Poolside Playlist // Designer Toby Catton

2 min readMar 14, 2019

GUEST PLAYLIST CURATOR

Toby Catton, Founder & Designer, Bluceak

I internet-met Toby when he left a comment on a concert review I wrote about attending an Action Bronson show alone. We exchanged emails, and found kinship in weird, deep cut rap music. I was living in Paris, he was living in Hong Kong, both born to parents from different countries and growing up straddling cultures.

Toby moved to Paris shortly after as he began focusing more on his clothing brand, Bluceak (pronounced blue check), a men’s fashion label. As he continues to design clothes and operate at the cutting edge of art and culture, he finds himself intermixed with the music world, curating Bluceak radio on the label’s Youtube page or guest slotting on Hotel Radio Paris. He recently opened a design studio in Southwest England from which he continues to work.

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“This is a selection of what I’ve been listening to over the last few months. The first half of the year has seen a few changes come around, personally and politically,”Toby says. “I always make a point of finding new music as it helps narrate everything that’s going on as we move through the year. That and it keeps me abreast of what’s going on in culture. I am always looking for blinding creativity.

Ask anyone and they will tell you I love diversification of interest more than anything else — so you’ve got a bit of shamanic chanting next to slowthai next to SOPHIE (the last song is one of the best songs of the year). I try to listen to music that can give insight into different areas of subculture. All of these songs resonate with me in different ways, but I think the theme that stands out most is aggressive emotional intensity. Perhaps a fitting narrative at this time.

Have a listen, and follow Bluceak on Instagram here.