The last year has seen HAAi stamp her mark on London’s club scene, but she didn’t take the most direct route. After growing up in the remote mining town on the coast of Western Australia, her first forays into music came as one-third of the shortlived psych-rock band Dark Bells. Despite relocating from Sydney to London, Dark Bells ultimately disbanded, but the move came good in other ways. Fast forward to 2018 and HAAi is now one of the most exciting and intriguing selectors in Europe, holding down the current residency at Brixton club Phonox. It’s an abridged life story which neatly captures the span of her musical gaze; the Phonox gig is the perfect appointment for a selector like HAAi, whose dextrousness as a DJ is complemented by a spirited and unending search to find new sounds which can intrigue and hypnotise crowds week-in-week-out.

For her contribution to our mix series, HAAi’s sense of narrative and discovery is at the fore. Her moniker is introduced at the start using a snippet from a teach yourself Japanese cassette. Then it’s a headrush-inducing tour through the cosmic retro climes of Neil Landstrumm’s Sahara, the heavy baile funk rhythms of Xanga’s This is the Way it Starts and the close-packed techno slow-build of Ploy’s Garys. Talking about the selections over email, HAAi told us, “This mix represents what I’m playing in the club at the moment. It’s simply compiled of tracks that I really love right now”. Press play and enjoy an exploratory tapestry of tracks which never loses sight of the dancefloor.

HAAi plays Phonox, London every Saturday

Tracklist

Learn to speak Japanese in your sleep lessons (snippet)
Dreemas – Springfield
Trikk – Geneal System (Main Dub)
AYBEE – A Novel Gesture
Florien Miendl – Space Traveler (Lucy Remix)
Neil Landstrumm – Sahara
CONI – Caligula
Napi Headz – Raga Parama
Steppenrobotter – B1
Delphi – Blue Tuesday
Polyrhythmical – AA2
Xanga – This is the Way it Starts
Richard H. Kirk – It is All in Vein
Capricorn – 20HZ
Cosmo Vitelli – Chiens De L’enfer (percapella)
Fango – Nervum
Ploy – Garys
Nicola Cruz – Flutapella
Mathias Schober – In a Certain Way
Richard H. Kirk – Commanders On the Ground