Hammer & Andrew Thomson – Another Free Party

Another in our season of free outdoor parties, celebrating the space we have by the Spey and the magical community we live in. Music, dancing, food trucks, outside bar.

This time with Hammer and Andrew Thomson. Two record label bosses in their own right, schooled in the electronic music scenes of Glasgow and beyond over the decades. Hammer famously known for his presence on the Feel My Bicep mix series and Andrew’s more recent history has seen him launch Clyde Built Radio, a Glasgow based station showcasing Scotland’s best DJ talent.

Hammer is known for his love of deep rolling arps, old analogue synths and big euphoric
melodies.
Launching 2 labels, Remmah and Italo Hiits over the past few years, he is a hugely popular
festival and club booking at the likes of Love International, Panorama Bar, Glastonbury,
Fabric, Phonox, Houghton and headlined AVA Festival in his hometown of Belfast.
This year, Remmah celebrated its 11th release with a Remmah Rundown compilation
featuring 11 both established and emerging artists, including Optimo’s JG Wilkes, whilst
featuring debut releases from Anna Gram, Kilimanjaro, Stevie Cox and Ysanne. Anna,
Stevie and Kilimanjaro all went on to release huge records on other established labels in
what was a lucrative year for all 3 artists. Following the success of the Remmah compilation
release across the spectrum of the electronic music media – including Mixmag, DJ Mag,
Ransom Note, Electronic Groove and more – the label then released an EP from Rhythm
From Mars and New Delhi’s FILM. Forthcoming on Remmah is an EP from Sonic Juncture,
out 8th December.

What started as a personal label project, has now become a platform to launch new talent
into the industry. Giving space to debut artists from all backgrounds around the world –
including Sublime Sound, Stevie Cox and his release; the hugely successful ‘Sickwave’, a
collaboration with Killimanjaro, after the enormous success of debut EP Muleña EP, a with a
Tornado Wallace remix and Hammer’s biggest self release record so far – the label
continues to go from strength to strength.

Much of his output is road tested on his monthly Rinse FM residency, with shows, mixes and
podcasts for BBC Radio 1, Radio 6 Music, Beats In Space, Insomniac Radio, John
Digweed’s Transitions Radio and Fabric to name a few. Additionally, he has recorded live
streams at the Saatchi Gallery with Feel My Bicep, B2B live stream for Warehouse Project
and Resident Advisor with Sally C, and a Boiler Room show in Vienna.

Hammer will continue creating sell out vinyls on The Hammer Hits white label, like ‘Love
Somebody’ and ‘Strong Enough’. With Hammer, you know there’s always more to come with
a huge new disco edit planned, a track that was tried and tested at Houghton Festival. Plus,
he has created an Italo Hiits label, born out of his fund raising home workouts, giving himself
and his audience a music orientated wellness space that was as high energy as the tracks
he made for it, ‘I Wanna Be Like You’ is a pure slice of Hi NRG nostalgia. With 3 colour vinyl
releases to date, the label is dedicated to his indulgent modern take on Italo Disco.

This year he built his own studio in SWG3, Glasgow, where he continues to make music on
a daily basis and plans to turn it into a space for live sets and radio shows. Hammer’s many
collaborations come from a love of people and creativity. Finishing 2023 strong with
‘Marabou’, a piano led disco track made with Storken and released on vinyl with Running
Back. Hammer’s final release of 2023 was on Permanent Vacation with some big house
sounds on ‘Pearl’. With a vinyl release due out in January on Skylax Records, 2024 is set to
be another big year for the Northern Irish producer, DJ and label head honcho.

Andrew Thomson