Osmose, you are a passionate vinyl collector. How did this love for vinyl begin?

I don't generally see myself as a collector, but probably looking from outside in, that seems to be the case - and it's a fitting description. It really started when I was a little kid. I used to save up any kind of allowance or anything like that and go to the record store and buy a record or a 45, you know.

Why do you prefer playing vinyl?

I started out playing vinyl, when I started DJing, so that was the root ; but really, I'm a soundman so it's a sound issue for me. Vinyl is still the best media that you can purchase and go out and play in a club and listen to at your home, so really until we get something that sounds better than that - this is what I'll stick to. Everything else is driven by convenience and I guess records just didn't become inconvenient for me. It can be a hassle getting on a plane and whatnot, but I consider that to be a part of my workout!

You started collecting vinyl really early and probably your selections cover a lot of different musical styles and genres. What I noticed in your style, in your edits - is that you cover an interesting area - you mix slo-mo house/disco with reggae. How did this idea come to being?

I don't think it's originally my idea. You've got some bands from the late 70s, that were reggae bands and they were a disco band, The Checkers is one very good example of that; they had some reggae songs and they had some disco songs. I think their disco songs were probably more well received than their reggae songs. The Invisible Man's Band is another example of that. So I just took inspiration from that and tried to find reggae songs that I could re-edit and embellish with disco.

Who are the people in your opinion that explore similar territory with an innovative touch?

Well, there's lots of people, you know. The mix I've done for you guys has Psychemagik producers on there, Matthew Kyle is on there as well, all of them talented. There's some other people that aren't on this mix, like Sleazy McQueen, who's obviously very good in the nu-disco and slo-mo, and equally as comfortable in deep house and acid house; then also Cole Medina, just to name a few.

Tell us something about your label, Smokecloud Records.

I wanted to put some vinyl back to the pot from which I take. So basically it's an amalgamation of wanting to do that and then really just getting my skills up there where I felt comfortable enough to invest some money into putting it out. From there it just spread out to finding other artist.

Have you been producing yourself?

Yeah, since 2004 I've been on the production horse [laughs].

Obviously you are quite knowledgeable about reggae's roots and history; what is your opinion on recent developments in Jamaican, or at least bass-influenced music?

Well, you know, a lot of the reggae I play is definitely older reggae. I mean from early dub, rocksteady to classic dancehall. The story probably cuts off a little bit after of what I'd call the equivalent of golden era of hip-hop through dancehall - maybe like early 90s, mid-90s dancehall. But there's still new stuff coming out; I like a lot of the stuff on Massive B that's a great label that puts out new stuff that I'm very much into. Mungo's Hi-Fi, Big Toe's Hi-Fi, that's another one. I'm not really so much into the blog-driven and commercial dancehall. I'm not feeling it personally. Nothing against anybody playing it or anything, but I don't know; I just feel like the music kind of lost some soul as things moved into things of that nature.

You compile DJ charts also for Juno Records, you have been given airplay on WFMU. How did these connections take place?

I did some charts randomly and at some point on I guess the powers at Juno bestowed upon me a charting ability [laughs]. And then I really tried to treat it like a chart should be - not trying to be the first to chart something as soon as it pops up. I mean, these are records that I actually play, that I actually tell people should purchase. Getting played on the radio station out of Brooklyn, it's quite surprising what a reach WFMU has. I think I got airplay via Soundcloud when one of the DJs (Duane Harriot) on there liked the track and pulled it down. It's kind of a funny little story. I've got a retailer in San Francisco for Smokecloud Records that I work with called Vinyl Fiends. My main contact there, Mike D, actually hit me up because he was listening the live stream from the radio station which was from Brooklyn and he was like ''Hey! They're playing one of your tracks on air!'' and I jumped on there and couldn't believe it. So then I reached out to him from there and that's how it came to be.

You have compiled an exclusive mix for Radio Student. You said it's going to be a slomodisco. Can you tell us something about the idea behind the mix?

I really do like playing the slo-mo stuff. I don't play the soul breed as much as I would like in the night club, so the radio and soundcloud really fit this format. Got a couple of gems in there, one of them is a test press by Magnetic Soul on Rotating Souls; I've got two tracks of mine that I've showcased as well - those are probably going to be coming out on the 4th release for Smokecloud Records, a release I'm sharing with Sleazy McQueen. Proud to be sharing a piece of vinyl with him!

Tracklist:

01. Osmose "YP DISCO edit" [unreleased]

02. Duff Disco "Grand Master Duff" Duff Disco

03. DJ Butcher "Music Turns Me On (DJ Butcher's Mashup)" Chopshop

04. Psychemagik "Dance Hall Days edit" white

05. Psychemagik "Ass Nation" Healin' Feelin Edits

06. Magnetic Soul "Lovin On The Run" test press Rotating Souls

07. Matthew Kyle "Toni" House Of Disco

08. Osmose "SloDISCO Magic" [unreleased]

09. Matthew Kyle "Baby Come Back" Giant Cuts

10. The Dead Rose Music Company "Bad Desire" Kolour LTD

11. DJ Raw Sugar "Disco Land (org version)" Gazeebo International

12. LTJ Xperience "SV-07" Super Value Edits