throughout the night.

Here, we speak to both DJs alongside Tomas Gittins, a Manchester-based Brazilian-English visual artist whose work draws on street art, bold colour and pop culture, with a portfolio spanning collaborations with Space Afrika, jersey designs for Manchester United and merch for the Manchester Marathon. Together, they share their personal connections to football and how they’re planning their own World Cup season beyond the pitch.

Tomas Gittins

Thanks to his bi-cultural upbringing, football has always been a constant in visual artist Tomas’s life. “Being half Brazilian, I grew up watching my mum play with her family, while also spending time watching matches with my dad and playing myself as a goalkeeper for Tytherington Juniors,” he says. While he’s never been tied to one club, he appreciates football as a whole: “What I enjoy most is the passion, creativity, and talent that the sport brings out across different teams, players, and cultures.”

Gittins says he will mainly be watching the World Cup from the comfort of his own home. “If the occasion calls for it, though, you might find me in the pub with a Guinness, soaking up the atmosphere,” he caveats. “I’ll probably be supporting whichever team makes the deepest run, but I’m quietly hoping the boys in white, red and blue can go all the way. And if not, you might catch me with a Brazil top on…”

Mixtress

Growing up in the Netherlands, where football was a big part of culture, DJ and producer Mixtress has been a fan of the game all her life – and is a diehard Arsenal supporter. “We did win [the league] on my birthday this year, which was the icing on a bangin’ cake,” she says. This summer, she’s planning on watching games at pubs, in backyards – “anywhere I can” – and is most looking forward to seeing some underdogs win.

For her, the idea of a World Cup soundtrack is “some proper no-nonsense British rave music. It’s absolutely timeless – a bit of Nookie’s Give A Little Love, or Manix’s Your Love is Over.” When it comes to her set at the Beyond 90 party, she plans for eclectic tunes, a lot of joy, and some curveballs. “I’ve been getting into my hip-hop and multi-genre bag a bit more outside of dance music, as that’s what I love listening to outside of the club,” she explains. “Merging those sounds with techno, bass, dubstep and grime is my rough gameplan.” That said, it could go anywhere – “I never am quite sure until I’ve played track two in my set!”

Dr Dubplate

“International tournaments always make me think of big, euphoric summer tunes,” says Dr Dubplate. “Pub gardens, warm evenings, everyone shouting at a screen, flags everywhere, and that delusional feeling that this might finally be the year…” While the DJ and label owner is an Arsenal supporter, he wouldn’t describe himself as a diehard football fan – “although my auntie would kill me for admitting that,” he laughs. “Football and music overlap for me because they’re about collective energy. A good chant and a good club tune are basically doing the same thing: simple, emotional, powerful, and everyone understands it at once. There’s also a big crossover in the culture: mates, pubs, travelling, outfits, nerves, celebrations, disappointment. Whether it’s a last-minute goal or a tune getting reloaded, that shared release makes it special.”

The music Dr Dubplate plays is “very UK, very communal, very energy-first,” he says. “It’s not chin-stroking music; it’s music for movement, expression, and people shouting across the dancefloor.”

He’ll be bringing that spirit to our Beyond 90 event: “I want it to feel like pre-match nerves turning into a last-minute winner. I’ll be bringing that Dr Dubplate mix of UK garage and house music with a few curveballs in there, too. For me, it’s about fun but with pressure behind it. Club music that feels rowdy, emotional and a bit illegal.”