While dropping their self-titled debut LP with us in August, Anya and Izaak from Loveshadow (@loveshadowdjs) were kind enough to also record a lovely mix and answer a few questions. Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com

MFM: Hi Izaak and Anya, nice to have you on board. Both living in Bay Area, how would you describe your daily surroundings? Is it a nice place to be as an artist?

LS: Right now we live in SF. We grew up one town away from each other near the airport, though we didn’t meet until much later. The landscape is inspiring for sure- we spend as much time as we can out in the parks and wild areas and draw a lot from that. The art and music scenes here run deep, though the cost of living and of course covid have made things tougher.
 
MFM: The songs on your debut album as Loveshadow -which will be out in August- sound incredibly fresh where they also remind to certain pop, boogie, funk and even house from the mid and late '80s. What were some of your main influences for this project? 

LS: Thanks! We have to mention the UK act Fashion after whose song we named the group, but our tastes range all over. You could say that Loveshadow is kind of a lap around the 80’s prehistory of today’s dance music, when things were still firmly rooted in pop songwriting but had a simultaneously psychedelic and funky sensibility- one that grew out of dub/disco/punk counterculture. Getting more serious about learning the records at the roots of the whole thing allowed us to see how we might contribute something new to it in a way that was more than a style exercise.

MFM: Of course also the use of specific instruments ad up to that flavor - it seems that for example the Linndrum plays an important role. Did you aim for that sound and gathered the instruments around it, or the other way around maybe?

LS: We had an overall idea in mind that definitely informed the instrumentation but we’re not purists. A lot of the sounds on the record are replications of or deviations from the iconic originals. Those famous drum sounds in particular are like symbols, they impart a particular meaning and we use them to set a mood.

MFM: What's the dynamic between the two of you like in the studio? Is there a certain steady structure or does this change all the time? Maybe you could tell a little about your writing and recording process?

LS: It changes all the time- we’ve lived and worked in so many places separately and together since we started recording. Either one of us might come up with an idea that we’ll design sounds around, demo, arrange, and then throw it all in the trash and start again. Most of the songs on the record have had a few lives.

MFM: It feels that the music from the LP could work really well live on a stage too. Are there any plans for you to go touring? 

LS: We’re going to play a gig in Detroit later this summer that will be sort of a test run! After that, we’ll see. The project started out as an interest in records and recording, but anything’s possible.

MFM: Thanks a lot for contributing! It seems you quite regularly record a mix. Have you both always been busy collecting and sharing records? 

LS: Our pleasure, thanks so much for asking us! We’re always looking for new music. Sharing mixes online has helped us organize our favorites but playing parties is the best. We were gigging around before covid and we’ll hopefully get back to it as things continue to open up. This mix is definitely on the hype side of things- new digs, old favorites, some edits, tunes pals graciously sent our way, and what we’ve been dancing around our apartment to while we were stuck inside.

MFM Mix 030: Loveshadow

First contribution to our Spring/Summer mix series by LA's very own, @suzannekraft . Check out our short interview with him on our website! https://www.homagebrewing.com/spring-summer-mix-series

Homage Mix Series: Suzanne Kraft - 001

From Oakland with love comes the 50th submission in the mix series comes by the hand of prolific producer and deejay Space Ghost (@space-ghost-1). Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com 

MFM: Hey Sudi. How's life in California, what's been keeping you busy?

SG: Hey, not much! Just trying to enjoy the summer with friends and get in the studio when I can.

MFM: Looking at your discography it seems that you favor the LP over the EP format, having released well over a dozen albums. How come?

SG: I can’t say that I favor one over the other, just seems that as a musician you strive to write full length LPs. I enjoy LPs for home listening and it feels good to create a nice body of work that flows through a journey. Writing dance singles and eps are trickier for me. It feels harder to write 1-4 really good stand alone songs.

MFM: With such a prolific output, does writing music come easily to you? Can you tell us a bit about how you go about writing and recording, is there a certain flow or method?

SG: Hmm I wouldn’t necessarily say it comes comes easy but I’ve definitely gotten a lot better at getting ideas in my head out into my recordings. It’s still a process of getting into the studio and spending time on it. Sometimes I can spend a whole day or two just spinning my wheels and not being able to get my ideas out. But once I get that perfect dose of creativity and I’m in the right mood, then things can definitely start flowing out. When writing music I often need to start with a very specific idea based on a song I’m listening to at the time. It’s helpful for me to start out with that initial inspiration, whether some chords, style of drums, bassline or a tempo or something. Once I get a few elements working around that idea the song can start to morph and move in any direction, but I really need that specific direction to start. I find that I can often make a rudimentary idea fairly quickly this way and then if it’s inspiring me, I’ll start to try a little bit harder and flush out more of the idea.

MFM: How do you cope with not being inspired or motivated when in the studio?

SG: Honestly it can be a bummer to be in the studio and the ideas aren’t flowing. I’ll just have to step away and do something totally unrelated for a few days.

MFM: Your sound overall has a very soft and melodic touch. The mellow part may be from living close to the Pacific and nature, but where does the melodic part come from? Did you ever learn how to read and play notes?

SG: You know I’m really not sure if I can pinpoint my melodies and where they came from but ya I grew up taking music lessons of all sorts. Piano, drums, guitar, band class, all that stuff. I wasn’t the best at reading music, I learned basic stuff but eventually didn’t progress much farther. Now everything I do is by feel.

MFM: Is there some kind of masterplan for Space Ghost? Like, do you have certain goals to achieve or dreams to chase?

SG: I think my master plan would involve me getting to focus on writing music full time. Honestly I’m not really sure how to get there specifically, seems like everyone gets there on their own path so hopefully mine will end up there as well.

MFM: Tell us about the mix. How did you go about selecting and recording it? Does it have a certain theme or idea to it?

SG: I’ve been wanting to put out a nice lil ambient sort of electronic mix for awhile. Really soft deep introspective vibes. I’ve been holding on to a lot of these tunes for awhile and just listening to my playlist of ambient tunes while traveling or relaxing with friends. After coming back from my NZ/Australian tour, I was ready to play some non dance music for a sec and listen to some other stuff. This mix is just a nice break from DJing a party. I also really want to make an ambient album soon if I have the time, so there are a lot inspirations in this mix.

MFM Mix 050: Space Ghost

it's been a while... and we're back with a gentle bang a.k.a. a mix of the amazing Sanky @sankywashere!! 
Many of you will have had the pleasure to dive into his selections at other sites. Being a fan for a good while I dared to ask him for a mix and now we installed a window to his universe here at the bin too! As I always enjoyed the variety and finesse of his mixes I asked for his musical background and Sanky was so nice to share this with us: 
"My mother was a piano teacher and sometimes practiced with various classical musicians who were playing at city hall so the house almost always had strange, orchestral sounds emanating from the dusty front room. I can't play a note of piano as my hands don't seem to want to work together as 10 fingers but I can play some wind instruments and loved learning the trumpet, these strange organic sounds are something that I now realize feature heavily when out looking for records, weird sounds seem to mean as much as beautiful lyrics these days. I also think the varied pace of classical from Adagio all up to Presto might have influenced me more than I thought too. I've never really understood music in terms of bpm's but more on feeling. I'm 51 and I feel really lucky to grow up in a pre internet world on rare soul and jazz, boogie, soundtracks, samples and hip hop which provided another view of how incredibly different music really can be. Hearing Colin Curtis screaming down the mic at age 15 playing Margie Evans “Waterfalls” or watching David Mancuso drop “Whole Lotta Love” after Tamiko Jones “Can’t Live Without Your Love’ at 6pm in the afternoon and watch people lose their minds are things I feel truly lucky to have witnessed, genius at work for sure.
 
I just still look out for the oddness, especially on 7” as there is still so much undiscovered music there but also something that sounds familiar even when it’s not. I live in Mexico now and again due to what I hear day to day in the street (not just necessarily music) changes what I collect, the feeling of life here is softer and slower so this mix might have a piece of that in it. I hope you listen to the mix all the way through in a comfortable place you feel happy to be in. It has some of my most favorite records I play over and over…big love.

Let me know if you want to know what any of the tracks are and thanks to the main man Basso who’s been an inspiration for years. 

Cocktails on the beach for all…x

Dedicated to My Mother Kate. RIP."

THANKS SO MUCH SANKY!!!

Sankywashere - Room To Breathe (Guest Mix, 2024)

Moonlit Melodies

Crown Ruler Mix #34 - Kejeblos

Here at CR HQ we’ve been long time listeners and admirers of Zurich based, Kejeblos and we’re gassed to have him join our ongoing mix series. 

Kejeblos is a man of big taste and big ears that leaps through sounds from all around the globe.

A protegé of Lexx and Alex Dallas from Club Zukunft and Drumpoet Community, Kejeblos belongs to that invincible circle of friends, whose members CCO, Wavetest and Late Invitation are doing the wickedest Chicago House in Liechtenstein, sorry, Switzerland.

Some little treats await you as you press play, with two newbie tunes… one from Palace Pasador’s forthcoming release on Phantom Island and the other from Lexx’s new LP about to drop on the label. 

Enjoy the dive!

@kejeblos

Crown Ruler Mix #33 - Kejeblos

Internet Super High Way

Rhythm Foundation - Let The Whole World Know

'tis not everyone's favorite season of the year, but definitely the last mix of the decade. What better way to end it than let the high priest of Synth-Pop (Episcopal Minister John Zahl) read us the mass. John has prepared almost 5 hours of musical cleansing (recorded live et at Public Records on Oct 26, '19), which hopefully should be enough to wash you free from your sins of the last 10 years. Amen

JAZ (End of Decade Mass)

Made a very small run of these CD's during the summer of 2003. Anything goes, leftfield, italo, whatever... just for kicks

Living for Kicks (2003)

Recording for H.A.N.D. by Trujillo, June 2020.

H.A.N.D. MIX 023 – Trujillo

Beer, Wine, Dance. 
♫ Night Moves ♫
1219 N. Main Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Homage Mix Series: Suzanne Kraft - 001

Homage Brewing