Just as everyone else is winding down for the seasonal break, Lost and Sound returns after my project sabbatical with one of UK club culture’s most vital voices: I. JORDAN.
We trace a line from Doncaster fairgrounds and bassline bus journeys to festival stages — and to the 2024 debut album I Am Jordan, which places community, class, and queer belonging at the centre of contemporary dance music.
It’s a fast-moving conversation about sound, craft, and care. We talk about why tempo is a feeling rather than a rule, how working at 132–136 BPM can sharpen intent, and what happens when a seven-minute club tool becomes a three-minute vocal track that completely shifts how your body responds.
We get into the granular details too: the feedback loop between club and studio, testing dubs on big systems, and the patient editing that turns a drop into a collective release on the dancefloor.
Class and culture cut through everything. We discuss reclaiming the much-maligned donk on Ninja Tune as a deliberate act — honouring northern working-class roots while shaping a scene that gives trans artists agency, visibility, and joy. We also talk about why some crowds are easier to guide than others, what truly separates underground from mainstream energy, and how health, sobriety, and touring habits are central to building a sustainable life in music.
I.JORDAN on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/i.jordan/?hl=en
I. JORDAN on Bandcamp:
https://i-jordan.bandcamp.com/
If you enjoy Lost and Sound and want to help keep it thriving, the best way to support is simple: subscribe, leave a rating, and write a quick review on your favourite podcast platform. It really helps others find the show. You can do that here on Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen.
Huge thanks to Audio-Technica – makers of beautifully engineered audio gear and sponsors of Lost and Sound. Check them out here: Audio-Technica
Big news time: If you’re wondering where LoI made a radio documentary with my partner Rosalie Delaney for BBC Radio 3. It’s called Wolf Biermann: The German Bob Bylan exiled by the GDR and it’s on the radio on December 28th at 19:15 UK time:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002npsf
My book Coming To Berlin is a journey through the city’s creative underground, and is available via Velocity Press.
You can also follow me on Instagram at @paulhanford for behind-the-scenes bits, guest updates, and whatever else is bubbling up.