MORE than 20 years behind the decks has given one of Scotland’s best-loved DJs a “warped” view of Hogmanay – but JD Twitch wouldn’t spend the night any other way.
Together with musical partner JG Wilkes, Twitch – real named Keith McIvor – he has been at the helm of the legendary Glasgow club night Optimo since 1997 and has played every Hogmanay since 1991.
The annual fixture, known for its upbeat atmosphere and genre-crossing sounds, has grown to become one of the city’s most hotly anticipated parties.
Yesterday work was under way at The Art School to prepare for the DJ duo’s farewell to 2015, with just a few tickets remaining.
And despite working on Hogmanay for more than two decades, Twitch is in no hurry for a night off.
He told The National: “I have got a very warped view of Hogmanay because I’m always working so I’m watching other people having a really good time.
“It’s a different kind of good time for me, I’m not really part of the party.
“But I’ve played all over the world and there’s no place like it.
“Hogmanay is a Scottish thing, it’s something deeply rooted – if you go back to the 50s and 60s, people in Scotland would either get Christmas off or Hogmanay off, and they would choose Hogmanay.
“I think it’s the only country in the world that has two days off afterwards. It’s in our blood.”
Known for playing a wide range of music and bringing strong live acts to a club environment, Twitch and Wilkes – who raised more than £3,000 for local food banks with a fundraising night earlier this month – have previously invited acts including Santigold, Sons and Daughters and LCD Soundsystem to perform. They also operate their own record label and will tonight invite “Swiss-German-Finnish-Dutch 21st-century disco sensations” NOO to make their live debut following two sell-out 12-inch releases.
According to Optimo, the duo “make some of the most perfect dance music we’ve ever heard” and are “the perfect act for a balls-out Glaswegian Hogmanay party”.
Twitch said: “I don’t overtly promote what I like to do on the label, but I always try to reference what I’m releasing.
“I’m all about having exclusive music. We have always done things a little bit differently than everyone else and people know that what we do is of high quality.”
The pair recently returned from several dates in Australia and have been invited to perform there again to close 2016.
However, Twitch said: “Scotland is the best place in the world to be at New Year because it’s something we take deep to heart.
“I have only once spent New Year out of Scotland and that was in the late 80s in Sheffield and it was very disappointing. People stayed up til midnight and at half past they all went to bed.
“I went around trying to shake everyone’s hands thinking ‘is that all there is?’
“I would not like to spend it south of the Border again – no disrespect, but I don’t think they know how to do New Year.”
Beginning at 10.30pm, the Optimo party – which includes Cludgie Karaoke in the club toilets – will run until 4am, including what the duo say will be “the best bells at midnight moment you will experience anywhere”.
Twitch said: “I do the lead-up and the bells and I put a huge amount of thought into it, trying to do something dramatic, something about the year that’s been, musically.
“At the bells, there’ll be a pause for 30 seconds and the first record we play after that is really important, as is the very last record we play, so people remember it.
“I’ll maybe have a drink at midnight but not drink the course of the night, then at half four I want to go and have a party.
“I normally hook up with some friends until very, very late.
“This year we were invited to play London on January 1 but I won’t want to get out of bed.
“Maybe I’ll surface in the late evening and go out, but mainly I’ll be doing very, very little.”
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