Off The Record Mix Series 23: Suzanne Kraft

008 Earl Grey

DJ Earl Grey aka Nik Thorup takes us beyond the dancefloor and into the realm of the cerebral. During his month-long residency at Waxflower, Nik spun a cornucopia of captivating and unique records that always left us hungry for more.

We’re still not sure how Nik managed to intertwine so many polarising genres so effortlessly. Few DJs can stroll from ambient to jazz, from folk to dub, making it sound so organic. Maybe there’s a link to be drawn between this kind of musical curation and some of the more adventurous wine-making processes we’ve come to love at Waxflower. Skin-contact wine often leads to bolder, more intense, and less predictable palates. 

Shady wine-making comparisons aside, it was an honour for us to have Nik play for the whole month. We’ve spent plenty of time listening to his recorded sets, so it was a treat to experience his talent live at Waxflower.

Recorded live @Waxflowerbar

008 Dj Earl Grey

Long time pal and driving force behind Invisible City it's Gary Abugan (@invisible-city) from Canada serving up the 29th mix in the series. Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com

MFM: Hey Gary. How's life in Toronto today? Did you manage to do some more gardening? :)

IC: We have a really nice garden in front of the shop and also at home in my backyard, both get some nice sun and shade and are where I spend all my time. So yes, gardening everyday ;)

MFM: (Before the pandemic hit) You've seen quite a few bits of the world by now while touring. How would you describe Toronto as a city if you had to promote it to the readers who haven't been there yet? 

IC: It’s summer here now in Toronto and we’re in the middle of a heatwave. We’re lucky to have an island with nice beaches as a nearby getaway via ferry. Toronto is a very large sprawling city compared to most European cities. Our multiculturalism definitely sets us apart. We have heaps of reggae and island music here along with lots of record shops, and the variety of food here can’t really be beat. I miss giving guided Invisible City tours of the city to any traveling DJs passing through.

MFM: Would you say it's a good place for an artist to be, whether being a young upcoming talent or professional and all in between?  

IC: Sure you can make it here if you’re skilled/talented and not overbearing, the problem is that there isn’t that many music venues to play. Between the crazy expensive visa you need to play the USA and the costs of flights to Europe, we are kind of isolated musically. Rent is crazy expensive here and most artists have another job, but I’m not sure if Toronto makes it specifically harder or easier compared to other cities. 

MFM: People may know you as the driving force behind Invisible City, the record store and label. How much time do you spend with the one compared to the other? 

IC: I would say pre-Covid more focus was on the shop and getting that to a sustainable level and stocking the store. We didn’t even have a sign for years until recently. During Covid, when the shop was closed for about a year and a half, a lot of focus was on development and signing artists paying advances and getting back into production. I learned alot about Music Publishing too… Laura helps me a lot with organizing everything, label and shop, I would be lost without her.

MFM: Looking back on running a record store and label for over 10 years now, what would you say are some key changes that took place over time?

Back then there were not that many reissue labels and it wasn’t as competitive or extensive, now everyone has a reissue label. I only wanted to put out records that I was strongly connected to or somehow found on a whim. If someone showed me a record, I would ask them if they were planning on reissuing it, now people just go ahead. It’s crazy how many reissues there are so it’s challenging now as a label to dig even deeper. The record shop also was really niche and specialized in the past and now there’s just more in each genre. It’s still pretty curated, but I am finding that I didn’t know a lot of good common records, so we like having “high end cheapos”. I like that most people can just come off the street and buy records now, although we still have some niche stuff too. It feels overall more balanced and varied and for the people.

MFM: The label seems to run at a nice and slow pace. Is it on purpose to not have a heavy and steady output? 

IC: I like to only do a couple records a year, it’s only me and Laura who do it all and it takes me ages to figure out artwork, I’m very picky. The shop, DJing, and occasionally throwing parties also takes up a lot of our time. We always have a lot on the go. I also like to focus on one or two artists at a time, but also it costs a lot of money to make a record! Now things are totally slowed down and our plant says I can’t get pressings out till next March!

MFM Mix 029: Invisible City

Welcome Otologic to BSRMIX 109!

Not sure why it’s taken this long to have the lordz Otologic (Tom Moore / Nick Murray) join the mix series but it's definitely been worth the wait. We were lucky to have the two chaps of Animals Dancing / Mercat fame play at the 10 Years of Butter Sessions party at Sub Club, Melbourne on 23 April 2021, this is the recording.

Bouncing from dark acid to chicago house to dubwise vibes and a whole lot more, the set is reminiscent of their legendary marathon DJ sessions at the equally legendary Mercat basement but condensed into 3 hours. Enjoy!

BSRMIX #109 - Otologic

PP Chill Pill III 80000 Takeover (SUZANNE KRAFT)

B.P.T. Radio 036: Tornado Wallace

Number forty seven presented by Melbourne/ Naarm local @jordandunster. Having performed with live jazz acts for the last few years, and with his training as an improvising percussionist, he has an impressive breadth of taste, and this mix showcases his knack for diverse rhythms & feels. 

Here he has put together a beautiful mix of jazzy ambient, idm, electronica and classy deep house, perfect for the incoming Spring mood here in Naarm.

Thanks for this one Jordan <3

Downloads enabled

Animix Forty Seven: Jordan

Autumn is here! Episode 009 of New Massage offers a trippy journey through kraut-tingled favourites, with flavours of ambient, fusion, minimal electronics, prog and kraut - from Berlin via US, UK, Sweden, Finland and Greece. Full of delightful hypnotic, polyrhythmic and evolving patterns, perfect for a kaleidoscopic stroll amongst the autumn-colours and trees.

Telephones' New Massage 009 [Refuge Worldwide]

https://www.nts.live/shows/pender-street-steppers/episodes/pender-street-steppers-14th-december-2021

Pender Street Steppers w/ Benedek & Suzanne Kraft - 141221

Last mix of the year 2021 comes from long time friend of the label Alex Ho (@j0-j0armani) out of Los Angeles who has just released his debut album 'Move Through It' with us. Interview (excerpt) down below.

www.musicfrommemory.com

MFM: Hi Alex, you're known for being deeply involved in LA's party scene through your Moony Habits events for quite some years now. How did you roll into the music scene?

AH: Some friends of mine in college were doing parties at this smaller, 200 capacity club in Glendale. I was hanging around these nights, sort of helping out, and eventually decided to do some events of my own at this spot. Eventually I was doing parties at this other place 333Live in DTLA - Prince used to own the spot but then it ended up in the hands of ex-Chinese mafia guys. My last event there, we got shut down because the owners of the venue didn’t have a valid alcohol license and were missing a number of other permits. From there, I just started doing warehouse parties like a lot of other promoter friends were doing, and it became a regular thing. 

MFM: So you've been a promotor and DJ at first, yeah? When came the first steps into producing music?

AH: In college, I learned how to DJ first, yeah. At the time, I had the software for production but didn’t really know what I was doing - still don’t. But I started making some tunes that I actually liked in maybe 2017/2018, and that’s around the time I passed some stuff over to Jamie.  

MFM: Did the Covid situation affect your productivity?

AH: I had my ups and downs with Covid for sure. Isolation didn’t necessarily increase my productivity, it gave me a lot of time to think about my life and I think I just came to the conclusion that I need to be doing more. When Jamie brought up the idea of doing a 7 inch or an album, I didn’t want to just settle for the two songs so I went for the album.      

MFM: On a few songs you've collaborated with other artists too. Those guitar and percussion parts for example. How did that process go?

AH: On those ones I was actually feeling a bit stuck - I knew I had some good ideas but didn’t know where to take them. I passed the sketches to some friends and thankfully they were supportive enough to send back some nice elements that I wouldn’t have been able to produce on my own.  

MFM: What's the story behind the album cover? 

AH: For the cover, Jamie had the idea of using a photo of the city at dusk. I reached out to my friend Kaleb who’s an incredible photographer and he was able to make it happen. We originally had the idea to use a nice, vintage car along with a number of other props in the shot. We got a bunch of different shots on 2 shoots, but ended up narrowing it down to the simpler ones. 

MFM: Is there a masterplan now that you've got your debut LP out? 

AH: No real plan. I just know that I want to make more music. I’ve had a lot of help on this record - from additional instrumentation to extra mixdowns from friends. I want to be able to do it all on my own but still have similar results - I guess that’s a goal, to be a better producer. This doesn’t mean that I don’t want to collaborate with homies - I’ll likely be doing that more as it’s more real and rewarding, and it’s not just one big fantasy in my brain.

MFM: Let's talk about the mix. It actually took a while for you to, as you put it, “get in the DJ mood” and record it. How come? 

AH: It’s not that I need to get in the mood necessarily, I just haven’t been digging or thinking about DJing as much lately. I think a lot of people spent the pandemic/quarantine getting dope records and working on their DJ skills in preparation for this big reopening. And for me, despite being a party promoter, I think I got really comfortable being together with only close people in the last couple of years - being in the party feels a little foreign and crazy to me now. Hoping to catch the party bug again, but I’m trying not to force it!

MFM Mix 035: Alex Ho

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.

As the old saying goes, good thing's come to those who wait. To give that statement some purchase I would like to rewind a few years. Back to before I started this thing, but just after I came up if with the concept, the person responsible for this mix was literally the second name I wrote down to ask for a submission. That person’s name was, and still is, Millú aka the mad hatter aka the silky bar kid aka the human shot glass. Millú’s importance in Melbourne has become solidified over the past few years, going from strength to strength to strength, like a skipping stone across an infinity pool, and she’s dead set (party) legend! 
 
She peaked my attention a few years ago when she played at one of the Max Graef parties at the Gaso we did (which she also helps run ~ bless) and she has firmly kept my attention since. Watching her do her thing, which in turn makes the punters do their thing, is a satisfying sight to say the least. From the depths of hugs to the vast expanse of the supernatural amphitheater, her spell is easy to notice and impossible to resist. I think she’s my most shazamed DJ on the planet - I look to her for a continues source of inspiration. She’s just that fucking good and this mix proves it. 
 
Taking a holiday from the chuggy breaky bleep, she has landed in this pure heavenly mix of lounge and street soul. This instantly takes me back to the good old days of the early 2000’s trip hop phase, (K & D sessions eat your heart out) which is like a pure bliss time machine for me - taking me back to a simpler time, with an air of arrogance attached to a clueless teenager (me), Millú aurally takes me on a beautiful trip down memory lane (which I’m sure will touch anyone who pays this mix a single bit of attention). Perfectly blended like the best milkshake you’ve ever had, perfectly executed like the best dive in Olympic history.

Hopefully my grandchildren will listen to this mix as much as you’re about to. 

Stay warm and stay well. xoxo

p.s Thanks for listening. 

image >>> HEIDE II by Milly Davidson 

her sound >>> https://soundcloud.com/milluu

FHUO # 27 // Millú

Waxflower Bar - Brunswick, Melbourne

A listening bar that considers ambiance to be an integral part of the eating and dining experience. With a music programme that focuses on local and international DJs as well as record collectors, Waxflower will deliver a curated musical experience that compliments laid-back drinks and social gatherings. Leaning on rare-groove and a convivial, warm atmosphere, Waxflower creates a unique space for food, drink, and sound.

008 Dj Earl Grey

Waxflower

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