Keith McIvor (JD Twitch)
Keith McIvor (JD Twitch)
Pioneering DJ, promoter, and label owner, Keith McIvor (aka JD Twitch), co-founded two of Scotland’s most seminal clubs PURE and Optimo, and has remixed numerous acts including Franz Ferdinand, Factory Floor, Chvrches, Django Django, Neon Indian, Florence & The Machine, Manic Street Preachers, Jagwar Ma, Roisin Murphy and William Onyeabor
He emerged from the eclectic Edinburgh club culture of the late eighties, a melting pot which brought together the goth, punk, gay and indie scenes. And by the time baggy buffoons were the staple of news bulletins reporting on illegal raves in England, this disparate group of clubbers in the Scottish capital had long been enjoying playlists mixing industrial, hi nrg and other electronic sounds.
When the ubiquitous football casuals who plagued Edinburgh’s club scene wrecked the UFO night McIvor had co-founded, he and his friends set up PURE, which introduced a membership system to keep out violent undesirables. Lasting exactly ten years, the club played host to many of the world’s biggest names in techno and house, including Derrick May, Ritchie Hawton, Jeff Mills, Aphex Twin and Orbital.
McIvor’s next club venture, Optimo (set up with fellow DJ J Jonnie Wilkes), saw him return to the diverse tastes he experienced in his formative years and further develop his international reputation. A record label, Optimo Music followed and already has 20 releases out this year.