Garage Club #1: Let's Get Started

Hi Garage Club,

Well, here we are.

Firstly, thank you for being here.

Honestly, the response to Garage Club has completely blown me away. It’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a long time, but like a lot of things, I kept putting it off.

The idea behind it is pretty simple.

If you’ve followed me on TikTok for a while, you’ll know I’m a complete music geek. I can lose hours going down rabbit holes, rediscovering tunes I’ve not heard in years, tracking down records I’ve been after for ages or trying to work out where a sample came from.

As much as I love Tiktok, some of the records and discoveries I’m most excited about can easily get lost in the algorithm.

So I wanted a space where the music could breathe a little.

A place to share mixes, discoveries, radio shows, forgotten gems and the records that might not always get the attention they deserve.

And that’s exactly what Garage Club is going to be.

Anyway, enough of me rambling. Let’s talk tunes!

One thing you’ll quickly learn about me is that I’m an absolute sucker for a good vocal.

Give me an RnB vocal over a garage beat and I’m pretty much sold.

So for the first Garage Club mix, I’ve pulled together some of my favourite UK Garage records featuring RnB vocals, samples and influences.

There are some classics in here, a few records I’ve fallen back in love with recently and a couple that never seem to leave my collection no matter how many years go by.

Over the years, I’ve somehow earned myself the nickname of the UK Garage encyclopedia! Which means I get sent lots of clips with people asking, “Nat do you know this?”

Most of the time I do but…

This time, though, I got sent a clip of a tune and whilst I recognised it instantly, I couldn’t for the life of me remember what is was called or who it was by.

And once my brain decides it needs an answer that’s pretty much it. Everything else gets parked while I disappear down the rabbit hole.

What should have been a quick search/answer turned into me replaying the same clip, trying to make out the vocals and following every lead I could find.

Eventually, I figured it out.

Only to discover I already owned it. Not only did I have the vinyl, I’d digitised it years ago and had it sitting on my laptop the whole time.

So if anyone ever ask whether the UK Garage encyclopedia knows everything, the answer is definitely no lol!

Every music lover has those tracks.

The ones that never seem to leave the collection/playlist no matter how many years go by.

You might not play them every week. You might even forget about them for a while. But the moment they come back on, you’re reminded exactly why you loved them in the first place.

This month’s keeper is one of those records for me.

Track: Industry Standard - Got Somebody Else

I’ve had this tune for years, but it wasn’t until recently that I revisited it and remembered just how good it is.

Released in 2004, it’s also a reminder that while plenty of people were writing Garage off, there was still some brilliant music being made.

The first time I heard it, I genuinely thought the vocal was a chopped up Sade sample. It isn’t but I still can’t unhear it.

Track: Valerie M - 2 Shaydy

These days, pretty much everything I do music wise revolves around Garage.

But whilst Garage has always been my first love, my records collection tells a very different story.

I’ve spent years playing all sorts of music and I still listen the same way today.

So I thought I’d use this section to share some of the records that have stuck with me over the years.

Track: Mary Jayne Girls - All Night Long

Thanks to everyone who listened to my guest show on Subjam back in May. I’ve had some lovely messages about that one.

If you missed it, you can catch up here:

I’ve also got another guest show coming up on Tuesday 30th June, from 6pm-8pm.

I’ve been digging deep for this one and can’t wait to share some of the records I’ve got lined up. If you’re around it’d be great to have you along.

Before I go, I’d love to hear from you.

What’s a tune you’ve rediscovered recently that you just can’t stop playing?

Hit reply and let me know.

One of the favourite things about doing what I do is chatting music with people. Whether it’s a tune you’re trying to track down, a record you’ve fallen back in love with or a great night you’ve been to recently, I always enjoy hearing about it.

And finally thank you for being here.

The fact you’ve chosen to join Garage Club right at the beginning genuinely means a lot.

I’ve got plenty of ideas for Garage Club and I genuinely believe that this is just the beginning.

For now though, I’m just happy to be sharing good music with good people and seeing where we can take it.

Until next time,

Nat x