Name: William Noglows aka Super Progressive
Nationality: American
Occupation: DJ, journalist  

If you enjoyed this Super Progressive interview and would like to know more about his perfomances and podcast, visit him on Instagram, and Youtube.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Super Progressive interview.  

I would love to talk a bit about the warm-up phase of a given night, because I have often been intrigued by it. What makes this stage interesting for you?

I love the warm up set because you’re essentially welcoming everyone to the party. You're creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere and building excitement for an incredible night ahead. In some ways, you’re just playing host, making sure everyone feels comfortable and having a good time.

When I look at the opening set like that, it becomes a lot more fun and a lot less pressure. Your job is to get everyone excited for what’s about to come.

In a movie or book, a great ending can more than make up for a bad beginning, but a great opening which leads to a weak ending sets you up for disappointment. How much of this can be applied to the warm-up stages of a set and how important for the overall success of the night is it, would you say?

I would say a great warm-up set can somewhat fly under the radar, but a bad opening set can derail a night.

I think one of the most special moments of the night is when the headliner plays their first track. The warm-up DJ completely sets up that moment, so if the warm-up DJ does a good job, that handoff can be a highlight of the night for the clubbers on the dancefloor.

From your experience, are there things that work really well during warm-up and things better avoided?

I would say the one thing I’ve learned is to avoid long breakdowns in a warm-up set. Always have a loop playing underneath, keep things moving along.

You don’t need a hands up in the air moment and a two-minute breakdown in the opener.

How do you pick the very first tune and what have been specific choices in this regard over the past few years?

The fun thing with an opening set is there are usually only a handful of people on the dancelfoor when you start. So I like to play some outside-the-box music to start, and then slowly bring it into the realm of club music.

I like to start with an ambient track to set the atmosphere, then take it from there.

Tell me a bit about the digging process for your warm-up process – what are you looking for? Is the process all about taste for you, or is it about “going beyond taste?”

I’m looking for tracks with a lot of atmosphere and a deep groove.

The magic is in those tracks that can bring energy without being a high bpm, those types of tracks are perfect for an opening set.

I feel like there is always a moment in any given warm-up set when things suddenly, magically lock into place and the music segues into a more propulsive phase. What's happening there?

That’s definitely the best moment. I think the dancefloor can get filled up pretty quickly, so one track you’re playing to 15 people, then three tracks later there are 60 people on the dancefloor, you feel like you’re doing something right.

And that’s when you really lock in and say okay, the party’s started, let's go. And you get into your playlists and start to play out those tracks you’ve been looking forward to playing out. The tracks you spent weeks sorting through and searching for.

What are considerations for the transition to the next DJ? Do you actively work towards it or are the warm-up set and the following sets separate events for you? Do you feel it's beneficial if all DJs work together to a certain degree or should they just “do their thing?”

That’s a great question.

I usually show the feature DJ the track I’m going to finish with before I load it in, just so they are aware of the key and the tempo and everything. This allows them to either build off that moment, or let’s them have an idea where the dancefloor will be energy wise, and sometimes they like to kind of fade out the track and start fresh again, which is also awesome.

But as an opener, I just try and make the DJ aware of where I’m going to leave it off for them well ahead of time.

I would love to experience a neverending warm up set once, where the music never leaves the haziness of the initial hour(s). Have you ever been in a situation where something like this has happened?

I haven’t experienced it live, but it’s the reason I love the ‘Back To Mine’ mix compilation series so much, and if you love that chilled-out hazy vibe, I highly recommend you check that out!