Ivan Smagghe belongs to a top table of DJs that journalists like to lazily describe as “The DJ’s DJ”. He has the ability to play music like a raw conduit between famously obscure records whilst never losing sight of the dancefloor’s strobe soaked bodies -injecting something of himself seamlessly into the mix along the way.His genre defying/defining production from Black Strobe, It’s A Fine Line, Smagghe & Cross and now Ivan & Johnny has connected him to and garnered the praise from the likes of Craig Richards, Vladimir Ivkovic, Paranoid London, Solar and of course, his long time friend Andrew Weatherall -all fellow crusaders in the fight to prove that electronic music is so much more than a one dimensional soundtrack for a night on the lash, and so much more than an Instagram account. In January 2020, Smagghe & Cross released their second LP, 1819, on Offen Music and are working on a new lp for the end of the 2025. Ivan & Johnny is his project with Quinn from Paranoid London, it will cater exclusively to the furthest corners of the dancefloors.After co-running the legendary french label and parties, “Kill The DJ,” Ivan washeading up his own imprint, “Les Disques De La Mort”; an outlet for a unique taste in music and spanning releases & remixes from long staples (Manfredas, Cosmo Vitelli, Marco Passarani, I-Cube, Red Axes, Roman Fluegel) & special new comers (Elles, Sworn Virgins, Zillas on Acid). LDDLM is a label that is always faithful to an instinctively recognisable “style of no style” and the refusal to be pigeonholed. Covid reframed the way of making and diffusing music : whilst thinking of reactivating some label action, Ivan has opened Amor Fati with Niv Arzi from Red Axes, a counterintuitive blog page giving away edits to whoever wants them. The collaboration between these two may take form in Customs & Faces, a new outlet and an Axes x Smagghe 12”.“Dresden”, the party/dj duo Ivan shares with Lithuanian legend Manfredas is a celebratory manifestation of Ivan’s ethos and has expanded from London & Vilnius residencies to world touring. Look out for their all-nighters (and their recordings), their t-shirt collabs with Magic Castles and soon, their not-so-functional club music