Hailing from the Belgian capital and as 1/3 behind the Şelale record on Second Circle, it's our friend soFa (@sofaholic) on mix 32. Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com 

MFM: Hi Chris, can you tell a bit about how you made your first steps in the scene as a DJ/producer?

SE: That was first by playing school parties only, and later by organising parties and getting booked by others in return. The usual game, but it was a bit easier as today since there was less competition I think. On the production side I am quite new to that. I started in 2018 only because I lacked time before that, I used to have a job as curator for an art festival and also digging for records kept me busy and excited for many hours every day. 

MFM: Earlier this summer saw the release of Selale on Second Circle, a collaborative project between you, Okay Temiz and Houschyar. Most releases you've worked on are collaborations. Is there a reason for that? 

SE: Yeh different reasons. It's much more fun to share the fun! I'm not a properly trained musician, I like to break rules, rather than applying them. Collaborating with people who know notes and harmonies allows to combine those 2 visions and the results are more exciting to my ears. I feel I have more to say by helping others to get their music right (or wrong) cause that's what all those years of digging after very specific records have taught me.

MFM: Any more projects lined up already?

SE: Yes, quite a bunch I produced with dear friends, Nyati Mayi, soon on Bongo Joe, CCCVVV with Clara Vellin on Strangelove Music and Sexo Y Fantasia with Da Boochie from Kiosk Radio on Glossy Mistakes coming up. There is also a solo record going to the pressing plant next week, coming out on Planet Trip in spring. It has guest singers, but I call it my solo record since I played the whole beats and synths by myself. Its probably gonna remain my only solo record for a while. I slipped into so many collabs and I'd like to focus on that. I especially love working with singers/voices and hopefully some day I get to produce a whole band project!

MFM: What are you hoping for to find in nightlife now that dancefloors are opening up again? Have you been thinking about this whole situation a lot at all?

SE: I am looking forward to seeing people smile and dance again! Party wise I would especially hope to find more groove and less hard music everywhere. I have the feeling the youth of today can only dance to hard stuff, I find that sad. Real music lovers can dance to anything. The whole situation is/was of course tragic for the nightlife sector. Especially for younger people who are in their best years to create a network of friends and experience adulthood for the first time. On a personal level I liked the time off. It allowed me to focus on a more healthy lifestyle and on making music. 

MFM: Cheers for contributing your mix! What can you tell about it? 

SE: I glued together the first half of it while on a roadtrip in Albania last month. Second half I did this morning in a rush. It's nice tunes, diverse and odd enough as I love. I don't care too much about the technical aspect, I just recorded a bunch of records I felt for sharing. In my opinion all that Dj thing is a bit overrated and way too serious. We are just playing other people's music afterall. There is an art behind that, but I feel it's getting lost more and more. For me it's not about the technical side of it, it's about adapting to people and still surprising them in an original way.

MFM Mix 032: soFa elsewhere

DJ & Record collector. I bring people together with music, art & food.
World champion stretching and dancing at the same time.
I play music (mostly) from the African diaspora with a special interest in Carribean rhythms & influences from New York, Chicago & Detroit.

2025.10.18 - Phono Lake, Amsterdam
2025.10.11 - Locomotion, Paradiso, Amsterdam
2025.10.10 - slimradio, Amsterdam
2025.10.3 - Hito, Den Haag

2025.9.27 - Phono Lake, Amsterdam
2025.9.26 - Het Sierraad, Amsterdam
2025.9.19 - Open Source, Nijmegen
2025.9.18 - Loop51, Amsterdam
2025.9.17 - Baarsjes Festival, , Amsterdam

2025.9.7 - Hartstocht festival, , Elp
2025.9.6 - Locomotion, Paradiso, Amsterdam


2025.8.30 - De Nada, Amsterdam
2025.8.16 - Lowlands, Biddinghuizen
2025.8.8 - Phono Lake, Amsterdam
2025.8.8 - Future Intel, Den Haag
2025.8.7 - Locomotion, NAR, Utrecht
2025.8.1 - Cornerstore, Amsterdam


2025.7.26 - Sissis, Amsterdam

2025.7.19 - Calypso, W Hotel, Amsterdam
2025.7.18 - Locomotion, b2b Merchant, Doka, Amsterdam
2025.7.18 - Georgies Wundergarten, Amsterdam
2025.7.4 - b2b Emo Rugene, Phono Lake, Amsterdam

2025.6.16 - East Side Radio, Lisbon
2025.6.8 - Lepeltje Lepeltje, NDSM, Amsterdam
2025.6.7 - Cornerstore, Amsterdam
2025.6.4 - b2b DJ Westfa, Radio Radio, Amsterdam

2025.5.29 - Locomotion Festival, , Utrecht
2025.5.25 - Tweede Assem Radio, , Gent
2025.5.24 - Specter / Pinto invites, , Gent
2025.5.23 - Phono Lake, Amsterdam
2025.5.21 - Songs & Stories from Guadeloupe, Paak, Nijmegen
2025.5.17 - Hearth, , Amsterdam
2025.5.17 - Amersfoort, , Amersfoort
2025.5.16 - Juno, Amsterdam
2025.5.11 - Songs & Stories from Guadeloupe, Brilliant Corners, London
2025.5.2 - Juno, Amsterdam

2024.4.26 - Cartel, Westerunie, Amsterdam
2024.4.26 - door open space, Amsterdam
2025.4.25 - Loop51, Amsterdam
2025.4.21 - Joe Claussell Only set / Doka Nov '23, Coloring Lessons / Soundcloud, Amsterdam
2024.4.12 - Cornerstore, Amsterdam
2025.4.11 - All night, Sissis, Amsterdam
2024.4.4 - b2b Nikola Vemic, Doka, Amsterdam
2024.4.3 - Locomotion, b2b Nikola Vemic, NAR, Utrecht

2025.3.31 - Subcult, Amsterdam
2025.3.22 - Hearth, Amsterdam
2025.3.21 - The BIG Equinox ALL DAY Stream, b2b Merchant, Youtube, Amsterdam
2025.3.16 - Audioteca, Naples
2025.3.17 - Joe Claussell Set (Live recording from Doka), Coloring Lessons Mix Series, New York
2025.3.7 - The Riff, Reggio Emilia

2025.2.10 - Shining Lights Streaming Live, Youtube, Amsterdam
2025.2.6 - Juno, Amsterdam
2025.2.6 - Locomotion w/ Mokeyanju, NAR, Utrecht
2025.2.3 - Shining Lights Streaming Live, Youtube, Amsterdam
2025.2.1 - Madam, Amsterdam

2025.1.31 - Cornerstore, Amsterdam
2025.1.27 - Shining Lights Streaming Live, Youtube, Amsterdam
2025.1.20 - Shining Lights Streaming Live, Youtube, Amsterdam
2025.1.19 - Sober Clubbing Panel, Radio Radio, Amsterdam
2025.1.17 - The Dawn Chorus, b2b Rik Tan, Radio TNP, Amsterdam
2025.1.16 - Paak, Nijmegen
2025.1.13 - Shining Lights Streaming Live, Youtube, Amsterdam
2025.1.6 - Shining Lights Streaming Live, Youtube, Amsterdam
2025.1.4 - The Speaker Never Lies w/ Hugo Out, Operator radio, Rotterdam

2024.12.28 - De Nada, Amsterdam
2024.12.14 - Pacific, b2b Leroy Rey, , 
2024.12.12 - Locomotion, b2b Undercover DJ, NAR, Utrecht
2024.12.11 - Intermittent Fasting, RRFM, Amsterdam
2025.12.10 - Sunshine House Music, Jaguar House, Amsterdam
2024.12.5 - Yellow House, Amsterdam
2024.12.5 - Hour of Power, Echobox, Amsterdam
2024.12.1 - Songs & stories of resistance & celebration, Omroep Zwart / Wat Anders, Hilversum

2024.11.29 - Loop51, 
2024.11.27 - Hour of Power, RRFM, Amsterdam
2024.11.13 - Intermittent Fasting, RRFM, Amsterdam
2024.11.8 - b2b Mr Redley, Doka, Amsterdam
2024.11.3 - Coloring Lessons Radio, The Lot, New York

2024.10.17 - Soulful Sessions ADE, with Shady Lady, Multipla, Amsterdam
2024.10.17 - Lost in Rhythm ADE, Feed, Amsterdam
2024.10.10 - Locomotion, with TBD, NAR, Utrecht
2024.10.10 - with Daiki, Phono Lake, Amsterdam

2024.9.24 - Hour of Power, RRFM, Amsterdam

"If you didn't know, Hell Yeah is the Italian label hell-bent on releasing the best modern disco(ish) you can find. Sometimes it's blissed out and Balearic, sometimes it's squelchy and down-right weird and sometimes it's the sort of elongated, tribal stuff that works dancefloors into a salacious frenzy" (Kristan J Caryl - DJ MAG January 2014)


Hell Yeah Recordings, a descendent of leading Italian dance label Mantra Vibes is an Italian-based electronic music label active since 2006. Releasing from Ferrara, Bologna, and Amsterdam and led by Marco Gallerani “peeDoo” (A&R), the label bases its philosophy on a diversity of artists and recording experiences tied together by a common vision of what defines quality progressive recording. 

With a sound as diverse as the artists it represents, Hell Yeah does not limit itself to the constraints of genre but packs a complex palette of sounds ranging from techno to minimal-nu-rave to electro-funk and tech house.  Artists as varied as Radio Slave, Santos, Umek, Oliver Koletzki, Congorock, 3iO, Crimea X and the mighty Balearic Gabba Sound System have helped establish Hell Yeah’s eclectic sound, a distinct take on party music loaded with a sonic Balearic feel good vibe that has made press around the world hail Hell Yeah as a label to watch, always

Hell Yeah aims to build upon its current reputation as a leading Italian Electronic Music play, overseeing the release of a series of progressive productions that straddle genres, defy conventions and blur barriers between listening and dance music. Stemming from Hell Yeah’s initial graphic identity formed by Neverending’s Rocco “the Boghe” Pezzella, new mind-bending web and label artworks from Italian artist Andrea Amaducci and the Berlin-based Ice Cream For Free collective promises complete visual as well as aural stimulation.

info/bookings: 
marco@pplayground.com

PLEASE DON'T SEND DEMOS

www.musicfrommemory.com

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

Sublabel: @secondcircle

MFM Mix 032: soFa elsewhere

Music From Memory