With a heat wave of summer festivals ahead, as well as delivering your Radio 1 sounds, Annie Mac gave us a quick chat about the coming months, ones to watch and her favourite moments in the DJ booth. Coming away from her current US tour this is what she had to say…

Hi Annie! Things are going crazy for you at the moment – you’re travelling all over the place! How are you getting on?
Good, thank you! I am writing this on a plane from Seattle to San Francisco! The views are incredible – beautiful snow-capped mountains as far as the eye can see…

We’ve noticed you’re on a US tour at the moment too, with a massive set coming up at Coachella! You must be excited? This is huge!
Yes, when you play Coachella, you have to play it over two weekends… So I’m one weekend down, and one to go. The set went really well. It’s such a beautiful festival, so neat and manicured, pretty and clean – the people as well as the grounds (haha!). The tour is going great. It’s when you travel like this that you realise the reach of BBC Radio 1. Everyone I meet knows about my shows and listens.

When you touch back down in the UK, you’ve got even more summer spectacles lined up. Which set are you most looking forward to?
Yes, I have a summer of gigs ahead of me… It’s quite daunting to be honest, as they are mostly all main stage festival gigs. There’s some new festivals I’ve never played before, like T In The Park and V, and then some I’ve played for years like Glastonbury and Bestival. The latter two I will look forward to the most. Glastonbury for me last year was one of the most special gigs ever. The energy from the crowd was unreal!

Obviously the Radio 1 Big Weekend is in Norwich in May as well, that’s where we live! We’re genuinely buzzing! Have you ever been to East Anglia before?
I’ve played UEA a few times and had a great time. It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to know more about. I’d love to get a house on the coast and really take it in for a week…

Brilliant! It’s a fine city! We’ll make you feel welcome, keep an eye out for us in the crowd! What we want to know is what sort of toe tapping moves will make us stand out on the dance floor?
Well Seattle last night had some fine dancers! It was all a bit free-form jazz-like. I realised when I was watching the crowd that in the UK there’s quite a formulaic way of dancing in a club. It was nice to see people really let loose in their own individual ways.

You must have seen some quirky shapes thrown over the years, what has been your funniest moment behind the decks?
Mmm… I had a gig a few years ago on the main stage of Global Gathering and half way through my set, there was a huge rain storm. My CDJ’s were covered in water, I lost half the crowd, and my dress kept getting blown up by the wind, exposing my bum to all the people standing behind me on stage! My tour manager had to gaffer tape my dress to my thighs while I was DJ-ing. It was hard to keep a straight face!

Have you ever been tempted to jump into the crowd and start raving with the people? It must be hard to resist sometimes!
I was tempted last night to be honest! At the end, during my last track… but there’s usually sufficient room in the booth to go for it if you really want to 🙂

It’s a bit different when you’re sitting in the studio I suppose; now that you’ve taken over Zane’s late show you’ve dedicated your evening to delivering great sounds. Do you ever get annoyed if the headphones mess up your hair?! Especially if you’re heading out after the show?
I’m not sure if you’ve SEEN my hair but it’s not the type of hair to get messed up by headphones… in that it’s already a mess!

We love your Irish heritage, but what is your favourite thing about your home nation? St. Patricks Day and heap loads of Guinness are certainly up there for us.                                        I love the people in Ireland. The sense of humour is very dry. I love the pubs, especially the ones that haven’t been touched in 50 years. I love how it’s such a musical and literary country, and of course I love the landscape. There are places on the West coast of Ireland that are staggeringly beautiful.

Cool, with the summer being the biggest party season of the year, what would you say makes the ultimate house party?
The right combination of people is the main ingredient. A decent mix of music and a stocked fridge. And of course a host who isn’t too house proud and won’t mind a spillage or three.

With your DJ-ing you’ve been all over the globe, but where has been your favourite destination you’ve played?
There are cities in the UK that are always “vibey” and fun to play – Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham… Scotland too. I played once on a disused fort off the coast of St Petersburg, that was an adventure… And I always love playing Dalt Villa in Ibiza.

The Lost and Found setup in Malta looked mega! We saw some of the inked Annie tattoos. How does it feel when someone has a tattoo of, or associating, you?
It feels kind of terrifying to be honest – the thought that someone is going to have my face on their body for the rest of their lives. It’s all very……..permanent.

Is there any particular artist or song that you predict will blow heat waves over the nation for 2015?
I think Jack Garret could go a long way. Wolf Alice’s LP is so great, I think they will do big things this year at the festivals. Dance music has some incredible LP’s coming this year, Duke Dumont, Jamie XX, Hudson Mohawke, JulioBashmore. It’s a great time for electronic music!

Awesome! We’ll keep our ears out for that! Apart from your masterful music mixes which take up most of your hours, what do you get up to in your spare time?
Spare time is always family time these days. Big long lunches with friends, walks in the park, HBO marathons… I used to shop a lot, but now I do it all online. I’d rather spend time at home.

What do you see yourself doing in ten years time?
I hope I will still be on the radio. Radio is a nice profession for growing older!

Superb! It’s been a pleasure talking to you and we wish you the best of luck with what’s going to be a phenomenal summer! Thanks Annie!