First up in 2023 is Los Angeles based Juan Izguerra (@juanizguerra) who runs his residencies at Dublab and Homage Brewing. Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com

MFM: Hi Juan, welcome to the series. You're based in Los Angeles, right? Can you tell a bit about what keeps you busy? 

JI: Hey there! Super stoked to contribute. Well, I was born in Pomona, California and I started DJing about six years ago. I recently found myself as the event coordinator at Homage Brewing in 2021 and It’s been a great experience to be on both sides… I love being able to DJ at some of my favorite parties, and then host locals and out of town friends at my own events with Homage. My girlfriend and I made the move to LA in the summer of 2020. Early on in the pandemic rent was pretty much the same in Pomona as it was in LA so we thought we’d just live in the city. When clubs/bars opened up again I got involved with Homage. Since then I’ve been able to host parties at our space and focus on bringing people together for the music. 

MFM: What triggered you to initially get interested and involved in buying and playing records?  

JI: I’ve collected records since my teens but it wasn’t until I was 20 that I met one of my now super close friends Josh da Costa (Confusing Mix on NTS) who put me onto crazy records he found during his time living and touring in Europe. He showed me things like Roberto Musci, Thomas Leer, The Antennas, Cherry Red records, and weird compilations. Hearing things like that made me so curious. I saw Josh DJ one day and I was fascinated with how he made people dance. It made me want to learn how to do that! 

MFM: Nice. Did you have any other role models you felt inspired and motivated by?

JI: Definitely. My friends Josh (who I mentioned), Jimi Hey, and Shags Chamberlain were an early influence on me. They toured all over the world and would come home with bags of records, share their discoveries, and give a story about where they found it. I saw that as a way to connect with people and It inspired me to travel and want to find things of my own to share. As I got more curious on the DJ’ing side of things, I definitely got a lot of inspiration from my good friend Bianca Lexis. She’s one of my favorite DJ’s!

MFM: You've done quite some traveling yourself too, within the US but also intercontinental. How is LA nightlife compared to some other places you've been? What's the LA style?

JI: LA’s nightlife definitely needs some work. In New York, Europe, and Mexico City, there’s an audience for every genre and a club for it as well. I think that’s what we struggle with most. People have to resort to attending warehouse parties which involve a lot of financial strain on the organizers. Still, we do have a lot of people putting together great parties here such as Third Place and Moony Habits. Lots of great house/outdoor parties which are really fun and unique to LA. 

MFM: Where and how do you go finding new records and music? Do you have your secret or not so secret methods?   

JI: When it comes down to record shopping I typically like to leave LA. Visiting suburban areas is where I get the most luck. Something about those areas feels more zen since it’s less competitive. It puts me in a mental space where I’m able to focus on looking through records thoroughly. 

MFM: Looking forward to anything specific in '23? Any future plans you'd like to share maybe? 

JI: I’ll be visiting Tokyo for the first time in May so I’m super psyched about that. Also planning to be in Europe in August/September so I'm looking forward to setting up some gigs there!

MFM: Tell us about your mix! How did you approach selecting and recording it?

JI: I wanted to make it a bit cerebral but still keeping it rhythmic and having plenty of songs with lyrics. It has an ambient start that works into downtempo tracks and slowed down Italian house. Hope everyone enjoys!

MFM Mix 047: Juan Izguerra

From Japan here's producer, DJ and friend of the label Kunyuki Takahashi (@kuniyuki-takahashi) with a special recording of his live set during Rainbow Disco Club this year 2024. Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com

MFM: Hey Kuni. What was growing up in Sapporo like, being quite remote from the other major cities in Japan? Via what channels/media/ways did you learn about music, art, etc? 

KT: Tokyo is most biggest scene about culture and music, but I was really looking for more out of Japan. Sapporo is more slow. I was just into music when I was teenager so everydays looking interesting music, because around 80's was crazy it' like big bung for music. My friends and i also really looking for PUNK, Industrial music, Ambient music, also of cause electric music as well at that time. It was just our like networks and channels for connect to other essence from each one. You know Teenager No need mainstream, no need TV show just believe to get some good one  from friends!

MFM: Your sound overall has a very 'organic' and 'spiritual' touch. Where does this come from? Who and what were/are your inspirations?  

KT: Both of feeling is definitely I need and my favorite things about when I touch instruments because it's nice to connect into music. So many instruments has lot's of colors so it's my inspirations come from. But to be honest i'm really bad to playing instruments....

MFM: That is debatable, haha. Where did you actually learn to play all those instruments, like the conga's and flute?

KT: I learnt about percussion and congas by listening to African music, and in the 90s I spent a lot of time with these. I used to listen to Peter Gabriel's Realworld record series so it's my teacher of  music! There are flute-like instruments in synthesizers and music workstations, but when I tried to use flute sounds by Synth, I couldn't feel spiritual, so I decided to try my hand at it. There is so much spiritual real instruments.

MFM: Your contribution is a recording of your live show at Rainbow Disco Club in Japan this year 2024. What can you tell us about the show? For those who had to miss it, maybe you can describe the setting a bit?

KT: Yes it was from My good friend Masa From Rainbow disco club.
I've been joined Rainbow disco club many times and always did a Dance set but he Told me “could you play live show like your album from Music from memory For RDC2024?”, and I was say “YES I would love to and if we can do then I want to do proper Music from memory live set.” So it was so exciting. Because these music from MFM was very special. It was morning time, there is nature and birds singing, and I was joined with my like bird whistle, feel windows, relaxing people waiting before making dance time. I re-created all sound patterns so it was so fun like should do make Tape sound like bit noise sound, more retro sound. Also I really remembered about what I used different Chords before in the 80's and 90's!

MFM: Your live shows seem to be improvisation based, very playful. As if you're jamming in the studio. Does playing live differ much to you from working in the studio?

KT: Yes I love like improvisations when doing live show. I'm always thinking about each party is totally different energy from music lovers. I love to get something good happen with music lovers, and yes it's totally different with Studio works. Prepare for live set also needs time and skills, so i always try to do at my studio for what can happen at the live show.

MFM Mix 052: Kuniyuki Takahashi

These two were so great. ddwy are making brilliant music right now and they showed their influences when they came down to play an hour of music for us. Very much a blissed out sound running from Underworld to slowed down Hypnotone and on... It was such a nice session and they nailed it.

TP532 ddwy (Love International Sunrise Sessions)

Shooting 3's with DJ Headlock for a couple hours of fantastic selects, sticking primarily in the deep end but a few diversions along the way.

Lost In The Vineyard with DJ Headlock - December 2024

Rob & Ian at the controls for a relaxed night of dancing

Dandelion at the Lido Jan 10 2025

21st century electro-futurism, Helsinki style. 

Sometime around a decade ago, electro started to surge onto dance floors again. A new generation of DJs, from Helena Hauff and DJ Stingray, brought the sci-fi, cyborg funk to new audiences, as a modern retool of the style began enjoying the ubiquity of its four-to-the-floor cousins. And few embody its future for our current decade like Sunny Seppä, AKA Sansibar.

Cutting his teeth in Helsinki's underground with residencies at Kaiku and Post Bar, Seppä's sound draws from a broad range of influences far from the Finnish capital. His first releases channeled the high-definition Motor City school of electro, but he has since evolved.

Not one to be confined by the narrow confines of any genre, the Finnish producer and DJ's discography has steadily begun to encompass a wider palette of influences, including releases with fellow new-gen electro artist Reptant.

It's no wonder Seppä has found a home on Kalahari Oyster Cult. Sans Musique was released by Rey Colino's label, and both are united by a love for an amalgamation of gritty and ecstatic sounds of the '90s. As Colino put it himself, the Cult espouses "nostalgia with a modern sound design."

You can hear that peppered throughout Seppä's RA Podcast. From Simulant's stone-cold classic "Wav.Form" to shades of tech house from the late '90s and early '00s (as well as some of his own unreleased material), the full vision of his broad sound world comes alive on RA.976. You won't technically hear too much electro in this mix—but underscoring many of the selections is the retro-futurism that electro elicits, that bleary-eyed optimism of dance music's halcyon era.

@sunnysibar
@sin-sistema-sin

Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/976

RA.976 Sansibar

2 hours and change from myself and special guest Michael David playing lost gems and personal favourites in a b2b style. Perfect for chilling or thrilling with a loved one!

Love In The Vineyard with Michael David - February 2025

We've got an another letter from Canada. 45th mix is delivered by Scott W., a true fixture of their underground scene, also known for his ZAP! party. With his masterful skill, and discerning selects as a avid vinyl collector, all diverse tracks are transformed into unique and trippy story of 70 mins. MOLDIVE will have him on March 22, at Club NOON. We'd love to see you there.
@scottw_stuff

DREAMING 045 : Scott W.

2 Hours in the mix with Andry, one of the hosts of the Thinner Groove show on NTS. To say this is special is an understatement. Simmering mellow grooves ahead, some cheeky picks and old faves, perfect for a midday audio spa shared with friends or in the headphones.

Tune into Thinner Groove here: https://www.nts.live/shows/thinner-groove
Soundcloud:https://on.soundcloud.com/xHu86f1FD8t1hSRe8
Pre Zz by 5AM: https://thinnergroove.bandcamp.com/album/pre-zz
Today by 5AM: https://youtu.be/MlEUxTXfM5Q?si=1cLOh0fpuM7Sn30L

Lost In The Vineyard with Andry - March 2025

ESLiens

Hi!

This is a mix of 2 hours of music produced for various video game systems that I broadcast on Twitch back in 2021, spanning compositions for Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Playstation, Amiga and more. I was really happy with how this mix turned out and I thought it would be a nice time to revisit it. Some of these were very instrumental in getting me interested in electronic music as I grew up, some of these are just really great tracks I found digging for material for this show. Includes tracks by Koichi Sugiyama, Yuzo Koshiro, David Wise, Koji Kondo, Yasunori Mitsuda, Yoko Shimamura, Michiru Yamane, Richard Joseph, Dean Evans, Kouji Niikura, Charles Deenen, Geoff & Tim Follin.



Lost In The Vineyard - May 2025 (Gamers Delight Edition)

Home of PH Balance aka Mr Merlot aka That Grape Bitch. Vancouver's #1 Rustic style DJ.

Lost In The Vineyard - May 2025 (Gamers Delight Edition)

PH Balance

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