A music-making duo are celebrating being singled out by BBC Radio 1 Introducing as ‘Ones to Watch’ in the coming year.
Benjamin Fitzgerald and Thomas Dixon make up DJ, sax and Latin percussion duo Kancho Club and the BBC platform that singles out and supports new artists turned the spotlight on the pair during a radio show where presenter Jess Iszatt named its UK-wide pick of rising talents.
Describing Kancho Club, Jess said: “Think Disclosure but times 1,000”. Her announcement follows a hugely successful year for the talented pair and their hybrid music, a unique brand that mixes live and electronic with world influences.
On the back of support from publications DJ Mag and Mixmag, which called their 2024 track Fyah a “peak-time dance-floor hitter”, as well as BBC Radio 6 Music, the pals – now based between the North East and Australia where they are also making their name – are fully focused upon making sure they really are ones to watch during 2025.
Ben, from Kenton in Newcastle, is currently in Sydney for the winter but will be back on home turf before the start of summer. And there he’ll be reuniting with Thomas – originally from Hetton-le-Hole, Sunderland, who is now living in Heaton – to follow up their BBC Radio 1 Introducing success with a whole load of new ventures.
In the meantime, Thomas will be flying solo with his own next performance on February 21 with a Kancho Club show at Above bar in Newcastle. There will be more Kancho Club dates to come and this year is also set to see more releases and re-mixes and label announcements from the pair.
The house-techno fans initially met as students when Ben was on a percussion and Afro-Cuban culture course at university and Tom was studying jazz at The Glasshouse, then Sage Gateshead. Kancho Club was born and they now have their own label as they continue building up a following, built upon successes such as live performances ranging from DJ sets at Zerox in Newcastle and at Lindisfarne Festival to dates across the the country as well in the likes of Ibiza and Marbella.
They have been developing new music projects and inspired tracks since their 2023 debut single Say It Baby and a first collaboration to add to their CV was Drown, involving Newcastle soul and pop artist Frankie Jobling, which BBC introducing chose for a first play. Then Ecstatic Dance, with North East-based contemporary jazz singer Mollie Nature, won national radio support from BBC Radio 6 Music’s Emily Pilbeam.
Now, with their latest seal of approval coming from their selection for the ‘Introducing’ strand, they are hugely grateful to Iszatt and the BBC team and also thanked their supporters. They said they “genuinely can’t express how grateful we are for the huge response to our tracks and the sheer volume of love we’ve received from both sides of the globe” and they added: “This means the absolute world to us.”
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