Introducing our November Mix of the Month Winner Richard Q

Decoded Magazine · Mix of the Month Winner November 2025 – Richard Q

For November’s Mix of the Month, we’re featuring Richard Q, a Brighton-based DJ and podcaster who’s carved out a distinctive niche championing the melodic house sound that Berlin’s Innervisions has made synonymous with sophisticated dancefloor electronics.

Through his podcast Electric Communion: Conversations in Clubland, Richard has been documenting the scene from the inside, sitting down with artists like James Harcourt, Meera, Timanti and Motip White for extended conversations that go beyond the usual promotional chat. His weekly ‘Tracks of the Week’ and ‘Label of the Week’ series have spotlighted emerging talent including Alican, ELIF, Jepe, Samatha Loveridge and Djolee, offering a platform for artists working in that melodic space where deep house meets progressive sensibilities.

Behind the decks, he’s shared line-ups with respected names like Mano Le Tough, Sahar, Pattn, Redfreya, Motip White and FAIDE, demonstrating the credibility he’s built within the melodic house community. It’s that combination of curatorial knowledge and dancefloor understanding that makes his approach to DJing particularly engaging.

The Innervisions blueprint, pioneered by Dixon and Âme over the past two decades, has become one of electronic music’s most influential templates. Its focus on emotional depth, layered production and hypnotic groove structures has spawned countless imitators, but the artists Richard champions understand that it’s about feeling rather than formula. His mix reflects that sensibility, building narrative through track selection while maintaining the kind of momentum that proper club DJing demands.

How did you approach your mix from a creative and technical standpoint – what story were you aiming to tell, and how did that influence your selection, sequencing, and transitions?

To be absolutely honest, I don’t spend ages curating my mixes upfront. Without trying to sound cliché, my number one priority is to take the listener on a journey of the sounds and artist I’m digging at that moment, whether it be an hour mix or a three hour one. I’m a big fan of cinema and the soundtracks of composers such as Hans Zimmer, and the word cinematic is definitely a vibe I like to create.

Obviously, with an hour mix, you’re more limited to building up the set. I can’t recall how the thought exactly came about, but I thought it would be cool to begin with the the acoustic version of “We Care” by Shiffer and Paul Brenning to give me a chance to set a warm, intimate tone – almost like letting the listener take a breath before the journey begins. I knew that I wanted to include the original version somewhere near the end and that would be a nice touch in terms of bringing the set full circle.

I guess I thought of the mix almost as being split into a series of chapters. Each section has its own mood, but they’re connected through a set of motifs: warm melodies, subtle percussive details, and a blend of indie, melodic, and left-field electronic textures. As often with my mixes, I also like to champion the sounds of friends and guests of my podcast and Motip White and Costello are examples here. I love what these guys are doing – always pushing the envelope of club music and the latter is also a regular on my favourite label, the excellent Cod3 QR label (run by Laurent Garnier and Oliver Way).

In retrospect, I guess in many ways Tal Fussman’s rousing ‘Even Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day’ (Rekids), which features roughly in the middle of the set, represents the peaktime of a club night and that track really encapsulates the sound I love – a moody, atmospheric number that patiently builds to a crescendo of strings. I’m a sucker for strings in electronic music, which probably comes from my huge admiration for the DJ Rolando track ‘Knights of the Jaguar’ – I still have the original vinyl of that track. After the more experimental, left-field sounds of “String Theory” and the Drifter rework of Underspreche’s “Immersa Nel Tuo Viaggio,” the final stretch moves towards an emotional high point, closing on the full version of “We Care” and Âme & Curses’ “Shadow of Love,” which felt like the perfect bookend: dramatic, introspective, and atmospheric.

Were there any particular production or mixing techniques you used to maintain cohesion or enhance dynamics across the mix? For instance, did you favour long blends, harmonic mixing, or any custom edits to help the narrative flow?

I definitely am someone who favours long blends and slow crossfades and I try to choose interesting loops like a melody or vocal sample where possible. Often, this is done live in the mix rather than pre-planned and programmed. In some transitions I used subtle EQ curves – carving out space for certain synths or percussive elements to introduce themselves gradually. I also love taking mixes down a notch, often by blending in the atmospheric intros of tracks like ‘Archive Our Past’, with its distinctive narrative vocals which are a signature of the talented London artist Works of Intent. Here, I totally fade out the previous track, leaving the listener to savour those beautiful moments before the track gradually builds up into another crescendo of strings (another gem from Cod3 QR!)

In terms of harmonic mixing, it’s something I’ve never paid any attention to – maybe I should!

How have your musical experiences and influences shaped your sound?

I’ve been an electronic music obsessive for nigh on thirty years and my sound is basically the sum of everything I’ve loved over that period – melodic music, raw club moments, emotional electronica, and anything with a sense of movement or storytelling. I’ve always been drawn to tracks where there’s real emotion, tension and darkness. I think this mix does a pretty good job of showcasing this…I’m certainly happy with it!

In terms of influences, Laurent Garnier is without doubt my favourite DJ and he is the absolute master of taking his listeners on a journey. I actually saw him DJ recently in my hometown of Brighton and he’s still got it…mesmerising!

Experiencing the likes of Laurent play those longer sets has had a huge influence on the way I approach DJing and is my preferred choice, when I get the opportunity. Artists like him, Dixon, Sasha and Deep Dish to name a few have taught me the importance of pacing, how a small shift can completely change the room, and how building a narrative isn’t about big drops but about the way tracks converse with each other. I think that’s why I’m drawn to the music of the artists that appear in this mix – their productions have depth, warmth, and character, which allows me the room to shape something that feels personal.

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