Mixes

AUSCAST008 – Tracey

AUSCAST00 – Nachtbraker

AUSCAST006 – Floorplan

AUSCAST005 – Bwana

Hi Nathan, how are you doing? (AUS)

Not bad thanks, just working away here in Berlin (Bwana)

The mix is taken from your recent gig at fabric, what was the thinking behind your set? (AUS)

It was a real treat to be given the opportunity to open up the fabled Room 1 over there. I knew I'd have some time to play some personal favorites before people started to trickle in so I started off with Stars of the Lid and older Brian Eno and gradually brought in some drums with Bjork and classic chill out room tracks like Hoomba Hoomba - Voice of Africa.Then from there I took tracks that are really in the 130-140 bpm range and played them at 105-110 bpm and it really creates a great chugg along effect. From there the room began to fill up and I had to play off the vibe as I went along. I played a lot of arp driven tracks and got to end on some favorite breaks tracks! Also wanted to make sure to test out some of my unreleased material on the amazing soundsystem in there. (BWANA)

What have you got planned over the coming months? (AUS)

Finishing up a pretty large run of releases for 2018 that I can't say much about quite yet. Also travelling to new places as a DJ including Tokyo and Seoul and continuing to get the DJ's of Berlin in shape Monday-Friday as a personal trainer! (BWANA)

Bwana

AUSCAST004 – Will Saul

How and where was the mix recorded? (AUS)
It was recorded in ableton mostly on my kitchen table in the evenings....

Please tell us about what's inside your mix? (Will Saul)

The first 3/4 of the mix is a really good reflection of what I'm playing out - but if I was warming up - so it starts pretty slow, deep and groovy, some new tracks and a few classics and then it goes into a bit of a 'party' section - a sequence of 3 tracks that are pretty much guaranteed to get people moving....a soon to be released Marquis Hawkes track (on Aus), a Tee Mango track and then a forthcoming Marquis Hawkes remix of a Logg classic on Salsoul which will see the light of day in October....the middle section of the mix is mostly tried and tested house music - quite a few Primitive Trust (my new project with Tee Mango) tracks and a few unreleased edits and secret weapons.... then I go a little more headsy and indulgent in the last 20 mins - it's intricate, hypnotic, melodic and actually quite fast....I finish on one of my all time favs 'Andreaen Sand Dunes' by Drexcyia.

You recently launched the Primitive Trust project with Tee Mango (congratulations) - how does it feel to have the new guise out there and what exactly do you both have you got planned for PT?

Thanks :) it's great to be regularly releasing music again and I'm really excited about this project....it's happened with no grand plan...Tom (Tee Mango) is someone I've known for at least a decade (we both worked in studios in the same block in Tooting) but we never really become friends until recently. We were both paying at a festival in Morocco a couple of years ago and stayed for a couple of days and ended up hanging out quite bit. Tom then bought his family (we both have 3 kids do similar ages) to see mine in Somerset and they have ended up moving fairly close to us...so we figured it would be fun to make some music and it ended up being a really enjoyable process. We are really happy with the end results so we thought we'd get some nice artwork done (a series of illustrations by Geoff McFettridge) and release it as a series of EPs. The first came out in July with a remix from Skatebard and the next comes out in Sep with a lovely remix from Shanti Celeste. The 3rd EP comes out in Nov with an extra special remix by one of my all time favs but I can't announce who that is yet....

Looking back on 2016 (a little) it was a very busy year for AUS, there was three artist albums, a landmark compilation in AUS100 and a slew of new signings to the label, where do you plan on taking the label going forward?

This year has been about taking stock and really looking at where I want to take the label. A few of our bigger artists have flown the nest onto big album deals with larger labels - so we're really looking at developing the next wave of talent (Youandewan, FOLD, Marquis Hawkes and more) and bringing in some new faces. There's a new project for next year that I can't go into but I'm very excited about that and working very hard on that at the moment....this should be announced in Nov time I think.

What are you up to next?
Back in the studio with Tom next week to work on some new Primitive Trust music and in general working flat out on all my many projects as an artist manager and head of A&R for Aus and !K7......

AUSCAST003 – Komon

Where and how was the mix recorded? (AUS)

The mix was recorded here in sunny Bristol at my home studio, using cdjs, a 1210, my old mixer and a eventide space pedal. the version used ended up being take three as i felt the first two didn’t progress as i wanted. the mix has some old, new and exclusives. I wanted to play some bits that I love, re-found or have been working on, stuff i wouldn’t usually play in clubs although i do play some of that. I’ve really got into big textures, chugging drums and big heavy bass of late, I come from a Dubstep & D&B background so my tracks always have some nice low end.

You've been working with Will for many years now, there seems to be a good synergy between the two of you when you're in the studio. Obviously you're coming from a different background (in terms of production) to Will, does that help when you're working together? (AUS)

Definitely, We both work off each other really. like we get into a vibe before we start a session, Play some tracks or ideas to each other and it kinda goes from there. We merged our kit so we share the studio space, its been set up so we can both jam and use fx or patch stuff into what ever we like. We have the same taste in sounds and a lot of styles of music. so jamming really flows and we can get a lot of material written in a short space of time. I tend to mix as we go, so we pretty much have the audio sounding as we want when recording. I do tweak whilst Will is away but thats just removing frequencies and tidying things up. We tend to write lots of parts for all our tracks and then we reduce them down to the final product, Will has a very good ear for this. After all this time working together we are yet to have a formula or set way we start something. We have quite a bit of kit between us and its nice to learn each piece, were still working things out.

What other releases have you got lined up this year? (AUS)

Im just getting some things finished after having a pretty bad car accident where i seriously injured my spine. its been a long process getting back to full health but I’m pretty much there and ready to focus on music again. I have a remix for a new Label called Boogie Box, I think that one is due for release pretty soon. Will and I pretty much have another ep wrapped up and I’m almost there with a solo ep for Aus. Long term I’m working on an album but its early days so nothing set in stone.

AUSCAST002 – Shenoda

Congratulations on the release of your latest EP 'Burn' and thank you for taking the time out to record a mix for our podcast series.

Thanks very much! I had a lot fun with this mix actually and hope you guys enjoy it. (S)

Where did you record the mix?

The mix was recorded in my studio in sunny East London which is where I record most mixes as well as make music. I wanted the mix to represent a snapshot of how I play in a typical set. I've included a usual mixture of recent, forthcoming and older tunes with some of my own music thrown in for good measure. (S)

What equipment did you use?
Annoyingly I spilt tea on my trusty old Allen and Heath Xone 62 the other week so I had to use Ableton this time round. I’ve still very much approached it as if I were mixing live though. (S)

You've played many gigs over the years but how did it feel closing out 2016 at Warehouse Project with Richie Hawtin, Ben Klock, Andrew Weatherall, Ben UFO & Objekt?

Yeah sharing with the bill with a lineup like that was a real highlight of last year for sure. It was actually the second time I’ve played the Warehouse Project but was the first time I’d played the Store Street venue. The night was curated by the Hydra so you know it’s guaranteed to be a good one with those guys. Dolan and Ajay are a great pair and have impeccable taste when it comes to programming. (S)

What else is on the horizon for 2017?’

First off is my next release for Aus which is out this week digitally and on wax very soon I believe. My main focus for the rest of this year is finishing off as much music as possible and get it out there. Admittedly in the past I’ve tended to over think things when writing and probably taken a bit too long to finish music off which has left a bit of space between releases. Thankfully I'm having a real creative burst at the minute, perhaps down to investing in some new toys for the studio and not overthinking things when writing. Most of what I’m writing now is the result of live hardware jam’s and are fleshed out quickly from those initial ideas. I'm sitting on a ton of new tracks I'm really happy with so there will be plenty coming this year to watch out for. (S)

AUSCAST001 – Marquis Hawkes

Firstly, thanks for inaugurating our podcast series, we know online mixes from you are few and far between so we appreciate you taking the time out for this.

Thanks for having me! (MH)

Where and how was the mix recorded?

In my studio in Berlin on 2xCDJ 2000nxs and an Allen and Heath Xone 92. (MH)

How do you prepare for your DJ sets and is this mix a good representation of how you sound in the club?

Record store digging, file hunting, promo checking, and choosing which of my productions in development are ready for a road test develops the pool for on the fly selection. I wanted to reflect some of the slightly tougher stuff which works well in some of the bigger rooms I’ve been playing more recently, whilst obviously keeping a bit of funk/soul influence in there. So I’d say it’s definitely representative of what I’ve been playing out of late.

Following the release of your debut album 'Social Housing' you've played Heidegluhen, Panorama Bar, fabric, Sub Club, Weather festival & Le Sucre to name a few, which out of those stands as a personal highlight and why?

I’d say as much as all those places you mention have been great, the absolute standouts for me were Dour festival in Belgium, which was very intense, and very impressive, in regard to audience response for such a big crowd. Heideglühen and Panorama bar are as ever my Berlin party stalwarts, with Heideglühen being a particularly special, given it’s lesser known status. Opening fabric room 1 was definitely the best set I ever played there, at least in my own opinion, and really really enjoyed gigs in Paisley and Trondheim. Sometimes the small outposts where the audience is really hungry for touring artists with good music are the best experiences. (MH)

What's on the horizon for Marquis Hawkes/Hawkes & Blake/Juxta Position in 2017?

As you know, we have the new record from me on Aus in the coming weeks, tentative steps towards starting work on the next album, and a few remixes I’ve done due to drop soon. Hawkes and Blake just happens when me & Tim are in the studio and we just hit the right vibe, I really hope we hit on something soon, but we never know when the magic is going to appear, and we won’t put anything out we don’t think is absolutely exceptional, so it could be a while. But you never know, sometimes it just comes in a flash! I have a LOT coming up with Juxta Position, we kickstart the new label I’ve formed for releasing Juxta Position material in the next weeks. The label is called Failsafe, and the first record comes at the end of January. The second release is already finalised and ready to go into production also, on top of which I have a rather large caché of Juxta Position tracks which I’m still deciding what to do with, whether to release myself, or find other outlets. We’ll see soon enough, either way, 2017 is already shaping up to be a very exciting year for my different projects. (MH)

AUS100 Mix – Will Saul

Will Saul’s Aus Music label is now into its tenth year, and with that, fittingly enough, comes its landmark 100th release. For this special occasion, the ever evolving label has put together a comprehensive 24 track quadruple vinyl, triple CD and vast digital compilation, due for release in May 2016.

Aus 100 will feature new and exclusive tracks from the boss as well as key family members Bicep, Midland, Huxley, Deetron, Nick Hoppner, Pearson Sound, Youandewan, Marquis Hawkes, Sei A, Bwana, Fold, Shenoda and Appleblim & Komon. 90% of the label artists who have ever released on Aus will contribute, and design comes from the man behind the label’s original identity, Michael Place. Not a bad achievement, then, for what actually started as a sub label of Simple, with the short term aim of putting out music from two of Saul’s friends, Fink and Lee Jones.

Over the last decade Aus Music has never really had a certain sound, but has always operated on the more underground, bass driven end of the house spectrum. It has worked with big names and has excelled at peak time tracks, but has also helped break upcoming artists from Joy Orbison to Dusky via Midland and George Fitzgerald. As a result, it has become one of the most prominent and on point labels of the day, and is now supported by infrastructure from !K7 such is the volume of its output.

“Never in a million years did I feel it would make 100 releases,” says boss Saul, who also admits the thing he loves most about the label its is strength in depth and how it can offer up deepest house from Cottam next to hook laden sounds from Huxley. As well as getting plays from taste making DJs and topping many sales charts and year end lists, so too has Aus picked up plenty of high profile Radio 1 support over the years. “But I still remember the proudest moment was driving to the pressing plant somewhere in surrey and collecting 1500 vinyl records of our first release,” remembers will. “My old VW Polo's suspension was creaking as I took them to the distributor in Watford!”

To accompany this release, there will be a global 10 Years Of Aus tour from April through the rest of the year. There will also be Aus curated festival stages, albums from core artists Sei A and Youandewan plus fine new addition Cassy. But that’s not all, because new material from Huxley, Trevino, FOLD, Bwana, Timothy Blake and Shenoda is also in the pipeline, and as well as that, new names will added to the Aus collective in the form of peerless Planet E alumnus and house icon Recloose.

All in all, then, Aus Music’s tenth year is set to be its best yet.