NOTION: The Bristol DJ Behind "The Days" Remix and the Mixmag 2026 Cover

NOTION is Rob Penny, a Bristol-based DJ and producer, about 32, who grew up in a West Midlands village and makes a blend of bassline, UK garage, house and jungle; he is best known for his 2024 remix of Chrystal's "The Days", a UK number 4 hit that earned a BRIT Awards 2026 Song of the Year nomination. His exact birth date is not public: UKF described him as a 23-year-old in September 2017, which puts his birth around 1993 to 1994. The remix passed 500 million Spotify streams and put him on the cover of Mixmag's April 2026 issue, he was on the bill for The Warehouse, Reading and Leeds' new dance stage, in August 2026, and he is on the line-up for Interplanetary Criminal presents at The Warehouse Project, Depot Mayfield, Manchester, on Saturday 10 October 2026. This is MNEEMO's producer-to-producer profile of NOTION, written from inside the room at NOTION's Mixmag Lab London recording in April 2026, covering the Rob Penny real name, the Hereford-to-Bristol origin story, the Dance Dubs model, why the genre of "The Days" remix is still argued over, and what his Mixmag Lab London set revealed about his approach to the viral hit that made his name.

NOTION quick facts

• Real name: Rob Penny (Mixmag cover feature, 20 April 2026)
• Stage name: NOTION (stylised all-caps)
• Age: about 32 in 2026. No exact birth date is public; UKF called him a 23-year-old in September 2017, which places his birth around 1993 to 1994
• Origin: grew up in a village in the West Midlands; college in Hereford
• Based in: Bristol, since he moved there at 18
• Genre: bassline, UK garage, house and jungle, often blended in one track (Mixmag cover feature, April 2026). In his own description he adds drum and bass, plus rap, grime and dubstep influences (Notion magazine, July 2025)
• Own label: N Music (launched 2017)
• Breakthrough: "The Days" (NOTION Remix) with Chrystal, late 2024
• The Days chart peaks: UK #4, New Zealand #1, Australia #5 (multi-platinum), Ireland #4
• Total Spotify streams for The Days remix: 500+ million (Mixmag, April 2026)
• Industry recognition 2026: Mixmag April 2026 cover, BRIT Awards 2026 Song of the Year nomination
• Monthly Spotify listeners: just under 12 million (Mixmag, April 2026)
• Key projects: OUTSIDER (2022), FORWARDS mixtape (2024), Dance Dubs series
• Next UK date: Interplanetary Criminal presents, The Warehouse Project, Depot Mayfield, Manchester, Saturday 10 October 2026
• Booking: at the time of writing, UK/Europe/ROW via The Team; North/South America via UTA

At the NOTION Mixmag Lab London: MNEEMO on what happened inside the room

MNEEMO attended NOTION's Mixmag Lab London recording session in April 2026, standing directly behind the booth for the full set as a working London-based DJ and producer. This is a first-person account from inside the room.

NOTION recorded his Mixmag Lab London set in April 2026, a couple of weeks after the interview for his Mixmag cover feature. Mixmag's own account describes an hour-long set "packed with brand new music, including collaborations with Sean Tommy, Capo Lee and X CLUB", in which he "steers away from the tried and tested NOTION hits".

The most striking thing about that choice is what it leaves out. NOTION did not play "The Days" during the main recorded hour. Not in the opening. Not in the middle. Not as the climax. The hour moved through new material and his genre-spanning catalogue without the track that is responsible for more than 500 million of his Spotify streams.

The point was not that he forgot it. At the end of the recording, a Mixmag host walked out, thanked NOTION, and asked the room: "One more song?" Everyone assumed "The Days" was coming. It came, but only barely. NOTION played "The Days" remix for one drop and ended the track there. That was the set.

For a working producer standing behind the booth, that choice reads like a deliberate career posture rather than an accident of set flow. His recorded sets are built as arguments for the catalogue, not as delivery mechanisms for a single viral track. That is the opposite of what most artists in a similar commercial position would do.

It matches what he had already said in public. "I've honestly got no interest in making 10 more 'The Days' remixes," he told Notion magazine in July 2025. "I want to keep pushing myself creatively as an artist."

The set also featured a unique edit of "TENTEN," his 2025 collaboration with Unknown T and D38, reworked specifically for the Mixmag Lab context. Several of the same edits surfaced again the following night at Sammy Virji's sold-out Alexandra Palace headline, which MNEEMO also attended. Within a 72-hour window, London hosted two separate moments, an intimate Mixmag cover recording and a 10,000-capacity arena show, that between them mapped the full scale at which UK garage and adjacent bass music now operates in 2026.

After the set, NOTION stayed in the room. He did not leave through a back exit. He stood, took photographs with fans, shook hands, and spoke to people who waited. For a Mixmag Cover Mix recording, that level of post-session openness is unusual. MNEEMO's impression, spoken as a fellow producer: down to earth, not performative, not treating the moment as too big.

Who is NOTION, the Bristol DJ?

NOTION is not the Notion software, and not the other artists who have used the name. NOTION in this article is the Bristol-based British DJ and producer Rob Penny, whose career trajectory runs from small-village West Midlands bedroom production to the cover of Mixmag's April 2026 issue and a BRIT Awards 2026 Song of the Year nomination.

He has spent more than a decade building inside UK bassline and garage circuits. He came to mainstream attention in late 2024 via his remix of Chrystal's "The Days." He sits inside the current UK garage revival alongside producers like Sammy Virji, Interplanetary Criminal, Silva Bumpa, Omar+, and KETTAMA, covered in MNEEMO's broader UK garage 2026 analysis.

NOTION real name: Rob Penny

NOTION's real name is Rob Penny, confirmed via Mixmag's April 2026 cover feature, which identifies him as "Rob Penny, AKA NOTION." Earlier coverage, such as UKF's 2017 and 2024 interviews, used only the stage name.

The reticence is consistent with his broader public posture. He is, by his own repeated description, a "massive introvert." He does not cultivate the social-media aura-driven persona that some of his peers in UK dance music have built around themselves. The name surfaced not through TikTok positioning but through a long-form magazine cover on the strength of the work.

How old is NOTION?

NOTION is about 32 in 2026. He has not published an exact birth date. UKF described him as "a chill Bristol-based 23 year old" in September 2017, which places his birth around 1993 to 1994, and he told UKF in 2024 that he moved to Bristol at 18, a move Mixmag places right after his first EP came out in 2012, which fits the same window. He has not confirmed an exact year in any interview we have located.

Where is NOTION from?

NOTION grew up in a quiet village in the West Midlands. Before he moved to Bristol, he was getting his first DJ gigs at The Jailhouse in Hereford, where he was attending college. A friend named AJ, who put on nights there, helped him into those early bookings. At 16 or 17, this was his first hands-on exposure to playing to crowds, and for the first couple of years he played drum and bass almost exclusively.

He has consistently said that growing up in a musically quiet place was a creative advantage rather than a disadvantage. Without a dominant local scene to orient against, he built his production practice in near-isolation, which gave his early material the introspective quality that later became one of his identifying traits.

He moved to Bristol at 18, right after the release of his first EP, Digits, which Champion put out on his Formula Records in 2012. He has been Bristol-based ever since.

What genre is NOTION?

NOTION's genre is a blend of bassline, UK garage, house and jungle, with breaks and drum and bass in the mix. In his own words, speaking to Notion magazine in July 2025, his sound is "a mix of all the stuff I grew up listening to: bassline, garage, jungle, DnB, but also some rap, grime, and dubstep influences." In the same interview he pointed to how many people were arguing over what genre his remix of "The Days" is, and took it as proof that his music does not fit one scene. The remix runs on a Reese bassline, the sound Kevin Saunderson created in the late 1980s that became a staple of the UK underground, which is why it gets filed under house, garage and bassline all at once. His DJ sets are built as high-energy, fast-mixing club selections rather than journey-style extended arcs.

Two influences shape the emotional range of his work more than most realise. The first is Coki of the Digital Mystikz and the broader DMZ early UK dubstep scene, specifically a clip he used to watch over and over of Coki playing "Spongebob" at a DMZ night, which he has cited as the point where he wanted to play tunes that make people go off in a club. The second, stranger and more revealing: he was heavily into Deftones and 36 Crazyfists as a teenager. That emotional abrasion, the ability to hold vulnerability inside heavy sound, is what separates NOTION from the purely functional bassline producers of his generation and is probably the single best explanation of why "The Days" remix worked the way it did.

The career timeline

NOTION's career runs through six distinct phases, each with its own sonic logic.

Drum and bass DJ phase (his teens, before 2012). Before he was a producer at all, he was a DJ playing almost only drum and bass at Hereford's The Jailhouse. This phase gave him the crowd-reading instincts he later brought to bassline and garage sets.

Early bassline releases (2015-2017). His first run of producer credits in the bassline scene landed on British bass music labels: White Peach, 877, Four40, and Crucast. These were the infrastructure labels of the mid-decade bassline resurgence alongside TQD, Holy Goof, Skepsis, and Darkzy. Early UKF "Who The Hell Is Notion?" coverage in 2017 marked his first real critical visibility.

N Music launch (2017). NOTION founded his own imprint, N Music, in 2017 as a personal vehicle for his own material, with early releases including "Vex" featuring Slick Don. The stated intention was creative control and self-pacing, not signing other artists: "a brand for me to do what I want to do on my own schedule," he told UKF.

OUTSIDER (2022). A deliberate artistic reset. OUTSIDER, his debut album, moved NOTION beyond single-track club-tool production into project-scale artistic statement, with artwork, visuals, and emotional texture he had not attempted before. It opened with "FOUND LOVE" (feat. Carrie Baxter), and UKF later named "FOUND LOVE" and "CHERRY" among his hits from the project.

FORWARDS mixtape (30 August 2024). The continuation of OUTSIDER's logic, built from music he had made over the previous 12 to 18 months and moving across garage, house, breaks, and jungle. Tracks include GRAVITY, TEMPORARY FRIENDS (feat. Charlotte Plank), TV DREAMS, FEEL LIKE ME, BACKBONE and THINK ABOUT U. NOTION described the project in interviews as anti-algorithm, explicitly saying of its philosophy: "I just really don't want to make art that caters to whatever metric some tech company CEO decides is important so I'm just gonna do me, even if the algorithm hates it." In the same UKF interview he said "the whole anti-disposable art thing" had hit him a few years earlier, after seeing how quickly people move on from things online.

The Days remix and mainstream breakthrough (late 2024 onwards). Chrystal's "The Days" began as an unfinished demo by the Bolton-born singer, songwriter and producer, "archived and forgotten about" for nearly a decade before it came out in 2024. The track was released on Chaos, the dance imprint inside the Polydor / Universal UK orbit. NOTION put his spin on it shortly after it dropped, and his version went viral on TikTok in late 2024; in Mixmag's words, the remix "was everywhere, all at once." By April 2026, the remix had passed 500 million Spotify streams, hit UK number 4 on the Official Singles Chart, number 1 in New Zealand, number 5 in Australia, where it went multi-platinum, and number 4 in Ireland, and charted across Iceland, Norway, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It also entered the US Billboard Hot 100.

The Dance Dubs project: why it exists and why it works

Running in parallel to NOTION's commercial catalogue is Dance Dubs, a free-release series of edits, bootlegs, and uncleared club weapons that he and manager Sam launched in 2021-2022. The origin is mundane and revealing at the same time: NOTION had accumulated a large backlog of tracks that could not go through standard streaming release because roughly 90% of them relied on uncleared samples. Rather than let them die on a hard drive, the Dance Dubs format turned them into a branded free-release series on SoundCloud and Bandcamp.

The most widely played entry is his SKEPTA DUB, which UKF reported at about 700,000 SoundCloud plays in September 2024, when the series as a whole had passed three million plays.

The Dance Dubs series matters for reasons beyond the individual tracks. It turned a legal problem into a direct-to-fan architecture. It gave NOTION an always-on channel for giving his audience material they cannot get via streaming platforms, which in turn builds the kind of sustained fan loyalty that survives viral cycles. By 2024 the series had grown into dedicated Dance Dubs tours, and NOTION told UKF he was taking it "across the world".

The production setup

In a 2026 Mixmag interview, NOTION described a minimal hardware setup. He keeps only two hardware synths: the Moog Grandmother and the UDO Super 6. Everything else he works in the box. He has not publicly named his DAW, and we have not found a verified disclosure of it.

The two-synth commitment aligns with his stated production philosophy: colour comes from the producer, not from the gear. Over-stacked signal chains and over-saturated plugin workflows tend to flatten rather than sharpen electronic music. NOTION's tracks often sound cleaner than the bassline average, and the minimal hardware setup is part of why.

Notable collaborators

NOTION's collaborators across releases include Chrystal, Unknown T, D38, Slew, IRAH, Willow Kayne, nate sib, Charlotte Plank, Carrie Baxter, Conducta, Holy Goof and Slick Don, with new collaborations with Sean Tommy, Capo Lee and X CLUB aired in his Mixmag Lab set. Shared sets include a Bass Fest b2b2b2b with Skepsis, Darkzy, Bru-C and Holy Goof, and a Radius Chicago back-to-back with Interplanetary Criminal.

The peer support around him reads like a who's-who of current-scene gatekeepers: UKF reported that FORWARDS was backed by Sammy Virji, salute, Disclosure, Ewan McVicar, Ben UFO, Joy Orbison, Floating Points and Conducta.

The 2026 touring year

NOTION's 2026 live calendar confirms the scale shift. Beyond the Mixmag Lab London recording, Mixmag reported in April that his Australia and New Zealand run had completely sold out, and in August he was billed on The Warehouse, the new dance stage at Reading and Leeds, on the Sunday at Reading and the Friday at Leeds. His autumn includes Interplanetary Criminal presents at The Warehouse Project in Manchester on Saturday 10 October 2026. Mixmag's list of recent standouts runs through Coachella, Glastonbury, Beyond the Valley and Outside Lands, headline shows in Manchester and at HERE at Outernet in London, and a Radius Chicago back-to-back with Interplanetary Criminal.

The Love Saves The Day 2025 performance in Bristol is one he has publicly described as a homecoming, and the image of a self-described introvert playing to his hometown crowd during his own viral remix is the clearest emotional anchor of the current NOTION career phase.

The BRIT Awards 2026 nomination and Mixmag cover

"The Days" (NOTION Remix) with Chrystal was nominated for Song of the Year at the BRIT Awards 2026. The nomination is notable because the track is, by every production metric, a bass-driven dance record rather than a pop crossover in the traditional BRIT Song of the Year sense.

Mixmag's April 2026 cover feature, framed around the headline "Feel like me forever. Why viral success won't change NOTION," sits alongside the BRIT nomination as the other half of NOTION's current institutional moment. The cover and accompanying Mixmag Lab recording positioned NOTION as a defining artist of the year for the magazine. MNEEMO was present at the Mixmag Lab recording that accompanied the cover.

What producers can take from NOTION

For MNEEMO, NOTION sits as one of the clearer reference points in the 2025-2026 UK garage and speed garage production space: specifically, his ability to keep melodic and vocal warmth inside a bass-heavy production, and his way of moving between garage swing and bassline weight without losing groove continuity. The lesson is methodological rather than imitative.

Why NOTION matters to UK electronic music in 2026

Electronic music in 2026 is splitting between artists who react to viral moments by replicating the track that caused them, and artists who absorb the viral moment into a longer-running catalogue without letting it define them. NOTION reads as a clear example of the second kind.

The single most telling detail from the Mixmag Lab recording MNEEMO attended is the decision not to play "The Days" inside the recorded hour, which matches Mixmag's own account of a set that steered away from the hits and filled the hour with new music. That is not an accident of set design. It is a career-scale statement: the recording is the work; "The Days" is an extra; the audience is not entitled to the viral hit as the deliverable. This is the opposite of algorithmic music economics.

This sits inside the broader London electronic music moment MNEEMO has been tracking, from UK garage at Alexandra Palace scale to intimate room economics at Rave Per Minute to Gallery Club London's 2026 season opener: the producers and venues that programme for depth rather than delivery are the ones defining the current UK electronic music era.

FAQ

What is NOTION's real name?

NOTION's real name is Rob Penny, confirmed via Mixmag's April 2026 cover feature identifying him as "Rob Penny, AKA NOTION." Earlier coverage, such as UKF's 2017 and 2024 interviews, used only the stage name.

How old is NOTION?

NOTION is about 32 in 2026. UKF described him as a 23-year-old in September 2017, which places his birth around 1993 to 1994. He has not publicly confirmed an exact birth date.

Where is NOTION from?

NOTION grew up in a small village in the West Midlands and attended college in Hereford, where his first DJ gigs were at The Jailhouse venue. He moved to Bristol at 18 and has been based there ever since.

What genre is NOTION?

Bassline, UK garage, house and jungle, usually blended rather than one at a time. Mixmag's April 2026 cover feature describes him folding bassline, house, garage and jungle into a sound of his own, and he told Notion magazine in July 2025 that his music is "a mix of all the stuff I grew up listening to: bassline, garage, jungle, DnB, but also some rap, grime, and dubstep influences". In the same interview he pointed to how many people were arguing over what genre his remix of "The Days" is. His DJ sets operate as high-energy genre-blending club selections rather than single-genre journeys.

What genre is NOTION's remix of The Days?

There is no settled label, which is the point. Wikipedia files the song under house, while Mixmag points to its bass, a Reese, the late-1980s Kevin Saunderson sound that became a staple of the UK underground and of the bassline and garage styles NOTION grew up on. NOTION told Notion magazine in July 2025 that people were arguing over its genre and that the fact nobody can pin it down proves his music does not fit one scene.

Did NOTION produce "The Days" remix?

Yes. NOTION produced the remix of Chrystal's "The Days," released on Chaos, part of the Polydor / Universal UK orbit, in late 2024. The remix reached UK number 4, New Zealand number 1, Australia number 5 (multi-platinum), Ireland number 4, and passed 500 million Spotify streams by April 2026.

Was NOTION nominated for a BRIT Award?

Yes. "The Days" (NOTION Remix) with Chrystal was nominated for Song of the Year at the BRIT Awards 2026.

Is NOTION the same as the Notion software?

No. NOTION in this context is the Bristol-based British DJ and producer Rob Penny, not the Notion productivity software and not the other artists who have used the name.

What is NOTION's label?

NOTION runs his own imprint, N Music, founded in 2017. His major-label work, including "The Days" remix, is released through Chaos, the dance imprint within the Polydor / Universal UK orbit.

What is the Dance Dubs project?

Dance Dubs is a free-release series NOTION launched with manager Sam in 2021-2022 to distribute edits, bootlegs, and uncleared samples that could not go through standard streaming platforms. The series lives on SoundCloud and Bandcamp and has grown into dedicated Dance Dubs touring.

What synths does NOTION use?

NOTION told Mixmag he owns only two hardware synths: the Moog Grandmother and the UDO Super 6. Everything else he produces in the box.

When is NOTION's next UK show?

He is on the line-up for Interplanetary Criminal presents at The Warehouse Project, Depot Mayfield, Manchester, on Saturday 10 October 2026, alongside Joy Orbison, HAAi, DJ Seinfeld and others.

Who are NOTION's booking agents?

At the time of writing, NOTION was booked via The Team for the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the rest of the world, and via United Talent Agency for North and South America. Check his official social profiles for current contacts.

Sources

• Mixmag, "Feel like me forever: Why viral success won't change NOTION", cover feature by Jasmine Kent-Smith, 20 April 2026
• Notion magazine interview with NOTION, 23 July 2025
• UKF, "Who The Hell Is Notion?", 5 September 2017, and "In Conversation With NOTION", 3 September 2024
• Official Charts Company, "The Days" chart history (peak 4, label Chaos)
• NME, Reading and Leeds 2026 full stage times, 19 August 2026
• The Warehouse Project events listing, Interplanetary Criminal presents, 10 October 2026

Primary-source on-site reporting from NOTION's Mixmag Lab London recording in April 2026 by MNEEMO. This editorial is part of House of MNEEMO's ongoing coverage of the electronic and club music scene, written by London-based DJ and producer MNEEMO, millions of streams to his name and a party series running through some of London's best clubs. Listen to MNEEMO: Spotify · Instagram · YouTube