artist quickies: Jaguar
on UKC, her UTOPIA project, reconnecting with her inner child and getting 'WILD'...
welcome to ✨artist quickies✨! created with the attention span of online beings in 2025 in mind, it’s an offering designed to be consumed in the time you can make a coffee (or, if you’re more like me, a hot chocolate). it’s quick - flash in the pan, if you will - and intended to capture a moment in time of fellow artist’s lives. there’s words, there’s clips and scraps, there’s even affectionately-shared voice notes to close. welcome to the floor, the sensational Jaguar…
BBC Radio 1 tastemaker, DJ & broadcaster Jaguar has released her debut single ‘WILD!’ on her label UTOPIA, and it is biiiig. she’s championed names including Barry Can’t Swim, Elkka, TSHA and Prospa from day one, and now it’s her time to step forward into centre stage. Jaguar an explosion of creative genius, and amidst her divinely chaotic schedule, she managed to fit in a quickie with yours truly. how kind of her x
UKC. tell me about it.
UKC is a genre I invented as joke, it stands for UKC*NTY. It’s basically UK bass inspired music for peak time queer clubs. It blends elements of UK bass music such as skippy hi hats from UKG, or a whoppy bassline from a dubstep tune, with a fab pop vocal like Kim Petras of Azealia Banks.
my top three favourite elements in a club track are…
…bass-face-inducing, catchy vocal, solid drums
three tracks that have landed in your promo inbox lately you’re into?
e-Dancer, Kevin Saunderson, Dantiez - Emotions
Ruthlss - Ascension
Baoebi - Cheap Talk (espresso martini edit)
three tracks you’ve found through digging recently that you’re into?
Babyface - Make Me Funky!
lego island dj - police station
Genick, Jacotanu , The Deep – Gasoline
any podcasts/mixes you’ve been enjoying?
A Really Good Cry podcast
Cruising – A Queer Documentary Podcast
SYREETA’s Essential Mix
any articles? reads? watches?
Severance!! Need season 3 ASAP.
UTOPIA is…
…a perfect moment, togetherness, a community. It's one night of colourful sounds and friendly faces.
one thing you didn’t expect when you launched UTOPIA as a label?
To love it as much as I do, to the point it’s my favourite thing I’ve ever done! Working closely with artists to release their music brings me life and I’m so grateful to be around these incredible creators.
you say you reconnected with your inner child which was a crucial part in finding inner peace and, in turn, unlocked your ‘fuck it’ mentality. any tips on fostering that reconnection?
I honestly think it’s doing over two years of therapy. This has enabled me to process hardships of the past and tackle things now with a newfound bravery and strength.
what would you tell an artist who’s made a heap of tracks, but doesn’t know how to get em out there?
I would say if you’re based in the UK, upload them to BBC Introducing. Test them out in your DJ sets, and send them out to people and release them! There’s so much power in self-releasing and self-promo, you don’t need a big label, you can achieve so much from being a DIY artist.
what do you do in the 15 minutes before a DJ set?
I try to remain calm! Sometimes I do stretching, sometimes deep breathing, other times I just try not to think about what’s going to happen and go in with a very open mind.
life feels tumultuous right now for a lot of people for a variety of reasons. what short piece of advice you’d give to your past - define past however you like - self?
‘WILD!’ by Jaguar is available now via UTOPIA. Check it out here.
Catch Jaguar on Instagram here and Soundcloud here