coverage regarding Andrew Duke In The Mix andrewdukeinthemix.com mixshow airing 1987-2018 house techno electronic music guest DJs live PAs Halifax NS Canada

Andrew Duke In The Mix aired from 1987-2018.

1987-2004: Andrew Duke In The Mix aired weekly on CKDU FM Halifax NS Canada
1997-2002: Andrew Duke In The Mix was syndicated--to an estimated weekly listenership of 35 million--nationally across public radio in Poland, in Yugoslavia/Serbia, via satellite by Evosonic (sponsored by Sony Ericsson) to Germany, Europe, and the UK, plus various stations in the US and Canada. The show was also rebroadcast online via 28 sites headed by the Pseudo network in New York and ranging from sites in Australia, New Zealand, Brasil, France, UK, US, and elsewhere.
2003-2018 The show was broadcast via numerous sites including Intergalactic FM, Strom:Kraft Radio, Pure Radio, CuebaseFM, EnationFM, Inside My House Radio, and 2B Continued Radio.
Andrew Duke and the syndicated mixshow have received coverage internationally in publications including Vibes and Neural (Italy), Het Parool and Vital Weekly (Netherlands), Basatap (Turkey), Cyclic Defrost (Australia), Signal To Noise, All Music, Igloo, Thousand Words, Weekly Dig, Remix (US), Mirror (Montreal), See, Do Not Touch That Amp, Electric Atlantic, The Coast (Halifax), Polygon Network, Exclaim, Velocity, and Nightwaves (Canada).

Het Parool (Amsterdam Netherlands) 1999:
One of the most up to date radio/netshows about electronic music. The music is very tasteful. Through the good contact of moderator Andrew Duke he has weekly premieres. Not only from the US, also respected house and techno labels from Germany, England, and Sweden give him regularly the scoop on their newest releases. Besides that, famous DJs enjoy visiting to put a record on [and do a guest DJ set]. Interviews and background information (also in text) aren't missing. Lovers of electronic music have got to be here. The nicest service of Cognition Audioworks is the site syndicates the show, Andrew Duke In The Mix, to other websites. Who likes to broadcast music from his site can visit this one. No bothering from Biem and no gigantic RealAudio files on your computer: Cognition Audioworks sends a piece of HTML-code with explanation by e-mail, and streams Andrew Duke In The Mix for free through your site--by this everyone can broadcast the most up to date music. [taken from recommended Techno Heroes listing]

Thousand Words (Chicago IL) issue 26 Andrew Duke In The Mix and Cognition Audioworks are probably the world's most widely known and respected show/site for prerelease and world premiere features on techno, house, electro, and IDM. [taken from David Siska's Downloads section]

Weekly Dig (Boston MA) July 1999
Andrew Duke and his website, featuring the show Andrew Duke In The Mix, offer a highly informative and entertaining source for hearing and learning about the latest in electronic music before it even gets released to the consumer audience. In September 1987, Duke moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to study journalism at King's College. "The first thing I did when I got to Halifax was to go to CKDU," he says, where he's been doing the show weekly ever since. "The funny thing is, I spent so much time at the radio station [the first year he did a 6 hour show and a one hour show each week] and at the college newspaper--writing about music, of course--and DJing and record hunting that they booted me out of university as I was never in class!" Duke, like most others involved with electronic music, got involved to promote the music to as many people as possible. "I grew up in a small town and could only listen to AM radio (which was horrible); when I discovered this new electronic music (through CBC national radio's Brave New Waves and a friend that was a year older who had gone to CKDU the year before me and brought back a tape), I had to explore it more and share what I found." The show itself airs weekly. "I do the live radio show every week on CKDU, and you can hear it live in RealAudio via the station's website. The syndicated show is also done weekly. Sometimes I'll do a live interview on the live radio show and tape it to use on the syndicated show. Sometimes I'll tape an interview on the phone at home and play it on the live show. So the live show and the syndicated show are similar, but they're not exactly the same. The syndicated show that airs also tends to be longer than the live version." When asked about the styles of music featured on the show, Duke says, "I play what I consider good electronic music, whether that be house, techno, electro, or IDM. I like hip hop, drum n bass, jazz, lots of other styles of music, but I stick to house, techno, electro, and IDM on the show and when I'm DJing simply because there's not enough time to play everything. On the live show, I like to have local DJs come in during the first part of the show to play live and I also have out of town people who are in town come in. Abacus has played live on the show, Nigel Hayes (from Chaser and Charley Brown on Soma and Guidance) has been in, DJ Cosmo from New York, lots of people over the years. I've also done a lot of live interviews on the show--over the phone and in person--that don't get on the syndicated show simply because there's often not enough time. I also play new music on the show and some classics here and there. "The syndicated show is the same format, but it's not live, it's produced at home and then FTPed online. Usually the first section is the performance portion with an international guest DJ or live performer, then an artist feature where I do an interview and play that artist's music, and then finish by playing new music and a few classics." Besides running the show, Duke has interviewed some of the leading members of the electronic music community; he has been writing about music since 1981. Among these interviews conducted are Cristian Vogel, Jamie Lidell, Joshua Kit Clayton and John Mendez, John Tejada, Pole, Neil Landstrumm, Chris Brann, Mike Dunn, Byron Stingily, and Voiteck Andersen; some of these features are available on the site. Many others will be coming shortly. The radio show plays on CKDU FM in Halifax; the syndicated show is being broadcast on 20 websites. The syndicated show also plays on the radio on two stations in Poland and, until the NATO bombings started and the station was shut down, on Radio B92 in Belgrade, a station which won an award last year from MTV Europe for its dedication to radio broadcasting. Starting in July, the show will be broadcast by Evosonic Radio in Germany, reaching about 5 million listeners weekly through satellite throughout the UK, Germany, and Europe. When the show goes cable, it will reach an additional 30 million homes. "I am lucky to be sent a lot of promos, exclusives, unreleased recordings, demos, material for premiere, etc, and I really appreciate that as it exposes me to a lot of material I would not have heard otherwise and allows me to use my channels to help expose this music through my writing, the live show, the syndicated show, and the website." [feature written by Craig Kapilow]

The Coast (Halifax NS Canada) August 19, 1999
The Coast (Halifax NS Canada) August 19, 1999 Andrew Duke is a Halifax DJ and musician who has perfected his particular mix of house, techno, electro, and IDM over the course of 12 years, producing and hosting his radio show, Andrew Duke In The Mix, plus recording, producing, and remixing, since 1987. "As soon as I got to Halifax, I spent so much time at CKDU and writing for the Dalhousie Gazette that I got booted out of the [King's] journalism program." These days, Duke's show is broadcast to millions of potential listeners weekly on 22 websites, radio in Belgrade (on B92, until NATO bombing incited Yugoslavian authorities to seize the station) and satellite from Germany to most of Europe via Evosonic Radio. Very soon the show will be broadcasting over cable to 30 million German households. "I've always tried to have a personal relationship with the artists whose music I play on the show," says Duke. "But I can't afford to send a tape every time someone wants to hear it." Puttting the show on the internet was originally a way of letting that extended family of artists around the world check in. It quickly evolved into the show's primary platform and, in turn, to other syndication opportunities. [taken from James Covey's Halifax On Record column]

Nightwaves (Fredericton NB Canada) August 1999 I recently got in touch with a chap by the name of Andrew Duke, a Halifax based DJ and musician with over twelve years experience under his belt. It's no secret that the Maritime electronic music scene has lately been in a constant state of expansion, and Duke is a prime representative of this fresh, exciting movement. I asked him a few questions on the subjects of the local and national scene, what his predictions for the future are, and what life is like for a Maritime based DJ and artist. I found his responses very interesting, and I think you will too. Gary Flanagan, Nightwaves: What style of music do you usually DJ? Andrew Duke: I try to be as openminded as possible and just play what I like, what I consider 'good quality' electronic music. These days there are so many different styles of electronic music, but, though I try to listen to as many different styles as possible and keep up on things, it's impossible to try and fit everything into a DJ set, so I usually concentrate on house, tech house, techno, electro, and IDM. The live radio show I do here in Halifax on CKDU is more mixing oriented, so I'll be playing the more dance oriented things, while the syndicated show I do gets a bit more experimental, so I'll play more experimental and introspective things on there because the focus is on playing new music (with a few classics thrown in) as opposed to just mixing up new stuff in a DJ set. NW: Is there a vibrant dance scene in Halifax? AD: Yes, absolutely, but we shouldn't rest on our laurels. House music is very popular in Halifax, as is hip hop and drum n bass. It would be good to get more representation of more experimental forms of music, though. Techno seemed to be more popular in Halifax back in the mid nineties; though you'll hear DJs playing tech house and trance out, you don't really hear much techno these days. And there's even fewer people playing electro. I was talking to someone about this the other day, actually, how it would be good for people to be playing dub sets, for example, trying new things like that. Phil Walling does the Halifax Experimental Music Festival every year--which is growing--but we need more of this kind of thing. In some ways, house is a very 'easy', accessible type of music. I love house music, so I'm certainly not knocking it, but we have to keep moving on and not be content with what we have. NW: Of all the Maritime cities, which one, in your opinion, has the best dance scene? AD: I'm biased in favor of Halifax on this question, not just because I live here, but also because I spend more time here than anywhere else, so I'm most familiar with Halifax. Scenes continue to build in New Brunswick in Saint John, Fredericton, Moncton, and smaller cities, too. There's a growing scene in Prince Edward Island, and here in Nova Scotia in places like Bridgewater and the Annapolis Valley and Sydney more people are getting into electronic music. I wouldn't want to say Halifax has the best scene, but it certainly seems to be growing at a faster pace than elsewhere. NW: Some people have said that the DJ scene is now more popular than the indierock scene. Would you agree? AD: I can't say that I agree that the DJ scene is now more popular, but I can say from experience that 'DJ culture' has grown exponentially. Back in the late eighties when I first started DJing, the DJ was sort of the person in the background that everyone forgot about. There weren't any events like 'raves' or parties until that started in the mid 90s. Sure, people danced all night at parties, but you'd be hearing disco and funk and early house, nothing like what is played at parties today. DJs are getting more and more exposure now, and gaining more prominence to the point that DJs often get marketed and promoted and publicized more than the artists themselves. DJing can certainly be an artform--look at turntablism, for example--but we can't forget that artists are recording the music the DJs are buying on record and CD to play. I'd like to see more use of live musicians in electronic music, not just relying so much on samplers and sequencing; I'd like to see more live electronic music acts performing. While there are more and more DJs out there spinning now, the number of electronic music based acts hasn't grown at the same rate, which I find frustrating. Personally, I think we should have as many electronic music based bands performing as we do indie guitar/rock based acts. Turntables are becoming more of a 'first purchase' (where before the guitar was often the first instrument purchased by/for young people), but I think we need to get people buying more keyboards, buying samplers, buying drum machines, too--we need more live electronic music. There are some acts, certainly, but we need more. NW: Can you forsee a time when vinyl will be obsolete, even in the club community? AD: When Canada stopped producing vinyl for major label acts and started doing almost solely CDs (back in the early 90s), many discussions came up that vinyl would eventually die out. But now, almost ten years later, people seem to agree, in the electronic music community, at least, that vinyl will continue to be pressed, but on a smaller scale than in the past. NW: What do you think will be the next 'big thing' in the dance world? Any predictions? AD: The press, especially in the UK and the States, tends to like to create 'next big thing's, which I don't think really help out the music scene in the long run. I don't have any predictions, but I'd like to see more use of live instrumentation in electronic music compositions. People should try to stay openminded and just see what the possibilities lead to. NW: The eighties seem to be making a fierce comeback. Do you notice a resurgence in the popularity of eighties dance movements? AD: Many things in life, music included, tend to revolve in cycles. So many artists of today are sampling music from the 70s and 80s in the music they're doing and have been doing in the 90s. Will artists in the 2010s and 2020s be sampling music from the 1990s? Who knows, but it certainly is a possibility. I've always been of the opinion that things like 'classic rock' and 'oldies' radio stations catered to people who wanted to be comfortable with what they already know, who didn't want to move forward into the future and were content to hear the same familiar material over and over. I'm hoping that people who play and listen to a lot of classic and older material are doing so not for these reasons (to 'relive the past'), but simply because some of that music is good and they don't want it to be forgotten. It's fine to play some classic and older material here and there, but it shouldn't be all a person plays and listens to. Personally, I try to always play a few classics and older tracks in my sets (at parties, on the radio, and on the syndicated show) as a way of saying 'this is an important piece of musical history, please don't forget about music like this.' So it's sort of education with the entertainment. And I've done sets of just old school material at parties (when I've been asked to do such a style of set), for example. But I certainly wouldn't want to just play old school exclusively. So I think it's important to remember the past and stay in touch with it, but certainly don't stay stuck in the past--keep moving forward.