Ahead of Outro Tempo II close friend John Gómez (@johngomezldn) contributes to the MFM Mix Series with this wonderfully soothing second episode titled Spring Awakening (photo credit: @marionavilaros). Q&A here below.

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MFM: Hey John! So, before we talk about the present and future let's briefly flash back. How do you look back on the first Outro Tempo compilation? It seems that it has opened up quite a lot of ears and doors, do you think it had the same impact in Europe as it did in Brazil?

JG: It had different sorts of impacts, in the sense that in Europe Outro Tempo was very much an introduction to a world of music most of us didn’t know about, but in Brazil it offered an alternative take on its own musical history. It generated a lot of interest in that period – I mean, you can see how many reissues of music with a similar sound have come out in the past two years. I was amazed at how much it resonated in Brazil: I still get emails, occasionally from quite prominent musicians and journalists, thanking me for my work promoting Brazilian music. I never could have expected that kind of response and, to answer your first question, on a personal level Outro Tempo generated a lot of good will for me in Brazil. 

MFM: Outro Tempo II the full compilation will be out in May but first there's the Single Promocional teaser EP, containing 2 exclusive tracks. How did you decide these 2 tracks had to be on it? Do they connect both the compilations in one way or another?

JG: Yes, naturally they connect, as two of the members from Bruhahá Babélico were in another group that features on the compilation and were part of the São Paulo scene. The idea for the EP came from being blown away by the incredible Babélico II when I first heard it. It was actually a 26 minute jam that was recorded directly to cassette and it would have been difficult to release in its original form. I edited the music in a way that was true to the original, but as it was taken from cassette it had very different sonic qualities to the rest of the music on the compilation. I felt this would interrupt the overall flow of the comp, so I thought it would be a nice idea to release it independently as a teaser EP. It’s totally bonkers and I’m thrilled that people seem as excited by the track as I am! 

MFM: Would you say Outro Tempo II is the logical or natural follow up to its predecessor, does it really continue where the first left off?

JG: Initially I didn’t really want to do a follow up. I thought there was no point in just compiling the tunes that didn’t make it on to the first. But eventually I distanced myself enough from the compilation to see another narrative emerging in Brazilian music of the time. There are points of intersection but it feels like an evolution from the first, moving in a different direction towards the experimental soul of Brazil’s gigantic cities and the relationship developed with new influences from outside. 

MFM: So, thanks for contributing to our new mix series! When we first asked, you said about maybe doing a more 'chilled' mix. Did you have a specific purpose in mind with that? 

JG: I just wanted to record something less functional and self-promoting than the hundreds of dance mixes that are uploaded each week. Last year I did an RA mix and a Beats In Space but it feels like ages since I’ve simply put together some nice songs. I like saving my dancefloor tunes for the dancefloor as I think they lose some of their magic or impact if they’ve been heard many times before. This is definitely not geared towards the dancefloor: it is deep music for listening and features outsider folk from North Carolina and the Basque country, fusion from Mexico and Argentina, cosmic sounds from Martinique and Nigeria, and hypnotic rhythms from Brazil, with a little nod to Outro Tempo II.

MFM Mix 002: John Gómez

NO DEMOS, thanks...

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Amsterdam based record label releasing visionary electronic music from both past and present.

Sublabel: @secondcircle

MFM Mix 002: John Gómez

Music From Memory