Keakie Profiles: Daytimers

Representing for the South Asian community, the collective of DJs, musicians and producers is taking dance music by storm.

Identity is a strong indicator of intent in the music scene. Carving out the unique elements of your artistry is a tale as old as time and has been the factor behind music’s greatest shifts, for music makers, DJs and everyone in between. For some, racial and cultural identity can be utilised to cultivate an endless well of creativity, as Daytimers know very well. Formed from a community of South Asian creatives at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the collective of DJs and producers, based in Britain and worldwide, have lit up the dance music scene with their imaginative take on establishing their culture into everything they do.

Taking their name from the daytime parties of the 1980s and 1990s where young British Asians gathered to dance to Garage, Jungle and Bhangra – merging Punjabi folk and dance traditions with the mainstream pop of the day – Daytimers is the brainchild of London-based DJs and producers Provhat Rahman and Sherwyn Appadu (aka King Monday) with the purpose of reimagining the previous generations in the present day and reclaiming their identity, via lively mixes, radio slots, compilation albums and community work. With their foundations in UK Bass and Electronic, the collective is infusing the halcyon days of South Asian music for a futuristic and ultimately empowering interpretation of dance music, tinged with a pride of where they come from.

“Our brownness isn’t a phase,” Rahman told Crack Magazine in August 2021. “We ultimately want to take control of how our heritage and culture are displayed in public spaces. The scenes that have come before us, they’ve been conveyed by white journalists, people that don’t really know how to tell our story. We need to grab a hold of that and be like, ‘No, this is who we are, this is how you represent us.’’’ “Daytimers is like a family,” Amad Ilyas, the group’s art director, told Crack. “Everyone believes in the message of empowerment, and making sure that we showcase talent from everyone, and not just for the sake of representation.”

Opening their doors to more talent since their inception, Daytimers have recruited the likes of Ilyas, Nirav Chandé, Gracey T, yourboykiran, DJ Priya and the in-demand Yung Singh - whose mix show It’s A London Thing is available on Keakie - to make up a core team of 12, along with over 100 more members of their wider family, the ethos being one of inclusion for all who align with the collective’s mission. With the community behind them, Daytimers’ ascent has skyrocketed. They dropped their ‘DT001’ compilation album in December 2020, including nearly 30 original compositions across R&B, House, Garage, Jungle and Grime from artists within the community. Their follow up, ‘DT002,’ would arrive just six months later in June 2021, all while the collective has been making noise on the club circuit, including a memorable Boiler Room showcase led by Yung Singh, a Reprezent Radio residency, their own patented day festival, Dialled In, and a 24-hour livestream in March 2021 that raised over £11,000 donated to the cause of Indian farmers amid the crisis that enveloped India last year. Politically aware and musically astute, Daytimers’ aim to uplift people hasn’t fallen on deaf ears.

In just under two years, Daytimers have flipped the script on the dance music, reinvented what it means to be brown not just in Britain but worldwide and addressed important questions of belonging within their community. Their influence is rapidly rising as normality resumes in a post-COVID world on the dancefloor and beyond, aligning perfectly with their goal for change. “A lot of it is making the most of the white gaze on us right now,” Rahman says. “We’re flipping that to our advantage and turning it into opportunities for everyone in the collective while controlling the narrative.” “We want a seat at the table,” Yung Singh explains.” “In fact, we want several seats at the table, but we want to build our own house as well.”