MIXMAG LAB
[GALLERY X MIXMAG LAB PRESENTS]
Ben Sterling, Miguelle & Tons, ARYEH
Mixmag Lab Lands at Gallery – A Night That Announced London’s Newest Electronic Music Destination
When Mixmag brought its iconic Lab series to Gallery on 21 May, it felt less like another stop on the publication’s global calendar and more like the beginning of something significant. For years, the Mixmag Lab has occupied a unique position within electronic music culture—a space where world-class DJs perform not for festival crowds or cavernous arenas, but for an audience close enough to feel every transition, every bassline and every subtle shift in energy.
Gallery couldn’t have been a more fitting home.
The venue’s striking concrete DJ booth and immersive 360-degree dancefloor provided the perfect backdrop for one of the year’s most anticipated London recordings. While the cameras captured every angle for audiences watching online, those inside the room experienced something that livestreams can never quite reproduce: the electricity that only exists when exceptional DJs meet a genuinely engaged dancefloor.
Leading the charge was Ben Sterling, one of the UK’s most respected modern house selectors and a DJ whose rise over the last decade has been built on substance rather than hype.
From the outset, Sterling demonstrated exactly why he has become a favourite everywhere from Ibiza to the world’s leading underground clubs. His set was a lesson in groove management—rolling basslines, crisp percussion and impeccably timed transitions that steadily tightened their grip on the room. Rather than chasing instant reactions, he trusted the music to do the work, patiently layering records until Gallery became completely locked into his rhythm.
There was an unmistakable looseness to their performance.
Sterling’s greatest strength has always been restraint.
Where others reach immediately for obvious peak-time weapons, he understands that anticipation creates far greater impact than constant release. The result was a performance that felt fluid, confident and completely in control from beginning to end. Watching him work inside Gallery’s intimate setting highlighted just how technically refined his mixing has become. Every transition felt invisible, allowing dancers to lose themselves completely in the journey.
Earlier in the evening, Miguelle & Tons brought a very different flavour to proceedings.
The Venezuelan duo have developed a reputation for injecting warmth and personality into contemporary house music, combining Latin influences with deep grooves and infectious percussion. Their set provided the perfect bridge between daytime energy and late-night
intensity, filling the room with rolling rhythms that felt playful without ever sacrificing sophistication.
Organic percussion, vocal textures and sun-drenched grooves bounced effortlessly across Gallery’s sound system, creating an atmosphere that encouraged movement rather than spectacle. It was exactly the kind of selection that rewards dancers rather than demanding attention, setting the tone for everything that followed.
Completing the night’s musical journey was ARY:EH, whose appearance at the official afterparty ensured momentum continued long after the cameras had stopped rolling.
ARY:EH delivered a deeper, darker interpretation of house music that perfectly complemented the earlier performances while giving the afterparty its own distinct identity. Driving percussion, hypnotic basslines and subtle melodic flourishes kept the energy focused squarely on the dancefloor, proving that the strongest afterparties don’t simply continue the night—they evolve it.
Together, the three performances showcased different corners of modern house music without ever feeling disconnected.
That diversity has always been central to the Mixmag Lab’s appeal.
Rather than presenting electronic music as a single genre, the series celebrates its many interpretations. Deep, minimal, melodic, tribal and groove-led sounds all found their place throughout the evening, united by one common thread: exceptional DJs playing exceptional records to people who genuinely came to dance.
Gallery itself emerged as one of the evening’s biggest success stories.
The venue’s now-iconic ten-tonne concrete DJ booth immediately distinguished the broadcast from previous Mixmag Lab locations, giving the production a visual identity that felt unmistakably London. More importantly, the layout kept the crowd wrapped around the artists, removing the separation that often exists between performer and audience.
That intimacy changed everything.
Rather than feeling like spectators attending a filmed event, the audience became part of the production itself. Every reaction, every movement and every swell of energy fed directly back into the performances, creating the kind of feedback loop that great club nights thrive upon.
The venue’s sound system deserves equal recognition.
Warm, detailed and powerful without becoming overwhelming, it allowed every artist to showcase the finer details of their selections. Low frequencies carried genuine weight while percussion remained razor sharp, creating a listening experience that felt as rewarding for dedicated music lovers as it did for dancers.
Perhaps most impressively, the evening managed to balance two very different objectives.
On one hand, it was a globally broadcast Mixmag Lab watched by thousands online. On the other, it remained a genuine club night for those fortunate enough to be inside Gallery. Too often, filmed events can feel as though the audience exists purely for the cameras. Here, the cameras simply documented what was already happening naturally on the dancefloor.
That’s no small achievement.
The Mixmag Lab has always been about capturing electronic music at its most authentic. On 21 May at Gallery, that’s exactly what it did.
By the time the afterparty rolled into the early hours, there was a widespread feeling that Gallery had reached an important milestone. Hosting the Mixmag Lab wasn’t simply another booking—it was a statement that the venue had arrived as one of London’s most exciting homes for electronic music.
For Ben Sterling, Miguelle & Tons and ARY:EH, it was another demonstration of why thoughtful programming continues to outperform predictable line-ups. Each artist brought their own identity, yet together they created a seamless musical narrative that carried dancers from early evening through to sunrise.
