While most folx spend December waiting for the ball to drop, we in Boston wait for the beat. And no one supplies a year-end dance mix quite like Nick Minieri, the DJ/producer who has pretty much done it all in the Boston music scene over the past 20 years. From documenting nightlife through party photos to running the Beantown Boogiedown blog to operating his Zakim Recordings label to creating his own original music (landing on labels like 2tuf4u, Soul Clap, Misplaced, and others), Minieri has seen and heard it all in the trenches of the city’s electronic music circuit.
Now as 2022 draws to a merciful close, the daytime graphic designer has pulled together his Hometown mix, an annual Boston artist showcase that we’ve been covering and celebrating since 2015. The Hometown 2022 edition clocks in at more than two hours with more than 50 artists represented. There are a few recognizable names in the playlist, as well as a handful of Vanyaland familiars in STL GLD, Freezepop, Van Buren Records, Oompa, Rilla Force, Michael Christmas, and others, but the overall them theme of this year’s effort is all the new talent appearing. Minieri estimates that as much as 60 percent of Hometown 2022 features artists landing here for the first time.
As expected, the styles here run the gamut, and though the roots of Minieri’s sound is planted in house, UK garage, and drum and bass, Hometown 2022 broadcasts a spectrum of genres that makes it impossible to categorize. As he drops the mix today (December 16), dedicating it to closing downtown venue Good Life — and “all the people involved with making it a seminal part of underground Boston music for two decades,” he writes — we caught up with the DJ and vinyl collector to get his thoughts on the mix, how it came together, and what shaped the Boston scene over the course of the year.
We tossed Minieri a few questions for this feature via email last week, and his answers were so solid we’ve decided to just run the exchange as a quick Q&A that sets a nice tone for the mix. Read along, hit play below, and raise a glass to 2022.
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Michael Marotta: Congrats on another essential end-of-year mix. How did you select the artists for this one?
Nick Minieri: Every year I try to shake up who I include in the Hometown mix so at least a third of the artists are first-time appearances; this time around it’s over 60 percent. I think that’s great because it keeps the mix from being too predictable and is proof there’s always a pool of emerging talent to source from. Personal favorites from friends like GMGN, Dev/Null, Saucy Lady, Hot Pot get showcased alongside people who I’ve never even met but make great tunes.
It’s by no means a popularity contest either — the opening track of this year’s installment is by someone with no Spotify profile and only five Soundcloud followers! And with the hip-hop tracks I barely even know what’s hot so there’s no bias whatsoever, I just use the power of internet digging and my personal taste to guide me.
How did you track the artists through the year?
I changed up the way I searched for the tracks this year, leaning heavily on Spotify for the first time. There are a number of different playlists I’ve been keeping tabs on that showcase talent from New England; I spent some time digging through those and finding stuff that piqued my interest.
Spotify was especially good for finding more vocal singer-songwriter oriented bits that are uptempo and could easily fit into a DJ mix alongside house or techno. These kinds of tracks are important especially at the beginning of the mix, where too many instrumentals can turn people away and then the algorithm buries it.
As always I also found goodies on Bandcamp, the only digital music store where you can actually search for things based on city. Everything else is tracks friends of mine send me. Haven’t had much luck with Soundcloud in recent years, as opposed to 5 to 10 years ago, where I would find almost everything from there.
How did the year in dance/electronic music compare to prior years? (talent, interest, output, etc.)
In all honesty, I think the output here has been a bit leaner than previous years. It’s definitely becoming more singles driven as well, as opposed to albums and EPs. There has always been the constant stream of people who come and go, but the smaller body of work I’ve seen this year could just be a result of many choosing to emphasize quality over quantity. Which is interesting given it’s the opposite in the broader industry, with people dropping almost too much music out of fear of being forgotten with the speed of how fast things move on social media nowadays.
There’s still plenty to be excited about, however. In 2022 we’ve had Boston acts land tracks on Dirtybird, Evar (John Frusciante’s new label), 20/20 Vision, Anjunadeep, King Street Sounds, Monstercat, Juke Bounce Werk and many more. Amadeezy, Steve Darko, and Cyclops tour regularly but continue to reside in Boston, which I definitely respect. Daedalus and Bad Snacks recently moved here to take jobs at Berklee so I couldn’t help but get them in the mix.
Probably the greatest thing I saw this year is several DJs I’ve known for decades actually take up production for the very first time and manage to get some tracks signed! It’s great to see people of all ages getting into production as the barriers to entry continue to decline… and as they say, a rising tide lifts all boats.
What was the most interesting trend or aspect in Boston dance/electronic music in 2022?
I honestly think the days of regional trends in music are mostly behind us. There have definitely been some interesting developments, such as people making genre-agnostic music as opposed to rigidly sticking to one style, more collaborations than ever before, and everyone making shorter tracks to suit the modern-day listener’s short attention span. But I don’t think any of these things are exclusive to just Boston.
In the world of local house music, disco continues to be quite popular, which makes sense given our region’s legacy — which includes the likes of Donna Summer and Tavares. But disco is universally popular at this point, so once again that isn’t something that is restricted to just Boston.
Follow Nick Minieri on Spotify. ‘Hometown 2022’ artwork and playlist are below.
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HOMETOWN 2022 (Boston Artist Showcase Mix) Playlist:
naked minds: 沈黙の中で苦しむ
june jissle + heysis: nighty four again
gin mason: p.o.m.
xl middleton + saucy lady: go steady
amperical/f james price: 2020.11.21
bad snacks: lucky
daedelus: after after ever
mere notilde: knockin’ at your door
barbwalters: silvia
stl gld + oompa: colors
wigzen: weather
lee wilson, tom bug + grooveline: something’s takin’ over
sex on decks: human touch
mr puzl: touch
american dave/flaps: new trick
hot pot + steve darko: myspace
steppo: pesto
j paul getto: five boroughs
fat ass friction: keep the funk alive
tom mckeon + paul schubert: emerald
deviere: soft stomps
dj bookum: special
radio skotvoid: cry baby wah wah
nick minieri + colin domigan: disco tool 2
gmgn: so real
muleboy: rosewater
orlando boom: crystal jumper
amadeezy + arm record: bass beat bang
cyclops: naked eye
ag: glitch bounce
charles nimbus + molokai: countershade
alexandr.: this my type of livin
alynah: don’t lose track
lilah!: sense
deez: satellite
l.dre + june jissle: serious
analog craftsman: po mauritius
noya: collect
freezepop: step into the sunshine! (dephrase soots mix)
vixxle: wanna bounce (blick mix)
dev/null + sherelle: darkphase
j wil: that’s my slime
van buren records, meech bold + jiles: go
chandler ward: solid (w/o rapping)
michael christmas, ricky felix + jiles: game 6
felix!: back2back
deon chase: what a breeze
rilla force: nightmare
mizeyesis: warmth
r4ns0m: a game of two halves
hallow + ebu: as the stars dance
seneca b: serena