Meet Byron Yeates - ace selector and one of the three masterminds behind Berlin’s burgeoning, super-fun party and record label, Radiant Love.
What kind of energy are you bringing us with this mix today?
Since the pandemic began last March I've found it pretty hard at times to dig and listen to dance music, or the stuff I would play in the club. I'm sure a lot of people felt the same. So I started revisiting a lot of downtempo music.
Back when I was throwing parties in Ireland, my friend (Eoin DJ) and I would usually always start the night off at this kind of tempo and work our way up to faster paced music as the night progressed. This is something I haven't really had the chance to do in Berlin yet, so it's been really nice to go back and listen to some of these tracks I might have forgotten about as well as discovering new stuff. The mix has a bit of an after, after hours vibe I guess. Some personal faves in there along with some more recognisable tracks and ambient intervals. I think this mix really sums up a lot of musical moods.
Radiant love has contributed to some over Berlin’s most defining community-oriented and inclusive parties in recent years. How has it grown and evolved, especially during the shit-storm that was 2020?
It grew super quickly, we went from throwing a small party of about 200 people the first night to reaching 1000 capacity in the first year. We had to adapt quickly and learn along the way. We're very fortunate to be working with a team of close friends and venues that both trust and help us in what we're trying to do. We spent a lot of time listening and taking feedback from those people and trying to constantly improve things, while keeping to original intentions of why we started Radiant Love.
When the pandemic began, like everyone we had to put things on hold. I think I took the whole thing a bit harder than Amelia and Jochem so I kind of took a back seat while they focused on other important community work. I'm in complete awe at their drive and determination, from being involved in Berlin Collective Action, to organising Sex Work Action Week, they are an unstoppabe force and are always considering others before themselves.
“Since the pandemic began last March I've found it pretty hard at times to dig and listen to dance music, or the stuff I would play in the club. I'm sure a lot of people felt the same. So I started revisiting a lot of downtempo music.”
Can you tell us about some of the artists you’ve released or hope to be releasing through the label side of Radiant Love? Is there a certain sound or genre that defines Radiant Love?
The music we've released so far has been mainly from friends or connections we've made through the party. I'm not really looking for a specific genre for the label even though there is a certain vibe to the music we've released so far, that's happened pretty organically and I'm sure will evolve and change over time. I just like to put music out that resonates with me and maybe reflect some of the sounds that have been played at Radiant.
The next EP we're releasing will be from a Canadian artist called Maara and I'm working on another compilation for IWD to raise some money for charities that are important to us. Amelia also has some releases lined up, showcasing more experimental, performance based sounds that will be coming out on our cassette based sub label.
Any predictions on the changes we’ll see to Berlin’s nightlife post-pandemic?
I hope to see even more consideration taking in bookings and inclusivity across the board.
Are you working on any new projects for 2021?
I'm working on some of my own music at the moment, which will hopefully be released at some point later in the year and I'm teaming up with Yenny Jrant to create some new merch for Radiant.