DJ Sonikku

DJ Sonikku is Tony Donson, a British electronic music producer with an obsession with SEGA. Donson uses the Sega Mega Drive’s Yamaha YM2612 sound chip to make 16-bit house tracks with a distinct ‘80s slant.

Donson is from Derby in the Midlands but, he says, “nothing really happened there,” so in 2012 he decided that it was time to relocate and come to London, where he started building the foundations for his current musical project. With the sound chip and certain ‘80s influences (notably Janet Jackson and Madonna) in tow, Donson put together his debut EP, Secret Island, recently released on Lobster Theremin sublabel Distant Hawaii. Using vintage drum machines (Roland’s TR-707, 727 and 909 to be exact), he punctuates the tracks’ breezy, aquatic atmosphere with dusty, lo-fi percussion. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.