Music From Memory

Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu - Dede (Baumhaus Remix)

Roberto Musci - Claudia, Wilhem R. And Me (02:57)

Music From Memory © 2018

Vinyl: www.musicfrommemory.com
Digital: music-from-memory.bandcamp.com/

B3 - Michal Turtle - On The Plateau (6:31)

B2 - Michal Turtle - Jovan's Island (6:06)

A4 - Michal Turtle - Dub This Heavy (6:00)

A3 - Michal Turtle - Uiko's Return To Jeka (5:58)

From Kaifeng via Vancouver here comes Second Circle friend and artist Yu Su (@yu_su) with her contribution titled Freedom Is Nothing Left To Lose. Q&A (excerpt) here below.

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MFM: Hi Yu Su, thanks for joining the mix series. So, could you please first tell us a bit about your background and how you got into making and playing music?

YS: I was born in Kaifeng, China, where it was Chinese pop like Jay Chow and Faye Wong that I listened to the most. I have been living in Vancouver, Canada, since 2013 and got into electronic music just shortly after the move.

MFM: You are a trained piano player, does it help you writing your music these days?

YS: Yes, since I was three until high school, in Kaifeng :) It for sure does, I take influences from Debussy a lot of the time, it feels rewarding something I invested so much time and money into when I was little can contribute so much to my current work.

MFM: Hailing from Kaifeng, can you maybe help us try to understand a bit more how is it for an ambitious person in China to dream and develop creatively while being surrounded by the Great Firewall?

YS: I can only speak for myself since I haven't lived there for a little bit, but I think no matter what you can always find your way around the “Great Firewall” to access this world of endless music database, of course not everyone will have the privilege to travel to the west for better infrastructure, though I believe if you just keep doing what you do, the rest of the world will see it.

MFM: And for those who're not able to travel, does it make them even more eager to learn from each other in a certain way? Like, does the limitation result in a stronger collective feeling of sharing and collaborating?

YS: I think so, perhaps not necessarily this collective feeling but people definitely have to make extra effort to try to make things happen, honestly having lived in the West for so long, sometimes even I take things for granted and I do reflect on that a lot.

MFM: Can you maybe walk us a bit through your process of creating music?

YS: It is probably more or less the same with many other producers and musicians, you start from one sound and develop into something you don’t expect. The only thing specific I would say, is that I prefer to finish my pieces in one sitting, I can be extremely focused for let’s say 8 hrs at once and if a project is going well, it will be done in 8 hrs, I’ll leave the mixing for someone else after.

MFM: When on tour you're mostly DJing, right? As a trained musician and producer, what actually made you decide to DJ instead of performing live?

YS: Yes, mostly DJing. I see producing music and playing records/files as two completely different sides of myself since I’m in a very different mental state of mind when doing both. I wanted to DJ after experiencing this whole new world of music and I love discovering and sharing music made by other people for other people, and I enjoy the role of introducing others to things they have not heard. And at the same time for me DJing on stage is almost like another way of expressing live music, there is a lot to consider with the musical and structural elements of all the tracks and in order for me to form a good narrative, I have to think as if every track is a single channel in a project I work on at home. On the other hand, I have been exploring many mediums of presenting “live music” and I would like to continue exploring more in the area of sound installation and soundscape studies, if you count those as “performing live” also.  

MFM: What's up next, got any exciting things coming up that you'd like to share?

YS: Lots more touring to exciting and new places (thanks to my lovely agent); me and my partner who I also collaborate with will be doing a sound meditation and food/wine pop up at giant steps mid July in partner with Stamp The Wax, I am very much looking forward to that.

MFM Mix 005: Yu Su

Taken from 'Música Esporádica - Música Esporádica' (MFM044)
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© 2019 Music From Memory

Música Esporádica

A1. Música Esporádica - Música Esporádica (12:39)

Contribution number ten comes from long time label friend and multi instrumentalist Michal Turtle (@michalturtle). Q&A (excerpt) here below.

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MFM: Hi Mike, how's life in beautiful Swiss? What's the story of you leaving the UK for Switzerland actually?

MT: Life is sweet thanks :)I've been here since the end of 1987, of course it was a lady story that brought me here.

MFM: Do you think that moving places changed you as an artist or maybe your approach to (writing) music?

MT: Once I got here, things quietened down a lot. I found a job in a recording studio, and started working with local heroes, some of whom I still do work for. The music scene here, compared to what I was used to in London is very low key, and I soon found quite a lot of time for writing my own stuff. The public has yet to hear (maybe one day) my early 90s output, but I carried on much in the same vein as the London years, albeit with improved technology. (this was my bronze age 
output, as opposed to the stone age London recordings)

MFM: Imagine if your inspiration or motivation ever runs dry, what place would you move to in order to find new?

MT: Geographically, it doesn't seem to matter to me where I work, if I'm on the road or on a long plane flight, I can work just as easily. If I don't have a (piano) keyboard, the writing style changes a little, and becomes more mathematical perhaps.

MFM: You have quite a background in musical education, correct? If you'd have to name one thing studying academically has taught you and which you still value today, what would it be?

MT: For much of the work I have ended up doing, I am grateful for my studies in orchestration and notation. I have written (physical) orchestral parts for real players, and they always worked just fine, and sounded as I imagined.

MFM: Experiment seems to play a vital role in your music, which never sounds the same and always rich of unconventional textures and musical combinations. Is that something you inherited from studying music at academical level?

MT: I would say no to that. My classical education was very traditional, and during it I was also experimenting at home and with other people, but the 2 elements never really overlapped. Luckily in college was a “state of the art” (8 track analog) recording studio, and the guy in charge of it was looking for projects to record. I ended up doing 7 or 8 pieces, multi-tracking everything. After that I was hooked on the recording process. (which I still am)

MFM: Did it ever cross your mind to work on a new album after your first and only one from 1983?

MT: In the late 90s I was discovering my production skills, and did 5 albums with my own project “wearedust” It was very much of that time, but some songs still get airplay on swiss radio, but as you say MFTLR was my only album under the name “Michal Turtle” I have written much new stuff in the intervening years, and there may well be a solo project of new material at some point.

MFM: Such a nice thing from you to join our mix series, thanks. You're not really a DJ right? How then did you approach making the mix?

MT: I've done several now, sometimes they are theme based, and other times it can be stuff I like and that has influenced me. This one is basically that, plus a couple of tracks from old projects (you may spot Lucianne and Tim in there) and a couple of more recent tracks by me.

MFM Mix 010: Michal Turtle

Hailing from Zurich here's Zukunft resident and Phantom Island man Kejeblos (@kejeblos) serving the 15th MFM mix. Interview (excerpt) down below.

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MFM: Hi Michael, welcome to the series. How are you holding up during these pandemic times?

K: Actually very well, thank you! I’m spending more time with my son than I usually do and I’m getting better at cooking. Besides that we are preparing some new releases for Phantom Island and I’m helping to keep the record store (Hum Records) I work at alive.

MFM: So the internet says you're a man of big taste and that you could write a doctoral thesis about the art of record digging. Can you take us back a little to where and when all that comes from?

K: First I have to thank Bjorn Schaeffner for those kind words. I was interested in music from a young age, but the record digging really started after I moved to Zurich. Here I was exposed to a lot of great record stores and I took an obvious route from House to Disco and got into it deeper and deeper. Lexx was definitely an important figure for me. He was working at a record store called Zero Zero and I was hanging out there a lot. And through that our friendship grew. At one point he invited me to join him to go t a warehouse that was connected to Zero Zero and housed half a million records. After that first visit I definitely spent a lot of time there and everything took its course.

MFM: Zurich is not particularly known for having a vibrant music scene and it's fairly remote from the cities that are. How did you get your fix as a big music appreciator pre-internet? 

K: I grew up in Liechtenstein and went to school in Feldkirch, Austria. Feldkirch is a small city, but there was a bar called Stone Club where you could listen to proper house and techno. I guess that brought me on the right track and sparked my interest. That’s also where I started djing and learned a lot about it before I was introduced to the Zurich club scene. Anyway, I guess I’m not a music appreciator pre-internet as I’m not that old :) But it was still different back then for sure. I was exposed to all the certified classics before getting deeper into more obscure music from there.

MFM: You're kinda connected to club Zukunft, correct? 

K: Yes, that is correct. That started through Lexx as well. He invited me to play there in 2008 and it really meant a lot to me. I used to visit the club regularly and it was always a dream to play there and it still is. For me it has been Zurich’s best club since it opened its doors and it still is after all these years. First and foremost because of always sticking with quality music. But another key factor is probably the diverse group of people who run the place.

MFM: At what point did you get involved in music production? 

K: Some of my old friends from Liechtenstein who also live in Zurich have been producing for a long time. I always hung out at their flat and out of this we formed Wavetest – but I always saw myself as the DJ in that group and still do. Unlike the others I’m not a trained musician. After some time we started to share a studio with Tobi and Ron (Fuga Ronto) and one day, as Flo (Florin Büchel, CCO), and I were jamming suddenly I was kind of guiding the project. That’s how the first Kejeblos record started. Without Flo, Tobi, Sandro, David, Moritz and Lexx that record would never have happened. I learned more about production during and after this first release but I still see myself predominantly as a DJ. If I have an idea, I try to pursue it. But I’m not constantly thinking about making music. 

MFM: Thanks a lot for contributing a mix! What can you tell about it?

K: Thanks for having me! I wanted it to be a reflection of different influences which turned me into the DJ I am now. A mix which flows well and is not just about track IDs and unshazamable tunes. In the best case you want to listen to it more than once. Also there are some upcoming Phantom Island bits featured.

Music From Memory

Your Taste in Music Sucks