Clarity in 'Obsession': Hot Since 82 on His Forthcoming Album, Sobriety & Self-Discovery

What do house music, old vinyl records, and Star Wars toys have in common? Hot Since 82 is obsessed with them all.

“If I’m interested in something, I go all the way. I have to complete it, but some things just cannot be completed,” Hot Since 82, real name Daley Adam Padley, tells Beatportal. “I don’t know what it is, but I am a very obsessive person. When I love something or someone, I love hard.”

The love for house music goes back to when he was a young lad growing up in Leeds. His friends would go off and play footie while he was listening to the radio and making mixtapes. Naturally, that turned into DJing, which then became producing, and soon, Padley will release his fourth full-length solo album, Obsessions, via Knee Deep In Sound on September 4. 

The LP’s title rings true for Padley on multiple levels – his personal nature, as well as his style of music. In the 15 years he’s been performing as Hot Since 82 (he DJ’d and produced under his birth name before that), the core essence of his music has remained the same. 

His grooves are deep but heavy, supported by intriguing mid-range sonics. If it’s a pad, it’s layered with static electricity. If it’s vocal, it’s powerful, but it doesn’t dominate the song. The tempos are never too fast or slow. 

To take his productions one level higher, he leans into his affinity for house music and something else he loves hard: 

“I took inspiration from the science fiction movies that I love and channeled that,” Padley says. “I was always obsessed with these amazing arpeggiators, pads, synthesizers, and all this mad stuff.”

As Padley and I speak just before his set at Lightning in a Bottle, he tells me he made 30 new tracks since he finished Obsessions, and he’s excited to play mostly his own music during the show.

“Four decks are set up in the DJ booth, and I have a little grin to myself because all four say Hot Since 82. Such a nice feeling,” he says. “I’m fortunate enough to actually be obsessive about something that pays the bills and stimulates me every day.”

While music has been a through line of Padley’s life, he now has two kids, so he’s keeping his career going to provide for them as much as he is for his own fulfillment. As such, he recently reevaluated his relationship with alcohol. In the nine months leading up to our chat, he’s only consumed alcohol twice, and never enough to get drunk. Instead of recovering from a hangover, he can focus on maintaining his physical health to ensure his longevity as a touring artist, not to mention finishing more music and being the best father he can.

“I’m 44 in September. My body doesn’t bounce back as easy as it used to. I look at alcohol, and it doesn’t stimulate me at all,” Padley says. “[Sobriety] has given me a new lease on life and energy throughout the week. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, when I would be dying, I’m in the gym and in the studio every day. I’m a better person. I’m a better dad. I’m DJing better. I can remember what I played the night before instead of waking up and thinking, ‘What the hell did I do?’"

On top of finishing a lot of new music, he is more satisfied with the music he is making. Obsessions is the first album that he hasn’t changed after submitting it for release. It’s also the first one he turned in on time. 

But this ability to work better in all areas of his life goes deeper than anything he could consume. He was recently diagnosed with ADHD and Bipolar II. Both Padley and his wife expected the diagnosis based on certain behaviors he’s exhibited for years. For example, when he makes music, he always works across different rooms – even though he has a fully functioning studio at home. He just can’t sit still for too long.

“When you get a diagnosis for something, even though you probably know the underlying reason for why you are like that, when a professional tells you this is what you have, it connects all these mysterious dots that hover around your head each day,” Padley says. 

He thinks back to when he struggled with it in school in all the common ways – being unable to sit still, not finishing assignments. Since then, he's found a form of creative expression through which he can direct this energy. 

“It’s a good way to express who you are. Because ultimately, when you are producing music, it’s so personal,” he shares. “You can actually speak through the music, and the music that you make really tells something about your personality as well. I think people can harness that, really channel who they are.”

A lot may have changed for Padley recently, but his obsession with music remains a constant.