‘Triple Vision’ 28.05.24 featuring Kid Who [Mix + Q&A]
Lava Brain: Where was this mix recorded & are there any tracks you included that you're particularly digging at the moment?
Kid Who: This was recorded in the living room of my flat in South East London. I've got a lovely view on the third floor, looking West towards the high-rises in Vauxhall, and we get some really wonderful sunsets some days, and then, when night sets in, a sea of glittering lights stretching to the horizon. I love to mix here!
I've been averaging around 130bpm recently, but took the opportunity to slow things up a bit for this mix, pulling out some tracks in the 115-120bpm range that I don't get the chance to play that often these days. I decided to stick to early-mid 90s tracks; I really love to dig for older stuff, and recently have been finding more satisfaction in searching for (and sharing) these old discoveries with people than just running through all the latest promos.
If I were to pick out one particularly special track from the mix, it would probably be 'Somaton' by Digitalis, from his 'Delta Key' EP released on Indica in 1996. Digitalis is one of many aliases of British trance producer Sebastian James Taylor, who I first discovered via his Biotone pseudonym, specifically with a track called 'Mellectro' off the 'D.Wave' EP, also from 1996 on Indica. I actually reached out to him about 'Mellectro' a few years ago, and received a very friendly reply telling me it was going to be repressed (which finally dropped last year). In the meantime, I managed to find a copy, and upon inspecting the label noticed the old address for Indica Records, which was literally less than two minutes walk from where I live. I love little coincidences like that.
Lava Brain: What does your creative process look like? Do you have some kind of ritual or practice that helps to spark your flow?
Kid Who: If I'm putting together a DJ mix the inspiration usually comes from discovering a few records that lead me down a rabbit hole to suddenly unearthing a whole host of artists and labels that I didn't know about before. We're so lucky with Discogs these days, so much has been catalogued and there's video previews for most of it which is just incredible. I can spend hours following threads on there and almost always find some good stuff.
As far as working in the studio, I rarely start with a plan, and prefer to just fire up the machines and sequencers and play until I find an inspiring sound, groove or idea. Then it is a question of mining that seam to see where it leads me. As I've grown older I find I have less patience and energy for long studio sessions, so have tried to build a studio that allows me to get things going very quickly, often jamming things out on the mixer to get something raw and basic recorded, before going in to refine from there. I hate arranging tracks, so this way I can trust my intuition and feel things out a bit more; I find that leads to more pure and honest results.
Lava Brain: What's in store for the rest of this year, release or DJ wise?
Kid Who: I'm currently working on my next EP for Madrid-based label Rotten City, who put out my 'Particle Decay' EP back in 2019. I have a 9-to-5 and other commitments, so finding the time for production these days is not always so easy (and I have always been quite slow to finish records!), but it is getting there. Aside from that, I've got a few electro tracks that I've been keeping aside for a possible alias at some point, and have even been working on some jungle stuff recently, just to switch things up a bit creatively. I'm not sure those will ever see the light of day (you never know!), but I'm having fun :)
As far as DJing is concerned, I'm not gigging that much at the moment, but have been focusing on Lost Valley, a night that I'm running here with fellow South London music friends Lia Mice (Optimo), Odd Lust (The Trilogy Tapes) and Salmagundi. We're currently on the hunt for a new venue, but threw some really fun parties last year with a range of local talents and international guests such as Nightwave and Objekt. We've got quite a few ideas lined up for how to take that forward, so watch this space!
Lava Brain: What's something within a community you're a part of that you'd like people to know about?
Kid Who: The Eurorack scene! I finally caught the modular bug towards the end of the pandemic, and was amazed to discover what a vibrant, friendly and positive community there is surrounding it. I've not come across any of the unfriendliness, toxicity or gatekeeping which you sadly find aplenty in the wider electronic music scene, be it DJing, parties, other gear or anything like that. Just pure, welcoming positivity. I love that the users have a direct relationship with the makers; if I ever have an issue or question relating to a module, the emails are usually answered by the very person who designed and built them. I even once enquired with someone online about a prototype oscillator module, and they responded to my interest by sending me one of the modules for free - and then, after receiving my feedback, implemented one of my requests and sent me the upgraded firmware! Because Eurorack is still (for the most part) a cottage industry, you're able to have interactions like that, a rare thing in our era of hyper mass-production and ever larger multi-national industrial giants.
A bonus shout-out has gotta go to members of the 90s Amiga Demoscene, who welcomed me (a Demoscene outsider) with open arms when I was doing the research on what would eventually become '.NFO', the project I launched last year with Klasse Wrecks. You can read more about that (and check out the record!) here, listen to a mix of 100% 90s Demoscene house and techno here and grab some crunchy 8-bit Amiga samples here :)
Lava Brain Track list:
Konduku- Hafif [Nous'klaer Audio]
Zara- Minerality [Animalia]
Aes Dana feat. Miktek- Diffraction Promocol [Ultimae]
Erik Mowinckel- Smog [LEK]
Om Unit- [Self Released]
Dorisburg- Grottloop [Aniara Recordings]
Emmer & Einkorn- Hob's House [Biodiversity]
Kid Who Track list:
Air Liquide - The Increased Difficulty Of Concentration (Aural Float Remix)
Moksha - Thee View (Gnosce Te Ipsum)
Cap'm Stargazer Vs Commander Mindfuck - Allied Against Nivar The Floor Killer
Digitalis - Somaton
Major Problems - Paranoia
Fred Ventura - The Naked City
Franco F - People In Orbit
Londonbeat - There's An Acid House Going On
Rhythm Overload - Somewhere in Space
The Rockheads - Keys To Life (Original Mix)
Wild West - Citric (Dub Mix)
Mantrac - Retrospect
Shafty - Deep Inside (Of You) (The Deep Creep)
The Night Shadow - Aquatic Park (Shadow Night Life mix)
Brad Cavender - Talash
Higher Intelligence Agency - Selinite
Eo - Urban Ritual
French Kiss - Baby Lunatic
Astral Matrix - Do It (Mr. Funkster Does It)
Beyond - Opus
Major Malfunction - Tronsanic
