Please meet London based DJ and producer, former Cafe Del Mar resident, and our long time close friend Phil Mison (@cantomamusic). Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com

MFM: Hi Phil, many know you as one of the DJ's who has played all the best sunset spots across the globe. How did your summer look this year, still been scoring sunsets here and there?

PM: My summer was great. I travelled to Amsterdam, Cork, Copenhagen and Barcelona and had some nice gigs in the UK. My friend Deke has opened a bar on the seafront in Margate, you get pretty epic sunsets down there. I played a few records one evening and managed to fit in a few old cafe classics as the sun disappeared into the sea. 

MFM: Please tell us a bit about how it all started for you?

PM: I grew up in the 70’s, so there were quite a few different influences. David Bowie ‘Life On Mars’ was an early memory, and I was obsessed with Blondie. Parallel lines was the first album I bought. Later it was Northern Soul, Electro, nothing really that mellow! In 87 I met a couple of people who were really into House. I started going to groove records in soho to buy records like Adonis - No Way Back, Ten City - Devotion. Then as 88 rolled around I got into the more Balearic side of things. Later in 89 I’d pop into Reckless Records for second hand stuff and started to browse the New Age section where I got things like Kitaro  ‘Tunhuang’ and Paul Greaver ‘Joy’. Those records were the starting point really. 

MFM: DJing in clubs to make people dance never really attracted you?

PM: I’d say pretty much most of my DJing has been in clubs. I started at the Milk Bar in Soho in 1992 after giving Darren Emerson a tape. Even though I was doing the warm up and playing mellow stuff at the beginning, you had to build it up to a full dance floor by the end. In 1996 and 2000 I was the tour DJ for Lefttfield, playing in front of 1000 odd people. ‘Just get it going before we come on!’ Alongside Ross Allen and Rob Da Bank, I was resident at Bar Rhumba for our Next Level night in 1997. It lasted a year and we opened with Harvey and closed with Andrew Weatherall. I Have to mention Moonboots and Jason Boardman’s night Aficionado too. I always enjoyed playing to a dancefloor there, they’ve kept the Balearic flag flying since 1998. 

MFM: At what point did you got into making music on your own? 

PM: I’d worked on a project for Kenneth Bager in 1994. Then later on he started his Music For Dreams Label, and asked me if I would be interested in making an album.  So the first Cantoma album was started in Copenhagen in 1999, and finished in London in 2003. 

MFM: How do you come up with a new song, is there a certain Phil Mison way to it? Do you write the parts for the musicians?

PM: It usually starts with an idea that pops into my head. Sometimes a memory or travelling will get a melody going, and I’ll sometimes hum it into my phone and use that as a starting point. Ive worked with Engineer/Producer Robin Twelftree on all the Cantoma albums. I’ll go into Robin’s studio and usually start with some basic keyboards, then I’ll play a bassline in. I’ll take the demos away and think about what would work on the tracks. For some musicians the music is written down. Ive worked with Robin Lee from Faze Action on a few Cantoma tunes, and he usually transcribes my basic melodies onto sheet music. Other times I’ll play the melodies on a keyboard or hum the tunes for the musicians to follow along to. On some tracks I’ll write the lyrics too and get a singer to record on a track. There’s a lot of going back and forth until I’m happy with the final cut. The music rarely ends up sounding like the first version.

MFM: Making a mix must have been a piece of cake for you :) What is this mix like?

PM: I went back through my 92-94 selection and picked a selection of the lesser played records. Memories of magic times at the Milk Bar and warm summer evenings at the Cafe del mar.

MFM Mix 044: Phil Mison

SWAYMIX 001 - Telephones

Despite missing the last two and a half hours we still managed to record a good bit of our all night b2b2b2b2b2b session for AUF LEIWAND at Celeste on 9.11.2024 with Alaska Al, Heap, Julian, Luziprak, Marc Graebnor and myself playing only Austrian tunes all night. In its slightly chaotic amateurishness, i think its a great representation of the giant potpourri that is the more obscure side of Austrian pop and dance music history of the latter part of the last century ;)

https://soundcloud.com/digatone
https://soundcloud.com/heapvienna
https://soundcloud.com/giuliodj
https://soundcloud.com/luziprak
https://soundcloud.com/goldcutcrates

Alaska Al, Heap, Julian, Luziprak, Marc Graebnor, Mike Burns - Auf Leiwand @ Celeste 9.11.2024

Bringing in the New Year, Customs take the plunge into their crates and pull out all the goodies to extend that festive feeling. As residents of both Brilliant Corners and Giant Steps, the North East London collective are renowned for their eclectic sets and have been making waves around the globe for many years now. Leaning into their mid tempo gems, this is a seamless ride through Brit Funk, Boogie, Jazz Funk and much more in that pocket. Packed with treats for the whole family, this is sure to get y'all up and running into 2025.

@customs_ldn

LIFE CLASSICS 72 CUSTOMS

18042025 restaurant recording by @deejaytracksuit88

cornerstore during service • #40 • DJ TRACKSUIT

Tape 035 is here. A very good friend of our bar recorded a one-hour mix with tunes from very mixed genres. Based in Sanremo, Italy, James Falco (@jamesfalco) is a very active DJ and promoter who has already traveled the world DJ-ing. If you didn’t know, James is behind two beautiful boutique festivals from Sanremo, called Botanica and Piña, which you definitely need to visit.

Enjoy!

LIFT TAPE 035 - James Falco

Hotel Del Mar

PICO DE GALLO

Outro Tempo launch at Brilliant Corners with Jamie Tiller and John Gómez(26/02/2017)

Artwork: Wonderland 07 by Alice Quaresma

@jamietiller
@johngomezldn

John Gómez & Jamie Tiller at Brilliant Corners

Saturday afternoon at the Garden Festival Tisno - sun, beach and the best friends xxx

NTS - Doing Time w/ M August & R Laybaxxx "Reality Check"

M August