Mella Dee

Mella Dee is the alias of Ryan Aitchison, a DJ and producer born and raised in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, now based in London. The name is pronounced as "Melody." He has also recorded under the aliases Noface and SY Rockers, and more recently under the solo alias RYAN, which he has used for releases sitting at the darker, more industrial end of his range.

Growing up in South Yorkshire, Aitchison absorbed his father's Northern Soul records and his sister's happy hardcore tapes, and getting into skateboarding at 12 opened him up to Sheffield's club scene, with bassline becoming his first real musical love.

He began making music in earnest with grime rhythms, as heard on his 2012 EP "Don't Be Nesh", before progressing toward garage and house that drew on jungle, hardcore and bass music. Early releases on DEXT Recordings and the Swedish label Omena helped him build support from names including Daniel Avery, Laurent Garnier, Len Faki and Floating Points.

His profile broke wide open with "Techno Disco Tool" in 2017, a club staple that sampled Sister Sledge's "Pretty Baby" and was picked up by Annie Mac, Pete Tong, Bonobo and others. The track propelled him into headline slots, and his imprint Warehouse Music won Best Breakthrough Label at DJ Mag's Best of British awards that same year.

"Techno Disco Tool" reached number one in the BBC Radio 1 Dance Music Chart and was named one of Annie Mac's Tracks of the Decade. It was eventually certified Silver by the BPI in 2022. Since then Aitchison has delivered an Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1, curated a mix for the Resident Advisor podcast series, performed a Boiler Room set, toured North America multiple times, and joined the Circoloco family for a summer of shows at DC10 and their festival in Thailand.

On record his recent years have been split across fabric Records, Saoirse's trUst recordings, and SlapFunk Records, where his "Steady Movin'" EP landed as SLPFNK030.

He has also debuted on trUst recordings and launched his own Nothing Stays The Same imprint. Nothing Stays The Same functions as both a party series and a record label, with evolution built into its identity from the outset. Into the 2020s he has brought in guest vocalists including Infinite Coles and Bernard Sumner, and he has contributed a remix for Hot Chip.

His sound today sits across minimal, tech house, UK garage and rolling warehouse techno, always with a low-end sensibility rooted in the bassline and soundsystem culture he grew up around.

His own description of his "UK Minimal" work is telling: "The word 'minimal' to me doesn't mean it's gotta be stark. It just means that it's a refined version of all these different flavours of UK sound together."