great intro! can't stop listening to this in the Greek summer Piers!

While dropping their self-titled debut LP with us in August, Anya and Izaak from Loveshadow (@loveshadowdjs) were kind enough to also record a lovely mix and answer a few questions. Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com

MFM: Hi Izaak and Anya, nice to have you on board. Both living in Bay Area, how would you describe your daily surroundings? Is it a nice place to be as an artist?

LS: Right now we live in SF. We grew up one town away from each other near the airport, though we didn’t meet until much later. The landscape is inspiring for sure- we spend as much time as we can out in the parks and wild areas and draw a lot from that. The art and music scenes here run deep, though the cost of living and of course covid have made things tougher.
 
MFM: The songs on your debut album as Loveshadow -which will be out in August- sound incredibly fresh where they also remind to certain pop, boogie, funk and even house from the mid and late '80s. What were some of your main influences for this project? 

LS: Thanks! We have to mention the UK act Fashion after whose song we named the group, but our tastes range all over. You could say that Loveshadow is kind of a lap around the 80’s prehistory of today’s dance music, when things were still firmly rooted in pop songwriting but had a simultaneously psychedelic and funky sensibility- one that grew out of dub/disco/punk counterculture. Getting more serious about learning the records at the roots of the whole thing allowed us to see how we might contribute something new to it in a way that was more than a style exercise.

MFM: Of course also the use of specific instruments ad up to that flavor - it seems that for example the Linndrum plays an important role. Did you aim for that sound and gathered the instruments around it, or the other way around maybe?

LS: We had an overall idea in mind that definitely informed the instrumentation but we’re not purists. A lot of the sounds on the record are replications of or deviations from the iconic originals. Those famous drum sounds in particular are like symbols, they impart a particular meaning and we use them to set a mood.

MFM: What's the dynamic between the two of you like in the studio? Is there a certain steady structure or does this change all the time? Maybe you could tell a little about your writing and recording process?

LS: It changes all the time- we’ve lived and worked in so many places separately and together since we started recording. Either one of us might come up with an idea that we’ll design sounds around, demo, arrange, and then throw it all in the trash and start again. Most of the songs on the record have had a few lives.

MFM: It feels that the music from the LP could work really well live on a stage too. Are there any plans for you to go touring? 

LS: We’re going to play a gig in Detroit later this summer that will be sort of a test run! After that, we’ll see. The project started out as an interest in records and recording, but anything’s possible.

MFM: Thanks a lot for contributing! It seems you quite regularly record a mix. Have you both always been busy collecting and sharing records? 

LS: Our pleasure, thanks so much for asking us! We’re always looking for new music. Sharing mixes online has helped us organize our favorites but playing parties is the best. We were gigging around before covid and we’ll hopefully get back to it as things continue to open up. This mix is definitely on the hype side of things- new digs, old favorites, some edits, tunes pals graciously sent our way, and what we’ve been dancing around our apartment to while we were stuck inside.

MFM Mix 030: Loveshadow

A previous guest of honor at H.A.N.D. as we debuted the series with a recording of his first class workings at Have A Nice Day a few years back - Piers Harrison presents us with yet another generous offering to our new mix series. One of the minds at Test pressing and 1/4 of team Soft Rocks, Piers' insightful relationship with music and dance floor culture has clearly led to a discerning understanding in a wide range of genres - kindly displayed in this pleasant excursion - listen carefully :)
@soft-rocks

Sound Metaphors Mix Series 04 : Piers Harrison

Heeeere weee gooo. A little blast from the past. Starting off with slow and sexy swings and quickly upping the tempo to move ya hamstrings. Raphaël Top Secret played an all too sweet set at Post Bar in February 2019 (when most people woulda laughed at the idea of a pandemic hitting in a year, hah). And it’s all on tape. Hit it.

Post Recording 019 - Raphaël Top-Secret

The final 162 mins of a session in which it’s fair to say both the DJs - and perhaps the crowd - had been afflicted by Saturday Night Fever. Recorded live at Brilliant Corners on 02/04/22 (which was a Saturday).

What's Good? w/ Customs (Disco Special)

Recording of Tako & Relmer's set at Dekmantel Selectors 2022.

Tako & Relmer at Dekmantel Selectors 22

SWAYMIX 002 - Eternal Love

"A late 2022 recording trodding through a swamp of precarious pop, zooty b-sides and muddy dubs fortified with a peppering of dub siren." - @good-block

B.P.T. Radio 061: Good Block

Real special mix dropped on us from the Heels & Souls family, who have also just kicked off a brand new label Heels & Souls Recordings. The first release a reissue of a monster holy grail from the TSR catalog, Special Touch's Garden of Life. It's out Oct 16th and we can only shout to ourselves and everyone we know the biggest of tips to pre order a copy before they all fly the coup. 

ID Requests ~ @heelsandsouls

1800 triiip - Heels & Souls - Mix 016

Who would have thought that such a fun, high energy mix could come from such a shit, low energy year, but our mates Customs gave us our favourite social dis-dance of 2020 – recorded live and direct from Costa Del Tottenham back in September!

ID requests to @customs_ldn

Rimbombo Invites Customs

010: Customs at Rimbombo's Social Dis-Dance

The Planet Trip and 1800 triiip boss themes his mix around love and loss, journeying through everything from reggae, rap and soul to boogie, house and new jack swing.

Interview: https://www.stampthewax.com/2021/01/27/diggers-directory-mike-who/

Diggers Directory: Mike Who

004 Jamie Bennett

Do you know Jamie Bennett? Maybe you do, maybe you don’t, maybe you heard one of your friends whisper: “That’s the Crown Ruler guy." One thing is undoubtedly true – Australia’s music scene wouldn’t be the same without Jamie’s influence. The wonderful Crown Ruler brand has exerted its influence throughout the country and far beyond. If this is news to you, start looking a little closer to home and you’ll spot the clues.

We’ll keep this intro brief – a cheeky web-surf will provide plenty of thoughtful write ups on the man’s roots. We think Jamie’s an incredible DJ. A trove of aural excellence comes through in this mix; Lovers rock, sun-kissed gems, and plenty of soulful rarities from all corners. It’s a little less about genre and a little more about mood.

When we joked with Jamie that the cost of the records in this mix alone must be his retirement fund, he slyly shot back: "That's my super." It’s hard to explain the effort, the research, and even the resources that go into pulling together the sort of collections that are at the heart of a mix like this. Perhaps that’s a little digger-to-digger nod, a silent sign of appreciation at the incredibly impractical art of carting around bags and bags of records in this day and age.

Our admiration goes beyond knowing the work involved. Hearing and experiencing Jamie’s talent through Waxflower’s speakers was, for us, a thing of joy. And at the heart of it all is Jamie’s love of music. We were honoured to have him play on the wheels at Wax. Music and Human connection, Enjoy!

Recorded live @Waxflowerbar

004 Jamie Bennett

For DJ bookings:  Nemo + Castro (Sound Metaphors, H.A.N.D.) 
booking@soundmetaphors (dot) com (EUROPE)
samy@mihn (dot) hk (ASIA)
ruggero@embassy-artists (DOT) com (ITALY)

Sound Metaphors Mix Series 04 : Piers Harrison

Sound Metaphors

Recent comments

Anonymous Funk Odyssey

Clubpenguinclub

Clubpenguinclub

Clubpenguinclub

Related tracks