On Fire 🔥
We explore the thoughts of artists and music sharing. In today's digital age, discovering new music has become more accessible than ever due to online platforms like Spotify, SoundCloud, and download services such as Beatport. While traditional methods of exploring music, such as visiting record shops, have diminished in popularity, the process of musical exploration remains significant and enriching, especially when one encounters a standout track. For performing artists, the quest for fresh music is a continuous endeavor, often regarded as equally important as the performance itself. This raises an interesting question: is it appropriate for artists to keep the details of their music sources confidential? This topic invites further discussion from some of the South West DJs and producers on the nature of music discovery in the modern landscape.
Hey folks! Ben Holtam here—aka DJ BenG—your go-to guy for all things beats, basslines, and good vibes in the South West. As we gear up for another epic summer, I’ve rounded up the must-hit music festivals of 2025 across Cornwall, Devon, and beyond.
Whether you're an avid raver, a wellness enthusiast, or a family seeking entertainment, the South West's festival scene caters to your needs.
Let’s dive in!
Live Stream Your Mixes Like A Pro
News & Features
We explore 5 ways to make sure your live mixes stand out.
Mixcloud has launched it's new live video streaming service called Mixcloud Live. The service is available to Mixcloud Pro subscribers, and compatible with most basic streaming software options such as Open Broadcast Software (OBS), which is free, simple to set-up and recommended by Mixcloud.
1: Use more than one camera
We know, we know, easier said than done – especially when almost all webcams are sold out around Europe – thanks ZOOM. But adding extra cams really does help in switching up the visual aspect and keeping the streams engaging, standing out from the crowd and maybe giving the audience some extra insight into what you’re actually doing.
If you can’t find another camera, and/or don’t want to splash out on any new tech at this time, the humble smartphone or tablet is a more than adequate solution. Most recent iPhones, for example, are just as good or better than any USB webcam you’d pick up on Amazon. OBS offers a cheap-ish solution called OBS Cam that’s £15.99 on the App Store, that’ll let you connect wired or wirelessly, and easily add an extra – or multiple extra – cams. EpocCam will do the same for cheaper still. Ideally, each will have a tripod, but propping them up against anything you can find is still better than nothing. You can see that KiNK used his phone on a tripod as a second cam in his live jam stream for DJ Mag above.
If the device is a bit older with a lower res camera, why not give it a novelty name like ‘Mixer Cam’ and add a filter like black or white or something stylised to detract from the lower quality? Or make it picture-in-picture so it’s smaller? There’s always a solution.
There’s also the issue of switching between the angles, especially if you’re isolating alone and don’t have any help. Wireless keyboards are a good shout here, and hot cues in OBS will easily let you map number 1 through 5, for example, to different angles and Scenes. Alternatively, if you find yourself and your housemates with plenty of iOS devices, a service called Switcher Studio can create a full-on TV studio using wireless iPhones and an iPad switcher software. It can also load assets, animated text, logos, live on-screen Facebook comments, and even bring in remote guests. It starts at $39 per month and is worth checking out if you want to expand your ‘show’ from just DJing to something more TV-like. Anna M
& Tim Nice's use of multiple cameras has worked well during their live streams.
2: Get on the microphone
While you may never have dreamed of using a mic while DJing in a club or bar – ”But it’s Karen’s birthday?!” – these are different times and there are many reasons why you should communicate with your audience. First of all, if you’re not interacting, why live stream at all? Engaging with your audience and shouting out people in the comments will make them feel part of the party, and more likely to stick around, creating a sense of community. It also lets them know it’s truly live, which creates a connection between you and the viewer.
Finally, it gives some personality to your stream, and while you’re competing with 100s of other streamers out there, personality is key, both in your music choice and you as a person.
We’re not saying turn it into a radio show, but interactivity is key to standing out from the crowd. Don't have a mic? Stick your headphones in the microphone port. Old school.
3: Visuals
Another way to soup up your streams, especially if you’re limited to one camera angle and don’t have access to extra lighting or props is overlays, graphics and messaging. Defected make great use of this during their Virtual Festivals and it’s a fairly low expense, easy-to-implement solution – even if you’re not a graphic designer, websites such as Fiverr offer low cost animated logo or branding graphics you can overlay easily on your streams using OBS. You can also animate things like hashtags, or encourage donations to a particular cause with animated text, rather than a straight-up hyperlink.
Alternatively, there’s plenty of animated gifs and even if they don’t have transparent backgrounds, you can use the opacity setting in OBS – just like in photoshop – so they sit over your camera. These graphics from Swedish artist Carl Johan Hasselrot are a good example of high res, colourful and trippy gifs that would work well with housier, disco sets but there are thousands of these types of graphics out there. These gifs from Matthew DiVito are a good example too. Pinterest and Tumblr are both great places to start. You do need to make sure you reach out to the artist before you use them. If you’re willing to spend some money, Videohive.net
offers millions of motion design graphics and loops, most with alpha channels to perfectly sit on top of any camera.
4: Background
While green screens might call to mind Hollywood blockbusters and big budgets, it’s actually fairly simple technology and is available for free inside OBS. The reason the specific type of green colour was chosen is that it doesn’t occur naturally in skin tone, eyes, most clothing, etc. It’s an easy colour to remove and replace with something else. But it doesn’t have to be green – any solid colour will do, as long as the same colour isn’t being used in the foreground. And even if it is, that’s part of the fun. Small green screens are quite cheap. See DJ Sundance's use of green screen here.
5: Props
Are you really live streaming if you’re not surrounded by plants? Seriously though, using visual stimuli is another extremely important way for your streams to stand out, be it a lightbox, plants or something more quirky like The Night League’s Wild Morning streams. If you’re a producer with a home studio, why not make the most of any hardware you’ve got and stack it up in shot? The different coloured LEDs will also add colour and depth in the background.
Credit: DJmag
Written by
Editorial Team • 27 April 2020
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We explore the thoughts of artists and music sharing. In today's digital age, discovering new music has become more accessible than ever due to online platforms like Spotify, SoundCloud, and download services such as Beatport. While traditional methods of exploring music, such as visiting record shops, have diminished in popularity, the process of musical exploration remains significant and enriching, especially when one encounters a standout track. For performing artists, the quest for fresh music is a continuous endeavor, often regarded as equally important as the performance itself. This raises an interesting question: is it appropriate for artists to keep the details of their music sources confidential? This topic invites further discussion from some of the South West DJs and producers on the nature of music discovery in the modern landscape.
Hey folks! Ben Holtam here—aka DJ BenG—your go-to guy for all things beats, basslines, and good vibes in the South West. As we gear up for another epic summer, I’ve rounded up the must-hit music festivals of 2025 across Cornwall, Devon, and beyond.
Whether you're an avid raver, a wellness enthusiast, or a family seeking entertainment, the South West's festival scene caters to your needs.
Let’s dive in!
Making her Little South debut, Sugarshaker is no stranger to the South West dance music scene having played at clubs and festivals across the region. Sugarshaker is a house, trance and techno DJ and this mix will bring a smile to your face. Expect a progressive mix with stabs of mood-lifting trance. We caught up with Sugarshaker where we learned about her DJ history and past and future residencies!
The curators of the West Cornwall raves are currently preparing for their next event scheduled for May 2025. This event will take place in the fields of West Cornwall, near the village of Zennor. A lineup of DJs, including Ambassador 626 Kavos, Charlie M, Deckhead, DJ Brady, Lady Embrace, Ste Ellis, and Steve Lid, among others, will be performing. The event is a collaborative effort involving prominent dance music promotion groups such as Raw Rotation, Inception, Kernow Rave Culture, and TNT.
About us
Little South is where the artists come to play - created with the goal of supporting and promoting local DJs and Producers in West Cornwall, UK, who specialize in various genres of dance music. The enthusiastic response from the Cornish nightlife community was overwhelming, allowing Little South to become a crucial platform for local artists seeking exposure at events. As time went on, our reach expanded beyond Cornwall and encompassed artists and events from across the entire South West of England, UK.
One of our defining features has been the opportunity to showcase DJ mixes through our podcast series. Since our establishment, we have actively published podcast mixes from some of the most talented DJs in the South West. These mixes serve as a testament to the exceptional skills and creativity of our region's DJs, providing a platform for them to showcase their talent to a wider audience.
Support for events
At Little South, we have a strong commitment to nurturing nightlife and live music events. A crucial aspect of our work is event promotion, which we prioritize and strive to excel at.
Our dedicated team actively seeks out localized, independent music events to showcase and promote. Additionally, we proudly provide a platform for major events happening throughout the South West region, including specialist music festivals and large capacity live music events.
By actively supporting and promoting these events, we aim to contribute to a thriving music scene and ensure that both local artists and established acts receive the recognition they deserve.
Support for artists
The Little South pages serve as a platform for emerging musical talent in the South West of England. Our goal is to encourage, foster relationships, and provide opportunities for new artists to showcase their sounds and events. We support DJs, Producers, and Vocalists of all genres within the electronic music landscape. If you are interested in being featured on our pages, we warmly welcome your expressions of interest.
Little South - Where the artists come to play. Dedicated to promoting and bolstering the live music scene and vibrant nightlife in Cornwall, Devon, as well as the broader South West region of England.#southwestnightlife
Where the artists come to play.
Little South - Where the artists come to play.
