Considered a bon vivant, a football pundit, and a musical polymath, our second selector hardly needs an introduction. When it comes to the world of music journalism, DJing, music history and taste, Bill Brewster is our guy! A massive record collector since age 10, Bill’s initial passion for the punk rock movement eventually got him into the world of dance music, which he embraced and turned into a career, documenting it through his writing and eclectic DJ sets.
Brewster's deep understanding of music and DJ culture led him, along with his all-time best buddy Frank Broughton, to publish ‘Last Night a DJ Saved My Life’. Regarded as an essential work on the subject, the book explores the origins of the DJ, from radio to the dance floor, providing a comprehensive exploration of memorable moments and the impact of the disc jockey.
A devotee of good gatherings, Bill has played everywhere—from his own mythical Low Life parties, encompassing two decades of friendships and memories, to Boiler Room sets and many magical Houghton Festivals. Always with a hip-loosening attitude toward the crowds, he masterfully crafts genre-fusing sessions from his vast collection of rarities, spanning intimate disco funk to obscure house.
For this occasion, he put together a mix full of jams dug from the Revibed vault that will take you on a spin across decades and sensations. We were able to catch up with him to see how life is going, hear about his recent projects, and gain his insightful opinions on all things music.
How’s your summer going so far? You’ve been touring these past months, especially celebrating the 25 years since 'Last Night the DJ Saved My Life' was launched. How do you feel about it?
It’s been an incredibly busy summer, actually. A mix of doing book events and DJing, too, sometimes both things on the same night. Plus a lot of festivals. As I write, I’m just preparing for Houghton in Norfolk this weekend, which is one of my favourite festivals.
I’m very happy we’ve been finally able to update the book. For many years, after our original editor moved on, we were stuck with a publisher who wasn’t interested in the book, but wouldn’t release us from our contract with them. The last time we updated the book was nearly 20 years ago. Anyhow, I happened to meet Lee Brackstone, who’s now our publisher, at Andrew Weatherall’s funeral and we started talking about finding a way for him – and us – to do a new edition. As luck would have it, his company (White Rabbit) belonged to the same parent company as our previous publisher so we managed to get a free transfer.
Your compilations are as eclectic as they come. What’s your approach when building a new compilation from scratch? Where do you start? Are you by chance already thinking about the next 'After Dark' selection?
It honestly depends on what the concept is, really. So with After Dark the first rule is no tracks over 116bpm (it was a bit arbitrary at the start, but has kind of become a rule). My second rule, and this applies to almost everything I license, is that if it’s available digitally already or it’s streaming on Spotify, I wouldn’t bother licensing it. That’s partially an economic decision, but also it just makes you look a bit harder for interesting stuff to use.
At the moment, I’m not thinking about another After Dark, but I’m working on a compilation that I’m hoping will accompany the next book I’m currently writing, which will feature only Italian music, going right back to the late 1960s and through to the mid-90s.
You mentioned you're working on a new book. If possible, can you tell us what's it about? What motivated you to work on this topic?
I was approached two years ago by a DJ based in Berlin called Valentina Budino. She was working on a history of Italian dance music and she needed some help. She wanted to do it in English, firstly, although it will also eventually come out in Italian too. It was originally only going to be a fairly small pamphlet, but we got a bit carried away and the last word count was on 72,000 words and we haven’t finished yet.
The book starts with the design and building of Piper club in Rome in 1965, which was a revolutionary moment in Italy, and goes through yé-yé, R&B, disco, funky, Afro, Cosmic, Italo-disco, Italo-house, techno etc. It’s mainly an oral history, with essays that I’m writing that will put the music into the context of the times. We’re about three-quarters of the way through it now. We have lots of beautiful photographs, numerous playlists and it’s shaping up really nicely. It will be published by White Rabbit in Spring 2026.
In your opinion, where is DJ culture headed in the next 10 years? Notably, how do you perceive the current role of social media in the creative experiences of DJs and artists? How has it influenced your own work and promotion?
There’s a lot about DJ culture that is pretty shit, like EDM in Las Vegas and all that jazz, but there’s always been a commercial and underground scenes coexisting side-by-side. Depends where you’re head is it, right? All that big club in Ibiza business has never really been that interesting to me. I like intimate clubs, with passionate promoters and DJs, and open-minded dancefloors. That’s the ideal party, for me.
I think, generally speaking, social media is a pretty corrosive thing for dance music. In fact, it’s a pretty corrosive for everything. I use it, cos everyone else does, but it’s strictly a business thing for me. I’m not massively into sharing my private life with the public, particularly. I mainly talk about music, football and politics. It’s certainly a useful tool to get the word out about your activities, and I’m grateful for that, but I don’t get too stuck on it.
What do you think of Revibed’s mission to digitally reissue forgotten music, offering original artists and labels a second chance to monetise their great work?
I’m interested in anyone who’d digging for new discoveries. That’s what a I spend a decent part of my time doing most weeks, but I’ve always enjoyed sharing what I find. I don’t understand people who only want to keep their obscurities to themselves. I think the artists deserve better and also it’s not our music to keep.
How was your experience preparing your mix for Revibed? What can listeners expect from it?
I guess I was just looking for music I didn’t already know (apart from Luna Project, which is an old Troy Parrish tune from when I was living in New York) with a nice groove to it. Not really much to add over that. Have a listen, see what you think!
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Our Selectors series showcases the work and talent of DJs and music collectors from around the world, who continuously contribute to building the vibrant Revibed community.
