Ahadadream: "This Album Aims To Be Loudly and Unapologetically My Whole Self"
Ahad Elley (AKA Ahadadream) has been making waves across the UK electronic scene for years, diversifying genres, production and events, and championing artists in his community like SHERELLE. His debut album 'P ★ K I' marks his next big step, arriving over a decade after he first started DJing at events in the late-2000s.
Pronounced “Pee-Star-Kay-Eye”, Ahadadream cites it as an album that “leans into being loudly and unapologetically my whole self and embracing the nuances of my whole experience rather than simplifying them for the world.”
Ahead of the release, DMY caught up with Ahadadream to dive into 'P ★ K I', his influences, the grassroots venues that shaped him, his enduring love of grime music, and much more.
What made you finally want to release an album? It seems like such a push in boundaries in your life to do something like this after the success you’ve gained since the late 2000s.
I wanted to make an album which is a reflection of my DJ sets and distills the energy of my curation, as well as the stories of my experience into a body of work. I’ve always wanted to release albums and I want to release many of them over the span of my career. In the last couple of years I feel like I’ve unlocked a lot of confidence when it comes to making music, especially in collaboration - I get a lot of energy working with other people. With this music, I didn’t rely only on my signature sound like with previous EPs but leaned into a range of genres that inspire me
In the run up to the release of 'P ★ K I', did you feel more nervous, or did you feel at ease trying something new and seeing how people react to your music?
I don’t feel nervous, really - more excited for people to finally receive the music, some of the tracks have been in my sets for such a long time, and it feels great to finally officially share them.
In your Instagram announcement, you said 'P ★ K I' is an embodiment of your DJ sets, curation, and production style. What DJ sets come to mind when producing this album, and have many of them been through local/grassroots venues like FØRGE and Foundry (two places in Sheffield where I was introduced to you and your style of play)?
Grassroots and smaller venues is where I learnt to hone my craft. Since first putting on my own events at university more than 10 years ago, I’ve always thrived in sweaty 200 cap basements. After that, the nights moved to London to the Blueberry in Shoreditch, then Plan B in Brixton (now Phonox). I think the intimacy of that kind of space is really my comfort zone and encourages me to experiment with a bunch of sounds - the bigger stages for me only came around 2024 onwards, and those performances feel like almost a different format.
Photo credit: Radhika Muthanna
From the singles you’ve released before, the energy conveys the joy of entering the club, as well as the love that community brings to people of all backgrounds in the UK. 'Make Space' makes that clear by shouting out different ethnic backgrounds, the LGBTQI+ community, and so on. Does 'P ★ K I' symbolise more than just your background in that sense when it comes to the club scene?
For sure. The most beautiful thing about actively being a raver and event organiser is getting to know so many people from different walks of life and all sharing space together. The album is first and foremost a personal expression of self-love and finding pride in my own identity. But I hope that is a message that resonates wider than that, with people from all cultures and backgrounds.
Would you also say 'P ★ K I' represents the global outlook of artists from countries you have put the UK onto, including Pakistan with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, INVT & Lamsi, but also other artists you’ve shown love to via More Time Records from Ghana, Trinidad, South Africa, Taiwan, UAE, and more?
I have always been so inspired by rhythms from around the world and enjoy creating a thread between them in a set. I feel like mainstream dance music at festivals and stages in the US and UK (for example) sometimes overlooks such a huge range of global talent. I feel so privileged for the opportunities that living and growing up in the UK has given me, so with projects like More Time and Dialled In, we look to share some of that support globally.
How much of 'P ★ K I' is based on your upbringing from school to university when you first started going to raves in London?
When approaching my debut album, I had a chance to reflect on all of the different influences I had growing up and one of those was moving over from Pakistan to the UK, which was a huge culture shock at first. Another was first getting to uni and discovering genres like dubstep and UK funky. I wanted to use this album project as an opportunity to tell some of those stories, and how I was influenced by my own unique journey. I wanted to figure out what makes me, me.
Did DJ Roska play an essential role in this project?
In 2010, at Bloc in Minehead, I watched Roska play for the first time and after his set he was handing out copies of his Essential Mix. When I played that mix, it included music from Redlight, DJ Zinc, Roska’s own productions and more. It made me realise the type of music I wanted to make and play, the gritty, rude, UK funky and bass music. One of my first releases ended up being on his label, Roska Kicks and Snares. So yeah, he’s definitely one of the influences from my musical upbringing that I’ve drew on for this project.
Grime plays a key role in 'P ★ K I' with help from Capo Lee and Jolie P. What MCs or songs had you skanking growing up in London, and is there anyone in the grime scene right now you’ve been loving?
At underage raves, hearing songs like Pow for the first time as someone who had just moved over to the UK from Pakistan was pretty formative. After that, going to Butterz raves and gaining an appreciation for the instrumental side of things and getting an understanding of that format. Then being a part of radio and seeing people like AJ Tracey shelling it at Radar, to booking Novelist for one of my nights when he was only 17, to curating that Boiler Room where they performed Topatop for the first time, to collaborating with a bunch of MCs on my music... I feel like grime has been ever present. A couple of MCs that I’ve been loving recently are Duppy and Plain Jane.
There is so much colour and loudness in your clothing when you’ve been promoting 'P ★ K I'. What’s the idea behind that?
We wanted the visual world to be loud, bold and unapologetic. Where I may have shrunk parts of my self when I first moved to the UK at the age of 12, this album aims to do the opposite
Since 2017, when you launched More Time Records with Sam Interface, you’ve put so many of us onto the next big artists and DJs across the world, like SHERELLE and Jyoty. Which up-and-coming artists inspired you to create 'P ★ K I'?
I really do think that Jolie P is such an amazing all round talent, someone who can sing, rap, DJ and perform - so having her on the album feels great. Also, although he’s not a new to the game, I want to shout out Dismantle because his sound really inspires me and he’s a big part of the album too.
Photo credit: Marshall Lawrence
'Tere Bin' felt like one of those songs that gives you hope in society. Its introduction is so beautiful as an opener to 'P ★ K I'. It reminded me a lot of being in Trafalgar Square for House Against Hate at the March Together Against The Far Right, where half a million people came out in London as a mass movement of resistance built on solidarity and unity in the face of those like Nigel Farage. Even though you only played for 8 minutes (I still remember people going insane the moment you played 'Seasons' by Lil Silva), it was such a strong moment. Do you see 'P ★ K I' being the next powerful alliance of community and joyful resistance
That was an amazing moment of joy and playing in Trafalgar Square in that context was an insane experience. I do hope this album brings people joy and that togetherness and positivity are the only antidote we have to the hate being constantly perpetuated in the UK and across the world.
What would your message be to anyone going into this album blind?
Listen on headphones or a loud system and turn down the lights.
'P ★ K I' is out now via Diallied In Recored/Island Records.
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