Nothing but essential grooves and hard wax from Key Vinyl ambassador Freddy K and Olivia Mendez, head of the Dust in Grooves imprint and member of the Konvent collective.

There’s not much we haven’t said about Freddy K, but we won’t get tired of highlighting the qualities that grip us every time. Whether it’s his hard-working ethos and marathon sets or the pure, unfiltered grooves he plays and releases on his own imprint Key Vinyl, it all stems from a long-standing devotion to music. Alessio Armeni has gone a long way since the 90s: from carrying record bags for DJs in Rome to vinyl DJing, radio shows, promoting events, running labels, booking agencies and producing music. Freddy K is a keeper of the flame, committed to preserving Techno’s timeless qualities in a fast-moving world. But he doesn’t simply idealise the past: > In terms of the commercialization of the underground, I'm actually happy about it. Do you know why? Because the underground will return to the underground. People will go looking for something that's not in their face. It recreates something again. I'm hopeful. And I'm just happy to be here playing. <
He’s in good company with Olivia Mendez. The name of her imprint, > Dust in Grooves <, refers to the physical bond she shares with music and with her preferred medium: vinyl. Originally drawn to rhythm through Senegalese drums as a child before discovering Detroit’s industrial landscapes, she shares Freddy K’s community-focused ethos through her work with the Konvent (FLINTA*) collective and her labels Dust in Grooves and DIG Curated, founded alongside Chami, which provide a platform for emerging underground artists.