Documentaries

The 600th episode of the Exchange marks a pivot in Resident Advisor’s audio coverage. Source Material, one of our new series, moves towards in-depth, documentary-style reports on the electronic music community and beyond. For the inaugural edition of Source Material, we invite perspectives from Ukraine following the country’s invasion by Russia, which has sparked a humanitarian crisis with over 1.5 million displaced refugees.

Starting in 2014, Kyiv became a global dance music destination, due to its world-class venues and festivals, plus the government’s relatively hands-off approach towards enforcing social gathering regulations during Covid. Many flocked to its dance floors during a time when other countries operated under stringent lockdowns, and interest in the city only continued to grow. But the promise of Kyiv’s fertile club scene has been completely decimated by the war.

Those who made the community so vibrant are now faced with  the unimaginable decision to either flee or fight. The voices within this episode include Timur, known as the producer John Object, an affiliate of CXEMA, who is defending his country as part of the Territorial Defense Force, and Margareeta, RA’s City Manager for Kyiv, who discusses the emotional toll of fleeing from the war. Woven throughout are also interviews with anti-war protestors in the streets of Berlin and the volunteers helping refugees at the city’s main train stations.

Guests: John Object, Margarita Evi
Interviewer: Whitney Wei

Tracklist: 
John Object - Draft (2010)
John Object - Xanax & Silk (Live) (2016)
John Object - Kiss (2018)

EX.600 Source Material: Kyiv’s Club Community, Fractured By War

Collaboration is intrinsic to creative jobs. Whether you're a lone wolf or a team player, it's impossible to avoid partnerships and group coordination. But working with other people can get messy, especially when ego is involved. As part of Resident Advisor's ongoing collaboration with Black Minds Matter, this episode of the Exchange explores how alliances affect an artist's craft and wellbeing. In separate conversations with UK singer-songwriter Aluna and Hamburg-based DJ crew SLIC Unit, host Vanessa Maria asks them about the challenges of building collectively versus individually.

For SLIC Unit, being part of a network is all about mutual trust. Each person brings different talents to the table so it's important to reinforce each another while streamlining the decision-making process, founding members Nissa and SENU describe. "Being together or being in a collective always means more work," they say, referring to the need for clear communication, empathy and making time for everyone's projects. SLIC Unit practices what they call "radical solidarity," a support system that reduces chaos and stress while enabling them to have fun while working.

Aluna, on the other hand, has a solo career in addition to being one-half of the duo AlunaGeorge. For her, going solo meant confronting her relationship with fear. Being in a band provided her with a sense of safety but that ultimately became a warning bell, she explains. "I knew that I was using it as a safety net from a place of either displacement or fear," she continues, alluding to her issues with racism and sexism. At the end of the day, it's important for artists to establish stability and security within themselves before they can join a group, she notes.

For more insights on how creatives can preserve authenticity and self-worth in a team environment or on their own, listen to the hour-long podcast.

EX.612 Source Material: Collaboration & Mental Health

Faced with shrinking margins and higher rents, event organisers are finding new ways to keep the party going.

As the cost of living crisis continues to eat into club land, promoters around the world are increasingly being forced to adapt to shrinking margins. This new episode of Source Material, our documentary-style podcast series, shines a spotlight on Glasgow, Taipei and Chicago, where local organisers are testing out unconventional forms of inclusive promotion in response to widespread economic uncertainty. 

In Glasgow, Han Read runs a monthly night called Events Research Programme that operates off a Patreon subscription model. Bonjour, meanwhile, is a queer venue in the Scottish city that runs as a co-op, sharing a minimum 50 percent of its profits among staff in an effort to acquire more financial freedom. In Taipei, venue 23 Music Room is using its non-traditional business model to bolster the next generation of promoters while RA contributor Steve Noah describes the state of DIY parties in Chicago.

Listen to the full conversation for details on each of these scenes.

Producer: Rose Manson
Executive Producer: Martha Pazienti Caidan

EX.637 Source Material: Sustainable Promotion

Since at least the 1970s, artists have composed music for plants. From Mort Garson’s Plantasia to dublab's Plant Music compilation, albums recorded with nature in mind often intend to stimulate growth or simply entertain leafy creatures. This episode of Source Material, a documentary-style series, explores the symbiotic links between electronic music and house plants.

Diving into the world of frequencies and root systems, @martharadio speaks to various experts to learn how nature responds to ambient tunes and synthesisers. Among them are biotherapeutic musician Imka, Joe Patitucci of PlantWave, an app that translates plants' biorhythms into music, sound artist Karine Bonneval and composer Erland Cooper.

To discover how bass frequencies mimic bees and why festivals are adopting sonic soil pollution, listen to the episode.

EX.641 Source Material: Plants and Electronic Music

In honour of World Radio Day—which landed on February 13th—this week’s RA Exchange celebrates the power of radio in a documentary-style deep dive. UNESCO inaugurated World Radio Day in 2011 in order to commemorate its efficacy in reaching remote communities, connecting with people everywhere regardless of their education level, and providing a platform for positive and democratic discourse. It's also critical in spreading critical information during times of crisis or emergency. According to UNESCO, "increasing radio's journalistic standards and capacity should be considered as an investment in peace."

On a more modest level, podcasting and radio, especially in the world of underground music, can help forge in-person and virtual networks and celebrate and spread new and lesser-known music. During the pandemic, it also held together underground music scenes when people couldn't be together in the club, and sustained a kind of intimacy and connection by letting people share music over the airwaves and community platform chat rooms. 

In this episode, we hear from various radio producers around the world—including Jamz Supernova, Hana Walker Brown, Dublab Barcelona and Hong Kong Community Radio, among others—about why radio resonates so strongly with them. "Good radio is always an exercise in connection, especially host-led radio,” says Rory Bowens, NTS’s Head of Radio Production. “The fact that it's a live experience is really crucial. People can listen to something in real time with a huge audience of other listeners at the same time, and that intrinsically connects them to each other." Take a listen to the episode in full.

EX.648 Source Material: The Power of Radio in Times of Crisis

Versatility is a virtue and Kuba'97's record collection is just that. Engaging with an audience is his first focus. His sound will differ from set to set, juggling tempos and moods, he has what it takes to translate his own story to the dancefloor. From heavy-hitting peak time slots to subtle warm ups: whether the set demands soaring breaks from the era of the infamous warehouse raves or a mellow pattern of soothing ambient pads, Kuba'97 will be able to find the answer in his record bag.

Kuba' 97 @ Kiosk Radio 28.02.2023

Gaussian Blur w Rev Lon at Hope St Radio (02.04.23)

opening of @breathefestival 2023
https://breathefestival.sk

breathe

a fun lil b2b with @d_tyrone for this episode, recorded live at the lovely quiet time late night cafe <3

phase drift on skylab radio - b2b with d.tyrone 11/8/23

MELT 003 w/ Bolam

Bangers and slammers from all genres with Ambient Babestation Meltdown covering for Eclair Fifi. 
https://www.nts.live/shows/eclair-fifi/episodes/eclair-fifi-2nd-november-2023

Ambient Babestation Meltdown 021123

Welcoming Katerina to the 909 series who provides a gorgeous, blissed-out rolling mix flowing through tracks from Young Marco, BUD, Simone De Kunovich, Helium, Agent Orange and more. 

Katerina is a Finnish Bulgarian artist who is the founder of labels Émotsiya and Kotarak, releasing music from the likes of Sansibar and Exploited Body. Earlier this summer, Katerina released her debut EP for the esteemed Running Back which the label files under "singer-songwriter house, outsider or campfire dance".  Showing the evolution of who Katerina is an artist, the EP followed on from records on Cómeme, Hivern Discs, Tigersushi and Rhythm Section.

A staple within the Helsinki club scene, Katerina has helped build the profile of local institutions such as Kaiku and Flow Festival through her global recognition which has led to gigs in Paris, Berlin, Ibiza and more. 

Keep up to date with Katerina below:
https://www.instagram.com/katerina_emotsiya/
https://soundcloud.com/katerina 

‘Get To Know You’ by Katerina is out now via Running Back, buy here: https://runningbackrecords.bandcamp.com/album/get-to-know-you 

Tracklist: 
Young Marco - I’m Still Mellow
Zeta - Honey
Kinky Roland - Batika
Nathan Melja - Synesthesia (Pariah Remix)
Subterranean Mascots, Mark Walker - Higher (Acid High Mix)
Tim Duysen - Interludium
S.O.L. - Polarlicht (Mix 1)
BUD - Beat u down
Helium - Out There
Simone De Kunovich - Primal Dream
S.O.N.S - Acid Dreams (Trance Jungle Mix)
Agent Orange - Warm Love

Untitled 909 Podcast 171: Katerina

OG Juan is a promoter and DJ from Madrid, Spain. He serves as the curator for Tombolo and Radio Relativa, two projects dedicated to the promotion, curation, and discovery of music.

He has brought over 200 artists to perform in his country, including Marie Davidson, Shanti Celeste, Tornado Wallace, Jayda G, PLO Man, Greg Beato, and many others.

When he DJs, his aim is to share enjoyable tunes to add a touch of joy to your day, even if it's at the beginning or end of the week.

For more music:
www.discoesencia.com

OG Juan, Tombolo & Radio Relativa Info:

@ogjuan1
@tombololive
@radio-relativa

Esencia 068 - OG Juan

Bliss Point @ The Lot Radio 11-27-2023

'For home use only’ is an anti-club social, a chance to get to know someone/something. A series of transmissions purely dedicated to exploring the other side

so, we’ve made it to 18, in the digital surf it doesn’t mean much but god damn we will take any excuse to celebrate, who better to bring in the 18th cycle around the sun than Kasun aka DJ mocha latte aka the moustached mulaka aka the crossfader invader. As well as being an essential selecta he’s also an essential ingredient to every party, quite literally the salt of the earth, wind and fire. 

As well as moving dance floors, Kasun also creates them, through a long list of parties he runs, most of them to raise money for charity as well as running Melbourne based record label Temporal Cast with a few other cats. This selfless motherfucker wears his heart on his sleeve and puts 110% into everything he does. Personally, I've given him ‘best on ground’ at suit Sunday at Inner Varnika a few years running and there’s no better person to bump into on a dance floor. 

Now, the important part. The mix itself is formed up of the very fabric of the universe, interwoven by your own mother into a scarf for your whole body. Beautifully swimming through multiple genres and sub genre’s, you’re slowly but surely fully submerged by the end. It takes you through from waking up in the morning to going to sleep at night. A perfectly orchestrated film clip to do whatever the hell you want. Set it as your alarm and just let it play. 

Enough jibba jabba, listen to the ambient gabba. 

Much love. 

his sounds >>>>>>  https://soundcloud.com/kasun-seneviratne

Temporal Cast >>>>> http://www.temporalcast.com/

image credit: Kasun

FHUO # 18 // Kasun

The weekly RA Exchange is a series of conversations with artists, labels and promoters shaping the electronic music landscape.

EX.648 Source Material: The Power of Radio in Times of Crisis

RA Exchange

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