From Paris with love here comes mix 008 by Second Circle artist and friend D.K. (@d-k-music). Q&A (excerpt) here below.

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MFM: Salut Dang Khoa, welcome to our podcast series. Had a nice summer?

DK: Hey! Thanks for having me. My summer was pretty cool, I was happy to play some nice festivals and gigs in Europe. I also had a little break to go on vacation with some friends in Marseille to enjoy the sea and the South coast of France.

MFM: Speaking about summer, your music has quite an exotic touch in which melody and percussion both seem to play a pivotal role. Where does that come from? 

DK: At the very beginning, it was simply inspired by the kind of house music I was listening to. But it changed through the years. I had a period when I was into industrial stuff, and I’ve been really inspired by the textures, by that sensation of mechanical groove and how the percussions were used. It kind of lead me to listen to the roots of music, and got into ritual sounds. Regarding the melodies, I don’t know man, it’s maybe because I’ve listened to too much R’n’B when I was a teenager haha.

MFM: But you're not a trained musician in one way or another? Like, can you read notes and play keys or other instruments maybe?

DK: I played violin when i was very young at the Rennes Conservatory of music for 6 years but it was a long time ago and i didn't practice since. I still can read notes but i'm super slow when it's about to play a musical score with other instruments now.

MFM: Would you say you have a D.K. workflow when in the studio?

DK: I like to have a precise idea of what I want to do before I start, even if it’s going to change completely during the process. Also, the shape of a track will really depend on what I’m listening to at the moment. I can easily get lost sometimes, producing something that is totally different of what I’m doing but I always learn some new technics. It’s a good way to find new ideas as well. Most of the time, I work on the same loop until I’m satisfied, almost all the elements of the track have to be already present on this loop, so I can have a vision of what it’s going to look like. Then, I know it will be easy to structure, edit and finish.

MFM: Interesting, for a lot of producers making arrangements seems a tough task or annoying burden even. What's your trick?

DK: I start with the  rhythm structure then focus my work on finding the main theme of a track,  and i build everything around it. If the beat and the  hook are strong enough it's usually not a tough task to make the arrangements.

MFM: You've been putting out music not only as D.K., how come?

DK: I decided to use that 45ACP moniker to focus my work more on sound textures and beats. It was maybe more heavy and club-oriented than what I used to do as D.K.. But now, I’m trying to combine everything in one project to create more contrast in my music. I’m generally interested by the opposition of textures and sounds in music. For instance, I like to mix raw percussion parts with clean drums or melancholic cold pads with naive midi melodies.

MFM: So, what can tell us about the mix? Any specific theme behind it?

DK: It’s a collage of tracks that I’ve been listening to at home recently and some edits I’ve made, from ambient and tribal to Japanese stuff. It’s obviously not what people can expect to hear me play in a festival or club but I would say that it’s more the vibe that I’m trying to create when i’m performing live.

MFM: Last but not least, any exciting news you'd like to share?

DK: I’m wrapping up my next Ep at the moment, it will be the third volume of my trilogy dedicated to club music on Antinote. I also have a release to come out soon on 12th Isle, and a couple of remixes.

MFM Mix 008: D.K.

NO DEMOS, thanks...

Webshop: https://www.musicfrommemory.com

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

Sublabel: @secondcircle

MFM Mix 008: D.K.

Music From Memory