JD Twitch

In this heartfelt tribute episode of House and Soul Vocalists Living Today, we pause the grooves to honor the indelible legacy of JD Twitch—Keith McIvor, the visionary Scottish DJ and co-founder of the groundbreaking electronic duo Optimo (Espacio)—who passed away on September 19, 2025, at the age of 57 after a valiant battle with an untreatable brain tumor diagnosed just months earlier. Hosted by Elena Voss, we revisit Twitch's electrifying contributions to the global club scene, from his legendary Sub Club residencies in Glasgow that redefined underground house and techno, to his eclectic mixes blending soulful vocals with pulsating electronic edges that inspired generations of selectors.Join us for rare archival clips, reflections from fellow DJs and vocalists who crossed paths with the "King of Eclectic," and a curated playlist of his most soul-stirring sets that capture the raw emotion he infused into every beat. In a year that's already taken too many icons, this episode reminds us why Twitch's spirit will keep the dancefloors alive—untamed, unfiltered, and forever forward-thinking. Tune in now on all major platforms; new episodes drop every other Friday. What's a JD Twitch track that moved you? Drop it in the comments.


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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Despite being well over a decade ago, my first Optimo
espatio experience remained seared into memory. I had no idea
who or what Optimo was at the time, but the
stark until the Music Stops posters plastered around Dundee University
had caught my eye. That curiosity carried me later that

(00:21):
evening to Victorian Library turned nightclub, the reading rooms, and
into the orbit of Keith macavor and Johnny Wilkes better
known as J D Twitch and J G. Wilkes. I
entered to the sound of Talking Head Psycho Killer, which
somehow felt off a post punk track and a dance club.

(00:43):
Seconds later, mc iver's mix unfurled into the pumping piano
house of John Broadwood by Luma. The blend shouldn't have worked,
but in true Optimo fashion, it felt revelatory. By the
end of the night, my brain had been rewired. The
rigid genre lines I fought governed DJ sets had been

(01:05):
torn down and replaced with a sense of limitless possibility.
Mc Ivor, who died last Friday, September nineteenth, aged fifty seven,
was a visionary DJ, label owner, and cultural connector whose
work had a transformational impact on underground dance floors. As
one half of Optimo Espasio, he forged a philosophy that

(01:29):
rejected genre boundaries in favor of pure and motional impact.
No Wave, disco, dub, afrobeat, techno, industrial, EBM, electroclash, even
heavy metal were all tools in his arsenal, stitched together
with a rare precision that never dulled their raw power.

(01:51):
McIvor came of age amid the post punk wave of
the late seventies and early eighties, before falling under the
spell of acid house and the explosion of British rave culture.
These twin poles, experimental guitar music and club culture's kinetic pulse,
would anchor his lifelong approach. By the time he co

(02:15):
founded Optimo at Glasgow's Subclub in nineteen ninety seven, mcgiver
had honed an open ended, narrative driven style of dejaying
that resisted easy classification and spoke directly to those seeking
a sense of dance floor communality. Over the following decades,

(02:35):
he and Wilkes built Optimo into one of the most
influential club nights in the world, exporting its ethos across tours,
festivals and residencies. It speaks to their unwavering passion that Wilkes,
having learned of mcgiver's death while in Philadelphia for Making
Time this weekend, still played an Optimo set dedicated entirely

(02:59):
to mcgiver. Meanwhile, mac Ivor nurtured a community at home
through his label, Optimo Music and its many offshoots. His
championing of overlooked artists and marginalized scenes, combined with an
encyclopedic musical knowledge and disarmingly affable yet stridently opinionated personality,

(03:20):
ensured his cultural impact extended far beyond the Booth Eight. Friends, contemporaries, inspirations,
and Optimal Music affiliates share their memories of time spent
in the presence of an icon who left us too
soon