Remembering Optimo’s Keith McIvor
I wanted to join the tributes to Optimo’s Keith McIvor aka Twitch, the DJ and producer who has died aged 57.
Dave Pollok wrote for MixMag ‘RIP Optimo’s JD Twitch: The dancefloor revolutionary who reshaped the sound of nightclubs‘:
“Clubbing has lost one of its most significant, transformative and widely loved figures with the death of Scottish DJ Keith McIvor, who as JD Twitch co-founded seminal Glasgow club Optimo (Espacio) alongside his DJing partner Jonnie ‘JG’ Wilkes. Blending their tastes for house, techno, disco, reggae, rock, post-punk and much more, the legendarily debauched, diverse and welcoming Sunday-nighter ran at Glasgow’s famous Sub Club from 1997 until 2010.”
Here’s the legendary Underground Sound Of Glasgow from 2013:
There are lots of tributes out there and across social media as a wave of grief and appreciation floods across Scotland and beyond. This by Matt Anniss is a deep-dive No, Don’t Follow Fashion: A Tribute to Optimo’s JD Twitch in which he writes about the response to Keith’s untimely death:
“Amongst reflections from those whose lives were enriched and transformed on the dancefloors of Pure in Edinburgh and Optimo (Espacio) in Glasgow, there were countless messages from artists and DJs he’d worked with, mentored or inspired – including some from genuinely well-known names. There were stories of kindness, compassion and thoughtfulness; of revelatory and life-changing moments created on the dancefloor; tales of unlikely record selections causing pandemonium on the dancefloor; and untold emails from those whose lives Keith touched, but who he never met. These messages made for extremely emotional reading, but they were also incredibly heart-warming too; a snapshot of the impact Keith made on the lives of those in Scotland and far beyond.”
Here Michael Lawson speaks to eight artists—”from Glasgow peers to heroes like Liquid Liquid and Severed Heads—to reflect on his humility, effervescence and indefatigable creative spirit …”
I think what a lot of the tributes and appreciations speak to is the idea of authenticity, being true to yourself and refusing to be pigeonholed or curtailed. This was a key attribute that people appreciated about Keith.
Lots of love to family and friends.
Here are a couple of mixes by him for you.
The last in Phonica’s 2018 Mix Series is a 75-minute long recording:
The second is a “rock lesson” for the Diggers Directory:
Tracklist
Judas Priest – Living After Midnight (Twitch bonus Beats)
Atomic Rooster – Play It Again (Twitch Edit)
Dark Star – Lady Of Mars
Trespass – One Of These Days
Holocaust – Heavy Metal Mania
Girl – Hollywood Tease (Twitch Edit)
Witchfynde – Give ‘Em Hell
Sledgehammer – Sledgehammer
Motorhead – Damage Case (Twitch Edit)
Iron Maiden – Running Free
Girlschool – Race With The Devil
Angel Witch – Angel Witch
Blitzkrieg – Blitzkrieg
Girlschool – Yeah Right