Friday
A decade into his career, London-based, Doncaster born DJ and producer Mella Dee shows no signs of letting up. Bringing a strong work ethic to his creativity, Mella Dee (or Ryan Aitchison to his family and friends) is nothing but prolific. A steady stream of EPs and singles on labels including Saoirse’s trUst Recordings, Pete Tong’s Three Six Zero and his own Warehouse Music has seen the Yorkshireman move from glitchy techno to euphoric synth laden house to joyous peak-time anthems; all the while becoming a favourite at clubs around the world including Berlin’s Berghain, Barcelona’s Nitsa club, and Ibiza’s Amnesia and taking his All Night Long parties everywhere from the big room Telegraph Building in Belfast to the intimate Sneaky Petes, Edinburgh.
Growing up in South Yorkshire, his early introductions to music came via his parents’ northern soul collection and hardcore tape packs passed down by his older sister, before drum ‘n’ bass, dubstep, bassline and house and techno became a major fixture in his life as he started raving in Sheffield and Leeds in his late teens. Cutting his teeth on pirate radio in Leeds, his debut release under the Mella Dee moniker came in 2012 before a move to London in 2013 took his career to the next level. Teaming up with Shy FX’s Digital Soundboy crew, he began playing around the city and beyond as he unleashed a series of bass heavy, garage inflected house releases which began to prick the ears of everyone from Annie Mac to Ben UFO.
Never one to stand still, his sound began to pivot towards techno around 2016 and his career took a serious upward curve when the Sister Sledge sampling ‘Techno Disco Tool’ became an inescapable dancefloor anthem in 2017. In 2017 he launched his own Warehouse Music imprint, named after the infamous Warehouse club in Doncaster, allowing him to put out a steady stream of his own productions and release music from artists he felt an affinity to including Leo Pol, Spencer Parker and Cici. A restless creative with a love of painting, Mella Dee also produces the artwork for the label himself, giving Warehouse Music its own distinct visual identity.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Mella Dee has spent the years since his breakthrough moment determined not to do the same thing twice. He’s released several EPs and singles which have seen him embrace collaboration, (including synth anthem ‘Riptide’ featuring New Order’s Bernard Sumner and slick house number ‘Love It or Not’ with New York based r’n’b vocalist Infinite Coles), as well as plough further into the more techy realms with EPs including ‘Connected Experiences’ and ‘Not Here to Make Friends’ taking influence from the likes of Ricardo Vilalobos and Craig Richards DJ sets. A regular in the record bags of everyone from Saoirse, Midland and dBridge, he’s a DJ and producer at the beating heart of British club culture.
