To define what 2021 has been like for Ewan McVicar, nothing better than a story he recently told in an interview in The Glasgow Times:
“Last weekend I was playing in Perth and a girl threw her forearm at me as I walked into the club. She had a Spotify code tattooed on her arm and then she made me scan it with my phone and Tell Me Something Good popped up on my phone, and I was like, ‘right, this is a bit crazy, what’s going on here?”
Tell Me Something Good has been the track that has launched him to fame not just in the UK but internationally.
Ewan is now 27 years old, and started DJing nine years ago in his home town of Ayr on the Scottish coast, when he was studying at university to become a primary school teacher, but after graduating he decided to take it up on the dancefloor full time. In his hometown, circa 2017, Ewan decided to start stirring up the underground music culture, setting up a residency called TEN. From there, his name began to be heard on the Scottish national scene, and by 2018 he was playing in Glasgow clubs.
In just three years, with two of them with the pandemic affecting nightlife and clubbing around the world, Ewan has won Best Track in DJ Mag’s Best Of British 2021 having only started producing his own tracks a year earlier.
He has released on renowned labels such as Shall Not Fade and Nervous, but for any Scottish underground producer it is always an honour to record for Optimo Music.
With the Movin’ On Over EP, Ewan McVicar shows his love for the underground house music scene, and is sure to have taken inspiration from the old Optimo Trax releases he fell in love with, and the legendary parties at Glasgow’s iconic Sub Club (where he started out handing out flyers and now climbs into their booth), which inspired him to pursue a career making and playing music.
Ewan’s big, analogue-laden synths and vintage drum machines abound throughout the EP, bringing a festival feel and rave aromas to the tracks. Fusing Detroit-Electro and Acid-House sounds (Which Way To Go is a real acid orgy), the 303s drift through expressive drum programming and narcotic basslines that bust dancefloors.
Hyperdub artist IKONIKA remixes Slowing Up The Freak, bringing her personal stamp inspired by her eclectic British dance influences. A perfect ending to this great EP. We’ll have to keep a close eye on Ewan in 2022.
Release date February 11th, available here
