Sound Advice: AC Slater

Join AC Slater on Sound Advice, the weekly interview series covering artists’ journeys and their creative process. In this episode, we discuss the Night Bass founder, DJ and producer’s latest ‘Locked In Radio’ mixtape, working between UK and US electronic genres, maintaining a fruitful career in dance music and more.

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Welcome to Sound Advice, the series spotlighting artists’ creative process and their SoundCloud journey. We’ll get the inside knowledge straight from the source on how musicians, producers and creatives are leaning into everything SoundCloud offers to elevate their sound, get heard and catapult their careers. Sound Advice is now available in audio format on the SoundCloud Stories profile.

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On this episode of Sound Advice, we’re catching up with AC Slater, who has been one of the biggest DJs on the American dance music scene for the last two decades. An incredibly prolific producer, AC has released hundreds of original productions and remixes over the course of his career, and he’s known to many as the founder of the Night Bass record label, club brand and community. Night Bass has been instrumental in popularizing the bass house sound, kickstarting the UK garage revival, and introducing American audiences to artists like Chris Lorenzo, MPH, Taiki Nulight, Nostalgix, and many more. 

As our Sound Advice host, Vivian, also known as DJ/producer Star Eyes, recalls, her and AC Slater have been friends for a really long time. She shares how they first met in NYC in 2006, and were in a DJ crew called Trouble & Bass together. Since 2014, Vivian has watched Night Bass grow from a local Los Angeles label and party to giant releases, tours and sold-out events. This interview marks the first time that AC is discussing his new musical directions, from reconnecting with his love of house and UK garage, to releasing a ton of free tracks on SoundCloud, starting a new record label called Antidote, and putting together his brand new ‘Locked In Radio’ mixtape. 

Elsewhere throughout our conversation, AC reflects on redefining himself as an artist and the early musical influences that still inspire his sound. Plus, he shares what he’s learned about music production, creating community, and staying motivated, and we get an insight into the mindset that’s kept him on top of the dance music game for over 20 years.

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LISTEN TO THE AUDIO EPISODE OF SOUND ADVICE FEATURING AC SLATER

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LISTEN TO ‘LOCKED IN RADIO’ BY AC SLATER ON SOUNDCLOUD

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Things We Talked About In This Episode of Sound Advice

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How AC Slater is Stepping into The Next Phase of His Musical Evolution

• We begin the conversation reflecting on AC Slater’s year so far, and dive into his conscious decision to evolve his sound into a new phase, shifting from a more upfront, EDM-led sound to one focused more on house and garage. Part of that evolution has seen AC uploading tracks for free download on his SoundCloud profile, including “Music Is My Life,” “Keep On Dub,” and “Saturdays.”  As an established artist in the dance music world, with successful parties and record labels as part of his brand, why give these new tracks away for free? 
• Here, he talks about his reasoning, why he’s keen to work quickly and instinctively, connect more deeply with his audience through SoundCloud, and step into this new phase of his creativity. “I wanted to get music out quickly, and I wanted to not be constrained by samples and clearances,” AC says. “And I thought, ‘What better way to do that than just give them away?’ I had a goal of putting out a track every month this year.” 
• The latest presentation of AC Slater’s musical evolution is August 2026’s ‘Locked In Radio,’ an eight-track mixtape released through AC’s own label, Antidote. The mixtape taps into genres like old school rave, house and garage, and the pirate radio culture that gave them a platform in the 1990s. 
• Here, AC talks about the genesis of the mixtape’s sound and spirit, and how he was inspired by the early days of Night Bass, his long-running record label and party series, and the “house bass” style that came from it. AC Slater also talks about the specific sonic strands of “house bass” as a distinctly American sound for the 2010s, and how it brought together much of what he’s always loved about dance music. 
• “In 2026, it’s like a completely different thing,” he says. “I’ve kind of gone back to the beginning, of that spirit and sound palette. Every time you go back in time and pick up those old styles, it’s run through a modern lens.” 

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AC Slater on How Underground Raving and Pirate Radio Inspired His New Mixtape, ‘Locked In Radio’

• AC grew up in West Virginia and started raving in Pittsburgh in the 1990s. It was a wild time — of DIY underground parties, niche sounds and a committed audience of party people — and at those raves, he reflects on buying mixtapes of DJ sets recorded on radio and in clubs. 
• As he recalls, this was a formative experience for AC, as those mixtapes were some of his earliest exposures to a wide variety of electronic styles from the UK and Europe; from speed garage and jungle to happy hardcore. At the same time, he was experiencing the rapid evolution of American dance music, with Chicago house and ghettotech, Detroit techno, Midwestern psychedelic rave and more. Here, he goes into more detail about the impact of this time on his current sound, and the thinking behind ‘Locked In Radio.’
• “My whole career, I’ve been chasing that feeling of when you’re first discovering all those things,” he explains. “Where you’re getting so excited, and you didn’t know this world existed. That’s what I do [now].”
• Throughout the years, AC has evolved as a DJ and producer — so what techniques or ideas has he implemented to make him better in the studio? Here, he talks about his creative process, shares production tips and ways of thinking, and offers insight on how he’s become better at taking feedback from his peers in dance music — and always to the betterment of his work. One of these relationships is with DJ/producer Chris Lorenzo, who AC has known for years, first through Night Bass, and now as the duo Fly With Us. 
• When AC started working on ‘Locked In Radio,’ he drew from a variety of sources to make it feel authentically tapped into ‘90s renegade spirit while keeping the music fresh and modern. He flew to the UK to “fill his suitcase” with underground records that he couldn’t find in the US, and when planning the mixtape, he explains how he thought about how to produce and order the tracks in ways that pay explicit homage to pirate radio. 
• Here, he goes into more detail about those processes. “That’s something that’s dear to me when it comes to the music scene, the dance music scene — that community aspect of it, right?” he says. “The scene itself is just as important as the music. It keeps everything in check and it just feels like a family.” 

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AC Slater’s Advice For Fellow DJs and Producers, After 20 Years in the Dance Music Industry

• Over a 20-year career, AC has run record labels, parties, produced, DJ’d and more. So what advice would he give artists in the dance music scene today? Here, he talks about maintaining a solid trajectory, knowing what excites you personally about dance music, and how to spot whether a contemporary trend feels right for you or not. 
• One important element in all this is the element of risk: when to hold your cards tight, and when to play your hand. “I know how hard it is to take a step in a risky direction, and I don’t know that it’s going to work out,” he says honestly. “But I have to do it or I’m going to be unhappy — and eventually, you're still going to end up in the same place as if this doesn't work out.”
• Arguably, starting his Night Bass brand in the 2000s was a risky move. Emerging in an interim period in the EDM scene, where tastes and sonics were massively diverging across the US, Night Bass built a loyal community about AC’s style of bass-led house and garage beats. 
• Here, he talks about how Night Bass taught him how to build an audience, and how dropping Night Bass tracks and mixes on SoundCloud allows him to connect more deeply with fans and reap long-term rewards as a solo artist; from streaming his DJ sets and fresh beat ideas online during the pandemic lockdowns to using new technologies to keep himself motivated. 
• Throughout the years, SoundCloud has played a major role in AC’s work as a DJ, producer and label owner. Here, he talks about the platform features he’s connected with the most, the important role that he sees SoundCloud having played in the spread of electronic music, and how he uses it to get feedback from fans through track comments, discover new music for his DJ sets and more.
• Now, with the release of ‘Locked In Radio,’ AC Slater is hyped for this next phase. He talks about what he has coming for the rest of 2026 — including singles across other record labels, a tour and more — to reintroduce himself in dance music. “That’s my goal; to spread the new sounds,” he says. You can check out all of AC Slater’s upcoming tour dates here.

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Links and Extras 

Follow AC Slater’s journey on SoundCloud.
Press play on AC Slater’s August 2026 mixtape, ‘Locked In Radio.’ 
Follow Night Bass, AC Slater’s formative record label and party series.
Listen to one of AC Slater’s latest tracks, “Here To Dance.”
Hit play on AC Slater’s track with Enzo Is Burning and Scrufizzer, “Crew Joint.”
Check out AC Slater’s collaborative project with Chris Lorenzo, Fly With Us.
Discover some of the artists from the Night Bass scene, including Chris Lorenzo, MPH, Taiki Nulight and Nostalgix, among others.
Listen to the UK Garage playlist on SoundCloud.
Never miss an episode and follow the official Sound Advice playlist on SoundCloud.

Getting The Most Out of SoundCloud

Learn more about using DMs to connect with fellow artists and potential collaborators.
Learn more about how to make a custom playlist on SoundCloud.
Learn more about unlimited uploads, available with an Artist Pro subscription.
Learn more unlocking access to unlimited distribution, available with Artist Pro.
Learn more about getting heard with SoundCloud’s updated algorithm, available to Artist and Artist Pro subscribers.

To discover additional features a SoundCloud Artist or Artist Pro subscription offers, visit here. To catch up on past installments of Sound Advice and make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, visit here.

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_{CREDITS Host: Vivian Host, Executive Producer: Mike Spinella, Producer: KC Orcutt, Audio Engineer: David “DibS” Shackney, Coordinator: Trevor McGee, Editorial Associate: Lauren Martin}